Chapter 2

Weeks passed. Day after day the same thing - sitting in his room waiting for nothing to come back. Whatever was out in the woods that had attacked their animals wasn't returning, at least not yet. When he was sober, Shane made a fine babysitter. But addiction doesn't like to be cooped up, and there was only so many times he could lose at video games with the cheat codes on. Looking up from the floor of his room, the ceiling titles never changed. Always the same amount of squares, always the same dull shade, just like the JojaMart's ceiling - Dull, boring and always the same. But at least it was predictable in its routine. It was a Friday, and Shane didn't think it too rude to talk to his aunt about maybe going back to their normal schedules. There wasn't a threat anymore, no more reason to live in fear. While helping with morning chores, he waited for just the right time to strike.

"So uhh Marnie I was wondering…" he began to speak. Shane wasn't ever a man who knew how to string the right words along to get his way, but he did know how to talk to his aunt. "I kind of wanted to go out to the bar tonight, is that okay with you?"

It didn't surprise her, Marnie was actually starting to become suspicious that Shane was going out after she left. It had been two weeks, and she didn't think her nephew had the kind of willpower to be away from the pub for that long. However, she had to consider how safe it was.

"I don't think whatever attacked the animals is out there anymore," he said. Her quiet demeanor was driving Shane's anxiety up. "And no one else has seen or said anything. Do you know what Demetrius said it was?"

"A large animal…" Marnie muttered back, petting her remaining cow. "But he wasn't sure what kind."

"I...I kept a close eye on everything here in the evenings and there's been nothing," Shane reasoned. "Whatever it was has probably moved on."

Marnie nodded. What her nephew said made sense, and it helped to put some of her fears to rest, but deep down where fear lies, Marnie didn't know if she fully believed him.

"I suppose you're right, yeah you can go out tonight," she said, caving in.

Finally free again. A burden was lifted from him, not that watching Jas was a weight on his shoulders, but the sheer inability to escape, go for a walk, scream in the woods, or get piss-drunk with nobody else to care about hung around his neck like concrete. He tried to hide his grin. Marnie didn't need to know how important this was, but she caught how Shane moved - the jump in his step, his eagerness to move through the day faster now. Before too much longer he was walking out the door to waste away another eight hours at the JojaMart, only this time there was a reward at the end of the long miserable day.

There were always the same amount of tiles on the ceiling, there was only so many times Morris can share his passive aggressive comments about how Shane did his job, and there's only so many people who would come in that day. And each time any of these things happened it brought Shane closer to the end of a horrible week. He almost felt a pang of excitement. Too bad he couldn't. His mind wouldn't let him. What was the point of being alive? Even something he had been waiting for, yearning for the last two weeks, couldn't even get him excited. What was the point? Sure, earlier he was ecstatic, but that was hours ago and now his brain had ripped that good feeling apart. Shane pushed back the dark thoughts.

Clocking out at closing time should've felt like a morning drink, but it didn't. Everything was hollow and empty, it didn't matter because nothing ever had a point. Two days from now he would be back to the same shit, different day. The Intrusive thoughts were overtaking his ability to think about the good time he hoped to have at the saloon.

It's not like anyone wants me there anyways, fuck them.

No one probably even noticed his absence. Well, maybe Emily did, but that's only because of his missing orders. There was a part of Shane that wanted to get a six-pack and hide off in the woods away from everything and everyone, but the truth is he still had a twang of unease going out there alone. The idea of that thing coming back still lingered. He was such a piece of shit. He just convinced Marnie he wasn't scared so she shouldn't be either. A liar, a selfish alcoholic. The sun beamed down, and tried to warm the husk of a man Shane used to shelter his soul. He stopped at the saloon doors and contemplated going back home, sitting with Jas for the rest of the night. He didn't want Marnie to think of him as a liar. He said he wasn't scared, and his logic was sound.

