The Great Mate Escape

Dad, I miss you

My mom, Patrica Carson and I were what most people in the sleepy little town of Forest Hills called, the dynamic duo. Unless we were at school or work, we were always together. After my dad died during a hunting accident, we grew extremely close. We were always close, but our mother/daughter relationship blossomed into a best friendship as well. We depended on each other to get through the bad days and laughed with each other during the good. My mom is very beautiful and she had offers for dates, flowers and candy delivered, tickets to sold out shows and concerts for my friends and myself, even a couple marriage proposals, but my mom denied each and every one of them. I was met with disappointment when the offer of tickets to a weekend festival of all the latest and greatest pop stars was offered for myself and 3 of my friends, but her mom turned them down, saying it wasn’t right to say yes to the concert when she had no intention of giving what was expected of her from the man offering the tickets. That was one of the worst fights we had ever had. I didn’t talk to my mom for a whole week.

Finally, one day, 4 years after dad had passed away, mom announced to me that she was going out on a date and to not wait up but have my homework done and there was money for pizza on the fridge. It shocked me but made me so happy as well. It meant mom was finally healing and would maybe stop crying every night. I knew mom didn’t think I could hear her, but I did and also allowed a few of my own tears to fall. Not only for my mom but for my dad too. I am getting older and with that came new feelings.

I’m Olivia and I like too think that I’m pretty, but Im not one of those who are stuck on myself. I’m 17, 5’8” with curves in all the right places, golden brown hair with natural red and blonde highlights that had a natural wave to it as well. It was long and thick and I love to wear in a pony tail most days, but sometimes leave it long and lose. My eyes have a unique eye colouring that’s sky blue with a purple ring around the iris and long, flirty lashes that make my eyes look big and doll like but like a soft, wind blown fan on her cheeks when I am sleeping. My lips were a soft pink and full and plump and my skin was perfect with a natural pink tint on my cheek bones. I don’t wear make up and just small earring studs that my father bought her a week before he passed. I am your typical teen girl, so I wear your basic teenage clothes of jeans and t-shirt with sneakers or flats and have a few great friends, including some admirers. With my 18th birthday coming up in 6 months, I started to notice a voice in her head but chalked it up to the changes I was going through with the stress of school, applying at colleges, missing my dad even more now that I was becoming an adult and the fact that I was being asked on dates almost on an hourly basis. My purity is very sacred to me as my mother had always told me that it was a gift to my mate only and not something to give to just anyone as once it’s gone, there’s no going back. I didn’t understand why mom said mate, but i figured it was just a term she used as my mom would always refer to dad as mate.

One morning, when I came downstairs to have breakfast before school, I found my mom in the kitchen making breakfast. It was a feast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. Usually I just made myself a bowl of cereal or even just grabbed an apple, but today was going to be different. Something about today made me feel jittery, nervous yet excited and I couldn’t figure out why I had goosebumps all over.

“Good morning mom.” I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek, “what’s with the Saturday breakfast on a Wednesday?”

“Good morning my sunshine. I was up early and decided to send you off with a full tummy. I called Ally, she is coming shortly and then you can both eat and go to school.”

Shortly after that, a friendly “good morning fam!” Is heard as the front door opens and closes. Ally walks in and sniffs the air and groans. “Momma Carson, it smells like heaven in here! My tummy agrees!” She says as we hear a growling coming from her stomach. We all laugh and Ally and my mom both join me at the table as mom puts the last plate that contained the bacon, on the table.

After a wonderful breakfast of food, chatting and laughs, Ally and I leave for school. Ally drives a silver 2023 Ford Mustang that has all the bells and whistles, including limo black windows. We arrive at the school in record time as we were a bit behind having such a good time at breakfast. Everyone is envious of Ally’s car, but since her dad is rich and owns 5 businesses in town, it’s not surprising that she has the best. Plus her older brother is now running 2 of those businesses and has his own money. Since Ally is so well off and I am not quite the same level, Ally often spoils me as everyone knows that my father was not really killed by accident but no one can prove different. I hate that I get pity by some and try to ignore the whispers that are still happening, even after 4 years. Ally, however, does not and will tell anyone who is caught whispering about me, that if they don’t want to meet the same fate, to shut the f**k up.

