Tannis' Story

She lay curled up on the soft couch cushion awash in the familiar bass beats of the 80’s music with which she had grown up. Her long purple hair covered her eyes and she saw the world in a violet shade. A cold breeze danced over her making her skin tighten and raising bumps on her exposed flesh. Her grey eyes seemingly focused on some intangible thing in the corner. The navy blue carpet was dotted with little multi-color rugs and the wall was painted an icy blue in an attempt to have a calming space. Not that it really mattered to her anymore. 1

Tannis’ eyes moved toward her wrist. The bandage a glaring white against her mocha colored skin. She had not wanted to look at it or anything else for the past three weeks. Thank goodness her parents were paying her bills while she recovered or else Tannis would be out of a home. Her boss had called her two days ago and said if she was not in that night she could forget about work all together. So she forgot about work, and about food and everything else that went along with living. Her mother came by a couple times a day to feed her and make sure she was still alive. Sometimes she thought about killing herself but she never was able to go through with it. 2

…3

The accident had been horrible and nerve racking and she wished that she had died then. She had been hiking a trail and had gone off the path. A stupid move she would admit but she had seen some wildlife she wanted to photograph. While trying to perch on the edge of a small crevasse to get a good shot something brushed her leg making her jump and fall wrenching her knee. Tannis had landed on the soft floor of the crevasse six feet from where she had been. She faded in and out of consciousness for hours. Night fell and the cold darkness swept through the mountainside and stirred her from her pain induced sleep. She heard some rustling in the bushes where the earth jutted out above her. Tannis called out hoping that it was a searcher. In the light of the full moon she saw a giant head peer over the ledge curiously. It was a large brown bear that had heard her call. Fear clutched at her chest and she faded into oblivion. 4

When she woke again to a warm softness wrapped around her. Pain radiated from her knee and she came to the realization that the soft, warm blanket she had been snuggling into was, in fact, the bear she had seen earlier. Her heart froze in her chest and she took small soft breaths trying to remember if her survival class ever went over such an eventuality and came up with nothing. Bears will either eat you or leave you alone if they think you are dead but she had never heard of them napping with someone. Her agitated state seemed to disturb the large beast and it rose up off the ground. She watched through tightly squeezed eyes as the bear moved toward the bushes then returned with something in it’s mouth. It was a fish writhing in it’s death throws. Tannis jumped and yipped when the bear dropped the fish near her head. It sat and looked at her for a while then wandered off into the bushes again. After it had been gone for a while she opened her eyes a bit more and looked at the fish curiously and traced the puncture marks made by the bear’s teeth. 5

The bushes rustled again and she stared, wide-eyed at the bear as it approached her. Softly it sniffed at the fish then pushed it toward her looking at her with large, brown sad eyes. Laying on her back she slowly took the fish and raised it to her mouth pretending to eat it hoping to do what the bear wanted and when it didn’t maul her for taking the fish she relaxed a little. Soon the bear laid close to her again putting a protective paw across her body and she dozed again. When Tannis woke again she heard barking yips coming from the tree line. The bear stood over her growling deeply sending trills of nerves down her body. From the darkness of the tree line emerged two beautiful silver colored wolves. The moonlight showed their blood stained muzzles and glistening white teeth spotted with bits of meat. They had been eating when they scented her and had looked forward to a larger meal than the rabbit they had caught. 6

Ice water shot through her veins, paralyzing her with fear. Disgust flared in her head over the constant terror she was experiencing. She had told her parents not to worry about her on her hikes and living in an apartment all alone because she could take care of herself and now she was in a situation she never thought would happen to her. Tannis yipped when the bear gently placed it’s mouth over her neck as if about to tear her throat out. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the two wolves seeming to confer with each other and turning to leave the bear to his meal. Squeezing her eyes tight Tannis waited for her life to end but instead she felt the bear’s long tongue slide up her neck to her chin and over her lips. He laid beside her again with his paw over her stomach and seemed to go back to sleep. Too overcome with relief and confusion Tannis drifted back into the darkness of sleep. 7

Pain ripped her from her dreamless sleep. The sun had risen over the mountains and beside her there were three fish, some dried wood and dead leaves. Her bear had left and she didn’t want to risk calling out incase there were any other wild animals around. Checking her knee which had swollen to twice it’s size and she cried as she moved it so she could sit up and work on building a fire to cook the fish. When she had finished eating Tannis looked around and tried to figure out how she would get out of the crevasse. Pulling her map out of her bag along with her canteen which, luckily, was still full. She drank deeply from it and looked over the map with despair, she had gone off the main trail and was at least a mile away. With any luck someone discovered her truck had been in the lot at the bottom of the mountain trail or a friend or family member had discovered her missing. All she could do was wait and hope that the smoke from her fire would attract the attention of hikers or searchers. 8

The day wore on and she was glad for the shade of the small outcropping above her. Around the middle of the day the heat spiked and she fell asleep again. When Tannis woke again it was late afternoon and the sun had slipped down over the other side of the mountain range. She drank some more water and relit her fire. Some people don’t realize that no matter the temperature in the day it could drop dramatically at night and if the bear didn’t return she would need the heat to help her live through the night. She looked over her map again and found the nearest stream was about twenty feet away and she dreaded the trek to get more water when it ran out. 9

As dusk slipped off into darkness and the moon rose over the mountain side the bear returned. He was carrying a large fish in his mouth and moving slowly and tiredly. Tannis smiled at him and his ears perked toward her. He lowered the fish to her hands gently and laid down next to her. She absently ran her hand over his head giving him a scratch on the neck. He groaned and yawned baring his large teeth at her. She took out her canteen and knife and began cleaning the fish as much as possible before cooking it. Tannis deftly sliced the meat off the bone on one half of the fish and laid it on the paw of her companion then sliced her own meat off the fish and ran a stick through it to help cook it without burning herself.10

