Chapter II
The cool water from the sink splashed across Bryan's face, dripping into the hairs of his finely trimmed beard. He cupped his hands under the running faucet and splashed another handful of water on his face. Reaching off to his left, he grabbed a plain white hand towel and unfolded it before drying his face with it.
When he looked up into the mirror above the sink, he noticed how much his face had changed with only a few weeks roaming Africa. Before he had left America, his skin was a much more pasty white. Now it was a smooth caramel color all around. In terms of hair, Bryan had decided to shave his head upon coming over, getting rid of his usual brown hair, but he has decided to keep whatever facial hair he grew. All of it was within reason, of course. At the end of his African journey, he didn't want to return home looking like a mountain man.
The many days of walking in the hot African sun also left him with a much more physically fit body. Much of the areas in Africa he had visited lacked the fatty foods and lazy lifestyle that dominated much of western culture. Bryan felt like a much healthier human being in only a few months. He couldn't imagine how good he would feel if he spent more than a year in Africa.
Bryan stepped away from the sink and crossed the stained wood floor of his quarters. Elewa had given him some time to settle down and rest before giving him a grand tour of the facilities. Mahali Salama has separate rooms set aside for visitors and other special individuals. The staff of the sanctuary room together in large bunk houses that are separated by sex. The higher ranking officials receive their own quarters along with a personal office.
He walked over to his bed, a simple twin bed with a metal frame, and unzipped his backpack. Before heading out, Bryan always liked to make sure he had everything essential to his survival, just in case the unthinkable could happen to him while away from his place of rest. In his backpack, he made sure to always carry water purifying tablets, a zippo butane lighter, a small piece of flint to start fires, matches, and a satellite phone. On his belt, he made sure he always had a full canteen and his sixteen inch Bowie knife. Bryan has had to use the knife only on a few occasions, but it is still a good thing for him to carry. He also carried fully charged spare batteries for his digital camera in the camera bag that hung from his backpack. The camera bag held a large telescopic lenses that he used to get wider shots from far away and a stand for the camera. Another handy item that he had was a solar powered charger. The mat like device was decorated with hundreds of miniature solar panels. A universal charging cord would allow him to plug in any device and charge while out anywhere in the wild. He also carried a map of the immediate area he was in, so he double checked that he had a map of Mahali Salama and the surrounding area up to twenty-five miles all around.
With all of his gear accounted for, Bryan tucked it all back into his backpack and zipped it up. He slung it over his shoulder and then made for the door. His pair of tan colored, steel toed boots were resting at the side of the door. He made sure to slip those on before pulling the door open and stepping outside.
Stepping outside of his small bunkhouse gave Bryan the same reception that he received when he stepped outside of the air plane. The heat of the sun hit him like a wall as the sound of nature filled his ears. He immediately wanted to stop and take more pictures, but he was on a schedule. Elewa was waiting for him in the dining hall along with the head supervisor of the sanctuary, a Mr. Alexander Roth. Alexander Roth was one of the original founders of Mahali Salama, getting all of the proper licenses and finishing construction in the late 1990's. Bryan had plenty of questions to ask Mr. Roth about the history of the sanctuary. Hopefully the information and pictures he would acquire would catch the attention of a major news source like TIME Magazine or National Geographic. Even if they didn't, his own news site, which he owns and operates with the help of a couple tech savvy friends based in the States, generates a slightly livable income through a Paetron account. People seem to enjoy Bryan's content enough, so he continues to provide it to them.
Bryan crossed the small dust filled yard that contained the bunkhouses. The center of the yard was dominated by a large concrete structure which served as the main administration building and housed the sanctuaries facilities. He reached the main buildings doors, stomping off the dust on his feet on a small welcome matt that was sitting outside the door. With enough of the dust off, he stepped inside of the air conditioned building, continuing his trek down a long, white tiled hallway.
At certain intervals along the hall, small signs were situated on the walls. The signs directed Brian towards the dining hall, however, one of the signs caught his attention. Situated just underneath the sign meant for the dining hall was one for the "Lion Containment Area".
A quick peek wouldn't hurt, he smiled to himself as he set his course for the Lion Containment Area.
The path to the dining hall and the Lion Containment Area parted ways in front of a large door labeled for the "Mess Hall". Bryan quickly skittered past the thin windows on the metal doors, making sure to not attract any attention to himself. Once past the Mess Hall, Bryan continued to the Containment Area, wondering what he would find.
It was obvious that he would find lion's, but he couldn't help but wonder why a sanctuary would need to have a separate containment area for wild animals. Perhaps the lions in the room are sick. After all, the sanctuary probably performs veterinarian services on the animals so they can keep them healthy.
Maybe I could set up a donation fund for Mahali Salama, Bryan though as he neared his destination. Of course, I'll take a small finder's fee of the proceeds. Gotta make a living somehow. PETA is always looking out for animals, but they're a bit too tree-hugging hippie for me. Maybe the World Wildlife Foundation would consider funding a couple more expeditions…
Bryan's thoughts continued to ramble on as he thought of ways he could continue on his passion of photojournalism, nature, and having a nice, cushy lifestyle. His thoughts stopped in their tracks as soon as he reached a pair of double, windowless metal doors. The sign above the doors made what was behind them obvious: he had reached the Lion Containment Area.
Quietly, Bryan took out his camera and snapped a couple photos of the doors before approaching them. Much to his surprise and joy, the pair of doors was not locked, allowing the snoopy photojournalist to take his "quick peek" unhindered.
With the quietness of a mouse sneaking through a snake den, Bryan slowly opened the doors, not wanting a single creek to echo down the empty hallway. Once inside the room, he quickly turned around and closed the doors behind him with the same level of care he showed upon entering. As an extra measure, he found a dead bolt and slowly turned its knob, barring the doors from opening.
