Bear by Lily J. Adams

 

Chapter Six:  Spooked Out

 

Delphia

 

The surprise was I’d enjoyed myself at Wheelz. Bear told the truth when he’d said his crew was exciting. They were funny, easy going people. Especially Jaz. She made me feel included and because I’d isolated myself since my brother’s death, I’d forgotten what it had been like to feel alive again without any worries like death or grief looming over me.

I still hadn’t worked out the back door mystery.

Brendan didn’t seem to be upset when I took over the graveyard shift from him. “Hey, I checked the back door thing out; it seems okay to me. Maybe you left it open.”

“Maybe I did.” His theory didn’t sit right with me, but I slid in behind the counter and slung my stuff down like any other day.

“How are you today?”

Brendan’s small talk felt like my teeth were being pulled one by one. “I’m doing pretty good, thanks, Brendan.” My social skills of late weren’t the greatest, so I took the time to at least acknowledge him for a few minutes. My nerves were a little shot from thinking about the back door. “How are you doing? Do you like the afternoon shift better?”

“Ah, not bad. I get home earlier, so that’s always a bonus. Other than that it’s the same old, same old. I dunno, the night shift feels a little dangerous to me. It’s so dark outside, and it’s too quiet sometimes. Creeps me out. Doesn’t it bother you?” he asked.

“Nope. Doesn’t bother me at all. I feel peaceful most of the time when I’m on night shift. I've been doing it for so long.” Except lately, I felt differently about it. As if there was someone watching and peering into the gas station.

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna go. There’s a man who tried to leave the pump without paying, but his details are on the counter. I had to chase him out to the pump. I told the boss man, so he’s got a handle on it.”

I nodded. All standard at Holbeck Gas. That was my life. Sometimes, I chased them or shouted over the megaphone for them to come back. The surveillance cameras would pick up their license plates, and we always caught them.

“Okay, see ya. Have a good night.” Brendan strolled out with his backpack.

I went on with my shift. The afternoon dragged on and as per usual, the icebox air conditioner made me feel as if I was an ice cube in a freezer. I shivered in my jacket and turned it down. I wanted to turn it all the way off, but I figured the customers might not be okay with the result, which would be their clothes sticking to them when they walked to the counter. Sometimes people came into the gas station just so they could have some reprieve from the outside heat.

The day faded away with the numerous chores from the gas station that I had to take care of and soon, the curtain of dusk to dark night fell. A howling wind seemed to be moving through and I flicked my computer on to see if we were about to experience a storm. Nope.

Holbeck weather report: Slightly windy.

“Yeah, right. It’s super windy up in here,” I grumbled as I watched the purple and deep violet sky with interest. It was a pretty thing to look at, but that was about it.

This was the part of the night shift when I felt the Zen. Peaceful, relaxing even. As the time passed, I pulled out my magazine, ate a Hershey’s bar, and flipped through the pages.

A rattling noise near the back exit caused me to freeze and throw it down.

The drumbeat of my heart flooded my chest as I picked up the slim metal pole we used to pull the manhole cover off the gas outlets. My steps were quick and light as I walked through the back. I pushed the men and women’s bathroom doors open along the way to see if anyone was inside.

The disturbing feeling of being watched had its grip on me again, and I felt like I was in a horror movie in the moment right before the attacker emerges. My ears were pricked for the sound again, but no noise came.

Billowing winds were sweeping over the gas station and my weird feeling could just be that. It didn’t have to be someone watching or trying to freak me out, but the way my body reacted to the tinkering sound of what felt like a can blowing away in the wind had made me paranoid.

Flipping on the light from the back door, I still couldn’t see anything. I scanned left to right… nobody there. I looked down. A red Coke can clattered away from my foot. I frowned as my gaze swept the back area and then I tried to shove all the garbage in the compactor.

One lone can had caused my near heart attack.

My pulse rate was still up and I picked up the smell of gas from a vehicle. I knew what it smelled like. A warm car engine had traveled through here, and it wasn’t long ago. I made a mental note to check the video screen when I got back to confirm. I put a hand to my neck where shivers were still running. I didn’t want to stand out back too long. I closed the door quickly and checked it a number of times to make sure it wouldn’t budge, then half-jogged back to the front.

I didn’t even check the footage. I called Bear and it went to voicemail. “Um, hi Bear. It’s Delphia. You asked me to call you if anything strange was going on. Can you come down to the gas station? I feel a little scared. I’ll explain when you call back.” I felt like I was talking to a brick wall, so I hung up.

