CHAPTER TWO:

Contemplations and Escape

(or)

Being a Provider

This was her chance!

The crazy wild-man was gone and her clothes were right there (still wet, yes, but there) and she was pretty sure she could run.

...but could he track her?

And where would she go?

Still, her chances had to be better out there in the rain, right? But how long would it take for her strange kidnapper to return? He seemed a complete wild-man. He seemed...feral. More animal than man.

`Okay, Cassie, make up your mind...Outside or inside...outside or inside...`

She stared at the door, thinking; thinking of her captors sharp teeth at her jugular, his razor-yellowed claws.

Okay, outside it was then.

She jumped up so fast her head swam with dizziness and she fell back down.

"Okay, let's try this again, slowly this time." she ordered herself, very carefully getting onto the balls of her feet then straightening even slower, like an exercise in Ballet, slowly rolling up one vertebrae after the other, her head and knees the last to completely straighten.

"Clothes next." she said softly to herself, wincing as she pulled on the cold, wed garments. She debated stealing a fur for protection from the rain, then decided against it. "Why make it easier for him to track me?"

This statement caused her to freeze. Did she actually believe that this crazy man could track her by scent!?

`That's exactly what I believe...`

She chewed her lower lip, thinking. The furs, though warm, did smell pretty rank. `He'd be able to track me in a second if I wore these.` she thought and winced at the idea of going out again in the cold rain.

"Best get it over with."

But what if he had locked the door!?

This thought almost sent he rinto another panic attack; her chest tightened and it felt hard to breathe; the walls seemed to shake.

She made herself walk over to the door and put her sweaty hands around the handle.

`One...two...three...pull!`

It seemed like a thousand and one scenarios flashed through her mind in the space of seconds; trying to open the door and finding it locked, opening the door and having the strange, crazy man outside it, claws ready and mouth full of teeth, opening the door and getting outside only to get lost and die from cold and hunger. Why oh WHY hadn't she held onto her pack!

...The door opened to rain, cold, and woods.

Laughing in a kind of insane relief, she stumbled out the door, wincing as the cold drops hit her skin...and she was off.

MEANWHILE:

Sabretooth scowled but kept as quiet as the grave as he crouched on the forest floor. The rain had sent all the little animals-and even some of the big ones-into hiding. But he was patient and, overall, he was a hunter, an extreme predator with all the instincts of an animal and the knowledge of a man.

Oh yeah, he had this covered.

The little nose-wigglers were down deep in their warm, snug, little burrow, waiting for the rain to go away so that they could hop back out into the green. With all the rain and Sabretooth being careful to stay downwind, the rabbits had no idea he was there.

He could, of course, wait for them to come up, but he had a little frail back at his cabin who needed some meat in her stomach, and this required a quicker method.

With slow, careful delicacy, his sharp yellow nails lengthened into deadly hunders knives. Then, quicker than a cobra, he lunged down with one hand, ripping open the burrow with a great roar, claws digging through earth and bramble like a hot knife through butter.

In almost a matter of seconds there were three dead rabbits. He growled a little in approval, grabbing the little bodies by the ears.

Hunting for another reminded him of when he used to hunt for Jimmy, back before the runts regen factor had kicked in and he'd still been weak and totally dependent on his older brother for survival.

The memory brought a smile onto Victor Creeds face. Not a very pretty smile, true, but a smile none-the-less, and not an 'I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-enjoy-doing-it' smile either.

Who would have ever thought that the great Sabretooth would be a provider again?

There was a kind of pleasure he had forgotten in hunting for another. He remembered how Jimmy's eyes had lit up when his older brother had returned with a brace of rabbits or a deer for them to eat, how nice it had been to see his little brother sleeping with a full stomach and grease on his lips.

Of course, the runt had learned how to hunt soon enough, Victor himself had taught him how; how to pick out his prey, how to track it, how to stay-down-wind. Still, he had enjoyed bringing his brother food, keeping him full and warm, even after his brother had figured out how to hunt for himself.

But-his smile faded a little-Jimmy had forgotten about him. That wasn't his fault, he knew, but still...

He shook the unpleasant thoughts from his head. Right now he had a frail to feed.

That was when he heard the scream.

The great cat was starving; hungry enough to ignore the scent marking of a much larger predator to hunt for food, and here he had found it.

The two-legged one smelled deliciously of fear and stood scared and shaking.

