Night Delinquent

Chapter 1: A Grizzly Reunion

Night
Delinquent

"Let's face it, Brooke. You're not in love with me. You fell in love with the idea of being with someone."

Jason's words replayed itself inside my mind like a broken radio. He was my last ex. We lasted for a few months which was quite impressive considering my trashy dating history. 

But he was right. I felt empty.

Lonely.

And I feared it the most.

My soul cowered at the slight thought of it. Realizing that there might be nobody out there who would accept me for who I am, haunted my sleepless nights.

Am I really that bad? Damn I must be a bitch.

My thoughts wandered aimlessly as I walked along the forest trail.

At first, I loved all the attention I got from the opposite sex. I used to crave for it. Validation was my trophy, but it didn't last. This was probably one of the reasons why I got along better with guys rather than girls.

For twenty one years, my relationships never lasted longer than three months. Exes always broke it off because they believed my heart wasn't there. I didn't realize the main reason I accept when guys asked was due to my excessive fear of loneliness. I needed someone to be with me often and because of that, I'd do anything to fill the void. Including keeping fake friends at an arm's length.

But deep down, I always longed for something else. As for what that something was, I had no idea.

Sighing, I stopped on my tracks to observe my surroundings. Ravens were squawking for the past few minutes. It was as if nature could sense how peculiar of a person I was. 

. . . Or a fool.

My peripheral view caught something dark moving. And judging from its size, it was most definitely not a bird.

A loud crunch erupted from its direction. Followed by the sound of flesh being ripped off the bones.

I whipped my head around to see what it was. Surely enough, it was a living nightmare. My bad habit of wandering around silently had led me to a predator feasting on its freshly killed prey.

"BACK OFF!!!"

The sound of crisp autumn leaves crunching beneath my feet didn't exactly help the current situation at all.

"HEY!! HEY BEAR! BACK OFF!!"

An evening hike in the woods turned for the worse when my dumb self accidentally stumbled upon a gigantic grizzly preying on a bull moose.

The beast was startled. It did not look so pleased that I was within a ten meter radius from its recent kill. The bear instantly directed its attention on me as it began to huff and pounded its front paws on the ground. Its black beady eyes were fixated on mine once it took a step forward towards my direction.

"HEY! B-BACK OFF!!" I began to slowly walk backwards. Running will only trigger its predatory instincts.

As the creature took another step, my ears pricked up to the sound of heavy rustlings coming from behind me.