Alex woke up on the ground. He was lying on the African grass. He sat up with a strange taste in his mouth. When he looked at his paws, they were covered in blood. Alex screamed. He looked beside him. There, he saw a dead body. It had been clawed and slashed at and part of it was ripped off. It was the body of a zebra. Alex screamed again. Did he kill Marty?! He tried to believe that it was another nightmare, but nothing faded away. Alex went close to the corpse. The blood flowing out of it and the fact that it died with its eyes open made Alex sick. He carefully crawled closer. White with black stripes. The color had faded from its eyes. No, this wasn't Marty. The green in Marty's eyes wouldn't ever fade, and everyone knows that Marty's black with white stripes. He was unique. This couldn't be Marty, could it?
"Alex! Where'd you go?" Alex heard Marty call him. It was too late for Alex to run. Marty approached the lion and screamed. Then he slowly looked at a blood covered lion. "Alex..." He said in shock. "Nononono! Marty! I didn't- I was- this isn't what it looks like!" Alex struggled to get the words out. Marty didn't know what to think. He backed away from Alex slowly, fearing he'd be next. How dare he do this? Lose trust in his best friend? But he didn't take chances. Alex had obviously lost his mind and just became sane again. Marty ran away in case Alex would see him as a meal. What kind of friend am I? Marty thought but kept running.
"Marty! Wait!" Alex didn't even bother trying to catch up with him. As soon as he fell asleep the night before, the monster inside him took over and made him kill and eat the poor zebra. Thank god it wasn't Marty, at least. But still, he murdered an innocent animal! Alex hated and feared himself. He even had a small suicidal thought, but Marty, Gia, no one would want that. All he wanted to do was to protect them. But how can you protect someone from yourself? That exact question flowed through his mind over and over.
Alex made his way towards the watering hole, far from the other animals, so when he washed the blood off, they couldn't drink it. Ew. Alex washed off the blood as much as he could, so that there wasn't a trace of red stained on his fur. It took a long time, but finally, Alex got all the blood off of him. He slowly walked over to the train. He knocked on Marty's door. "M-Marty?" He asked. Marty opened the door. He calmed down a bit to see that Alex was clean of the blood. "Alex? Why did you kill that zebra?" He asked, still a little uncertain. Alex gulped. "I don't know how that happened. I fell asleep in my little spot, and I woke up on the grass by the corpse. I don't know what happened!" He looked at Marty. "Marty...I need help..." He said. Tears began to flow down his face.
Marty suggested to talk with other cats, since he didn't know what the heck to do. So Alex arranged a little meeting with Vitaly and Gia...again. Alex was too afraid to tell them that he'd brutally murdered a zebra, but he did anyway. "I killed a zebra. Not Marty, just...a zebra. I remember going to sleep one night and when I woke up, it was dead. Killed. Eaten. By me." Alex stuttered. Vitaly looked at him in concern. "Are you trying to say that the thing you're fighting just took over while you were sleeping? As if it took the body as it's own?" Alex nodded. "I wouldn't just kill and eat a zebra. You know I wouldn't!" Gia thought. "I've never seen this before, Alex." She stated. Alex's heart sank. "I'll just keep myself in my cart. I can't hurt anyone in there when I'm alone." Gia gasped. "No, Alex! You can't isolate yourself! That can make it much worse!" Alex grew impatient. "Well, then what am I supposed to do?!" He yelled.
He stomped up to Gia. "You're telling me everything I can't do and not helping me at all! You keep telling me everything will be fine! Do I look like a cub to you?!" He held Gia and practically crushed her. Gia yelled in pain, "Alex! You're crushing me! Stop!" Vitaly grabbed Alex and pulled him away, causing both of them to fall out of the cart. Alex clawed at Vitaly's arm. Vitaly yowled in pain as blood ran down his arm. "Vitaly!" Gia screamed. Alex shot his head towards Gia. He had lost all control. "Alex, please stop! You're letting the monster take over! Fight it!" Gia tried to turn a Alex back to sanity, but it was useless. Alex tried to pounce on Gia but was pulled back by Vitaly. Vitaly wouldn't give up, even with an injured arm. The three cats fought for a while. Alex pounced on Gia and was about to claw her until Vitaly punched him in the head and knocked him out cold.
Alex woke up in the corner of his cart. He had a note in his lap. Alex read, "Alex, if you're reading this, you probably woke up and don't remember what just happened." You got that right. Alex thought. He continued to read. "What happened was that you lost control and let the monster inside you take over. You tried to kill Vitaly and I. You clawed deep into Vitaly's arm. Don't worry, he's ok. Right now, I'm worried about you, not him. I want you to meet with me this afternoon, ok? ~ Gia"
Alex slowly put the note back on his lap. He tried to kill Gia and Vitaly? A hatred ran through him in memory of why this is happening to him. He hated his grandfather. He didn't even know him and he was glad he didn't. No. He thought. I can't let hatred overcome me. If I do, then it'll come back and take over me. Alex began to understand how the monster emerged. If he lets hate or anger overtake him, he'll be possessed by it.
Alex didn't take risks and didn't meet with Gia that afternoon. The train made its way out of Africa and made a stop somewhere to rehearse. Later that evening, Alex went to Gia's cart. "Gia can I talk to you real quick?" He asked. Gia looked at the lion. "Did you get my note?" Alex nodded. "Then you should've met with me yesterday afternoon." She said, sounding a little disappointed. "I need to tell you something. I won't be sleeping in my cart tonight." Alex said. Gia cocked an eyebrow. "What? Where will you sleep then?" She asked. Alex pointed at the top of the mountain outside. "Up there." He stated. Gia gasped softly. "Why?" She asked. Alex explained, "If I sleep, it's a perfect opportunity for the killer inside me to take control. If I sleep up there, it'll take longer for me to get to you, and you'll have time to escape." Gia was confused. "Escape?" She echoed. "Drive the train away as far as you can until I'm out of sight." Alex stated. Gia gasped. "But Alex! You'll get-" "Left behind, I know but it's for the best. I want to keep you safe." Alex interrupted. Gia glared at Alex. "Yes you'll get left behind, and hurt, and lost, and you'll go insane fighting it alone!" She yelled. Alex took her paws off his shoulders. "Gia. I need you to do this. Please." He said softly. Gia was about to object again, but finally nodded acceptingly.
That night, Gia awoke to hear a roar. She instantly checked outside her cart. Sure enough, Alex, on all fours, was making his way down the mountain. Gia felt he heart speed increase as she dashed over to the front of the train. "What do you want, doll?" Skipper said after he was awoken. "We need to drive the train out of here! Alex'll kill us if we don't!" She shouted. Skipper began to object when he heard a roar come from the forest very close to the train. "Kowalski! Get us out of here!" The penguin ordered. Kowalski did as he was told and started the train.
The train drove away and left Alex behind. Tears ran down Gia's furry cheeks as she thought of Alex out there by himself. Suddenly, Gia heard a thump, and a deep growl. She ran towards the caboose. When she got there, an out of control, killer lion was hanging on the edge of the rail.