It’s a mountain lion. I’d wondered why none had come to pay homage to Jared since we’ve been at the cabin, but I thought maybe he’d asked them to leave him be tonight. But here comes one, running in an odd, crooked way, its eyes glowing blue and an aura of blue light around it.
“Jared, don’t!” I say, still ten steps behind him. “The deer were–”
But he and the mountain lion have met. It drops at his feet, flopping over them, looking up at him through the blue glaze. He kneels at once, putting his hands on it. I reach them.
“Jesus,” I say.
The mountain lion is horribly mangled. It’s hard to even look at.
“Was it hit by a car?” I ask. I step a bit closer and the blue light flashes out, catching my forearm.
It’s like being hit with boiling water. I yell and jump back. A ton of it is hitting Jared, but he’s not moving, must be a God thing. But if that’s what’s hitting the poor mountain lion…
Oh, man.
Jared says nothing, just concentrates hard on the big cat. Then he lets out a grunt and the blue light vanishes. In the sudden darkness, I can’t see him at first, just hear the mountain lion yowling, obviously in terrible pain.
“It’s all right, girl,” Jared whispers, and the palms of his hands light up. He presses them against her, and her whimpers lessen. I go closer now. The blue light seems to have blasted through her over and over again, erupting from inside her at different points. The tears and burns against her beautiful tan fur are painful to even see.
“Just be still,” Jared keeps whispering. “You’re safe here. You’ve found me.”
She grows even quieter, until it’s just her breath we hear. She’s curled up against his leg, like she was seeking refuge in him. Which I guess she was.
“I can’t save her,” Jared says to me, his throat heavy. “She ran all this way to find me, getting mangled the entire way, and I can’t save her. It’s beyond the reach of my powers.” He holds her against his shins, gently stroking her. She sounds ragged, but at least no longer in pain. He leans down close. “You rest now. You sleep, without pain, in the arms of your God.”
Her breathing slows, then slows again. I wait there with them both until she makes no more sounds at all. “Dammit,” I hear Jared whisper, and even in the moonlight, I can see the tears on his face. He strokes her sadly a last time, then lays her head down on the grass.
“Are you okay?” I ask, stupidly.
“The indie kids think they’re the only people in the world,” he says. “They think their actions don’t affect anyone but them.”
“I know. The whole world is like that.”
“Not everyone,” he says, looking over at me. “Not you.”
“Jared–”
“I’m in love with Nathan,” he says. “And I think he’s in love with me.”
“Yeah…” I say. “I kinda figured that out just now.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. At first it was too private, too fragile, and he’s still freaked out about liking guys and…”
He doesn’t finish, but I can guess. “You’ve been lonely.”
He just nods. “I didn’t want to harm anything. I didn’t want to bring it out into the open and have the light kill it somehow. And I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you.”