Story of Lion Man

Chapter 11

This is the eleventh chapter! Major, but sad turn of events in this one. Hope you enjoy it.

The next morning...

The sun shining through the windows, Ryan was in human form punching on the punch bag, in the bare training room. He wore black shorts and a grey vest. He he was starting to sweat as little as he did a big punch on the bag. The impact made the bag move against a set of shelves. The impact made the right end of the medium shelve jolt upwards slightly, which caused a call to roll along it, and then it went over the end and touched the value wheel on the oil boiler. Ryan's eyes widened as he saw the needle on the rusty gauge go into the red zone. The sound of steam hissing filled the room, which made Ryan run out of the room, and jumped out of the door, just as a boom! was heard. The boiler had exploded! Ryan coughed as smoke filled the area, while he headed towards the stairs. He saw the bottom of the stairs were also in flames, as was the hall area! "Ryan! The window!" He heard Martin's voice. He looked right towards the nearest window, went up to it and opened it as wide as possible. He poked his head out. "Up here!" He heard Martin. Ryan looked upwards as much as he could and saw Martin poking his head out of the top floor window. "Ryan! Use the rope. Climb down! You first! I'll be down after you!" Martin said as he threw a rope down from his window, one end probably tied up to something up there. 

Summoning up his bravery again, Ryan knelt his upper body down on the window still, then moved his bent legs through the limited space of the open window and over the window still. He held onto the window still as he got his whole body over the window still, his body now handing from it. He then grabbed the rope with both hands and crossed his legs over it. He carefully climbed down at a safe and reasonable pace, and was just two to three feet from the ground when the rope suddenly snapped. He just let a yell out of his mouth when he fell on his back. "Don't worry! I'll find another way down!" Martin yelled, the ground and first floor now in flames as smoke poured out of the windows. Ryan ran around to the right side of the house to look at the burning house. Up above, Martin, in Lion Form, standing with his legs on the window still and his hands on the gutter, extended his claws on his right hand and stabbed the wall to his right , and did the same with his his left hand. He moved his body to the right, gripping his furry feet on the wall. He moved his right leg, followed by his left, when he saw something above him. The shock of whatever he saw made his mouth and eyes widen. "The mantle is mine." Whatever he saw spoke before his claws were then broken and he started to fall, screaming along the way.

Ryan heard Martin scream and in the same moment, his heart jumped. He sprinted towards the edge of the house as fast as he could, and when he got there, he look right and saw Martin's body in Lion Form, with broken claws, flying motionless! Ryan ran up to the body of his teacher, knelt down to him, his eyes tearful. He held both hands on Martin's head. "Master? Master? Wake up. Please! Stay with me, stay with me!" Ryan begged. He then moved his forehead and his left ear over Martin's heart, listened and... nothing. He was dead! Ryan moved his forehead up, looked down at the dead face of his master, tears rolling down his face. "NOOOOO!" Ryan screamed, facing the sky. Emotionally broken, Ryan ran away from his masters dead body, the burning house. He ran all the way through the woods, wiping the tears from his eyes, down the hill, and reached the road, just as a grey Toyota (Hannah in the drivers seat) came along the road, the brakes slamming, making it stop just in front of Ryan. He looked in the windscreen and saw Jess and Hannah in the front seats. Hannah opened her door and stepped out. "Ryan! We saw the smoke! What happened? Where's Martin?" She asked frantically. "He's gone." He answered tearfully. Hannah's  eyes and mouth gaped open, as Jess then started crying. Hannah then got back in her seat, leaned across, and hugged her daughter. 

Ryan opened the left-hand side rear door, got in, and fastened his seatbelt. Hannah and Jess, though still upset, calmed down and Hannah got back to driving. Ryan looked in the boot and saw several boxes and bags in it. "So, what do we do, now? And what's with all the luggage?"Ryan asked. "Martin... and I talked last night, and we decided that, after what you did with those drug dealers, and for us to move forward with our plan, we'd have to get out of town, into hiding." Hannah explained. "Oh. Okay." Ryan spoke sadly. 

Meanwhile...

The firemen had arrived to put out the fire, but Martin's body was no longer there. That was because, after Ryan had run off, Joseph and Pete had found the body and placed it in a body bag. They were now hiding in the trees again, sitting next a tent. Joseph got out his iPhone. "Dan... I mean boss. Yes, I have something to report. The predator is dead. I repeat, the predator is dead. What should we do with it? Really? Ok. Bye, boss." He said on the phone, staring at the small bits of plastic explosives, the remainder of which, had been used to start the fire! It wasn't Ryan's fault! He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he did not know that.

Daniel, in the back of a van, having just received the call, was grinning with pride as he placed a call on his phone. "Dr Mcranson? The deal is made. I'm reassigning you and our top scientists to our facility in Devon. I want the first batch made and ready for transport in 24 hours. I know it's a bit of an effort, but my buyers will be grateful for your work. I don't care about the timings, just do your job!" He snapped before he hanged up. But his grin then formed on his face again.

And that's the eleventh chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope it wasn't too sad for you. News: I go back to college/school this week. More good news: At 10:48AM, Sunday 14th March, 2021, due to me being an thematic, I had a Covid jab!