Hunting Carina

Chapter 1

Her long legs pumped as she ran down the old country road. She could feel her body falling into a steady rhythm and her mind began to wonder. She loved it out here. There wasn’t a soul for miles and with it no pressure from anyone, not her coach or her mother. She felt it was the only place she could truly be herself.

Her surroundings were mesmerizing, and she allowed herself to become lost in thought. There was smooth dirt under her feet with tall trees hiding her from the world on either side. She loved her hometown of Olive Hill, Kentucky but was ready to escape the pressure and start her own life without her mother controlling her every move.

Carina’s future was bright and so close she could taste it. In the fall she was headed to Morehead State University and the beginning of her future. No more Carina the beauty queen, or pressure from her family to be perfect. She could just be herself, meet new people and eventually learn to truly help animals. She had won a full academic scholarship, which had been a blessing since her mother had dumped her college fund into buying overpriced dresses and forced her from a very young age to dress like a grown woman and parade her around like some prize to be won. Sure, she had won multiple times but was fairly certain they had only broken even at the end of the day. The beauty pageant circuit was expensive, and any money earned went into the next event.

She thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Her brain was her greatest asset as far as she was concerned, and she had seen what kind of damage those pageants could cause. Some of her friends in the circuit were better than she was but many of them struggled with self-esteem issues and eating disorders. They felt they had to be perfect and were never good enough. She got tired of watching them fight over a Cheeto and got rude comments and stares when she would sit down and eat a burger and fries. She normally ate well but kept her weight down through exercise, not starvation. Her cheat meals were important to her. Come on, who doesn’t like a hot fudge sundae every now and again.

The road wound around in a gentle curve. She had been here many times before and loved this part of the backwoods. It was one of the fondest memories she had of her father before he had died of cancer. He used to take her on long walks down this very path where they had found Zeus. She named him after a character in her favorite movie. She called it “The God Movie” but really it was the Disney movie, Hercules.

She had always loved animals and one day just before her tenth birthday they had stumbled across a baby barn owl and his mother. It appeared that the mother had been attacked by an animal and was already dead. The baby owl just looked at them from the rafters where his nest was snuggled back against the wall. Her father encouraged her to take on the responsibility of caring for the little owl. He hadn’t thought the beauty pageants were healthy and tried to combat that type of influence by always telling her how smart she was, and that beauty came from within, unlike her mother who thought beauty was everything. She missed her dad tremendously and visiting Zeus always made her feel connected to him.

Chapter 2

He watched her as she came upon the old barn that sat off to the left of the road. It had been abandoned for years and was the perfect hiding place. Some of the local kids would come out here shooting their BB guns or horsing around in the old grain silo. None of it was safe and most of the wood was rotting and cracked but that didn’t deter anyone especially Adam. He had been watching his beauty queen for a long, long time. The anticipation of the moment when she would run around the bend in the road and come into view was tantalizing. Her lean muscular body was covered in sweat and that look on her face like she was a million miles away.

His heart began to race as he watched her. She was so perfect, and he couldn’t believe she was finally going to be his. After all this time and all the effort, he had put into her. He deserved her after all. Last week had been her eighteenth birthday. He had waited so long for her to become a woman and now here she was in all her glory, beautiful, smart, breathtaking.

He watched her through the scope of his rifle as she slowed to a walk, her blond ponytail swaying from side to side. He knew she kept extra water and supplies in the old barn and would stop after each run to see that silly owl of hers. He knew her every routine. She would come here every day after school partially for exercise but mostly for her friend. It was stupid but he felt jealous of the bird. He removed his finger from the trigger. He didn’t want to get too excited and let his fantasy stop before it ever got started. He smiled to himself as he watched her walk up to the front of the barn.

She bent down to lift the hatch to the old root cellar. It stayed cold down there and was a perfect place to keep fresh water and some snacks. Her little stash was sealed in tight plastic inside an old burlap sack so the critters wouldn’t get into it. That had happened to her before. One time, she had shown up to find her entire stash ransacked, and two raccoons sat there looking at her like she had invaded their space.

