Raul leaned in and whispered in Doris’s ear, his hot, minty breath wafting over her ear causing her to shudder. “Doris, turn left up ahead. Let’s go back to my place. My parents are out of town for the weekend.”
Doris blushed at the implication behind his husky words. She nibbled nervously on her lower lip, but this is what she’d wanted all along, right? She wanted Raul, his body, his love, his companionship, his everything. More than anything she wanted him to fill this empty void of loneliness inside of her.
“Alright,” Doris agreed, pulling on the reins in such a way that the dogs were steered into taking a left. They headed towards a huge log cabin that Raul’s parents owned.
That very night, Doris gave her virginity to Raul. It was better than anything she had imagined. She felt so…connected to Raul now. In the afterglow of sex, Doris had wrapped her arms around Raul’s muscular, sweaty chest and thought about how they’d be inseparable now. She was feeling hopeful too. Surely, the other men in the village would have to back off once they saw how serious Doris and Raul were about each other.
The following day, Doris and Raul walked around town together hand in hand. Doris expected to see resigned expressions on the men’s faces, but was disappointed to see venomous glares being directed Raul’s way. Her grip on Raul’s hand unconsciously tightened in response.
Perhaps, the men in town weren’t taking their relationship seriously since they were just ‘dating’ and Raul did have the reputation of being a playboy. Feeling desperate and fearful, Doris decided that she and Raul needed to get married as soon as possible in order to have their relationship accepted by everyone in town. Then…those men would have to leave her alone. Wouldn’t they?
After Doris and Raul were married, she sadly noted that the strange attitudes of the men in the village towards her didn’t change. It was like they’d all become obsessed with her for some reason. They’d all turned into crazy, lovesick fools. But Raul was different. She thought, stubbornly to herself. Raul really loved her.
But then Doris noticed the murderous glare Raul was shooting at the other men to keep them away from her. Of course, when he turned his attention to her his expression would soften, and become tender and loving. Still, she couldn’t forget the crazed glint in his eyes when he was glaring at the other men. It unsettled her and caused her to shudder with unease.
As time passed, Doris began to accept the cold, hard truth. Raul really was just like the other men in town. He’d simply been enchanted by her. His feelings for her weren’t sincere, or of his own free will.
What have I done? Doris wondered to herself morosely as she realized she’d made a grave mistake by forcing Raul to love her. She’d taken away his free will, and now they were both paying the price. Sometimes, Raul even scared her with the intensity of his feelings for her, and his possessive attitude.
Doris eventually came to the painful decision that she should leave Raul and the little Alaskan town far behind. With her absence, she’d free Raul from the curse.
However, on the very day she’d decided to leave as she’d started to pack, a sudden wave of nausea hit her. Doris ran into the bathroom, sank to her knees in front of the toilet, and puked her guts out. Shit. What could be wrong with her? She wondered dizzily. Was she sick? Was she…? No, no, no…
She couldn’t be pregnant? Could she?
Doris reluctantly took a pregnancy test, and discovered that she was indeed pregnant. The little plastic stick had fallen out of her limp hand to clatter onto the cold, tiled bathroom floor. With a sinking feeling inside of her stomach she realized that there was no way she could leave the father of her child behind.
When Doris informed Raul that she was pregnant, he appeared to be incredibly happy and excited by the news, but Doris was unable to share in his happiness since she doubted whether his reaction was sincere, or if it had been forced by the curse.
Eight months passed by without event, and the baby continued to grow inside of her. Until, on a day, just like every other day, something happened that would change Doris’s life forever.
Raul had left to go hunting early that morning as he oftentimes did. Doris was just making a second pot of coffee when she heard a knock on the front door. She warily approached the door with a frown on her face, and peeked through the keyhole to see who it was. If it were a man there was no way she was opening the door, especially without Raul around to protect her.
But it turned out to be Doris’s friend Samantha. Doris let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. “Hey, Sam, what-?”
Samantha pushed her way inside of the house, and quickly closed and locked the door behind her. She turned to face Doris with a stricken look on her face and started to wring her hands together. “Doris, I have to tell you something. I overheard my boyfriend Robby and his friends talking to each other on game night. They said they were going to get rid of a ‘pest’ in the forest today. When I asked Robby about it, he said they were going to hunt down a lynx that had been terrorizing Mr. Stone’s cattle at his ranch. But when I asked Mr. Stone about it this morning, he told me that as far as he knew all of his cattle were safe and sound.”