He smiled slyly as he turned back around, taking a slow survey of the room.
Along the wall opposite him were five glass frames. Each seemed to contain a lion which was either sleeping or bathing itself. Slowly, Bryan approached the closest window and looked in on its occupant. The lion was lazily sitting in a corner, gazing at one of the walls. The lion looked much like a normal lion would. It had tan colored fur with a slightly brown mane reaching down its back and belly. The lion seemed like it couldn't see Bryan, so he felt like taking a picture wouldn't disturb the relaxing beast. He slowly lifted his camera up to his eye and quickly snapped a picture. As soon as the shutter clicked, the lion reared its head towards the window and snarled, barring its teeth towards Bryan
"Shit," he said aloud as the lion sat up and slowly approached the window.
As it approached, Bryan was able to get a full view of the lion; the big cat was a BEAST! It was easily twice the size of any lion has seen in a zoo back in the United States. Just standing on its four massive paws, the lion was at eye level with the six foot human. The young human was easily terrified at the size of the beast. He began to back up slowly as the lion stopped only inches in front of the glass mirror and sat down, its eyes fixated upon Bryans.
Bryan turned his eyes towards the lions, their gazes meeting. Immediately, Bryan noticed something strange. In a quick blur, he noticed the big cats black eyes flicker to a bright green color, almost like that of a human. He shook his head slightly, noticing that it happened again in the same split second. Rubbing his eyes for a few seconds, he looked back up to see the lion's eye's now staying the green color. The large creature's head was also tilted, almost as if it was curious.
Normally Bryan has never been able to tell the mood of an animal. In fact, he's never even giving an animal's mood or feeling's much thought, but he noticed that the lion actual seemed curious. He read its face and found himself able to determine this much like he would to an inquisitive human child. Some of the children in a remote African village he visited looked at Bryan in much of the same way like the lion was. The children had never seen a white man before, and it appeared that this lion had noticed something odd in Bryan as well. The lion must obviously be accustomed to the sight of humans, but here it was giving him a strange, curious look.
Bryan continued to stare at the lion for a few more minutes before he pulled out his camera again. It was too good of a picture to pass up, so he aimed the lens at the big cat and snapped a quick picture. Much like the first time, the lion seemed startled at the sound of the shutter, but it did not snarl at him. Instead, it continued to look at the confused journalist, its unusual human-like eyes peering into Bryan's.
The encounter was beginning to creep Bryan out, so he decided to exit the room. He turned away from the one lion that continued to look at him and looked back at the cages as a whole.
"Holy shit," he gasped as he stumbled backwards into a counter.
Not only was the first lion still looking at him, the four other ones in the cages now had their gazes fixed on the lone human. And instead of the normal black eyes, he found completely individual and unique colors for the four other lions. Each of their eyes appeared just as human as the green eyed one, and each of their heads were tilted in the same manner as the green eyed big cat.
"Nope," he said, making a fast walk towards the door. "This is getting to weird for me. By strange kitties."
He threw open the dead bolt and quickly stepped back into the hallway, closing the door and letting out a large huff.
"Mr. Anderson?" a gruff African male asked.
Bryan jumped slightly, still wigged out by what just happened in the room behind him.
"Jesus Fanaka," he gasped. "You startled me."
Fanaka chuckled and said, "Mr. Roth is waiting for you, and I can advise that keeping him waiting is a bad idea."
"Roger," Bryan said. "I was just taking a quick peek in this here room. Not in it, of course, but just through the glass."
He laughed nervously.
"Those are some big cats in there."
"Oh yes, very," Fanaka replied. "They're probably some of the biggest in the world. We haven't called any of those silly world record companies though. We don't want that kind of press. It encourages poachers."
Bryan decided to walk away from the room with Fanaka following beside him.
"How did they get so big," Bryan asked. "They look almost as tall as me."
"If I knew, I would tell you," Fanaka replied. "Those five lions in that room are about two times larger than the other lions we have. It's quite interesting really. Those lions were not born in this sanctuary. Rather, we found them as cubs several years ago. Well, they weren't really cubs, but more like young adults in human terms. Anyways, we found them a few miles outside of our land, nearly starved to death. We took them in, all six of them, and have raised them in captivity since."
"Wait, you just said six," Bryan said, his keen hearing latching on to the factual discrepancy. "And don't try to play it off like you didn't. I'm a reporter, remember? We have very keen hearing and can latch onto trip ups like that just as a leech latches on to your skin."
Fanaka was about to refute the fact that he had said six, but he knew that Bryan wouldn't give up.
The African let out a large sigh.
"There are six," he stated. "Those five are kept away from him. When we found the six young lions, those five didn't put up a fight when we came to their rescue. The sixth one however, was different. That beast has earned the name that our staff knows him by. He is known as Shetani, or "devil" in your tongue."
Bryan was immediately intrigued by this development and whipped out his notebook, but Fanaka quickly snatched the small legal pad out of the American's hand.
"Not here," he said. "If you really want to know more, meet me outside of the barracks after dark."
Fanaka then handed the notebook back to Bryan and walked briskly away, turning down a smaller hallway that led away from the Mess Hall. Bryan stared blankly as he watched the mysterious African walk away.
Things are getting interesting, Bryan smiled, his investigative reporter inside himself dying to know more.
But for now, he had an interview to conduct with Mr. Roth. Fanaka and the mysterious "Shetani" would have to wait until dark.
THINGS! EXCITEMENT! Looks like things are getting more and more interesting for our intrepid reporter. Do not worry my faithful readers, all will be revealed in time!
Remember to read and review as well! I always love getting feedback from you guys.
Enjoy!
-JacksonMW