My throat suddenly felt dry. I coughed, clearing my throat and taking a sip of water from my bottle.

Of course, he wasn’t free at ten at night.

I’d left a message anyway, hoping he would get it. I didn’t call my boss because he would just tell me to call him back if I actually saw anything suspicious.

The phone rang straight back. Seeing the phone screen light up put me at ease.

“Hey, it’s Bear,” he answered groggily. “You don’t have to explain anything. I’m coming down now. Be there in five.”

His commanding voice allowed my rapid heart rate to slow down. “Okay,” was my meek response.

When Bear pulled into the gas station with the mighty roar of his black and polished silver chrome Harley, goose bumps replaced the fear.

He wore his black jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, black jeans and thick black boots with silver buckles. His face was in a perturbed frown, with his dark thick eyebrows furrowed. When he came in he looked to both sides of the gas station, it was dead still. His eyes were on me as his shoulders and legs moved his powerhouse energy forward. “Hey Delphia, you all right?” he asked quickly.

“I’m not. I might be irrational…” My fingers scraped my hair a few times before I looked at him. The wind was still rattling around, and I started to feel embarrassed that I called him in the first place.

“Better to be safe than sorry. I told you I would help if I could, so here I am. A promise is better kept.”

This was the first time I’d seen him be serious. Every other time he had a wide, contagious smile on his face. He showed bleakness in the eyes, but was still never without a smile. “Thank you. I feel better now that you’re here. I don’t know... I feel like someone is watching me and I haven’t explained a lot to you…” I was talking about my brother, but I suspected he knew and was avoiding the topic for pity’s sake. “I just think someone is following me. I don’t feel good. I know it’s windy. The back door was open the other night I was on night shift and I swear, I didn’t open it.”

Bear listened with patience, but didn’t probe. “Okay, I know your boss isn’t here, but I can check it out, from the outside? You cool with that?” He paused. “I’m here now, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you so much.” My nervousness levels decreased to even keel. “I think a car was out back. I really do.”

“Then this is the perfect time to reactivate my army skills.” Now that smile returned.

Suddenly, as the wind swirled around the gas station, I felt safer than I had felt in a long time.

Inhaling a few times, I zeroed in on trying to find the surveillance tape for out back. I noticed that there were only two cameras now. We used to have three. One was out the back, but now its video feed had vanished into thin air. I cursed under my breath, hoping that Bear wouldn’t confirm my fears.

Bear came back in and there was no smile. “Hey. You might wanna be on shift with someone else or alert your boss. Looks like the camera out back has the wires cut. That’s number one. Number two is not to alarm you, but there was fresh oil on the ground. So, someone was parked there not long ago.”

All my peace was lost and now—the fear was back.

I raked my hand through my hair compulsively. “It’s Rocky, it’s Rocky. Shit, he’s coming to get me.” Bewildered, I stood behind the counter.

Bear came closer and put his hand out to me. “Hey, hey. First off, just keep calling me. If anything at all is off, I’ll be here. Two, I know about your brother. I didn’t want to make it hard for you or anything, but I know about him and I’m truly sorry.”

Tears cascaded down my face without warning both from fear and anger. I could feel it was Rocky following me. Had to be him. I knew too much. “Thanks, but it doesn’t bring him back. They still don’t have his killer and I know who it is.” I put my hand lightly on Bear’s palm, but I couldn’t really keep still.

He clasped my hand in his and looked into my eyes. “The Rebel Saints know about the Road Warriors and we’re aware of Rocky.” He sat the truth there like a meal on a plate for me to digest.

“Your club knows him! Why? My god, why does bad stuff keep happening to me?” My brain wasn’t computing what he was trying to tell me.

He squeezed my hand tighter and kept looking at me. “Rocky is an enemy to us as a club. Long story short, I’m on your side and I can promise the whole of the Rebel Saints are on your side. I’m going to watch out for you. Rocky has met his match. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I’m here for you,” he said passionately.

He had been trying to tell me something different than what I’d thought. Closing my eyes to the nightmare, more tears drizzled down my cheeks. I never knew that guardian angels were this hot and cared this much. I wondered who he’d lost, but I didn’t ask. I was struggling to breathe at the moment. I sucked in a deep breath. “I haven’t talked to anyone about it for a long time. He was my best friend. The police—the police. They missed fucking everything and now my brother is dead!” I heard myself screaming, but inside my head, it sounded normal.

