I laughed as Baloo tossed me up and down in the air. He, Louis, and me were by the lakeside where we were supposed to be learning to swim. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Baloo; we all wore the biggest grins on our faces. But the fun couldn't last; Bagheera came from over the bend and frowned unimpressed.
"Not so high, Baloo," Bagheera was always overprotective of us kids. "Awe, it's just a little fun. You should try it sometime, baggy pants," Baloo flashed him a brilliant grin. Bagheera rolled his eyes and came over to us. "I thought you were teaching them to swim." "I am! Show him what you can do, little britches," that was Baloo's nickname for Louis. Nodding excitedly, Louis jumped into the water and began to paddle in a circle. "That's wonderful," Bagheera praised him and Baloo beamed proudly. Then their attention turned back to me.
"And you, Haru? How's your swimming coming along?" I squirmed a bit awkwardly in Baloo's arms, not saying anything. "Ah, leave the kid alone. She'll swim when she's good and ready," Baloo defended me. Bagheera frowned, folding his arms. "Don't coddle her; this is important. Learning to swim may save her life one day." "Me don't coddle her? You're the one who doesn't like me throwing her up in the air." "She might get hurt; she's such a little thing," adults often talked about us like we weren't here. By now, Baloo set me down and I ran over to Louis, who swam over to the side of the lake to meet me. The two carnivores present became quiet, watching the two of us over by the water. Baloo grinned and Bagheera finally relented. That was just one of many happy memories we had during our time with the commune.
I sighed exiting the library. Dark outside; I already knew that. I wouldn't say I was afraid to walk home tonight, but…. "Perfect… You are so perfect." I'd be lying if a lingering hesitation didn't resonate in my mind. With a deep, sober breath in, I began down the path towards my dorm house.
Along the way, I gazed up at the stars. It was clear out tonight, with a full moon lighting up a good portion of the sky. Aleka and the other wolves liked nights like this; full moons were their favourite atmosphere. It's night like tonight where I missed them more than usual. Aleka….. He was such a good leader of the commune. He never lost his temper and was always so composed and gentle. You'd never know he saw Louis or me as herbivores by the way he treated us; we were no different from the other members in his eyes. In the most ironic timing in the world, I shut my eyes and breathed deeply again. Aleka, Bagheera, Baloo….. I miss you- I miss you all so much. Carnivores or not, you're my family; all of you, and I wouldn't change a thing about you.
It was right when I finished that last thought that my bunny ears perked up on their own accord. My feet grew to a halt as I glanced off into the distance at something. I saw something….. I saw something move, I think. A shadow in the darkness by the auditorium. I knew something was there by the way the blurry lines of the silhouette draw bigger and bigger, which meant that whatever it was approached me closer and closer. Without forewarning, my body overpowered my brain effectively taking control of all motor function. The whole commune drilled into me that if ever I should be chased, I should run- run as fast as I could manage. Rabbits may not be strong but we're fast, and this is one area where we can use our smaller stature to our advantage. I didn't realize that my feet had spun around on their own accord. Before my mind registered what was happening, I was running; running as swift as possible.
But I got a bad start; whatever was chasing me got a head start. Again, before I knew what was happening, I felt my whole body being tackled. It was with such a force that the two of us actually summersaulted a couple of times. By the time we were upright, I found myself held into place by two very long, very warm, and very strong arms. They wrapped around me so tight, refusing to even let me wiggle an inch- try as I might.
Now, despite living with a variety of carnivores for nearly my whole life, I'd never really been tackled by one before. Sure, some commune members chased me in the forest, but that was all in fun. And the one animal I was truly afraid of, snakes, didn't catch their prey like this. No, this was a brand-new experience for me. My first thought- when my brain finally started working again, that is- was that this was the same guy from the library; the one I didn't see. He must have waited out here for me to leave. My eyes shut desperately as I considered what to do next. My captor's heartbeat kept getting louder and louder to the point where I could hear it through his shirt.
I could try and bite him, but that might backfire on me. Or I could try to scream for help, but I have a feeling he would just cover my mouth. Rule number one when dealing with predators: do not make them angrier than they already are. It'll only come back to hurt you. That doesn't me simply be passive and accept your fate either, but only fight back if you know it'll help you escape. And with his whole form covering me like a really heavy blanket, I doubt that's a possibility for me right now. I winced in alarm and surprise when his head started jerking around in a frantic manner. He's frantic? What? Is he afraid he'll be caught out here like this? I'm the one who should be in panic mode right now.
"S-Stay back… Stop." Wait, who's he talking to? I'm glad he did talk since it made me realize that it wasn't the same boy from inside the library. This guy's voice was much lighter and clumsier in pitch, if that makes any sense. No real comparison. But, hey wait. If he's not the one from the library, who is this carnivore? So he just saw me walk by and decided to tackle me? His steady audible heartbeat was driving me crazy at this point. "Stop!" Stop what? Is he even talking to me? I haven't said anything. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made that he would be speaking directly to me…
"S-stop… Stop….." He's said that like five times now. Who or what does he want to stop? Is he talking to himself? Does he want himself to stop this attack? Maybe he's having regret about all this, not that he's hurt me yet. I felt all his muscles tense up even more, if that were possible. This didn't hurt me per se, but it did make me more uncomfortable. He's squeezing the air out of me… That's when I heard him growl- a tense, frustrated growl. I don't think his jaw could have locked harder. As if fighting itself, his mouth slowly began to pry open; it sounded like it was painful for him. What's going on? What's wrong with him?
"Legosi!" By some saving grace, an unfamiliar voice hollered out in the distance. He immediately relaxed his grip on me like he was coming back to his senses. "It's urgent!" Footsteps could then be heard running our way. The boy let me go just enough for me to wiggle free from him, but not before he clawed the side of my arm. I didn't even feel the pain right away; instead, I did what my years of training had taught me. Without so much as a look back, I stumbled to my feet and got the hell outta there, panting loudly along the way. I didn't stop until I was at my dorm house, where I ran inside and slammed the door behind me.
It was only when I was safely up inside my room that I noticed the gashes on my lower arm. I winced at the flooding of agony that hit like a title wave. Damn, he got me….. I looked in the mirror at my bloody arm and dirty, wet dress; the snow had soaked it pretty good. Two predators in one night, I comprehended as my gently caressed my wounded arm. In all my years at this school, nothing like this had ever happened to me before. And here I was, a target of that predator instinct I've heard about but haven't seen since my parents…
I banished the memory from my head, giving it a little shake for good measure. Then I returned my attention back down to the wound on my arm. Now what? Should I report this to the school? What would I say if I did? Some carnivore attacked me, but I didn't see their face or what species they are? I think I heard their name but don't remember what it is. And what about Louis? He'll flip his lid if he hears about this; he'll probably never let me out of his sight again. And the commune…. I can see us being put on a train straight home if they found out…..
I let out a long sigh. It was the weirdest thing. This whole ordeal didn't leave me petrified as one would expect; only more annoyed than anything. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't afraid of carnivores; all my family save Louis are meat-eaters. Still, I couldn't just ignore what happened tonight either. There'll be questions, particularly about my bleeding arm, and I'll have to figure out what to do. Regardless, I'm not going to let this ruin my senior year of high school. I bandage it up and move on with life. If something like this happens again, I'll tell someone but for now, I didn't see the reason. I don't like keeping secrets from Louis, but I know how he'd react to something like this; he was also very protective of me. No, for now, I'll just try and forget tonight ever happened. Should it ever come up again….
Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