She's safe, there's nothing to worry about…

Stop worrying…

Night came and so did the residents for another lively Friday at the Stardrop Saloon. Off in the corner, drinking by himself, Shane clung to the wall comfortably numb. He hit the point where he felt that good dizzy, out of it enough to not hear the voices in his head telling him to kill himself, but not enough to get too fucked up and thrown out of the bar.

People watching kept him from drinking too fast. It was the part of the night when everybody had their partner in crime, Leah with Elliot, his aunt with Lewis, even Pam and her… fuck even he lost count of which number of bottle she was on, but she seemed content, one could even say happy her belligerent state. Shane pulled his attention from his future, the thought not something he wanted to welcome. The fireplace warmed his thinned blood. A headache was starting to set in. He closed his eyes and rubbed them to try and soothe the feeling in vain, only to open them to see Robin and Demetrius dancing, so in love in the way they held each other. Shane leer in disgust.

Ughh just kill me if I ever get like that…

Looking down at his drink, he watched what was left of the foam bubbling away. Emily approached with another drink he assumed was for someone else. She knew not to serve him unless he asked, which was better for keeping the bill down and making it so he didn't stumble too much on the walk home. Smiling a grin that hid something behind it, Emily reached over the dark wood bar and handed him the mug. Before Shane could say what he was thinking she answered him.

"Someone wanted to buy you a drink." she said, chipper in her demeanor.

The gesture was odd. Who in here even talked to Shane, let alone wanted to be nice to him? He looked around, then back to Emily.

"No, not me silly!" she chimed with a smile and giggle before returning to her job.

Free booze? No, there's no such thing. Who did this, and what did they want?

Shane pulled his attention away from the mug and searched. What would make anyone want to be nice to him? Not Willy or Clint, off enjoying their own company. Not Pierre who was too enamored with how to steal back his neighbors business from the same company that signed Shane's paychecks. He took a few steps to glare into the game room. It was just Sam and the social rejects playing pool, all too young to pay for alcohol, let alone to want anything to do with his old ass. Who then? Not a soul that he could see. Back to the wall to let the heat of the fireplace warm him, Shane took a sip of the free beer. A grin tried to pull itself up into his cheeks.

Secret admirer, huh? What the hell is there to even admire?

Still, the idea was cute. He never understood how anyone could ever think of him like that. Even in his glory days with a girlfriend, what was there to like? What about his flesh made him desirable? Even when she would kiss up his neck, trying to be intimate.

Stop...Just leave me alone.

What was wrong with him? Even back then, he should've been pouncing on any pussy made available to him at that age, but he didn' idea or kissing or sex was a lukewarm thought at best. Cuddling always felt good but that was more of an unconscious need held over from the lack of warmth from his own mother, not from sexual desire. Now he was older and so pathetic he couldn't even figure out who would buy him a drink at the bar. He shook the feeling off. He could cry on his own shoulder. He didn't need anyone. He was strong enough to hold himself.

But still, maybe it would be nice to not be so alone.

He took another long drink of his beer, wanting to hide away what crept out from his core. Again he did another scan of his surroundings trying to narrow down this suitor. Emily made her way back to him.

"Figure out who yet?" she asked that goofy grin from before still on her face.

"No," he retorted, taking another swig of his drink, finishing it off. He handed the mug back to her.

"Do you want another? He said he'll pay your tab," Emily asked without realizing her mistake until it was too late.

"He?" Shane said, only to have Emily rush away, not letting him dig for more answers. Again Shane looked around. There weren't very many women even in here in the first place to even help narrow down. He felt his cheeks red. The idea that someone liked him, like liked him...silly.

An unknown voice rang from the other side of the bar talking to Gus. Both of them were laughing at a joke Shane didn't hear. The voice was deep, soothing, and male. On the tips of his toes, Shane tried to get a peak of the man who most likely was paying for his tab. Another six inches would have been enough for him to get a glimpse of this new guy's face, but instead he just bopped around in place trying to look over the now sulking Pierre and the mayor as he grabbed another drink. Just before Shane had hit his limit of anticipation for who this new guy was, the man leaned back from the bar and turned his gaze towards Shane with a smile and a subtle wave.

