The Predator's Loop

Chapter 2: The dark-coated cat

Adhira:

I could feel the fine gravel digging into my cheek. With a sharp intake of air, I tried to open my eyelids. My hands groped the rough surface of the ground to understand where I lay. I blinked several times and groaned as a fuzzy confusion took over my brain. It felt as if I were waking up from some disturbed sleep. But I knew that it was just a moment before when I blacked out in the middle of a catastrophe. It almost made me wish I could fall back asleep. My head pounded and I wished for some rest.

Light rays of the sun lit up the dark... If it's dawn or dusk, I couldn't construe. I moved and pushed myself onto my knees. I brushed off the gravel from my face and looked around.

The scene that I saw was hardly what I expected. I anticipated the rubble of my home and my loved ones scattered around. But, where I lay was a path surrounded by a forest with no house or rubble... not even my family. I was alone.

The sky was lighter by the minute and I groggily dragged myself onto my feet. I was in my perfectly intact pajamas. I felt around for any wounds only to find none. Perplexity plagued my mind. I staggered around with no purpose or idea of what I'm supposed to do. The possible loss of my family weighed heavily on my conscience.

The sun rose higher and I could look around to try and understand where I stood. Soon, I heard footsteps... A hoard of footsteps and screams of panic reminded me of what I encountered the last day.

Only this time, I wanted to witness what caused my loss. I looked behind me to find people running down the path. My forehead crinkled to look for the source. I stood aside to allow them to rush past me. I was determined to understand what the situation was.

As I trained my eyes to look a little higher for the source, I heard a panicked gruff voice, "Adhi! What the hell are you doing?!"

My eyes caught sight of the man before me, "Vinu?"

"What the fuck, Adhi?! We need to run. Snap out of it," my best friend shook me vigorously by my arms.

"Vinu? Adhi?!" another female friend of mine approached us with tears streaming down her face. "Oh Jesus, we're done for."

"Bliss, please... Just tell me," I yelled at her. "What the hell is going on?!"

Just then, we heard thundering roars that shook the ground. Vinu grabbed mine and Bliss's arms and had us running for our lives.

"The rest of us? Sheila, Noor, and Namitha? Our families?" I yelled as my feet hit the stony ground in a sprint.

"They're fucking dead!" Vinu wailed, the air catching his tears. "All gone."

I choked on unshed tears, "You don't know that-"

"They're gone!" He yelled angrily.
"I've seen it... They're gone. They're not here," He repeated brokenly.

"I knew that we were doomed when they decided to-" Bliss tripped over a rock and we steadied her.

"We were supposed to be dead too. We were actually dead," I spoke with a quick realization.

They both turned to me in disbelief. But, we hardly noticed the crossroad when people screamed their lungs in panic and scattered from where we stood.

That's when I saw a dark-coated cat towering at least two feet over my head on its four legs. Its eyes were dark as the night. It stood tall and powerful, so majestic. I knew that we had nowhere to run. Such creatures loved a chase. A huge cheetah and an equally enormous white wolf set their eyes on my two friends. But, the magnificent black-coated creature set its eyes solely on me.

The creature growled lowly at me and stalked my steps like the predator that it is. I staggered and fell painfully on my back as the cat pounced on me. I screamed as I heard my friends being mauled by two other predators.

The last thing I saw was the panther's razor-sharp fangs before my vision blacked out and nothing.

How short my day was...

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