Doris gave Samantha a confused look. “What are you trying to say, Sam?”
Samantha placed her hands on Doris’s shoulders and squeezed. “I’m saying…that if Robby and the others aren’t going to hunt a lynx then what are they going to hunt exactly? I know this is really none of my business, but ever since you and Raul got married all of the men in town started to act strange. Even my Robby. Not that I’m jealous or anything. I understand since you’re gorgeous.”
Doris gave Samantha an apologetic look, and felt a wave of guilt crash through her. Especially since the only reason why Sam would think that she was ‘gorgeous’ was because of the curse. Sam was the gorgeous one with her long blonde hair and curvaceous figure. “Sam, I’m sorry…”
But Sam shook just her head. “No. It’s okay. But this morning my Robby was acting extra suspicious. He usually makes a pot of coffee for me before he leaves to go hunt so that the smell will wake me up. But today he didn’t make me that pot of coffee which can only mean he didn’t want me to wake up yet. I have this bad feeling that maybe Robby and the others are going to do something stupid…like hurt Raul.”
The blood slowly began to drain out of Doris’s face as Robby and the other men’s intentions became horrifically clear. There was no lynx out in the woods that needed killing. They planned to hunt down and kill her Raul! Doris swayed on her feet as a wave of dizziness swept over her, and she had to reach out and put her hand on the wall in order to remain standing. “Oh, no, Raul…”
“I didn’t know what I should do,” Samantha said, nibbling on her pouty lower lip. “I thought about telling the Sheriff, but…he looks at you funny too.”
Doris nodded her agreement. “It’s good you didn’t go to the Sheriff, Sam. He’s also a little…taken with me. Shit. I have to find Raul and stop those guys from doing something stupid! Thanks, Sam!” She rushed out of the house and hopped onto her sled that was always parked out front.
Sam’s eyes were wide as she chased after her friend and exited the cabin. “Wait, you can’t go out there in your condition! What about the baby?”
Doris placed a hand over her rounded stomach and smiled thinly. “He’ll be alright. He’s a kicker. He’s tough. Take care, Sam. Mush!” With a snap of the reins the sled dogs took off, heading for the forest.
Doris drove the sled towards the forest area where Raul usually hunted deer and the occasional bear. She leaned over to tell the dogs, “Find Raul, boys. Go! Mush!”
The Huskies easily picked up Raul’s scent and were on the trail. Oh, Raul. Despite their tumultuous love affair, Doris really did love Raul. She knew she didn’t deserve him. He’d turned out to be such an adorning husband. I have to protect the father of my child. This is all my fault. I put him in this danger.
The sled zigzagged through the pine trees until Doris spotted a familiar silhouette ahead. “Raul!” she called out. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Doris noted that he wasn’t alone. Five other young men were surrounding Raul in a circle, and had their shotguns and rifles raised and pointed at him. “No!”
Raul had his own shotgun raised in retaliation, aimed and ready to take one of the men with him. The sound of the sled approaching them got the men’s attention, and they glanced Doris’s way. “Everyone…just stop!”
Doris maneuvered the sled so that it came to a stop directly in front of Raul. She strategically placed herself between Raul and the other men. Deep down she knew the other men would never actually hurt her. They fancied themselves in love with her, after all.
“Doris, what are you doing here?” Raul asked, worry swirling in his clear blue eyes. “You shouldn’t be out here in your condition.”
“Raul, I want you to run,” Doris said softly so that the other men wouldn’t hear her. “It’s not safe for you here.”
Raul looked startled by her suggestion, and shook his head in disbelief. “No way. I won’t leave you.”
Doris shot Raul an urgent, frustrated look. “You must. Please.”
“Hello, Doris, it’s good to finally see you again,” Robby began conversationally. “Raul has been keeping you all locked up for himself.”
Doris shook her head while giving the man a pitying look. “That’s not true, Robby. I’ve been at home because…I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Robby echoed darkly. “With whose child?”
“With Raul’s, of course,” Doris said indignantly. “He’s my husband!”
Robby raised his shotgun and pointed it at Raul again. “That son of a bitch, knocked you up? He has some nerve when you belong to me!”
“No, she belongs to me!” One of the other men pointed his gun at Robby threateningly.
“She’s mine, guys,” another man argued, pointing his gun at the man who’d just spoken.
“No, mine!” A forth man pointed his gun at the third man who’d spoken.
