Do I still need a fraggin' disclaimer? Guess not.
Oh yeah. Sorry for the delay. Life likes to throw a curveball, you know.
Predator and Prey
I felt like prey.
The panther reared, growling and baring its teeth at me as I soon found myself slowly backing away.
Don't run, half of my mind screamed. Images after image of wild-life documentaries flashed, a leopard pouncing on a gazelle from behind…
Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the sound of the garage doors and the rumbling of an engine.
Aaron!
The enormous cat takes a sudden leap as I screamed. Annabelle's whimpers filled my ears as the enormous black cat went crashing against the Lennoxes's ornate bookshelvses . Books went flying, pottery pieces and crystal lava lamps breaking into a gazillion pieces along the way.
Immediately making a 90-degree turn, the panther leaps twice then rears up again. Now growling angrily at me from its perch at the top of the shelf, the animal seemed to be daring me to make a move.
That's when I heard something like a mini explosion go off.
"CARLY! ANNABELLE!"
Aaron's burly form seems to fill the doorway. His jaw set, his gaze immediately swept from me to the enormous cat.
"Run for it, Carly," Aaron advised, strangely calm.
Run? My chest heaving, I wanted to nod but the risk of the situation floored me. What was Aaron thinking? Going to try and collar this wild animal himself?
I didn't have time to think . This time the panther bounded towards me again and Aaron literally jumped to my defense, tackling the enormous cat around its belly. The air was suddenly pierced by a flurry of growls, hisses and yowls.
A minute ticked as I stared down desperately at the form of Aaron, pinned by the wild cat underneath. Yet Aaron was putting up a good fight whilst muttering some strangely drunken curses.
"- No uh- you pit-forsaken, bugger…"
What a dangerously stupid scenario.
"CARLY!"
I sprinted towards the kitchen, trying to ignore the wrestling match going on. Aaron! I couldn't believe what he'd just done.
I quickly pushed Annie into the small laundry room. "Its okay, Annie. Just stay still," I tried to console her.
My fingers were shaking as I pulled out my cellphone and dialed the number that first came to mind.
"911, What is your emergency?
Hastily, I repeated to her what was going on and requested for Animal Services. As I started to say that another adult was in the house trying to collar the animal, there was a series of noises like firecrackers.
Then came another like the sound of a gunshot.
I was so stunned for a minute I almost dropped the phone.
"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you okay?"
I almost brushed the operator off. I quickly explained to her that I needed to see to my companion, to see what had just happened.
I arrived just in time to see the black panther bounding away into the darkness. Back the way he came. Through the broken glass.
And in the middle of the room, an Aaron stood grimly, scratches and all. Then he saw me and a not so self-effacing grin came over his face.
"No fraggin' beast ever come back. Not if I can help it,"
Lennox house, an hour later
Animal Services did arrive several minutes later.
Aaron and I had to recount our experiences with the wild animal, starting with me of course. They wanted to know exactly what sort of animal it was so they could put up some sort dragnet to try and capture it. An aggressive animal straying into a residential area is an immediate red-flag opportunity for Animal Control.
One of the Animal agents confided to me that this was the first time they'd actually heard of a panther on the loose . Black panthers weren't native to the region, after all.
But I was so sure it was a black panther. Could I be mistaken?
Seeing our small cuts and bruises, they immediately dispatched an ambulance to the area. So here we are now, sitting in a brilliantly white room. For some reason, once the Doctor arrived, he was able to treat us all one after the other in the same room but separately.
"I Knew it, " Aaron was grumbling under his breath. "That fragging picket fence won't last against a couple of beasticons. Lucky it was alone,"
"A beasti-what? " I asked, wincing slightly as the ER doctor, introduced as Doctor Ratch checked my forearms for bruises or other cuts from broken glass. His last name makes me giggle for some reason. But so do a lot of foreign names.
Doc Ratch glanced at Aaron sharply. "Watch your language, Mister, "He appropriately placed an antiseptic pad over a small cut on my cheek that I hadn't noticed.
"the report indicates you had the temerity to nearly break the door down,"
"So the Lennoxes' fence destroyed, a rabbit is dead yet a kid and her babysitter are safe "Aaron snapped back. "and you're concerned about a slaggin' door?" I was feeling confused at Aaron's antagonism towards the Doctor. Ratch was just making comments based on what he knew of our situation. Also his curses didn't seem to make sense. He must have made them up. I should ask him about that.
