Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete (3 page)

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Jake was happy. Very pleased with
himself about something. He was keeping a tight lid on it though, because when
the rangers asked him what he was smiling about, he made a bizarre comment
about it being a good day for breathing the air.

Thunder Brad
then asked to see his rifle.

“Hunting is
prohibited in this area,” he droned upon confiscating the weapon.

“I wasn’t
hunting,” Jake protested, amid his good cheer. “I was just –”

“Did you find
it?” Dennis asked. “Did you find the bear?”

Jake shook
his head. “Nah. It gave us the slip I’m afraid.”

Thunder Brad
removed the bullets from the gun and handed it back to him. “You’ll need to
leave the area now. But before you go, if you could each give your names, phone
numbers and addresses to my partner. The police may want to contact you about
this.”

One by one,
Jake, Dennis, Dara and Jasmine lined up for Scott to take down their names. As
they were doing so, Jasmine heard Thunder Brad radio in the hunter’s body and
their location. She wasn’t sure how he was involved in this or what he was
hiding, but she would be glad once they were out of here.

The four
friends started back to the car without the rangers.

“So what was
that back there?” Dennis asked. “Why were you smiling and shit?”

“I’ll tell
you in a second,” Jake said.

“Fuck off,
tell us now.”

“I said in a
second. Yeesh.”

They got back
to the car. Dennis got out the cooler and passed bottles of water around the
group. Jasmine only needed a few gulps before she was right again.

Jake tipped
half a bottle over his own head.

“This is
fucking killing me,” Dennis said. “Something’s happened out there. But I don’t
even have a clue is what…”

“Pffft…” Dara
muttered, leaning against the car.

“Pffft,
what?” Dennis challenged her.

“It’s so
obvious.”

“What’s
obvious?”

Dara looked
at Jake who was still smirking. Jasmine could see that was permission enough
for Dara to tell them.

“He’s killed
something,” Dara said. “Obviously.”

“Really?”
Dennis murmured.

Jake threw
his hands in the air. “Maybe. Something.” He shrugged. “Come on, let’s go.”

He got into
the passenger side and Dennis put the cooler back in the backseat. A minute
later Dennis was in the driver’s seat and Jasmine and Dara were in the back.

“I got the
grizzly,” Jake confessed. “It’s the biggest fucking thing I ever killed.”

“Whoa, whoa,”
Dennis muttered between starting the car. “You killed the bear? You found it?”

“Yeah. It was
a while away. Down the river, trying to fish with its paws or something. Had no
idea I was there. I just took my rifle out… Looked at it through the scope… And
bam. Dead fucking bear. Right between the eyes.”

“You are so
full of shit, man,” Dennis chuckled.

“Am I?” Jake
reached into his pocket. He took something black and moist from his pocket.
“There’s the fucking nose.”

“Holy FUCK!”
Jasmine shrieked. “THAT’S DISGUSTING!”

Dennis could
barely control his laughter as Jake set the nose on the dashboard.

“Boys with
their toys,” Dara muttered.

“Seriously that
is fucked,” Jasmine went on. “I think … Ugh… It’s making me sick…”

She opened
the door beside her and leaned out, afraid she might vomit.

“Come on
now,” Dennis muttered. “I’m trying to start the car. Close your fucking door.”

“Get that
thing out of here,” Jasmine hissed.

“You mean me,
or the nose?” Jake chuckled.

It was a
legitimate question.

“So what kind
of bear was it?” Dennis asked. “Was it the grizzly?”

“Oh, you
bet,” Jake said. “Big son of a bitch too. Look…”

Jasmine
couldn’t help but look up again. Jake was showing her brother the dead animal
captured on his phone.

“Neat, huh?”

“Nice,”
Dennis nodded. “Why didn’t you tell the rangers?”

“And get hit
with a fine? No thanks.” Jake pocketed the nose. “Sorry, Jasmine. I didn’t know
it would upset you that way.”

“Well, it
does.”

“Close your
door, Jasmine,” Dennis insisted.

Jasmine gave
a deep sigh. She closed her door.

“So what
happened to that guy Jasmine saw?” Dennis asked, backing the car towards the
main road. “Did you see him?”

“No,” Jake
replied. “No guys anywhere. But who knows. If he’s still out there, maybe I
saved his life.”

“You’re a
real hero,” Dara said sarcastically.

Jake laughed
to himself. “I try, don’t I?”

The car
entered the main road and Dennis turned the wheels so they were facing the right
direction.

Before they
took off however…

Jasmine saw
an enormous grizzly bounding towards the car outside Dara’s window.

She screamed:
“DRIVE!”

Dennis hit
his foot on the accelerator.

And the bear
went through the glass headfirst.

CHAPTER NINE

Now it was Dara’s turn to scream. Her
phone fallen from her hands, and she grappled with her belt buckle while the
bear somehow managed to maintain contact with the car mid-motion. Jasmine
assisted her and off it came, sending glass flying all over the place as Dara
slid into her arms and out of the bear’s. After a few seconds Dennis managed to
rev up some speed on the car and the bear fell away from the window.

Dennis was
exploding with a number of obscenities while Dara trembled, her cries fading in
volume but not frequency.

“Holy …
shit…” Jake said after another minute passed.

“What the
fuck was that?” Dennis snapped at him.

“It was a
bear. Didn’t you see?”

“I know it
was a bear, Jake! What was it doing in the fucking car!”

“How should I
know?” Jake snapped back. “It’s not like anything like that’s ever happened
before to me.”

“Are you
okay, Dara?” Dennis asked.

