The tiger queen

Heaven and hell.

I stood there hidden from the doors for a couple moments scared to move. George put his hand out and I took it and a slight calm came over me. With his other hand he guided me into the room with his hand on my lower back. The first thing I saw was Samuel Tigarouse standing at the head of the table. His hair black as night and eyes blue as ice, his crooked nose that looked to be broken a couple times and his strong jaw. He was wearing a fitted white t-shirt that showed his pecs and suffocated his biceps. Lastly was the pj pants that didn't leave much to the imagination and I felt myself dampen at his godlike figure. I felt the atmosphere change and I could have sworn I heard a faint growl that snapped me out of my trance. Next I saw Anna and she patted the chair next to hers and I walked hurriedly towards her not enjoying being the centre of attention. I sat and Samuel's eyes never left mine. "I WANT TO INTRODUCE OUR NEWEST MEMBER. LILA OLIVE JOY TO OUR VILLAGE. he said with a strong low voice. Everyone clapped and welcomed me and went back to eating and chatting. Anna talked about her plans for the day but I couldn't concentrate. I felt this pull towards Samuel like a magnet. It was distracting. She said my name and I shook it off and looked up. IF YOU LOOK AT THAT PLATE ANY HARDER YOUR GOING TO BURN A HOLE IN IT. She said with a chuckle. Oh sorry Anna it's alot to take in, I said. She replied with an I understand and we continued eating out breakfast. When we were done she asked if I wanted to go to the clothing store they had here to pick up any thing I needed and I said I didn't have any money. To which she replied it was free everything in the village was free it was part of the healing process. I agreed and we went on our was we walked for about 10 minutes till we were met with a little shop called jazzy designs. We entered and the door dinged like a bell that made me jump. "ARE YOU OK LILA?" Anna asked and I replied with a yes, sorry. As we walked in a woman came rushing out and gave Anna a hug and kissed both cheeks. "ANNA MY LOVE HOW ARE YOU?" she asked. Anna replied with great and said we needed the works for me in 2 sizes bigger then i am. Aswell she asked for a couple outfits that would fit me for now. Anna then turned to me and introduced the woman as Jaz, the owner of the store. Jaz greeted me and took my measurements and said she would have the bigger clothes sent to the house. But I was to look around for the clothes for now. After about 2 hours I had tried on 100s of pieces and was exhausted. We had come up with 5 outfits and 3 pairs of shoes, more clothes than I have had in my life. Jaz bagged our stuff and said she would have it delivered today. We said our goodbyes and left. Next Anna took me to a couple other stores to get toiletries and anything else I needed and started headed home. On the way home we stopped at a little restaurant named Lola's Cafe. We entered and it smelled like heaven. I could smell fresh bread and the sweetness of fruit and pastries as well as the saltiness of soups. A young man greeted us and showed us to our seat. He introduced himself as Alex and told us he would be our server. He handed us some menus and placed 2 glasses of water on the table and left. I looked over the menu and decided on a small bowl of soup with a lemon pastry. Anna on the other hand ordered enough food to feed an army. Half way through our food, which was the best soup I had ever had, a woman came out of the back and headed over to our table. Anna huffed and looked irritated as the woman made her way over. I looked at her with confusion on my face and she said we would talk later. When the woman made it to our table she looked at Anna and asked who her friend was. Anna replied with my name and stated I was new here. To that the woman looked me up and down and said for me to stay away from Sam he was hers. I just kept quiet and looked at my soup not wanting to do anything to get me in trouble. "WHAT IS SHE A MUTE?" The woman said. To this Anna replied no she's very capable of speaking, maybe she just doesn't want to talk to you. The woman then started saying rude comment to Anna and Anna started raising her voice and I had enough. I guess I must have found my courage because I yelled stop at both of them. They stopped and looked at me both shocked at my outburst. Look I don't know you miss and I don't want any trouble. I'm not interested in Samuel, not that that's any of your business but if I was he's a grown man and can choose what he wants. We will be leaving now, I stated flatly. Anna and I got up to leave but the woman pushed me, calling me a w***e and saying I was never allowed in her restaurant again. I fell on my bottom with a thud and Anna was on her like a lioness on a Buffalo. She punched her square in the nose and I heard a sickening crack that I was very used to. Anna then grabbed my elbow and helped me off the ground while the woman who I'm assuming is Lola is cupping her face rushing to the back. She then said we should go as she shook her hand. I agreed and we left. When we got back to the house Anna dropped me off at my room and said