I peeked around the curtain at Annabelle, seated on a couch opposite from our cubicle. She was so upset. I wonder for a moment if the experience had scarred her somewhat. Sarah's other sister, a sulky looking redhead sat very close to her and the two were sharing and comparing drawing pads that now displayed some very colorful drawings of what looked like dolphins and a field of flowers.
At least it helped put her mind at ease.
Annabelle should be in bed by now and fast asleep. I felt a little knot form in my stomach at the turn of events. But then again, it wasn't really my fault.
I did protect Annabelle.
And Aaron protected us, I realized.
"You'll be fine, Carly, " Ratch gave me a reassuring smile . "Don't worry about Annabelle, she's completely unhurt, thanks to you,"
I sighed. " I wished I could have helped Aaron but a wild animal is just too dangerous to confront,"
"You did the right thing by not running or the animal would have thought of you as prey," The Doctor glanced at Aaron again. "until it was a distracted by a reckless noble man,"
Ooh. Burn. This Doctor's got guts. Aaron ignored him, however.
"I was once a Mexican bull-dodger, Carly, " Aaron gave a smug grin. "Yah, Just kidding. Spur of the moment decision, anyways. Wanted to protect you and Annie,"
"Well, thanks for being reckless, " I smiled. Will's brother was definitely a caring person. The Lennoxes' seem like a really tight family.
The doctor turned and bustled away. "Carly? I'll have the prescriptions ready and you can all go home,"
Sunday afternoon, Tranquility time
Mr. Pig was buried today.
It has been quite hard for Annabelle.
I'm not going to lie and say that my eyes never turned watery when Aaron started shoveling dirt on top of the small grave. I had only known the fatso bunny for a few hours yet the time spent bunny hopping with him I shall never forget.
The fence has been repaired since then. Aaron is still raging about it, though. It's the same material the previous fence was made of. I guess he wants an iron picket fence or something like it. The sliding glass doors have been replaced as well. Aaron's not satisfied with that either. But there's nothing he can do. Not yet. When Lennoxes' called early this morning and learned of the panther attack, they were understandably, worried but Will seemed to put his foot down on whatever security plan Aaron had in mind.
"Will, listen –" I was sitting on the family room sofa next Annabelle watching TV. Aaron's voice was unusually low yet I heard a few snatches when I was close enough. "Cons not gonna –"
Cons? A thought struck me. Didn't' Aaron say something beasticon something at the hospital? I'm pretty sure it was beasticon. Was it?
Maybe it was the shock of Mr. Pig's demise or the panther attack but Annabelle has been playing in her room more often. I stayed with her at all times as well as Aaron did. He visits have become more frequent ever since. It's making me feel more and more like, well, some teenage babysitter.
Yep, some teenage babysitter. Who apparently can't handle things by herself. Like wild animals.
But then again, who can really handle wild animals? Aside from trainers and animal control experts, I guess.
After the almost endless re-runs of Spongebob and other Cartoon Network shows, Annabelle started begging me and her Uncle Aaron to play race cars.
Race cars? With a little girl? Yep, you heard that right. Of course, Aaron and I jumped in right away. The cars were battery-operated and remote-controlled. Still it wasn't easy racing a semi-wheeler, though. Annabelle and Aaron easily won at different turns, using the yellow and black sports car as well as the red one.
Before I knew it, my babysitting shift ended. Aunt Alice was due to arrive soon and she and Aaron were supposed to take over for me.
"I'll see ya tomorrow, Annie," I wasn't supposed to babysit her on weekdays. The Lennoxes have arranged for their little girl to stay with her Uncle Aaron and Aunt Alice. But I've made her a promise we'd see each other at the mall. She wanted to check out some new toy with her Aunt and Uncle.
I smiled as I bent down and she hugged me instead. Aaron ushered me to the door with Annabelle.
"Take good care, Carly,"
I waved to Uncle and niece as I brought the car around. They were still standing, looking at me as I slowly passed the house out of sight.
It was still early evening so I decided to stop at the nearest gas station. Obviously, I could fill it up early tomorrow morning but that would be cutting it quite close. I'd rather not be stranded on the way to the placement office.
But as I veered off to make a turn towards the gas station, I noticed flashing red and blue lights in my rearview mirror.
Crap. What'd I do now?
Author's Note: Dun, dun. The tide is coming. Things are about to get a little hairier for Carly or wouldn't it?
Now about holo-avatars. They don't represent gender the way humans are supposed to have. In TF lore, Cybertronians can choose and alter their gender however they want but they usually do it according to their immediate environment. Check out TF Wiki for more info.