Fuck.

Shane hoped this man was just passing by, in town for a few days then gone forever. He didn't want to engage, he didn't want to know why this stranger was offering to pay his tab, he didn't want to think about what he knew was going on. Emily came back with another.

"Looks like you figured it out!" Her gleeful remark was followed by another round.

"What's his name?"

"Why don't you go ask him?"

"Emily, I'm not fucking around, just tell me-" Shane was cut off by her wandering away. His blood boiled. He brought his attention back to the stranger, they made eye contact again,

Fuck, what do I do?

Social anxiety filled Shane. What did he do? Was this man hitting on him? Was he just trying to be friendly? Either way Shane wrote it off as wanting nothing to do with it.

But those eyes…

Why couldn't he control his thoughts? These ones ran more wild than his depression.

What's his name? What's he like? I've seen him before though, from somewhere.

However, gloom always knew how to sneak its way back into his thoughts.

He's just trying to be nice, don't let him in. Scare him away.

Shane tried to compose himself the best he could as he noticed the stranger making his way towards him.

Try to come off as aloof as possible, the voices in his head told him. Don't make friends.

He couldn't even look this guy in the face, so he took his attention to the ceiling counting tiles again. He took another deep drink of his beer. Luck was on Shane's side in a way, because before this stranger could make his way to him, Lewis stood in his way. It seemed to be idle chatter, probably about nothingness and all about political sweetness. However, this gave Shane what he almost wanted - a moment to take in this man.

He was tall with skin naturally pale burnt by the sun so often it darkened his complexion far more than a normal tan. His frame was small but he had built up his physique from heavy labor and missing meals. As he lifted his arms to put them behind his head, Shane could see the muscles and how delicately they flexed under that beautiful hair was what tipped him off that he had seen this man before: He was the same stranger who brought Charlie back to him. His thick, curly hair was dark, but now in the light and out of the rain he could see that it wasn't one solid color, but salt and peppered. He found that strange because he wasn't as young as the newly-out-of-highschool kids playing in the back, but he couldn't be anywhere near Shane's age. A young man with gray hair who had clearly worked a few days in his life. Before he could finish admiring, the stranger had politely excused himself from Lewis. He took another drink of his beer, feeling that he had downed half of it by now. The booze in his system made Shane keep his eyes looking forward. Even as the man approached he wanted to keep looking, taking in those features. He couldn't care anymore that his face was flushed.

"Hey, I don't think we've met yet," he said with a mug in his hand.

Shane didn't speak, too lost in his own mind to even bother to come up with something rude to say.

"So Marnie said you're her nephew. Shane, right?"

"Why are you talking to me?" he spat back.

Burn this bridge, don't let him in.

"Just go away."

And with that, he downed the rest of the beer and dug out enough to pay off his tab, leaving the money and the mug for Emily to find on the counter, pushing past the new face, wanting to escape.

Outside in the darkness, Shane walked home. The air was still warm from summer heat, and the stars were his only light source. He asked himself why he always acted like this. Yeah, he didn't want to make friends with this guy, but he also didn't have to be such a jerk. There was a fine line on being an asshole and just trying to keep people away. He normally only ever came off as the first on accident without thinking about it.

Maybe he'll stay away…

He didn't want that but it was for the best, everything that came in contact with Shane was ruined by him and his sadness. This guy just didn't know it. His face, that smile...Shane pushed the thought out of his head.

No, get that out of your mind.

He didn't deserve even the slightest amount of infatuation. The feeling would be fleeting, embarrassing at best.

Don't acknowledge, it's better that way.

The ranch always looked so much different under the cover of darkness. Most of the lights were off, all except for Jas' room. She must still be up. Shane took his attention back to the spot where he found that perfect stick to make into the perfect spear that he would never use. The atmosphere was calm, and the tension from before which had been like ice on this hot summer day was now melted and thin. Another reason to prove that he was just being irrational. He fumbled with his keys trying to find the front door only to have Jas open it for him.

