Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake
Follow Me into the Darkness
Chapter 1
Taming the Tiger
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"You're fucking dead! You hear me, kid?"
Eight-year-old Seras Victoria ran like the wind personified, her petite but athletic legs carrying her faster than life as if she were trying to outrun the world and everything in it. The girl snuck a brief glance over her shoulder, and sure enough, a gang of at least five or six boys were shadowing her in the distance.
She weaved her body down hallways and around other children. Some bystanders stopped what they were doing to watch her retreating back with both fear and awe present in their expressions. A little boy about half her age unintentionally walked into her route, and as their gazes met, two things happened simultaneously. The boy clutched his stuffed animal closer to his chest as if it would protect him, his eyes bulging from fright. Seconds from impact, Seras whirled her body and successfully redirected her momentum, narrowly dodging him.
A nearby girl abandoned the conversation she was having with her friend to take hold of the boy's hand, pulling him away from the scene as swiftly as she could manage. Seras frowned to herself in disappointment but was happy she could at least prevent herself from trampling over the poor thing.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sammy! Sorry, Ava! I didn't mean it!"
The girl known as Ava remained silent as she carried out her task, and the little boy simply buried his face into his stuffed teddy bear. Ava's friend stood quietly against the wall, glaring contemptuously at Seras for ruining their downtime.
Seras was used to the wide array of reactions that greeted her wherever she went. While certain kids tended to avoid her like the plague, many wanted to either participate in the ruckus or revel in the gossip that followed. But whatever the flavor of opinion, everyone was aware of the almost daily routine that took place on the premises. The lone girl could barely survive a day without going toe-to-toe with some punk or fleeing from the same group of bullies who believed they controlled the place.
Many children came and went with little to no difficulties, but Heart Lake School and Orphanage was no comforting shelter or ray of sunshine to her. No, the antiquated building with its dirty floors and worn off-white and sea green walls was more like an insane asylum. If that were the case, though, everyone would more than happily argue that she was the only child in residence who had mental problems of any sort. No one, faculty and child alike, took kindly to her.
But no bully or quiet observer could ever deny that she was not your typical little girl and, despite her tiny stature, was a dangerous force to face.
Her latest opponent and his obtuse friends were still persistent in chasing her.
Earlier in the day, one of the boys in the group had tormented her for an hour, following her wherever she went while calling her names. Even when the girl had sought for some peace in the female bathroom, he stood outside the door like a hawk until she re-emerged. When he ignored her pleas one too many times for him to leave her alone, she had repaid him with an impulsive right hook, which then resulted in a monstrous black eye.
He had obviously told his friends about what had happened and was looking for revenge.
Turning a corner, Seras cursed to herself as she spotted two teachers at the other end of the hallway occupied in chatter. She scanned her surroundings briefly before dashing into the nearest empty classroom. The desks inside were long tables that took up virtually the entire length of the room. Choosing one of the aisles in the middle, the girl sat behind one of the pushed in chairs to shield herself from view.
She was far enough ahead of the stampeding boys to buy herself some time alone.
Patches of wild blonde hair were plastered to her sweating forehead, so she swiped her hand up her face to prevent strands from poking her in the eyes. Adrenaline pumped steadily throughout her bloodstream as she listened to the rapid beating of her heart. Though she was out of breath, the girl liked to be active and enjoyed the happiness that exercise stimulated within her. It never failed to guide her into a tranquil, feel-good state of mind. She could feel every pulse point in her body throbbing almost painfully against her skin as she inhaled deeply and carefully to regulate her breathing.
Seras stretched out her body in one languid motion before drawing her knees to her chest, locking her legs within her arms and minimizing the amount of skin that touched the dusty floor. Using her legs as a makeshift pillow, she leaned her head against them and shut her eyes as she rested her muscles in silence.
The little she had eaten for dinner worked against her, and she felt her mind begin to doze off in the warm classroom.
"Seras…"
Even with her eyes closed, the girl could perceive an uncanny shadow that shouldn't have been there engulfing her figure whole before suddenly dissipating. She snapped to attention and raised her head, scrubbing at her eyes before scanning the room.
Everything looked normal. No one else was present, yet an odd mixture of musk, blood, and night flowers filled her nose. The scent, reminiscent of the night but indisputably masculine, seemed familiar to her somehow.
The small hairs at the back of her neck stood up in warning, and goosebumps erupted along her arms. But this did not exactly frighten the girl. For the past week, Seras was starting to witness unexplained ghostly occurrences at random occasions whenever she was alone.