Today was one of those days. As soon as I walked into the school, the atmosphere felt different. The air felt heavy and I felt my shoulders just didn’t have strength to hold my head up. I felt dizzy and like I was about to pass out. I stopped at the end of the hallway and looked around to see people looking at me sadly. Why? What the hell was going on? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Today. f**k today was the date. Four years ago today. My dad was taken from me 4 years ago today. That’s the reason behind the breakfast mom made, the reason why Ally was called. It all made sense now. Suddenly I was picturing everything like it was fresh.

FLASHBACK

The doorbell rang and when I opened the door, there stood 3 men whom dad went on his hunting trip with. I didn’t know them and had never seen them before. One of the men crouched down to my height, “hello little one, is your mom home?” He asked in a deep voice that was filled with kindness but held some sadness in it as well. I looked up at the other two men and they smiled at me, a smile that had no happiness in it at all. I knew right away something bad happened.

“Where’s my dad? Why isn’t he with you?” I asked nervously.

“You must be Olivia? Your dad told us all about you. He loved you very much and was so proud of you. He talked non-stop about his little angel.”

Little angel, that was his nickname for me. My heart felt tight at what the man said. “Where’s my dad? Why did you say he loved me like he doesn’t anymore? MOM! MOM!! Something happened to dad! MOM!!”

I realized the man was talking in past tense and something was very wrong. The man’s eyes turned glazed as well at the other 2 men. Were they going to cry?

My mom comes around the corner to the doorway and gently pulls me back by my shoulders. “Alph..Alfred, what a surprise. Please come in.” She pulls me to the side and tells me to go to my room, that she needs to talk to the men.

“But mom, I think something happened to dad. He said dad loved me, as in he doesn’t love me anymore.” I turn and look at the three men who 2 are now sitting on the couch and the one, who mom called Alfred, is standing with hands in his pockets, looking at me. I point at them and yell, “what did you do to my dad? My dad would never stop loving me! You did something to him, didn’t you?” They look down sadly.

“Olivia Rayne Carson, that is enough! We do not accuse people of anything. I am sure your dad is on his way. Now apologize.”

“But mom..he said-“

“Now young lady.” Mom gave me the “mom look”. You know the one, the one that says do not step on that last nerve or the wrath of mom will be released.

I hung my head in defeat and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Alfred came over and surprised me by giving me a hug. I disappeared in his huge arms and for some reason felt safe. Like when my dad would hug me after I had a nightmare. “It’s ok little one. Now, can you do me a favour? Can I talk to your mom? I promise after I talk to her, I will tell you what I told her. Can you just give me and my men, I mean friends, about 10 minutes?”

I gave him a small smile and look at the other 2 sitting on the couch and nod my head. I go to my room but don’t close my door all the way and listen to what they are saying.

“Patricia, I’m sorry, but John is missing. He went to look for his kill after it ran off and when he didn’t come back after 10 minutes, we went to see if everything was ok. We found his kill, but he hadn’t touched it. Then we found his g*n and his phone, both had blood on them. His blood. I think you know what this could mean.”

“But I didn’t feel it. I would feel it if he was gone. He’s out there, somewhere, maybe hurt, but he’s alive.” I hear my mom say before she started crying.

“I know Patricia, I haven’t felt the bond break either. I am bringing in reinforcements as I think it’s rogues. We followed his trail for 5 miles.”

“You mean they took him into no man’s land?” My mom gasped.

“That’s what we think. That’s why we have sent for reinforcements. I want you to be prepared for the worst though, Patricia. I know you were not born as what you are now, so you don’t understand the pain you will feel if the worst case scenario happens.”

What the hell are they talking about? Not born as she is now? What do they mean by her feeling pain and the bond breaking?

“Little one, come out. I know you have been listening and probably have a ton of questions.” Says Alfred.

I come out and they explain about my dad missing and he could have met up with some bad people. “No! My dad is a big man like you. He will kick their asses.”

“Olivia!!” My mom scolds me for saying asses and the men snicker.