“I thought we all decided she doesn’t belong to anyone. Especially not Raul.” A fifth man pointed his shotgun at Raul along with Robby.
“That was the plan,” Robby nodded his agreement. “But you know what, boys? Doris is mine. All of you should just back the fuck off.”
“No fucking way!” one of the men objected hotly.
“Why don’t you back off!” another added.
Doris started to tremble in fear as the situation began to spiral out of control with the men pointing their guns at each other. “No, please, stop this. All of you,” Doris begged while giving the men a beseeching look. “The only one I love is Raul.”
“So I just need to kill Raul first,” Robby said nastily, a menacing gleam in his dark brown eyes. “Then you’ll be mine, Doris.”
“Doris will never be yours, Robby!” The man who already had his shotgun pointed at Robby pulled down on the trigger and fired. A shot rang through the air and a bullet imbedded itself right between Robby’s eyes.
Robby’s body crumpled to the snowy ground where it lay still. Robby was dead.
“No, Robby!” Doris screamed, immediately thinking of her best friend. Poor Samantha! This is all my fault! Her scream made the other men nervous and they began opening fire on each other. Doris forced herself to stay perfectly still as bullets whizzed past her dangerously.
It was a gut feeling, but she knew these men would never hurt her. Not on purpose anyways. Doris would have flung herself in front of Raul in order to act as a shield, but…she was pregnant, and this made her hesitate. Her life wasn’t her own now. It belonged to her unborn child.
Doris did cry out in horror though when she watched Raul get shot, and fall back to the snow. “Raul!”
Only one man was left standing at this point and he was panting for breath. He approached Doris, who was still seated on her dogsled. The man had a hungry gleam in his eyes and he leered at her, reaching out to grab her arm. “Come along, Doris. You belong to me now.”
“No!” Doris yelled in protest as she tried to yank her arm out of his iron hold. “Let go of me!”
A shot rang through the air and hit the man in his temple. He fell over sideways.
Wide-eyed, Doris turned to see Raul standing, shotgun in hand, and expression grim. “Get your hands off my wife!”
“Raul!” Doris cried happily. But then Raul crumpled to the snowy ground as his strength left him. “Raul!” Doris climbed off the sled and rushed to her husband’s side. She cradled his limp body in her arms. “Raul, come on, get up. I’ll take you to the town doctor.”
Raul weakly opened his eyes and looked up at Doris. “Doris?”
“Yes, Raul?” Doris asked.
“I…love you,” Raul managed to croak out.
Guilty tears began to well up in Doris’s eyes. “Raul, please-”
“It’s too late for me now, Doris.” Raul shook his head slightly at her. “I can feel it. I got shot right in the heart. I’m dying.”
“Oh, Raul. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I put you in this dangerous situation. It’s because of me that these men were acting this way,” Doris began to explain with haunting shadows in her dull brown eyes. “You see, I’m cursed. I had someone cast a spell to make you love me. You don’t really love me. I took away your free will, and we’ve both paid the price. I did it because I loved you, but that’s no excuse.”
“I…know,” Raul replied, startling her. “All this time there was a voice inside of my head, compelling me to love you. And I couldn’t resist it. But, later, I fell in love with you for real, and then the voice grew silent. I fell in love with the mother of my child.”
Doris’s heart began to pound inside of her chest loudly. Raul…loved her. Truly? “Oh, Raul.”
With the last of his remaining strength Raul reached up to brush a tear from Doris’s cheek away with his thumb. “Take care of our son for me. I’m sure he will be as beautiful as his mother. Call him…Bellamy. Promise me.”
Doris placed her hand over Raul’s that was on her cheek. “I promise, darling.”
Raul offered her a weak smile before his eyes closed, and his breath stilled.
“No…Raul! No!” Doris sobbed into his chest. It was all just too much. She felt the baby kick inside of her, and her eyes flared in alarm. No, not now. Please, not now!
But Doris couldn’t stop it. She’d gone into labor. Doris lay down on the blood-soaked snow with her back supported by Raul’s dead body and gave birth to her son, surrounded by the dead bodies of the men who thought they loved her.
As soon as she was able, Doris scooped the baby up into her arms to protect it from the biting cold. The baby was crying his little lungs out. When the baby opened his eyes he revealed that they were blue - just like his father’s. A broken smile formed on Doris’s face at the sight. “You truly are beautiful, my son, my Bellamy.”
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