Ursanthropy
12. Breakdown

Doreen

“What did my brother say to you?” Vic asked me.

“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.” I lied, because I did want to talk about it, but I just couldn’t.

I was crying because I was starting to feel something for her brother, yet I couldn’t let anyone know about the danger that was coming in, probably soon.

As I had experienced it was always within a few weeks, that the guards would replace me. In the beginning, when I had just run away, they were fast and found me in a couple of days, but as I became stricter in letting anyone know anything about me or my past, it had become more difficult for them to replace me now.

But I didn’t have the illusion that they wouldn’t come at all. Sooner or later, they will be here.

“You know you can tell me, right?” Vic now tried.

“That’s what your brother said as well.” I said while crossing my arms and turned my face away, to stare out the window of Bertha and Erol’s apartment above the diner.

“Doreen, please, tell me at least something. You don’t have to give me details, but I just need to know what is going on in that mind of yours.” She pleaded.

Tears ran over my face, just as much as they did when I stood in front of Jack.

I sighed deeply, not wanting to let anything know, but also wanting to release some of the pressure of everything that I had to hold in, in my mind. Bearing the weight of what I had to face, when returning home, all alone.

“There are people after me, and they will hurt anyone that gets in their way.” I suddenly let out, without thinking too much about the consequences.

“What happened, that they need to replace you?” She asked me now.

“Vic, please, if I tell you anymore, and they replace out, they will kill you too! I don’t want that!” I said, crying loudly. “It’s just better if I should leave now, to preserve you guys from being hurt! I can’t have that on my conscience, I’d rather kill myself!” I yelled and slammed my fists on the cushions of the couch.

Suddenly Vic embraced me and hugged me tightly, without the intention of letting me go.

I slid my arms around her as well, and cried heavily.

For the past three years, I have been in constant fear. Living my life from place to place, nowhere staying longer than necessary, until I had enough money to replace my way to the next job. Or running away from my father’s guards when they arrived sooner than I had calculated.

I always had my bag with important papers and money with me, so that in case I had to run, I only had to grab it and go.

But I couldn’t hold in anymore.

As I was holding Vic, while tears ran down my face, sobbing loudly, for the first time in a long time, I realised that this place was the place that I needed to be. This town, including its people, might open me up to them, even though I didn’t want them to get hurt.

“You are not leaving us Doreen; you are way too precious. Believe me when I say that we can protect you.” I suddenly heard a deep voice say, which made my head flinch into that direction.

Jack stood there, probably a little longer than I had wanted. He must have heard everything I have said.

Jack

“But you can’t promise that! You don’t know how persistent these people are, how determined they are to get me back!” She had let go of my sister’s hold, and now turned her rant towards me. “Besides, what if they hurt you, or Vic, or Bertha, or even one of the other people from this town? It has happened before, so what’s to say it doesn’t again!?” She said defeated.

I can’t tell her right now, that we are shifters, that we are more powerful than any human alive. We are probably the strongest and sturdiest of all sorts of shifters in this world. Our strength is something that we are proud of and thus train it to our fullest capacity to keep it our strongest feat.

Henceforth it’s the reason why we are this tall, broad and strong, and can eat a plate full of pancakes and still aren’t satisfied, food wise.

But what am I going to say to her, to make her stay, and eventually tell me what has happened to her?

“Doreen, do you believe in soulmates?” I asked her.

Vic gasped and shook her head, and Doreen looked at her, with a confused face.

“What are you doing, this isn’t going to work!” Vic linked me, but I ignored her.

“Doreen?” I asked her, and made her look into my direction.

“Well, I don’t know exactly.” She replied.

“What do you mean?” I asked her again.

“Well, it’s not like I had the luxury to think about it, the past three years.” She said, blatantly.

Three years? She has been running from whatever danger it is, for three years already? I growled, almost roared, as I thought of the fact that someone is threatening her for such a long time already. She could have been safely in my care, all this time!

Not to mention that she would have been well fed, and stronger than she is now.

“But I guess so. I mean, everyone will get to replace his or her partner for life, some time, right?” She said, while wiping away the tears from her face. “But what does that have anything to do with my protection?”

“Well, I believe that you are mine, and you have to trust me that I will protect you. I need to protect you.” I said.

“What? But why, and how?” She said, while looking back and forth between me and Vic, and moving herself backwards on the couch. “What are you going to do to me?” She asked feared, as I could tell because her heartbeat was going faster.

Shit, my sister was right. I said the wrong thing, again.

“Nothing! What my brother just means, is that he likes you, and he truly wants to help you.”

She relaxed just slightly, at the comforting way that Vic talked to her. I’m so glad that she is here with me, as otherwise Doreen would have been running away a long time ago.

“But then you would need more information from me, and I just can’t talk about it now. I probably have said too much already.” She said while looking down.

“Even though it would help us, we aren’t going to force you into anything, alright?” Vic said and took hold of Doreen again.

“Get out of here, before you frighten her again. I’ll take care of this!” Vic linked me and I lifted my arms in defeat.

I hope she would succeed at that. Because the sooner Doreen trusts me, the sooner we can train her into getting stronger.

My first priority is to keep her safe, but if she was, miraculously, in a dangerous situation, I wanted her to be able to defend herself.

I walked downstairs, and met an empty diner.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Bertha.

“Well, you guys were yelling so loudly upstairs that I couldn’t take the risk that someone would replace out about our new Luna. So, I closed for the night.” She explained herself, and I thanked her for her discreteness. “How is she doing?” She then asked.

“Worried and frightened. But Vic is soothing her now, so I guess that she is coming down soon.” I said and she nodded.

She grabbed a bottle of alcohol from the shelves behind her, two little glasses from a cupboard beneath it, and walked us over to one of the tables.

“Come, I guess you could use some.” She said as she lifted the bottle, and I sat next to her.