THE ANIMALS
"Oh come on, Darwin..." Eliza whined as she held her hand on the door handle. She was going to go out exploring in the jungle....again.
Darwin shook his head. The gray chimpanzee wasn't going to be any part of this! This time, he would stand his ground. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, and glared at Eliza. "No way! Don't you remember all those other times?"
Eliza titled her head. "What other times? Darwin, this is the first time..." Her voice trailed off. She sighed. "Okay, so I did ask you many times before...but come on...please?"
Darwin glared at her. Eliza just gave him a sad look. Darwin's face softened, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Oh...oh all right..." He finally groaned. He knew he wasn't going to like this.
"That's great!" Eliza grabbed Darwin's arm and dragged him out.
Debbie, watching from her chair, stared after the two friends as they headed out. She just groaned. She knew Eliza could talk to animals, but sometimes she wished that she couldn't. This is because, sometimes, Debbie was jealous.
She felt a wet tongue against her cheek. She screamed in disgust and grabbed the culprit. "Donnie!" She snarled, wiping her cheek with her arm the best she could, "Don't do that!"
Donnie only smiled, almost gayly, and gibbered nonsense. He leapt out of Debbie's arms and grabbed her magazine.
"Give that back, you wild animal!" She chased after the wild boy throughout
the commvee.
Eliza and Darwin were walking along a pathway. The jungle seemed very quiet. Eliza found it upsetting. Usually some parts of the jungle were buzzing with noise. She'd understand if a few small parts were quiet. But this was too disturbing for her.
Darwin, one the other hand, was enjoying the silence. The noise of the jungle made him think of clouded leopards, lions, cougars, and all those dangerous predatory animals. He longed for Eliza to explore somewhere safe. And now, perhaps she finally did choose a safe place to relax.
"I don't like this, Dar..." She whispered under her breath. "It's just too quiet here..like something is wrong.."
Darwin shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see what you're so worried about..." He looked into the sky. "It's a beautiful day. I don't see what's wrong with some silence, Eliza." Darwin's eyes locked onto the sun. For a moment, he kept staring. He ignored the burning pain his eyes were feeling, and he felt his brain hurt.
He grabbed his head, his nails digging into his skull tightly. He couldn't draw his eyes away from the burning sun. His pupils dialated, his veins appeared, and he started growing a snarl on his face.
Eliza had her back turned, and was oblivious. "But Dar...you know as well as I do that..." She turned around, and was shocked by what she was seeing. Darwin was growling up at what appeared to be the sun. His nails were so deep in his head that they were drawing up blood. His eyes were blood shot and tears of pain stained his light gray face-fur. "DARWIN!"
Darwin's eyes snapped back to normal, and he shook himself. He finally got his gaze away from the sun. He looked at Eliza, rather shocked by the volume of her voice. "What? What is it?!" He snapped rather angrily.
Eliza was taken aback. "What's wrong?"
Darwin sighed, and rubbed his head. "I-I don't know Eliza..." He looked at his hand, and then back at the startled 12 year old. "I'm sorry."
Eliza smiled. "That's okay." She turned around to continue walking, but then another noise caught her attention. Darwin's eyes widened in fear, and he backed up behind Eliza. "Darwin don't be afraid." She reassured him. "It's probably just a lost leopard."
The chimpanzee rolled his eyes. "Thank you. I feel sooo much better now!" He replied with sarcasm laced in his cowardly voice.
They watched as something emerged from the shadows. Eliza was correct. It was indeed a leopard. Eliza smiled. She recognized the leopard. It appeared to be one of the leopards she met the last time she was there. "Hello...Remember..." Her voice trailed off. Something wasn't right.
The leopard looked the same, but something was off about the leopard. The leopard was one of the few females of the pack. Her fur looked the same, her claws looked the same, but her eyes.. Her eyes once held wisdom, understanding, freedom...but now they were dull, darkened and full of hate and hunger intertwined as one. The yellow part of the eyes were blood red, and the irises were a darker shade of red. Her once cat-like pupils were round and dialated, as if she were standing in bright light.
"This doesn't look good.." Darwin choked out, his whole body shaking.
Eliza gulped and took a step back. "For once, Dar, I think we should've stayed home.."
The leopard walked closer, her back arched and tail held erect. She took another step, and then suddenly sprung forward...