She was wholeheartedly convinced that she was being haunted by something. For what, she had no idea. As for why, maybe she was the only one who might listen.
Though she was initially alarmed, a voice at the back of her mind told her that no harm would come to her. Needless to say, the girl's speculations about her experiences merely gave her supervisors another reason to believe that she was troubled and needed treatment.
The sound of cracking glass made her browse the row of windows along the side wall. On one of the panes, a single hairline fracture had danced across the surface before dispersing into cobweb-like patterns.
Seras rose from her hiding place and advanced toward the damaged window.
The evening was growing increasingly black outside. The sun had already set, but the sky had not yet reached full dark. She could see the moon low on the horizon, the nearly full sphere blazing with an eerie shade of molten red.
"What the bloody hell is going on around here..." the girl muttered to herself.
She looked down upon the land and had a good view of the area from the second floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the silhouette of a tall figure circling around the side of the building. Until that moment, the girl had never been so close to discovering the source of her bizarre experiences. She desperately wanted to call out into the night, pleading for the figure to reveal itself or to provide her with answers, but a lingering thread of fear made her hesitate and grip the edges of the window sill until her knuckles turned white from the strain.
"Liam! She's in here!"
Seras jumped in surprise at the sudden sound of voices coming from behind her and snapped her head to the doorway as her pursuers began to pool inside the room.
"There you are, kid," Liam sneered. "You beat up my friend's face here pretty badly, so I think it would only be fair to return the favor."
The gang of boys split into a semi-circle around the classroom. Liam, the oldest and self-proclaimed leader of the gang, was at the center of the formation. He made the first move by taking a few steps in her direction.
Seras hated to get cornered. There was too much furniture in the area to be conducive for fighting. Though she would gladly take the opportunity to whack at everyone with a chair, she was bound to receive the most damage with only two arms against twelve. But she couldn't stall the entire night, just like the boys couldn't chase her all night. If she didn't face them tonight, they would surely be after her fresh in the morning. If she battled it out now, she'd at least have a brief interlude of peace before someone tried to start trouble with her again.
She growled to herself in frustration and glanced at the damaged window behind her with an expression of consideration. Having to make a hasty decision, she could think of only two options. She could either stay where she was and undoubtedly face defeat, or...
A provoking smile graced the blonde's lips. Yes, perhaps she was a bit on the crazy side.
Liam faltered, his face breaking out into an uncertain frown. "There's nowhere to go. We can do things the easy way, or you can choose to make things hard. Whatever suits that weird mind of yours."
Seras swiftly unlocked and opened the window, hoisting her tiny body up on the ledge. She took one last glimpse at the group of boys, an odd twinkle of determination setting her eyes aflame.
"Come at me if you have the guts, losers," she challenged before propelling her body forward and effectively throwing herself out the window.
The gang stared dumbfounded as they gathered around the open frame in time to see Seras land a little shakily on her feet. The building was not incredibly high, but the jump was still an impressive, don't-try-this-at-home stunt.
Once her feet touched the ground, Seras winced at the pain that erupted within her knees. She wobbled about momentarily, attempting to regain her balance. Once she was confident that she wouldn't tip over, she sprinted a few feet away from the building and turned her attention back to the raised classroom. The pain in her knees faded into a pleasant numbness, and the girl could only hope that her legs would function properly in the morning.
"Well? What are you guys waiting for? Or are you all just a bunch of chickens?"
"I'm telling you, she's not normal, dude. She's like Catwoman or some shit..." one of the boys blurted out absentmindedly.
Liam raised his leg on the window sill and heaved his body up until he was sitting securely on the frame. "I think you're just being a pansy. She's just a little girl, and I'm definitely not gonna let her get the best of me."
Seras crouched in anticipation as the older boy slid out the window. She darted forward to intercept his landing, head-butting him in the stomach and sending him tumbling to the ground.
"What the—"
The blonde maneuvered her landing as she fell on top of Liam, shoving her knees hard into his stomach. While the surprised boy had to take a few moments to piece together his surroundings, she seized the opportunity to claw at his face with her mildly lengthened nails, drawing blood with some of her nicks.
"Are you out of your mind?" one of the boys bellowed from above as another hollered in unison. "No way! I'm taking the stairs!"
"Nice friends you have there," Seras teased him.
"I don't need anyone to be able to pummel you into the dirt, pip-squeak!" Liam retorted, snatching her wrists within his hands and throwing her a couple feet to the side.
