We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

Helen

Hey babe!

Sam

Hey

Helen

Sorry to do this.

Helen

I think I left something in your car.

Helen

I really need it.

Helen

Can you bring it to me?

Helen

Pretty please 😍

Sam

I’m already back at the Creek.

Sam

It’ll take me a few hours

Helen

I’ll make sure it’s worth the trip

Helen

😉😉😉

Sam

what did you leave?

Sam

can it wait til tomorrow?

Helen

i neeeeeeed it tonight!

Sam

well…

Sam

i guess I can drive back

Helen

Thanks baby!

Helen

Don’t go to my dorm though!

Sam

wat?

Sam

y not?

Helen

I’m hanging out with some friends in this cool warehouse

Sam

ok… what warehouse

Helen

I’ll text you the address

Sam

you’re freaking me out a little babe

Sam

everything ok?

Helen

Just come to the warehouse!

The first thing I noticed as I came to was the smell.

Damp and moldy.

It filled my nostrils and made me want to hurl.

All I could see was darkness.

The light was blocked out by the burlap sack covering my head.

The coarse fabric scratched my cheeks.

There was a throbbing ache at the back of my skull and a shooting pain in my right shoulder.

I tried to move my arms, but they were tied to the chair.

I tried to scream, but there was duct tape covering my mouth.

I could just about make out the footsteps of people moving nearby.

~Who are they?~

~What do they want with me?~

To my right, I heard somebody whimper.

~Emma?~

It had to be.

~She’s alive!~

I wanted so badly to reach out to her. She must have been just as terrified as I was.

And I was pretty friggin’ terrified.

My heart was racing. A clammy sweat had broken out on my forehead and palms.

I thrashed about trying to free myself, but it was no use. Then I heard one of the voices speaking close enough to hear.

“Looks like they’re awake.”

~That voice.~

I thought I recognized it.

~Who would do this to us?~

I held my breath and tried to listen more intently.

“What should we do with them?”

I knew I’d heard that voice before but couldn’t quite place it.

“Take off the sacks…”

My eyes went wide as the second man spoke.

This time I knew exactly who the voice belonged to.

“…Let’s show them where all of this ends.”

~CHRIS!?~

Someone yanked off the sack, tearing a handful of my hair away with it.

Blinking in the light, it took a second for my vision to focus. When I realized what I was looking at, I could barely believe it.

In front of me was Chris. There was a condescending smirk on his face...

And a gun in his hand.

He was dressed in camouflage pants, a tight khaki T-shirt, and combat boots. He looked like a soldier ready for war.

It was hard to believe. He’d always seemed so preppy. Less combat boots and more boat shoes.

“What’s the matter, Helen? Are you surprised?”

“Dumb bitch,” a slimy voice came from behind me.

I strained my neck trying to see Chris’s partner in crime, but he was out of view.

Cable tied to a chair on my right was Emma. The sack was still covering her face. She kept twisting and struggling against her restraints. Her terrified sobs were muffled by the hood.

As Chris’s accomplice moved to Emma, I finally put a face to the voice.

Sean. That slimy dick.

~Of course it was Sean.~

I should have recognized the smell.

My mind started to race. Thinking back to last night in the woods.

~What were they up to?~

~What ARE they up to?~

Sam had been right to lose it last night.

~SAM!~

He would be back in Bear Creek by now, completely oblivious.

I knew if he was here right now he’d tear these guys’ throats out.

Sean pulled the sack off Emma’s head and she looked around in panic.

Shock flooded her expression.

She turned to me and we locked eyes.

I wanted to say something, to reach out and grab her—but I couldn’t.

“I bet you’d like to know where you are?” Chris said, a devious grin arching in the corners of his perfect mouth. I used to think his smile was one of his most attractive features, but now I found it terrifying. He looked like an unsexy vampire.

There was so much to take in, I hadn’t even registered where we were.

It must have been some kind of warehouse. The floor was cold concrete and the sheet metal walls reached up to a high ceiling.

Skylights dotted the roof, but there was no light coming in. It must have been dark out.

~How long have I been unconscious?~

Exposed piping and electrical cables ran up and down the walls. On either side of us, tall industrial shelves ran the length of the room, crammed with boxes.

Chris and Sean were standing in front of some kind of machine— a series of conveyor belts and robotic arms that looked like it was used for automated packaging.

A stack of empty boxes stood beside them on one side, and on the other was a series of pallets with boxes piled high, covered in clear shrink wrap.

Over in the corner, a row of bulletin boards was drilled into the wall. They were covered in maps of the area— more specifically, maps of Bear Creek.

~Why are they mapping out Bear Creek?~

~What do they want?~

~What does it have to do with the shifters?~

I noticed Emma staring at the maps as well.

The room was lit with low-wattage fluorescent bulbs, and I could just make out the names on some of the boxes. The labels all sounded vaguely medical.

~Where are we?~

~Why has Chris brought us HERE?~

Chris looked like he was enjoying the show as I swung about frantically, trying to piece together the clues.

“Have you figured it out yet?” Chris asked, throwing his arms out.

I couldn’t shout at him or tell him to go fuck himself, so I glared as best as I could.

“My father is CEO for one of Colorado’s biggest manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceuticals— among other things. This is one of his smaller warehouses.”

~Is he bragging?~

As if I was going to be impressed by his dad’s drug empire while I was tied up and gagged!

“This warehouse is special, however. It also doubles as the headquarters for the Boulder Hunting Society, of which my great-great-grandfather was the founder.”

~So that’s it!?~

~Chris is a hunter?!~

My head was reeling.