"Didn't aunt Marnie tell you not to open the door?" Shane scolded her.

"But I knew it was you…" Jas winced at the idea of getting in trouble, she let him through the door and pushed herself up against the bar in the front walk away as her uncle shut the door and glared.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I know your footsteps…" Jas' said. He didn't want to be mad at the little girl. She was only trying to help. Shane let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Don't open the door when you know you're not supposed to even if you think it's me or Aunt Marnie." he said, before heading to the kitchen to grab what was left of the beer in the fridge.

"Are you mad at me?" Jas questioned, her voice so tiny.

"No, I'm not mad, I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"Can you read me a story to bed?"

"I would, but I'm not feeling good," Shane lied, taking a bottle from the fridge.

"You said that last time…"

"I didn't feel good last time either," He countered. "You should be in bed."

"Tuck me in," Jas said. Part of him didn't want to negotiate with terrorists, but it looked like he didn't have much of a choice.

In bed, snuggled in between blankets and sheets with only a lamp light shining, Jas waited for her uncle to pull a book from her shelves. None of the paperbacks brought much attention to Shane,until his gaze noticed an anthology of fairy tales. He brought over the mauve hardcover and flipped through the pages trying to find the shortest one of them.

The Princess And The Vulture King.

Once there was a Princess. She was not fair nor beautiful, quite the opposite, so much so that she shriveled up flowers and broke stone by just her gaze only. She believed herself cursed, and she locked herself up in the most secluded tower of her father's castle. No soul could reach her beyond the door. Her mother and father begged for her to rejoin them, telling her that she wasn't cursed but only believed herself to be. But this was all in vain. As the days became nights and days again, she would cry herself asleep wishing to become the princess she always wished to be. During the night a vulture came and rested on her window ledge. He spoke to her caws.

Shane did the best voices he could.

"If you give me your jewelry, I'll make your skin flawless!"

And of course the princess gave up every last gem. The next day, her skin was like the gems she gave up, flawless and stunning. She continued to stay in the tower and waited again for the vulture to show up the next night. He did so again, cawing and laughing.

"If you give me your dresses I'll make you just as beautiful as them!"

So the princess did so, and again, she awoke to a beautiful body and face, she was breathtaking and would be loved by all. Again she waited for the vulture for a third night. He came again.

"Give me your feet, and I will make you graceful."

"My feet?"

"Yes my dear, do you not trust me?" the vulture cawed,

Wary of his promises the Princess agreed and the vulture flew away. The next day, she found herself moving like a swan, but when she looked down her feet matched that of a bird. Displeased, she waited for a fourth night to confront the vulture. He returned and cawed.

"I promised you grace? Are you not graceful?"

The princess agreed that the bird of prey did make her graceful, but at what cost? He cawed and laughed.

"Give me hair and I will make it so you can fly."

The princess declined, not wanting more of the bird's tricks.

"I will make you a better deal then! If you can catch me I'll give you back everything!"

The princess tried to catch the vulture, but he flew too far from the tower everytime she stepped close. The bird repeated himself

"Give me hair and I will make it so you can fly."

She agreed. The next day she found herself without hair and covered in white feathers. The vulture had turned her into a dove. Saddened, she cried that she no longer had flawless skin, or a beautiful face, and that she hobbled on her clawed feet. That night the vulture returned, but with his knights.

The vultures...

It was there Shane stopped reading out loud, and read further along.

...ate the dove princess, cawing and cooing as the Vulture king proclaimed:

"You let me turn you into something you're not. You gave me all your possessions, even your feet and are devoured by the idea of what you think others want from you."

"What happens next?" Jas asked, her little eyes fighting to stay awake. He couldn't tell her the real ending.

"The vulture gave the princess back her stuff and she lived happily ever after," Shane said curtly, snapping the book close and tucking Jas in.

"I don't believe that…"

"Well that's the story so I don't know what you want me to tell you," he answered her. "Now go to bed."