The feline predator crouched low on its haunches, ready to spring.

`Oh great, oh great, oh great, oh great, oh great, out of the frying pan and into the fire...` she thought, slowly taking one step back. She knew better than to run, that would just worsen the hunting instinct and, besides, she had already fallen down several times. If she fell down with a mountain lion after her, she would probably become kitty chow faster than you could say "meow-mix".

That's when heshowed up.

Her jaw dropped when something tackled the mountain-lion from the side. Something big, brawny and human...ish.

It was her captor.

With growls and roars, the pair collided and rolled on the ground, claws stabbing and slashing. It wasn't long till the mountain lion was dead and there stood her captor, victorious.

Then his glare turne don her and she winced, literally taking a step back.

He was on her in a second, hoisting her up in the air. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

She felt like a rag-doll being tossed in the air by a rottweiler...no, excuse me, a mountain lion...and hissed in pain when her head snapped back.

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME IF YOU KEEP SHAKING ME LIKE THIS!" she yelled back, wincing when she hurt her already-ringing ears.

To her surprise, he stopped shaking her immediately, then threw her over his shoulder again as he stomped off, making sure he backtracked to pick up his kill of rabbits, not that she would be grateful, the stupid, foolish, WORTHLESS frail.

This time, when he tossed her onto the furs, he also let out a huge roar that seemed to make the sturdy cabin walls shake.

She jumped about fifty feet in the air, and then huddled down into the furs, frightened.

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY HERE!"

"I DON'T KNOW YOU!" she yelled right back. "FOR ALL I KNOW, YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME!"

"IF I WAS GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU'D BE DEAD ALREADY!"

Then, only his growls filled the room as he paced, his long, yellow nails lengthening into claws once more. With a great roar, he swung his claws at the wall, leaving deep grooves, grooves, she noticed, that were identical on other areas of the wall.

`So he uses his cabin as a scratching post...` her mind interjected vaguely.

After his abuse on the wall, the great man breathed heavily, claws still flexed.

She thought about asking what he was going to do with her, but for once her brain decided to exert some control over her mouth and she kept silent.

Then he leaned down and scooped up the rabbit carcasses in one hand, tossing them at her. "Eat," he growled. "EAT!"

"I CAN'T EAT RAW MEAT!" she yelled back, feeling tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

Sabretooth blinked. He actually hadn't thought of that. He and Jimmy had always been able to eat meat raw.

Stupid frail.

Abruptly, he grabbed the rabbits, lengthened one claw, and began to skin the critter, ignoring the blood that fell on the floor.

When she let out a low groan, he growled at her. "WHAT!?"

She flinched and then, to his surprise and pleasure, gave him a growl right back. "There's already vomit on the floor, sure, let's just add some rabbit blood as well!"

He growled at her. A little spirit was okay, but not too much. "YOU COMPLAIN ANYMORE AND I'LL LET YOU CLEAN THE KILL!" then he lowered his voice to a softer growl. "And get out of those wet clothes."

She wasn't planning what came out of her mouth, she certainly didn't think the words before she said them, they just came out at the same time her realization came;

"You have no idea how to deal with people, do you?"

He graced her with another low, dangerous growl.

She winced and buried herself under the furs, trying to undress without showing anything. It was a tricky procedure, but she managed it.

"Sleep." her captor ordered in his gruff voice.

She just blinked at him.

"SLEEP!" he yelled the order, making her wince and cover her ears again.

"I can't just go to sleep like that!" she snapped her fingers in example, feeling tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

The entire day had been just too much; getting lost, captured, vomiting, practically turned into a prisoner. A sob of sheer frustration and fatigue escaped from her throat as her shoulders began to shake, losing herself in her emotions.

She didn't know how long she cried, but when a piece of cooked meat touched her lips, it brought her back to the real world.

"Eat." his voice was gruff and commanding, but at least he wasn't screaming at her this time.

Everything was a blur through her tears, but she easily felt him lifting her onto his lap so that she was leaning against his heavily muscled chest as he hand-fed her little bits of cooked rabbit till she finally fell asleep.

FINALLY she was RESTING.

The tears worried him, and he wasn't used to being worried, and when he wasn't used to something, it made him angry.

This time, however, the anger didn't bubble over like it usually did, it didn't give him the insatiable urge to kill, to hunt, to claw. Instead, he held the frail in his arms tighter. She was his now, and he protected what was his.