The door to the cellar creaked loudly as it moved. She took in a deep breath before descending into the musty-smelling space. Carefully, she came down the old wooden ladder where her bag sat undisturbed on the floor. She hoisted it over her shoulder and began the climb back out of the hole. As she crested the opening something crashed into the back of her head sending searing pain and white light in front of her eyes. She could feel strong hands under her arms pulling her out and then nothing.

Chapter 3

Adam stared down at his queen. He had spent so many hours promoting her future and now she was going to leave him and run off to college. He had supported her the entire time and she had the audacity to tell him she wanted to break it off. What did she mean she didn’t want to be with him anymore? He had given her everything and now she was leaving him. She was supposed to be his wife. That was the plan or at least it was his plan. It was what he thought would happen. She was going to be his forever.

Now, she lay before him unconscious and tied up with rope. He had hit her harder than he had meant to, but he wanted her to feel as bad as he did. He wasn’t going to allow her to just throw him away like a bag of garbage. They hadn’t even become physically romantic yet. She said she wanted to wait and that it was against her religion. He had respected her, and they had cuddled, and he had waited. It had been almost impossible to keep his hands from wondering when she had pressed her body against his while they watched a movie or sat by the river talking. How could she torture him like that and then leave?

It was getting dark out now and someone would miss her. Adam heard Zeus prancing around in the rafters of the old barn. Every now and again he could see the owl pop his head out from different corners knocking dust and debris down as he went. His talons scraped across the old wood making a strange sound. Adam remembered how Carina had always used one of those special gloves. The one she had was made to handle Falcons, but it did the job. She always told him that Zeus would never hurt her. They had grown up together, but it wasn’t Zeus’ fault if he could crush a human forearm with between 200 to 500 pounds per square inch.

Adam had watched her with the bird many times. Zeus seemed to be gentle with her but not with anyone else. Adam had tried to get close to the bird and even hold the bird, but the dumb animal didn’t want anything to do with him. He had even tried to attach Adam once when he got too close to Carina. It was interesting how an animal could sense evil things.

Zeus began to screech long and low. The harsh screams were unnerving. “Shut up stupid bird,” Adam yelled.

The beautiful creature glided to a lower perch just above Adam’s head so he could see what was happening and from his reaction, Zeus clearly didn’t like it. He began to screech, arching his wings behind his back to show intimidation. All the noise woke Carina.

At first, Carina was confused. She was lying on the soft hay and thought maybe she had slipped and fallen but realized she couldn’t move her arms or legs. “Stop squirming before you hurt yourself,” Adam growled at her.

“Adam, what the hell,” she rolled slightly so she could see him. He was disheveled with a wild look in his eyes. He picked up his rifle and pointed it at her, pressing it against the side of her face. In response, she lowered her voice to keep him calm. “Okay, okay, let’s talk about this. Whatever this is, we can work it out.”

“The hell we can. You were going to leave me after all I’ve done for you. You were going to go off to college and meet some other guy. You are supposed to be mine!” he screamed at her. Zeus was getting excited above Adam’s head. Adam raised the gun and chambered a bullet. “If we can’t be together here then we can be together in heaven. You’ll be the most beautiful angel,” he said with a solitary tear running down the side of his face.

Carina fell silent trying to figure out her best plan to survive. She made eye contact with Zeus. She could feel her father’s presence giving her strength. Zeus looked at her curiously tilting his head slightly to the side. Adam saw her trying to signal the bird and struck her across the face. Zeus had enough, swooping down to attack Adam. “Get him,” Carina encouraged. She wasn’t sure if Zeus understood but he seemed to. He flew back and then circled around for another dive attack.

Adam jumped to his feet waving his gun in the air trying to get a good shot at the owl. The gun exploded in the old barn, but his aim went wild. Zeus swung down running his sharp talons across Adam’s face making him scream out in pain.

Carina could see that the hatch door to the root cellar was still open behind Adam. On Zeus’s next attack she rolled her body behind Adam's legs and threw herself forward causing Adam to lose his footing falling backward. She heard a loud sickening thump like a pumpkin breaking open. When she turned to look Adam was gone.

“Good boy Zeus,” she called out. Zeus flew down next to her protectively waiting for help to arrive. She lay there for a long time until red and blue flashing lights finally filled the area. Relief and gratitude washed over Carina. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered smiling at Zeus.