Bear
1342 Words
Charlotte woke up shivering. A snowstorm hit last night and the cold wind had battered the basement windows relentlessly until they were buried in snow.
She had gone to bed, as usual, wearing all of her clothes in layers. It was often cold in the basement. However, she didn't own enough clothes to chase away this kind of cold.
Charlotte rolled out of bed, stopping to brush her teeth before trudging upstairs. How was she going to get to school in this mess?
Walter had the T.V. on in the living room. The weatherman was talking about the storm and Charlotte overheard him say that the storm wouldn't let up until the late afternoon.
Greeaaat, she thought.
Charlotte tried to linger around the kitchen for as long as possible but it was clear if she didn't leave now she wouldn't make it.
The cold air hit her like a brick wall when she walked out of the door. She struggled to pull it closed as Walter shouted at her for letting snow in.
The snow outside was thick.
It felt like she had been walking through deep snow for hours but she was probably only half a mile down the road when an old truck pulled up next to her.
Was this it? Was she about to be kidn*pped and murdered? Maybe that would be better than freezing to death.
The window of the truck rolled down but she still couldn't see through all of the snow. She did however recognize the voice.
"Get in you idiot."
It was Danny.
Charlotte hurried to open the door and jump in. Her stiff frozen fingers made it a bit tougher than usual.
"Thanks!" She said, teeth chattering as she tried to defrost in front of the heater.
Danny grunted in response and they fell into an awkward silence.
"Are you looking forward to the weekend?" Charlotte asked trying to be polite.
"Look, we're not friends. Especially at school. I don't know you, you don't know me." Danny said.
"Got it," Charlotte answered. She didn't expect them to be friends. Danny had made it pretty clear that they weren't.
Danny pulled the truck into the school parking lot. It was a much quicker trip than Charlotte was used to. She started to jump out as soon as the truck was stopped.
"Wait," Danny said. Charlotte turned back to look at him just in time to catch the coat he threw at her.
"It's one of my old coats. You can keep it." He said before taking off toward the school.
"Thank you" Charlotte responded in surprise even though she knew he was too far away to hear her.
It was a simple grey coat but it was made of warm wool.
Maybe Danny wasn't as heartless as he tried to appear Charlotte thought smiling.
"What are you going to do this weekend?" Madison asked her at lunch.
"Oh I don't know, probably nothing," Charlotte answered.
"Aw, I would say we should go shopping but I'm going to visit my aunt and uncle this weekend." Madison sighed.
"That's ok, shopping, isn't really my thing anyway," Charlotte answered. She didn't have money to go shopping but she didn't want to tell them that. She didn't want them to feel sorry for her.
"Nonsense! You have to celebrate surviving your first week of school somehow!" Amelia argued.
Charlotte laughed. Amelia was pretty fiery and she tended to get her way.
"Maybe we can celebrate my first week of school next week."
"Don't be absurd" Amelia said rolling her eyes as Charlotte and Madison laughed.
The weatherman's prediction turned out to be correct. The snow had almost completely let up by the time Charlotte's last class was over.
She looked for Danny after school to tell him that she would walk home but he was nowhere to be found.
Shrugging Charlotte took off toward the woods. She'd discovered a shortcut home the other day. The path wasn't far from the road but Charlotte kept a good-sized rock in her hand as protection in case the wolf came back.
She sometimes saw a dark shadow following her on her walks. At first, it frightened her but surely if something wanted to kill her it would have done so already, right?
Charlotte hummed to herself as she walked along. Long walks always cleared her head and improved her mood. She particularly enjoyed the crisp air and fresh smell of pine.
Her first week of school hadn't been nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She was starting to enjoy Amelia and Madison's company. Even Danny had been somewhat nice to her today! She was wearing the coat he gave her and it was keeping her quite warm.
Charlotte was halfway between school and the house when she heard a twig snap.
Gasping, she turned toward the sound. A dark hulking figure stood just a few yards away. The shadow was blocking her path.
"Go away!" She shouted fearfully.
When the shadow failed to move she threw the rock at it.
That turned out to be a mistake.
The beast reared up and charged toward her roaring. It wasn't a wolf. It was a huge, angry grizzly bear.
Charlotte screamed in terror, running toward the road. Maybe she could flag down help.
Before she could reach the road she tripped over a branch and fell into the snow.
The bear had almost reached her now. Charlotte was preparing for the worst when out of nowhere another body slammed into the bear.
It was the black wolf.
The two animals crashed into the ground, a mess of teeth and fur and claws.
Charlotte couldn't tell which animal was winning. They both were making terrifying noises.
Suddenly the wolf had the bear pinned. The bear's roar turned into a groan as the wolf mercilessly crushed its throat.
The wolf then shook its head for good measure, sending blood flying.
Charlotte gasped as the wolf slowly turned to her. Its muzzle was covered in blood.
"Good wolfy" she whispered nervously as it slowly approached.
The wolf stopped 4 feet in front of her and laid down in the snow.
"Please don't hurt me" she begged.
The wolf whined sadly, crawling a little closer before laying its head on its paws.
Charlotte felt the wolf's eyes on her as she laid back in the snow, trying to catch her breath.
*** GIO ***
His mate was an i***t. Gio watched as she threw a rock at the bear, provoking it to attack.
It was unusual for a grizzly to be awake this early in the season. The ones that woke up early like this were usually hungry and pissed.
The bear started charging toward his mate. His little mate screamed in fear.
Gio saw red.
How dare this animal attack his mate!?
He crashed into the bear at full speed. The bear was similar to him in size but not in strength.
Gio quickly gained the upper hand and pinned the bear down. He crushed the bear's neck between his jaws.
Hot blood gushed into his mouth as the animal went limp.
Gio turned to look for his mate as his furry faded. He was still angry but he had to make sure she was ok.
His mate gasped in fear when he turned to her. She was afraid of him.
How could he show her that he wasn't going to hurt her? If only he could talk.
Gio approached her slowly. She was laying in the pile of snow she landed in after she tripped.
His mate was clumsy.
"Good wolfy" she whispered nervously. His ear twitched in agitation at the word wolfy.
"Please don't hurt me," she said as he got closer.
That made him feel bad. Gio didn't want his mate to be afraid of him.
Gio laid down in the snow and crawled on his belly until his mate just out of reach. It was the only way he could think to make himself less intimidating.
She still looked nervous.
- Writer