Sam had warned me about shifter-hunters, but I’d never suspected that the guy I used to have a crush on could be one of them!

I should have figured something was up by the way he acted around Sam.

The way Chris was overly interested in my time at Bear Creek... about the bear I'd seen.

~Has he figured it out?~

~Does he know Sam is a bear shifter?~

If Chris had figured it out, then Sam was in danger.

“Tick tock, tick tock... I can see your little mind going crazy in there. Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”

Chris nodded at Sean.

~Ow!~

Sean ripped the tape off of my mouth, and it felt like he was tearing the skin from my face.

“You piece of shit!” I screamed at Chris.

“Aw, I thought you liked me,” he teased. “You liked my fingers in your pussy, that’s for sure. I can’t believe you let that beast mark you, Helen.”

So he had seen.

And he did know about Sam.

~Is that what gave it all away?~

I felt terrible. Not only had I hooked up with Sam’s mortal enemy, I’d endangered his entire community.

Even if I managed to get out of here, I’d probably have to face Bear Justice in the pit.

“I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get you to spill all the details about Bear Creek. You were so desperate for affection… You were easier than a two-dollar hooker.”

Sean joined Chris in front of us, a large hunting knife in one hand.

“Thanks to you and your little camping story, we’ve managed to map out a path in and out of Bear Creek, giving us access to those animals like we’ve never had before.”

I pressed my back up against the chair as Chris started coming toward me.

“You don’t stand a chance against the bears!”

I noticed Emma’s head turning toward me. The look of confusion on her face was unmistakable.

~She doesn’t know!~

This was the first she was hearing about bears or shifters.

~She must think we’re all crazy!~

“My family has hunted those bears for generations. We know their ways and their strengths. We know how to beat them.”

Chris continued moving forward, advancing on me like a jaguar stalking its prey.

“I’ve seen them fight—they’ll tear your dumb-ass face right off!”

“Silly little girl. They may have claws and teeth, but we have guns. Not to mention strategic intelligence. Those redneck hillbillies could barely organize a birthday party, not to mention an effective plan of defense.”

I fought back the tears that had started trickling down my face and onto my jeans.

Chris stopped in front of me. He took my face in his free hand and ran the barrel of his 9mm along my jawline.

“Why are you doing this?” I tried to turn away and started to sob.

“Look around. We make drugs. We make incredibly effective drugs. Drugs that can heal almost any illness…”

~Oh shit!~

My mind flew back to the honey farm, when Sam had used his blood to heal my bee sting. I remembered Jack, wounded after his battle, healing in no time flat.

~So that’s what they want.~

“The blood,” I said, and locked eyes with Chris.

“Clever girl,” he said.

Gently, he wiped a strand of hair from my face, letting his fingers trail down my cheek before grabbing my chin in a strong and painful grip.

“We use their blood to make the drugs, and then we sell them to the highest bidder.”

“You’re such an asshole!” I spat at him.

~WHACK!~

Flashes of light danced across my vision. It took a moment before I realized that Chris had slapped me. The searing pain spread through my cheek as the shock wore off.

“Dumb slut, you’ll learn not to speak to me like that!”

Chris turned and walked back to Sean. They started whispering to each other.

I glanced at Emma, whose red face was drenched with tears.

I’d endangered Sam and gotten Emma into this mess too.

But I still didn’t know why they’d brought us here.

“What do you want with us?” I asked. My voice was shaky, but I tried to sound confident.

Then I noticed Sean holding my phone.

“What are you doing with that?!”

“Dude, he’s gonna be so psyched when he finds out!” Sean was jumping around like a maniacal rabbit.

“You see the thing is, Helen, my dad is an important man, and he doesn’t like to be disappointed. Unfortunately, my last few hunting trips haven’t been as fruitful as he would’ve liked.”

“Poor baby!” Maybe teasing the kidnapper with the gun wasn’t so smart, but I didn’t have much else to lose.

“Oh, but you shouldn’t worry. He’ll be impressed when I show him the specimen I intend to catch tonight. And it’s all thanks to you.”

Chris took the phone from Sean and held it up so I could see the text messages to Sam.

“You might be average-looking at best, but you’re going to make excellent bait.”

“Sam?”

~Oh no!~

It was all making sense now. They were using me to get to Sam.

“You’re going to capture him, aren’t you?”

My bottom lip was quivering.

“Oh sweetheart, not just capture”—Chris bent down and grinned like an evil goddamn clown—“we’re going to kill him. We’re gonna skin him, and stuff him, and add him to our trophy collection.”

“No!”

Sam was going to come, and they were going to kill him, and it was all because of me.

I was so stupid. How did I not see the real Chris?

I could hear Emma’s panicked breaths. Her terrified moans muffled by the duct tape.

~She doesn’t need to suffer,~ I thought.

~They don’t need her to get to Sam.~

~If I can’t save him, at least I can save her.~

“Will you at least let Emma go?” I pleaded. “She doesn’t know anything about this! She has ~nothing~ to do with it! Please!”

“It was really just bad luck that we happened to find you two together today,” Chris said, using the gun to scratch his temple. “But you’re right, she has nothing to do with this.”

~Thank fuck!~

“She’s completely expendable.”

~Oh shit!~

Chris moved toward Emma shaking his head.

“Completely useless.”

Emma began to pull at her restraints, her eyes wide with terror.

“Too bad she knows everything that’s going on here now.” Chris turned his head sideways and smiled at me. “We wouldn’t want the expendable girl running off to tell the police.”

“Chris, no… No!”

He raised the gun and aimed it squarely at Emma’s head.

“Goodbye, Emma.”

His finger found the trigger.

“EMMA!!! NO!”

~BANG!~