“Hello?I’m stuck inside of here!”I shout.
A man’s voice yells something back, but I can’t make out what he says.I hear him continue to try to open the door, followed by sounds of his body slamming against the wood.
Suddenly, I hear a deafening roar and the door slams open.An enormous brown bear stands before me, baring his sharp teeth.
Everything goes black.
5
Barrett
Leaving my optometrist’s office,I am grumbling to myself because she told me I need readers.I suppose that’s not shocking at 42, but it makes me feel grumpy, anyway.I climb into my truck and, since I’m in the area, I decide to drive by the Edison site to make sure everything looks good over there.
Pulling up, my heart skips a beat when I see Abigail’s red SUV parked alongside the property.Feeling silly, but I am pretty excited to see her.She’s been on my mind ever since we did the walkthrough the other day.I don’t know if it was because Calissa was needling me about dating again, but this woman has swept me up with her talent and beauty.Plus, it’s pretty badass to move to an entirely new state and start a business on your own.
I walk around the building, but I don’t see her.The landscaping looks fantastic, though.When I get to the back, I see that the sliding door is open.I go inside, expecting to find her looking around, but the building is quiet.Walking into each room, I make sure no valley creatures decided to make the place their toilet and find one of the office doors closed.
I try to open it, but it won’t budge.The doorknob twists, but the door appears to be stuck.When I try again, I hear a muffled shout on the other side.That must be Abigail.
I forcefully try to open the door and, when that proves to be yet again fruitless, I slam my body against it a few times.Still, nothing budges.For a moment, I consider calling the Corvid Valley Fire Station, but decide to try one more thing first.
I shift into my bear form, run, and slam my massive body against the door.Wood cracking sounds greet my ears and I repeat two more times.The final slam causes the door to fly open.
I stand in the doorway, breathing hard, and see Abigail look at me, then crumble to the floor.
* * *
When I helped Abigail wake up, she complained about feeling sick, so I insisted on taking her to Corvid Valley Medical Center.Now I sit next to her in a curtained-off area while she receives a bag of fluids via IV.
“How’s my patient?”Dr.Dixon says when he walks in.
“Feeling better, doc, thank you,” Abigail says, looking up from the People Magazine I snagged for her.
“Great.Everything is looking good on my end, so once this bag is empty, you’ll be able to check out.I’ll get the paperwork going.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
When he leaves, Abigail looks over at me and says, “And thank you.You really pulled out your hero card today.”
“Any time.”
After she checks out of the hospital, I drive her back to the site.We head through town, where she points out where her office is.
“That’s a nice sign.”
“Thanks.”she says, then her hand flies to her stomach, “Oh.”
“You OK?”
“Yeah, just my stomach growling.I’m suddenly starving.”
“Hey, Bernie is holding down the fort while I help you.Of course, you’re hungry after all of that.Let’s go grab some food.”
“Are you sure?”
“Totally.Do you like diner food?There’s a good diner just around the corner from here.”
“Corvid Valley Cafe?I have been meaning to check them out.Let’s do it.”