One of the men gets up off the couch and comes over, placing a hand on my shoulder, “You are correct Olivia. Your dad is strong man and a great fighter. We will find your dad, ok?”

I nod my head and thank him. The front door opens and 8 huge men fill the living room. I mean huge, well over 6 feet tall and all muscular. Two women walk through the door as well. They are taller than me and are full of lean muscle but are absolutely gorgeous. They all have very serious looks on their faces and strangely bow to Alfred. They all hug my mom and come over to hug me. I am still gobsmacked by the size of these people and have no idea what to do, so I just let them hug me.

One of the women gives me a tight hug and looks at me, “You are the spitting image of your mother, but I see you have your dad’s eyes. You, my sweet girl, are going to be amazing when you get older.” She smiles and winks at me.

I am confused by her statement but soon there’s a knock on the door and one of the men opens it. The police are coming in and go over to Alfred. “Thank you for coming so soon, sherif. I think everything was relayed through the message sent you, am I right?”

“Yes, Alph..Alfred. I have some town’s folk that I called and will be here shortly. We all loved John and he was a huge part of our community. We will find him.” The sherif shakes Alfred and everyone else’s hand and comes over to me. “Don’t worry Olivia, we will find your dad and bring him home, ok?”

I sniff and wipe my face with the sleeve of my shirt and nod my head, not trusting my voice since I did’t even realize I was crying.

It seemed like hours had past but in reality it was just a few minutes until there was a commotion and all the town folk came back to the house, including the sherif. He lowered his head after removing his hat and was talking to my mom. Her scream shook me to my bones and when she collapsed with the Sherif trying to hold her, I knew my dad was gone. My world stopped turning so abruptly, my head hurt. My heart shattered into a million pieces.

I love my mom but my dad was my hero. He was tall, strong, kind and loving. Everyone loved him, but not as much as mom and I. He would wake me in the morning and tease me about boys. We always had family game night every Wednesday and he always made time for us, no matter what was happening at his job. Now, that was gone, taken from me and my mom.

That night, I cried so much and my heart was pounding so hard in my chest. The big men had retrieved dad’s body and I heard them tell the Sherif that he was attacked by one or more wild animals so cremation was the only option. I couldn’t believe my dad, the biggest man I had known until now, was over taken by wild animals.

The sound of my bedroom door opening brought me back to my dark, even darker than normal, room. The moon shone through the curtains but even it seemed to be dull, as if mourning the loss of my dad. My mom appeared by my bed and I could hear her sniff and then she sobbed. I pulled my blankets back and moved over so she could lay in bed with me. She snuggled me close to her like when I would have a bad dream or not feel well, and I laid as close to her as possible. I could feel her shaking as she sobbed. I reached my arms around her shoulders and hugged her and we both broke.

We cried until we no strength or tears left and I heard my mom’s soft breathing and felt her breath on the top of my head. I knew she finally fell asleep. I wish I could be so lucky, but all I wanted was my dad back. The howling of wolves was heard. The moon seemed to get a little brighter, but I chopped it up to my tears drying up and i could see better. One howl seemed louder than the others and it made me shiver, but not in fear, more like a peace washing over me. I’m not sure when it happened, but I fell asleep to the sound of the wolves howling a beautiful song into the dark of night.

END OF FLASHBACK

I’m brought back from the past when Ally shakes my arm. “Liv! Hey, earth to Olivia!”

“Sorry, I spaced out. I..I just remembered what today is. I can’t believe I didn’t realize sooner. I mean the breakfast, this feeling I’ve been having. Ally, it’s 4 years ago today. What kind of a daughter am I to not remember I lost my dad today, 4 years ago?” I lower my head in shame.

“Hey, don’t talk like that. You know what? You’re healing, this is all part of healing and it’s a good thing. Do you really think your dad wants you to be all mopy the rest of your life? He’s probably proud of you finally healing and being strong. Now c’mon, let’s do your dad proud and have a great day in his honour. What do you say?”

When she put it that way, how could I say no. But still I looked out the window when we got to our first class and thought, dad, I miss you. I love you.