She’d since
gotten herself under control. She pulled away from the wet patch left on
Jasmine’s shoulder, and retreated to the middle seat. “I thought you said you
killed the bear, Jake. You piece of shit.”

“I did kill
the bear!” Jake cried defensively.

“That bear
didn’t look dead to me!”

“It was
another bear, alright,” Dennis interjected. “Case closed.”

“How do you
know?” Dara challenged.

“It had its nose,”
Jasmine answered. “It had a nose.”

The car
sailed past the ranger’s lodge and office.

Jasmine
blinked a few times. “Where are we going? We just past the ranger’s office back
there.”

“The rangers
are back with the bear,” Jake said.

“Well, where
are we going?” Jasmine pressed again. “Are we going to call the police or
something?”

“Oh no,” Jake
said. “Fuck that.”

Jasmine
leaned forward, clenching her teeth. “Why? Why ‘fuck that’?”

“If that was
a second bear, and it killed those rangers, they’re gonna be after the guys who
killed the first bear,” Jake explained. “It’s serious shit.”

“Well, one of
those bears already killed before we showed up,” Dennis said. “It’s not like
they were all peaceful or anything.”

“I guess so,”
Jake muttered. After a moment he added, “But we don’t want to deal with the
shit anyway. We should just keep driving out to the cabin. Spend the night, and
then get the fuck back home next morning.”

Dara’s mouth
dropped. “I don’t think I want to stay out here tonight.”

“Why?” Jake
said, leaning over. “Scared?”

“I’ve just
been through an ordeal, you prick!”

“Ooh. Poor
you. A little glass in your hair. Boo-hoo. Never mind its Dennis’s fucking car
–”

“Hey man,”
Dennis interrupted. “I don’t care about the car.” He shrugged. “Maybe we should
go back.”

“I vote we
turn around right now,” Jasmine said.

“You see?”
Dara persisted. “We are
over
this trip, Jake.”

Jake fell
silent.

Dennis kept
driving.

Jasmine
looked at Dara.

Dara looked
back. “Thanks,” she murmured.

“Oh that’s
okay,” Jasmine said quietly.

Another
minute of silence past.

“So what do
you want to do?” Dennis asked under his breath. “Keep going or go back?”

“Keep going,”
Jake said loud enough that everyone could hear him.

CHAPTER TEN

They reached the cabin that belonged
to Jake and Dara’s uncle within the next quarter of an hour. The cabin itself
was a three minute drive off the main road, through a barely present dirt
track. Despite the area being heavy with trees there was a decent enough amount
of clear ground surrounding the cabin. From there, it was a two minute walk
till you came to a lake.

Upon
arriving, it was apparent that Dennis, Jasmine and Dara needed to conference
outside of Jake’s presence. Whilst he was unloading supplies from the trunk of
the car, the three peeled away towards the lakeside and began their discussion.

“That was
fucked up back there,” Dara said. “My hands are still shaking.”

“I was over
this the minute he put that bear’s nose on the dashboard,” Jasmine exclaimed.
“Like, so gross.”

They both
looked to Dennis.

“What do you
want to do?” Dennis asked. “His mind’s made up.”

“Yeah, but
there’s three of us,” Jasmine continued. “Only one of him.”

“Well,
there’s no way we’re just going to leave him here,” Dennis said.

Jasmine
looked to Dara. “You know your brother better than anyone. How do we convince
him staying here is nuts?”

Dara
shrugged. “It’s not nuts. Back there was nuts.”

Jake was
walking over. He had a plastic bag with him. “What are we talking about?”

“Nothing,”
Dennis said. “Well, before. And such.”

Jake took a
beer from the bag and threw it to Dennis. “There you go.”

Dennis caught
it. “Thanks.”

Jake walked
round and handed a drink to his sister, and then one to Jasmine. Both vodkas.

He had a
bourbon and cola for himself.

“Drink up,”
he said, cracking the lid off the can. “Relax.”

He gave a
small chuckle and then head on his way to the car.

Before
Jasmine could get another word out, both Dennis and Dara had cracked their
cans.

“What are you
doing?” Jasmine hissed.

Dara took a
sip. “I’m thirsty.”

Dennis looked
from her to Jasmine. “Me too.”

He took a sip
as well.

“Come on
guys,” Jasmine said. “You’re not gonna let him boss us around, are you?”

Dennis
shrugged. “Look, I don’t even care. I get we all had a bit of a scare back
there. But maybe Jake is right. Maybe we are being … wimps.”

“Ooh, there’s
something I wanted to show you in the cabin,” Dara said. “Follow me.”

The
invitation was for Dennis only.

She grabbed
his wrist and led him away from Jasmine.

As she did
so, Jake emerged from the house. His eyes focused on Jasmine. He started
walking over.

“Need a hand
with that drink?”

“No.” Jasmine
cracked the lid. “I’m fine thanks.”

He stopped in
front of her. Looked her up and down.

Stared at her
tits briefly.

Jasmine
shuddered and took a sip.

“I’m gonna
get him, you know,” Jake said.

“Get who?”

“That fucking
grizzly. Fucking scare my friends? Shit.”

“Well, what
are you –?”

“You see that
lake there,” Jake said, pointing.

Jasmine could
see it.

“You follow
that south for long enough, and eventually you’ll see it’s connected to the
same river we found our body at. I’m willing to bet, if I kept going down
there, I’ll find that son of a bitch.”

“It would
take hours to walk back to where we were,” Jasmine said softly.

“Well,” Jake
said, taking a drink from his can, “hopefully the bear will meet us halfway.”