As the older boy rose from the ground and made a move to strike her with his foot, the blonde somersaulted in front of his legs like a bowling ball, making Liam lose his balance and trip over her body. At fifteen, the leader of her tormentors was one of the oldest kids at the orphanage. The boy was tall and built like a swimmer, but he did not have much else to use at his advantage. Though she probably couldn't win a game of arm wrestling against him, Seras always managed to invent creative ways to hold her ground against their unfair fights.
Once Liam hit the grass, Seras sprung to her feet and yanked at his dark brown hair, trying to pull his body across the yard. But she was not able to move far. As the sound of heavy footsteps reached her ears, she turned her head only to get ambushed by the rest of the gang. The blonde fell roughly against Liam, and the boys buried her and their leader beneath their combined weight.
The pile of bodies dispersed after a few moments of scurrying around on the ground, and Seras instinctively shielded the back of her head with her hands. A multitude of fists came bashing down on random areas of her body, and she took the beating as well as she could manage as she waited for an opening to take the offensive.
She thrashed her legs about blindly, hoping to hit anything of importance. A few of the boys made sounds of pain and annoyance, and she rolled to the side when the punching wavered. Her eyes scanned the scene briefly before she shoved her own fist into the nearest boy's stomach, driving him into the dirt.
Before she could make another move, Seras felt someone grab her arms and pull them behind her back. A hand buried itself painfully within her naturally spiked hair, pushing her down to her knees and holding her head in place.
"Liam, go for it, bud!" The voice belonged to the boy that she had injured earlier in the day.
The blonde flinched as the vengeful boy kept wrenching at her hair. Liam towered over her and swung his fist straight into her eye just as she had shut them in apprehension. The pain was immediate, and when she re-opened them, only one opened fully. She was too aware of her injured eye as it quickly swelled from the force of the attack.
The boys were laughing at her, she realized. Seras had done all the damage she could, but the blonde knew that she wouldn't be able to do much more because of how constrained she was. That didn't stop her from swinging her leg backwards and kicking one of her captors right in the balls.
"You little bitch!"
Liam hit her again, this time in the stomach. Her body was released, and Seras toppled to the grass in shock as all the air was knocked out of her. The girl curled up into the fetal position as she tried to learn how to breathe again.
When she no longer felt like she was being suffocated, she looked up and was surprised to see Liam as she did. He stood there frozen in apparent fear, his fist hovering in the air as if he had been aiming to punch her again.
Her blood ran cold when she heard the low reverberations of growling coming from behind her.
A great mass of black fur jumped into her line of vision and descended upon Liam's body with alarming speed. The impact sent the stunned boy sliding against the grass until shortly coming to a complete halt. What looked like a large dog loomed over him, but Liam was already knocked unconscious by the initial hit to his head.
The rest of Liam's friends watched in dread before shouting in unrestrained terror. They abandoned their unconscious leader without a second thought, bolting as fast as they could toward the building's back entrance.
Seras rose into a sitting position and scooted back a few inches, unsure of what to do. She understood their fear when the beast turned its head to look at her. The gigantic dog was breathtakingly beautiful with its shaggy, midnight raven fur, but she let out a screech of her own as her gaze took in the four sets of blood red eyes that resided on its face.
She felt her heart skip a beat as the animal advanced upon her. It placed each paw slowly and carefully upon the yard, circling around her body before settling on its haunches in front of her. Each of its paws had to have been at least twice the size of her hands. Although both were sitting, the eight-year-old girl looked like a kitten in comparison to the beast's thick, muscular frame.
The dog regarded her with unnerving intelligence in its eyes, as if it could understand anything she said and more.
"Good boy..." she breathed nervously, eyes as wide as tiny saucers.
When nothing happened, Seras extended a trembling hand to rest upon the beast's head.
Before she could touch the dog's seemingly soft fur, the girl flinched as the back doors swung open. The director and headmaster of the orphanage, Mr. Addison, accompanied by a couple of the faculty members emerged from the building. Liam's friends were conveniently hiding behind the adults.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Seras slowly rotated her head back to the large animal, only to discover that she was alone. Alone, in the backyard after curfew and with Liam's unconscious body. The beast was nowhere to be found.
"Seras, I would like to see you in my office."
The accusatory tone shot straight through her heart. The young girl nearly succumbed to tears as she stared dismally at the grass beneath her, wondering how she could possibly explain herself this time around.