Three

“Spook!” Bella shouts, looking around although she can barely see anything.

Suddenly a hand grabs her and she lets out a startled shout. “Agh!”

“It's just me, Bella. Come on, we have to get back! I have to put out the fire.” Maury tells her, pulling on her hand. He tries to drag her back with him but she fights his hold, drawing him to a standstill.

“No, Daddy, I can't. I have to get Spook!” She looks around frantically, hoping for a sight of the dog. “He is all I have left!”

“What do you mean, baby? You have me-”

“Of Mom!” Bella cries. “He is all that I have left of Mom!” Bella swipes at the tears on her face that are freezing on her cheeks as they fall.

The snow has stopped falling for the moment before it could accumulate too much on the ground. Other than a few patches of white, here and there there is no real sign that it had even been snowing. But the temperature is still falling quickly and she has no shoes on. Her feet are tingling painfully from the frozen ground beneath her.

“Bella, I-”

“We got him together, Mom and I. He was the runt of the litter and we had to take care of him. We bottle-fed him and bathed him gently with warm washcloths. He-” Bella sniffles. “He is the only thing I have to hug now. I can't be in her arms, but he can be in mine. I have to find him. You go back without me!”

“No,” Maury says, pulling her in for a hug. “I have left you alone for too much as it is. That fucking house can burn to the ground for all I care. Let's go find Spook.”

Bella and Maury talk through the trees, calling out to the dog. Bella is not sure how long they walk for but it feels like forever. Her feet are so cold and pained that each step that she takes feels as if she is stepping down on knives.

A brisk wind blows shaking what few leaves remain on the trees and seeping the cold deep into her bones. She shivers, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, which are itching and burning, from the below-freezing temperatures.

“Bella, you are freezing! You don't even have a coat or shoes on. Let's go back.” Maury says, wrapping his arms around her.

He stands a foot or so taller than her, so she nuzzles her face into his chest, feeling the warmth that immediately comes from him blocking the wind. He is wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, with wool socks. His dusty brown hair is sticking up in many different directions and his face is red from the cold. His familiar brown eyes look on her with sadness and she knows what he is about to say.

He wants her to stop looking for Spook.

“But Dad-”

“Shh..”

He quiets her, turning his head to listen to something in the distance. He takes her a moment but eventually, she hears it. The low sound of barking. “Spook!”

“Stay here, Bella. The trees are thicker and there appears to be thorn bushes. You don't have shoes on or anything to protect your skin. I will go get Spook and then come back for you.” Maury tells her, pulling away.

“But Dad-”

“Bella. Stay put.” He kisses her temple before pulling away completely. “I will be right back.”

Then he is gone, pushing his way through what appears to be a fence of trees. The trees look like they were strategically placed to keep people out and it gives off a real ominous vibe. Bella is starting to understand why there are so many scary stories about these woods. They do give off a hardcore 'keep away' feel.

Looking around, she realizes that it has been a few minutes since her Dad left and that he is not back yet. The barking has stopped and the woods are eerily silent. Shivering more now from fear, rather than the cold, she hugs her arms tight around her body.

Suddenly she hears a loud grunt that is so familiar to her that it sends a chill down her spine. “Dad!”

As she pushes through the thorn bushes and the bare branches of the trees, she hears Spook growling deep in his throat, which he only does when he feels like he is threatened. “Dad? Spook!” Bella calls out, continuing through the deepest part of the woods.

The thorns and limbs scratch her skin and rocks cut the bottoms of her feet, but she ignores the pain as she pushes on. She can see nothing through the darkness except for in the few spots that the moonbeams manage to shine through.

The clouds shift above her and she notices her father laying on the ground, with Spook nowhere in sight. “Daddy!”

Bella has no idea what happened to her father but she has to get to him. She has to see if he is okay. Bella stumbles through the last of the thorn bush but her shin hits a large rock that she did not see sticking up from the ground. “Ow! Shit!”

She stops to grab her leg out of habit, but once she has paused, she stays stopped. Some sixth sense or maybe some divine intervention of some sort keeps her from moving forward. That is when she notices the large figure looming over her father.

It looks far too large to be Spook, but it is standing on all fours like an animal. Is it a dog? Surely not. The thing is freaking huge. What kind of dog is that big? But on the of chance it is, she calls out. “Shoo! Get away from him.”

The animal moves, shifting his body. Until it is standing on to feet. What kind of animal can do that? A bear? But Bella has no idea if bears are even native to this area. “What the hell?”

Moving forward, she tries to get closer to her father when she hears a growl that stops her in her tracks. Because the growl did not come from an animal. It came from a man.

It is a man standing over her father.

“Hey! Get away from him!” Bella shouts, reaching down to pick up a stick. The figure falls back into shadow as the clouds cover the moon once more. She can barely see anything through the darkness.

“He trespassed on my land.” A deep voice snarls. “I allow no one to come on my land.” He bends down to grab her father's feet and she panics.

“We didn't mean to, I swear. Please, don't hurt him. We will leave, right now. We will get off of your land, I promise. “ Bella tells him. She is nervous and so she rambles on, since he has said nothing to stop her. Maybe she can barter with him. “We can pretend like this never happened. I mean, we saw nothing. If you have something going on here, we don't know about it. We saw nothing illegal, so we won't go to the cops or anything. If you will just let me take him home-”

“That is not how it works! Everyone in this town knows that you don't come on my land! He is going to pay!” The deep voice booms.

“No, please. Don't hurt him. It is my fault that we are out here. I came running into the woods and he chased me, trying to stop me. He was only in here because of me. Please. Let him go. It was my fault that we are on your land. I will be the one to pay for it.” She tells him bravely.

She can not let anything happen to her father. He is all that she has left in the world and she loves him more than anything. If she has the means to save him, then she will, not matter the cost to herself.

“You would do that? You would trade your life for his?”

“In a heart beat, if it meant that my father was safe. That is what I do for the one's that I love.” Bella declares. “So, if you will live him alone and let him live, I will go with you. I will give my life for his.”

“Fine. So be it.” Suddenly the large figure turns toward her and then everything around her goes dark.