she had to go see if she broke her hand and would be back later to talk about Lola. I entered my room and saw that I had 3 boxes left inside the door. I opened them up and saw they were my clothes and toiletries I had gotten today. I figured I had time so I started putting things away. When I was done that it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. What should I do now, I thought to myself? I looked over at the bathroom door and decided I would take a bath. I had never done that before. I gathered some clean clothes and headed into the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the tub while it filled up and I grabbed the soap on the side it said watermelon bubble bath. I poured a little in and watched the bubbles rise before taking my clothes off and sliding in. I moaned at the feeling of the warm water swallowing my body. It felt so good. Once I was all the way in I rested my head back on the ledge, closed my eyes and started humming. Again I felt someone watching me and opened my eyes to see knowone there. Odd I thought but closed my eyes again and I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew Anna was knocking on my bathroom door. "LILA? ARE YOU IN THERE?" Anna said through the door. Yes sorry I must have fallen asleep, be out in a minute, i said climbing out of the tub. I took a quick look in the mirror before drying myself off with the fluffiest towel I have ever felt. I looked healthier already in just a day. I had put on a little weight from actually eating and my cheeks had a pink tint to them. I hurriedly threw my clothes on after checking myself in the mirror and opened the door as I brushed my hair and walked out. Anna was lounging on the sofa but sat up when I came out. ARE YOU READY FOR DINNER? TONIGHT IS PIZZA AND SALAD NIGHT! MY FAVOURITE. She said excitedly. I swear all this girl thinks about is food. She then realised the clothes I had on are from today's shopping trip. WOW THOSE CLOTHES FIT YOU PERFECTLY! She said even more excitedly. I had a simple pair of black jeans on and a white cropped sweater. I threw my hair up and we went to the dinning hall. Today Samuel and George weren't here. Anna said they had some business to take care of. We sat down and today everyone kept chatting like I was a part of the family. It was nice. A couple of the people around the table asked me how I was settling in and told me about themselves it was nice to have people to talk to while we ate. The pizza was so good. Lane sometimes bought it for the family but I was never allowed to eat it. I don't think anything will ever top it and the salad was what they call caesar salad and it was perfectly paired with the pizza. By the time dinner was over my face hurt from smiling and laughing and my tummy was going to explode. Anna said it was her job to clean up after dinner and I offered to help her. As we cleaned we talked about Lola and I found out she was madly in love with Samuel but Samuel had no feelings for her. I also found out she was one of the first 5 to be saved by Samuel and he's had more problems with her than anyone else in the village. Anna says she gets into it with all the females Samuel saves. She also says when she was saved Lola had tried to get her kicked out but Samuel saw right through her lies and punished her. He isolated her from the other members for 2 weeks so she would learn her lesson. After that she settled down a little until today Anna explained. Once we were done the dishes Anna asked if I ever watched a movie before I said no and she said perfect would you like to do that? I nodded and she lead me to a door in the corner on the left of the kitchen. She opened it and we decened down some stairs to a room with a big comfy u shaped sofa. I was amused to say the least but it got better. She walked over to the wall and found a string and pulled on it. It was a big white paper she pulled out of the ceiling. She then went and turned on what she called a projector and the movie came up. She pressed play and we got comfy and started watching beauty and the beast she called it. By the time the movie was over I had cried and laughed. I was sure this was a children's movie but I appreciated her thinking of me. She was a good friend. We made our way up stairs again and she dropped me off at my room. I went in and flopped on the bed. In a matter of minutes I was out cold only to be awoken in the dark. I tossed and turned for a while but it was no use. I decided I would go have some warm milk to try to put me to sleep. I went down to the kitchen and warmed some milk and drank it. As I was washing my cup I looked out the window above the sink. It was on the edge of a forest and in the middle of it was a dark figure with yellow eyes staring back at me. I got startled and ran back up to my room only to find George in nothing but pjs in the hall. I jumped and he asked if I was OK, to which I replied what I had seen and it was probably just an animal. He chuckled and agreed that it was just an animal. I asked him if he could sit with me till I fell asleep and he did. I got into bed and he sat at the corner of it. And I felt so relaxed I fell into a deep sleep.