Bear dropped my hand. “I’ll stay here as long as you need. My bike’s right out front. I will wait till you get off and follow you home. I’m not leaving you here like this. No way.”

The determination in his voice to protect me made me feel so good. Stable again. “Thank you, can you? I don’t know if I can function.” I pulled tissues out of the box and wiped my tears away.

“Are you prepared for some awesome jokes and stories? I got time.” The big, jovial, smiling Bear was back in full force.

His contagious energy forced a smothered giggle out of me. “I guess I will have to be.”

“If you want to talk to me about your brother you can. I lost someone close to me in a car accident…” He looked down at the tiles and then lifted his head calmly. “Your brother is watching you. Trust me. Who knows? Maybe he sent me to look out for you,” Bear said gravely.

I thought this for a minute. Maybe he did.

R.I.P. brother.

“Wow. I’m sorry to you too.” He did understand.

“You don’t have to pity me. I just wanted you to know I get it.” Bear shrugged.

I nodded, blinking several times not knowing how to answer. Maybe Bear was my saving grace and I was his. Who could say? I was glad he popped up in my life.

Bear then did everything he’d promised to do. He rode on his beast of a Harley that fit him like a glove, it was as if the bike was an extension of his power. He idled out the front of my house until I got to my door safely.

I waved to him through the navy-blue darkness and moved inside. I felt my heart settle back in my chest and I don’t know that it should have. Just because I was inside my house, it didn’t mean I was any safer.

I flicked on the light and headed straight to my bedroom dropping off my bag and dumped myself on my bed. As I lay back, looking up at the sticker stars that I still had decorating the ceiling above, I realized that my brother wouldn’t want me to live like this. He would want me to have fun and live my life.

Sighing hard, I figured it was time to live. If Rocky was after me, then he would have his work cut out for him. He got off of those charges but it still made the police suspicious of him. They would at least look at him if something happened to me. I winced at my thoughts. Tomorrow, I would probably feel differently and be back to being scared about everything. For the time being, I would believe that I could have a normal, healthy life.

My eyes eventually closed down for sleep.

 

 

Sunlight blazing into my window naturally woke me up as I tried to rub the sunshine out of my eyes. My curtain couldn’t even hide it because they were translucent and it was shining through so hard. I picked up my phone to check it out of a compulsive habit. Scrolling Facebook was the way I started the day to see if there was anyone on there. That’s when I noticed the message from Bear.

Good morning. I hope you slept well. Do you like movies?

My fingers were on the phone pretty quickly and typing back to him with a sleepy grin. Yes. I love them.

I’m a trekkie fan and they are having a movie marathon at the old school cinema. Wanna go with me?

I love Star Trek! Yes!

Ok. Trek fans unite. I will call you and we can work out a date.

Cool. :)

Are you okay today?

My grin was growing wider at how sweet he was being. Yes. Feeling much better. Thank you for last night.

You’re welcome. Have fun in life, Delphia. You’re only young once. I know it’s hard not to live in fear, but the Rebel Saints are going to cover you. Give me a call if anything happens and make sure your boss fixes that security camera. x

I will. Thanx.

I put my phone away, I was in a better mood and almost floated to the kitchen. I put together a solid breakfast and munched away thinking about getting back into life. I loved Holbeck’s fairgrounds and I hadn’t been there in a long time. Plus, I hadn’t seen my friend Rochelle in weeks because of my hermit lifestyle. Spontaneously, I called her.

“Hi, Rochelle. How are you?” I said when she picked up.

“Is that you, Delphia?” she asked as if I were a long-lost friend that she hadn’t seen or heard from in years.

“Yep. It’s me. I know, I know. I’ve been low key for a little bit. Just been having some time out.” She also knew about my brother. It was hard not to know about him due to the media. A murder in Holbeck was a top storyline for all the journalist sharks looking for a feed in the water.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I miss you though,” she offered kindly.

“I miss you too, not much you can say. I was calling you to see if you want to go to the fair with me this weekend. Would you be interested?”

“Yes, it would be great to go! That’s a great idea. I haven’t been there for ages. We can hang and you can catch me up on stuff.”

“Nothing much to catch on except working at the gas station. It’s been alright though.”

“We will have to shake shit up then and make up some fun stuff to do.” She decided.

I chuckled, remembering how fun Rochelle could be. This new enthusiasm for life could work… provided, I could block out the fear long enough.