Dark Encounters

Chapter two: Encounter (continued)

Daniel rode a huge black stallion, a perfect timing for a rescue. I lost myself, staring at him as he swung down from his horse.

My Daniel, I have claimed him as mine. Whether he feels the same way however is beyond me, he probably doesn’t even know that I exist.

Daniel lives about an hour away, much closer to town and if you haven’t figured it out yet, he also my crush.

I shook my head; it’s definitely not the time to be daydreaming.

Daniel and I are of the same age, he is much taller than I am though. He has broad shoulders, beautiful hazel eyes and his hair has since been sun bleached, something that happens when spent outside too much. The black stallion is named Prince. He has a super shiny coat, well looked after, as it reflects the sunrise off it. Bouncing rays of light all over the yard.

Daniel wore a leather jacket over his long-sleeved shirt, jeans and steal capped boots. My breath hitched slightly.

Daniel now stood directly in front of me, his long legs making the distance in a few strides. He grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes for a second, his expression seemed to hold a bit of fear in it. For me?

He finished scanning my face and redirected his gaze to just up and over my head, after that everything else was just a blur.

When I turned back around, only one stood before us. I was sure that there had been two. A huge tiger and a panther. I could only assume that what we were looking at was in fact a panther. Its muscles rippled across its chest and neck, and it seemed as if it was waiting.

It c****d its head to the side, like it was being instructed on what to do. But the tiger no longer stood behind it and I gasped.

Instinctively clutching at my chest again, that all too familiar feeling came back. But more insistent than before.

“Stay as still as you can, don’t move.” I felt his lips brush up against my ear.

I’m kind of glad that he couldn’t see my reaction to that, which is probably good.

I wasn’t sure where the rifle had come from, as I had been busy clutching my chest.

Trying to even out my breathing.

On some sort of command, it leaped for me, missing me by just a few inches. It got my arm on the way through, tearing it open, in the process.

A deep gurgling growl escaped from my lips, something that caught me off guard.

Was that me?

I winced in pain, almost doubling over with it. Instead, I lurched backwards, half turning and I could see Betty and Kira come stumbling to a halt at the door.

I didn’t really need to clue them in, they could clearly see what was happening.

I glanced over at Daniel and saw that he had his rifle pointed straight at the animal. He was trying to pinpoint an aim, so that he could fire. I saw him breathe out before pulling the trigger and firing. He stumbled back a step; we both watched as the bullet fly straight and true and missed.

“Damn.” I whispered.

The panther sprung forward at me, but because Daniel fired it swerved. Its claws swiped my arm instead through.

Tearing it open wider than before.

“Fook!” I yelled; I clutched my arm to my chest.

He looked over to Kira and Betty, yelling at them to the call the police. I also saw him fumble trying to reload the weapon. Daniel was caught unexpectedly again and stumbled again.

I watched in dismay as the ammo fell through his fingers. I knew that he was trying to protect me and somehow, I knew the he would do it again if need be.

I had to tear my eyes away from what Daniel was doing and focus back on the panther. A quick glance to the right told me that Larry stood stock still in the doorway, in front of Kira and Betty.

With that quick glance I saw way too much information on his face, fear, confusion and something else that I couldn’t place. I could see his lips moving but didn’t know what he was saying. My lip-reading sucks but I thought he said something like, “not now” or “not again.”

Betty ran back into the house and Larry ran after her. But I couldn’t tell as to why.

That clawing feeling in my chest became a constant companion, a pain worse than anything started deep within.

The world faded out of focus for a bit, I could only feel whatever I was feeling within. I was dimly aware of Daniel, trying his best to scramble over to me.

He had now used up all his ammo, some of it lay scattered in amongst the loose stones and dirt. Daniel now had his arms up under mine, he hauled me to my feet and I stumbled and fell backwards into him.

The scratching, clawing feeling became deafening the longer I was in danger, and I didn’t know why.

Daniel knelt beside me, pulling at my arm, possibly another attempt to get me to my feet but instead I now sat in his lap. My back against his, and he was trying to shield me.

A rather loud boom broke the chaos that swirled around us, Daniel and I swirled around to see Larry standing resolute with his shotgun in hand. A mixture of determination and something else lay on his face.

The relief that flooded my body only lasted a second, before my brain registered something else. Something wrong.

In the chaos of Daniel shielding me, my legs were left out in the open and the beast had started clawing its way up one of them.

Massive paws and claws sank deep into my leg; his open mouth attached to my ankle. I could see bits of flesh lying scattered under my legs. I could see bone shining out from within.

The panther lay unmoving on top of my right leg, twisting it to the side. One of the main arteries got ripped open in the mayhem and now a stream of blood shot up like a fountain.

The clawing feeling had now subsided and a fog-like feeling crept over my limbs, my eyelids felt heavy, and I felt myself being pulled under.

I fought it, I fought the inky blackness. Forcing my eyes open, chanting in my head to stay awake. A numbness crept into my head, and before completely passing out. I felt Daniel lift me, cradling me against his chest. Carrying me, but I didn’t find out where to.