They ate staring into the burning embers and she told him what she had been up to that day. When she finished Tannis dragged herself closer to the bear and snuggled next to him. He let out a deep sighing breath and drifted to sleep as she softly sang any little tune that popped into her head. Her fingers trailed over his shoulder and foreleg. She gently investigated the sharp claws and rough pads of his paws. Maybe he had been a pet or a trained bear released into the wild Tannis thought. Her head rested on his side and she inhaled smelling the woods, the stream and the thick scent of the animal. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again humming an old Meatloaf song. 11

She stirred with a sigh as she felt a soft, wet, warm touch moving down her neck to the opening of the old button up shirt and across her breasts. It moved down to where her shirt bunched at the bottom and went over her stomach along the line of her cargo shorts. Something bumped her injured knee and the pain roused her to waking. Tannis looked down and saw one of the wolves from the other night licking her. She sucked in a breath and stared at the wild animal hoping it would not decide to eat her now. Clear blue eyes stared into hers and the wolf bared it’s teeth menacingly. Suddenly a large brown blur knocked the wolf into the rocky wall. It yelped as it hit and rose painfully to its paws. Growling it moved forward. The bear bit Tannis’ shirt and tried to move her away from the approaching beast but the shirt just rode up and over her breasts. Both animals stopped moving and stared at her exposed flesh and under-garments. Turning bright red Tannis pulled the shirt back down and tried to drag herself to a large rock she could hide behind. The wolf made a lunge and bit into her hiking boot trying to drag her back. An angry roar came from the bear but it didn’t bat at the wolf again instead it lowered it’s neck for Tannis to grab onto. She held on tight as the animals played tug-of-war with her as the rope but her arms started slipping from the bear’s neck and with a hard jerk the wolf pulled her loose of the bear. The bear made a quick grab for her shirt with his teeth but instead got one of her flailing arms. Both animals released her immediately and stared at each other. 12

Blood dripped from the bear’s mouth onto her hand. Tannis sat up suddenly clutching her arm, eyes filled with tears and a scream boiled in her throat. The wolf backed away from them and ran into the night. Tannis stared at her bear tearfully and screamed when he stepped toward her. With a sad look he slunk off into the woods. Tannis scrambled for her backpack and pulled out a first-aid kit, She poured anti-bacterial liquid over the bite and wrapped it tightly with gauze to stop or at least slow the bleeding. Crying and cradling her arm she decided that she would start trying to get to the main trail when the sun rose. Tired from crying and pain Tannis soon drifted into a troubled sleep.13

…14

Someone had noticed her truck the day before and her mother had been worried when she missed their family breakfast. The rangers that took care of the area had put together search parties and followed the trails, checking caves and cliff faces along the trails. Toward the evening the searchers went back down the mountain to regroup and rest for the night. The next day the searchers found her straining along the edge of the crevasse dazed and crying. They hoisted her to the top and one of the rangers carried her back down to the station. Tannis fell asleep in his arms and woke only briefly when he set her down on the couch in the station. 15

She woke to hear two of the rangers arguing. 16

“If you hadn’t started the fight this wouldn’t have happened!” A man’s voice growled deeply.17

“Well you should have ‘found’ her that next morning. Instead you had to keep her. What were you thinking?” Another man barked back at him.18

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. She was hurt and I just… God! I don’t know!”19

“Well now we have a problem. Or you have a problem. What happens in a month? You have to warn her.”20

“I will. It was so much easier for us. It was something to look forward to. It’ll be so much worse for her. How do you tell someone they may be infected?”21

“Sorry buddy I can’t help you there.”22

“Why’d you have to go after her? You did this on purpose. Licking her like that you knew I would get angry you fucking mutt!”23

“Don’t blame me man! You’re the one that bit her.” The second man shouted. Tannis filled with panic and began looking for an escape from these insane freaks. She tried the windows while the men fought in the other room but they were shut tight and sealed. Some boxes in the corner seemed to form a little cave and she scrambled to it and hunkered down as well as she could and hoped they would think she had snuck past as they fought.24

“What the hell are you two doing?” a woman had entered the room. “Her family just entered the park they will be here in less then thirty minutes and you two are fighting! Someone needs to get in there and tell the girl what’s going on. She must have heard something because she smells much more scared than she should be in here.”25

The men mumbled apologies to her and followed her to the next room. Tannis stayed as close to the wall as she could trying not to breathe. The woman sniffed and walked over to the boxes. She knelt down and looked in the little cave. Her face was kind though a little sharp and she smiled at the frightened girl warmly offering her hand. After a minute Tannis took the ranger’s pale hand in her own and within seconds she was clinging to her as if she were the last stable thing on earth. 26

“Now honey we have some hard news for you to hear.”27

…28

And that was how Tannis found out that she was now different. They would be picking her up soon to take her to the mountain. For the last three weeks she had lay down and willed herself to die. She had found out that the bear was a ranger named Davis. He was the type of guy she would have dated normally solid and quiet with large brown eyes and raven black hair trailing half down his back. Tannis just couldn’t feel anything for him after what he had done to her. The wolf was Jarrod. He was a tall slim man with a permanent smirk plastered on his face with piercing blue eyes and lightly tanned skin. And the other wolf was Ember, the child of hippies, she was short and blond with amber eyes and always wearing a flower barrette in her hair that had belonged to her mother. 29