AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I looked around desperately, hoping to find the man who had tried to save me. Please, don’t him have been eaten. But no matter where I looked, there was no sign of the paramedic anywhere. I was alone. Alone, and about to be eaten by a bear.
The creature stood over me, its long arms hanging at its sides. Something seemed so strange about it, about the way it looked down at me with something I could swear was intelligence in its eyes. The strange look it gave me made my think that it was making a decision, but about what, I couldn’t be sure.
As I looked up at it my vision began to fade, the edges growing dim and creeping inwards until all I could see was the face of that bear as it came down on top of me, its jaws open wide.
So this is how I die, I thought as everything went black. Not with a car crash, but with a bear attack…
My nose was filled with the smell of cooking food and burning wood. I was warm, wrapped up in the softest blanket I had ever felt in my life and lying on a downy feather bed. My first thought as I came to my senses was that I actually had died and that I’d made it to Heaven.
But before I could wonder what idiot had put me on the God’s “nice list,” I was greeted by a voice that seemed all too familiar.
“How are you feeling?”
I opened my eyes, turning my head to look up at the paramedic who had stopped to save me. Something felt strange as I stared up at him, taking in his handsome features and that head of wavy brown hair.
“What happened to the bear?” I asked, trying to work through the haze that had fallen over my thoughts.
“It’s gone. I—I drove it off after it pulled you out of the car.”
“You saved me from a bear?” I asked, smiling even though it pained me.
“Yeah,” he said, chuckling. “I guess I did.”
“My hero,” I murmured, my voice groggy from the deep sleep I’d only just awoken from. “I don’t even know you name.”
“My name is Cade,” he said, returning my smile as he sat down beside me. “And you’re Ashley.”
“How do you know what my name is?” I asked, brows furrowing. Was he some kind of stalker? Was that why he was so quick to arrive on the scene? Had he been following me?
As I asked myself a flurry of panicked questions, Cade plopped my purse down on the bed and quirked the side of his mouth up in a lopsided grin.
“I may have looked through your purse. I managed to grab it before I took you up to my cabin after I… drove the bear off.”
“Normally I’d be pissed at anyone who went through my bag, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” I said, relaxing as I felt a little more confident that my rescuer didn’t intend to keep me shackled in his bedroom Misery-style. “Where are we, anyway?”
“My cabin,” he said, looking around the room. “The roads are washed out from all the rain and I don’t have a phone. So until the storm clears, I can’t take you to the hospital.”
“No phone? Jesus, how do you live?” I asked, sitting up slowly. I thought that I’d be in agony, but to my surprise, I barely felt any pain as I moved into a more comfortable position against the headboard. I glanced down at my wounds, only to find that they not only looked much better than I had hoped, but they were already starting to heal.
“Holy hell,” I breathed, my eyebrows raised. “I thought I’d only been here a few hours. My cuts are almost gone!”
“You have only been here a few hours. The storm’s still going on outside,” Cade said, shifting nervously beside me as I began to examine myself, pulling the blankets away. I hardly even noticed that I was naked.
“That’s not possible,” I said, looking up at him, “I had a broken leg. Hell, my face was all—”
I reached up to touch where the countless lacerations had crisscrossed over my face when my windshield had shattered into a million pieces. But as I brushed the tips of my fingers over my cheek, all I felt was smooth, unbroken skin where I knew a mangled mess should have been.
“Cade,” I whispered, my eyes wide. “What’s happening to me?”
“Let me explain,” he began, biting on his lip.
“Yes,” I said, “I think you should do just that.”
“When I was pulling you out of the car—”
“Wait,” I interrupted, my eyes narrowing. “You pulled me out of the car? I saw that fucking bear, Cade. It pulled me out, not you.”
“I…” He faltered, turning away from me for a moment before looking me straight in the eyes. “I am the bear.”
