Her Wendigo Chapter 2

Caught

"Son of a bitch."

Lia watched quietly with her arms folded over, shivering slightly. She kept adjusting her bum on the concrete she sat on. The bridge above her was noisy, the sound of engines echoes between the large concrete pillars that stretched from the water. There is an intersection right across the bridge, it would sometimes create a line of cars, making it more noisy.

The air was humid and cold under the bridge. Protecting her and the stranger from the heat. Occasionally, a warm breeze would grace them both. Lia's sweater was on with the sleeves pulled past her wrists.

"If these bastards don't bite before it gets dark, I'm gonna head to the lake." The man was agitated. He spoke a little too loudly and coughed harshly past the cigarette in his mouth. "This is bullshit."

The man was dressed poorly: old clothes that with large holes, shoes that had too many miles on them, and his hat looked as if it would fall apart at any moment. Despite his apparel, his hair and beard were well kept and brushed. He didn't smell bad either.

Lia looked over into clear crystal water. There was definitely fish in the water, very big ones. They stayed still in the current with little movement. Lia didn't know what kind they were. She could see the man's worm bobbing in the water slowly; the fish had little interest.

"I'll tell ya one thing miss." The man pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, his eyes still on the worm. "These beauties taste a hell of a lot better than shit you can buy at the store."

"What about parasites?" Lia looked to him curiously.

"Protein."

Lia couldn't help but smile at his remark. He held determination as he stared at the worm. His old hands both with a hard grip on the rod. Her smile, just as quickly as it came, dispersed when she looked to Damian.

Damian hasn't given her any direction to find Vex, since they left Jake. For the past couple days he's just been... she didn't know how to describe it. He's been there for her, he's just stop communicating. The first day of his silence she cried half the time pleading him to tell her something so they could continue their journey. Lia never wanted to get mad at Damian but they were supposed to be finding Vex.

He seems likes he's waiting for something.

He's been changing his behavior too. Lately, Damian would throw small fits if she ate any junk food. He'd nip and pull at the bags and try to spread it all over the floor. That too made Lia cry, feeling embarrassed about the messes he'd make in the middle of the stores.

Damian has also limited travel too. Once it was dark Damian would refuse to move from any shelter and would pull at Lia's bag to keep her from leaving.

She didn't understand any of it. Lia was so tired from getting frustrated with Damian that she gave up fighting him. Every day that they sat, Lia could feel her insides turn. Vex is in trouble and their sitting here twiddling their thumbs. For what reason?

"These fuckers ain't bittin'." The man started to real in his pole with a long sad face.

Lia didn't say anything, but gave him a sympathetic smile. She was tired.

He gathered his pole and small bag. Doing a small playful bow to Lia he said his farewell, before walking out from under the bridge. Lia watched him leave till he disappeared behind the concrete. His steps rang between the pillars till they dimmed to nothing.

She looked back over the water. The same fish still swam by the side of the concrete wall. She could see her reflection faintly through the water, but it was hard to make anything of it. The reflection was disturbed by the current. The lack of the slowly diminishing light didn't help either.