Chapter 3
I stumbled back from the door, scrambling to drag every piece of furniture I could back into a barricade.
Hearing the noise, the bear knew the game was up. It started slamming against the door with raw, furious strength.
Its voice echoed in my mind again. 'Guess I picked the right person. She's pretty smart.
'She found it was me.
'Now I wanna eat her even more.'
The weight of the TV stand and shoe cabinet braced against the door had finally done the trick, making the flimsy thing shudder violently but hold.
After a few more frustrated slams, the bear suddenly went quiet, as if it had finally worn itself out.
After the eerie silence, I couldn't help myself. I peeked through the peephole again, and what I saw made my blood run cold.
In one savage motion, the bear clamped its jaws around Lewis's neck and bit clean through. With a brutal jerk, it tore his head completely off.
Then it started chewing on his face, grinding it into an unrecognizable pulp. I could hear the sickening, wet crunch of bone and the pop of his eyeballs.
I stumbled back, hand clamped over my mouth, choking back sobs.
"I'm so sorry, Lewis," I cried into my hands, tears streaming down my face. "This is my fault... I got you killed."
Guilt was eating me alive.
He had come to save me, and I couldn't do a thing to help him.
I cried until my chest hurt, until I had nothing left.
Then my phone buzzed again. It was a voice message from Zoey.
[Ashley, I know you're such a scaredy-cat, especially with all this thunder and rain, and your whole complex is basically deserted right now. So I drove all the way over to keep you company!]
[You must be happy, huh? I'm literally pulling up to your building, so don't forget to let me in, okay?]
Zoey was coming?
No, I couldn't let her come.
But it was already too late.
I lived on the third floor with parking right down my window. The moment Zoey's voice message ended, I heard a car pulling up below.
I rushed out to the balcony and, through the pouring rain, I spotted Zoey's car.
I grabbed my phone and called her right away.
But Zoey has this annoying habit—when she was almost at my place, she never picked up. This was her weird way of trying to save me money on my phone bill.
Just like clockwork, the phone rang twice before she hung up.
I'd never hated that little quirk more.
I tried calling her again, but she still hung up on me.
As her car parked, I held down the voice message button and practically yelled into the phone.
[Zoey, there's a bear here. Do not come upstairs!]
[Just get out of here, now! Drive away!]
[Zoey, answer my phone, please.]
Just like the calls, my messages went unanswered. My heart sank deeper with each passing second.
Without thinking about the bear still lurking nearby, I rushed out onto the balcony. The rain was crashing down, soaking me instantly. "Zoey, go!" I screamed as loud as I could. "Get out of here! There's a bear!"
But the rain was coming down so hard, there was no way she could hear me.
Just as I was about to give up, my phone rang. It was Zoey.
She laughed, "Oh, Ashley, since when did you get so good at pranks?
"There's a bear in your apartment? What? Are you watching Brave? I'm coming. We'll have a good time."
"No, I'm serious—it's a real black bear! Remember what I told you before? It escaped from the zoo," I shouted, my voice trembling with panic.
"It's here for me. It wants to eat me.
"It's eating someone right here, right now."
I was sobbing now, the words tumbling out in a frantic, broken mess.
I continued, "Lewis, from the zoo's security team... he came to save me and now... now the bear has him.
"That awful crunching sound? That's it. That's the bear chewing."
I held my phone up to the door, letting the horrific, wet cracking noises fill the silence.
On the other end of the line, Zoey went completely silent.
Just when I thought she might finally believe me, she started cracking up again.
She laughed, totally amused, "Oh, Ashley, you are too much.
"Did you download that sound effect? It's seriously creepy!
"Okay, you got me.
"You actually scared me for a second, I'll admit it.
"Anyway, I'm coming up now—get the door for me!"
"No, don't—" I pleaded, my voice cracking with desperation.
Beeps echoed as Zoey hung up on me again.
She thought it was all a joke, and now she was walking straight into a nightmare.