Animalian

Chapter 11: The Naturals

 Emily awoke in a large cage with thick wooden bars. For a moment she thought she was having another vision. But no, these ropes binding her were real, cutting into her wrists and ankles like knives.

Then where was she? Emily lay on her side and tried to tame her tangled thoughts. Slowly, she came back to her senses. Animalian. Jacobita. Trapped. Right, she thought miserably. She tried to look around her but she could only see in front—Jacobita and Kraa dragging more helpless creatures into cages. How could a seemingly peaceful animal world turn into this?

"Cinnamon? Soraan? Ethan?" Emily said quietly, careful not to draw unwanted attention. She heard hoarse confirming whispers from the other cages and sighed with relief—her friends were still alive. Emily suspected that her family was too—Kraa had just put a sleeping potion on them. It was a mirage. They were just sleeping.

It was harder believing that when she looked at the cage across from her and saw her family's slumped forms on the hard floor.

Emily carefully pushed herself into a sitting position, trying not to think about how Jacobita had gotten them into the cages. She suspected it had something to do with teeth. Very sharp teeth. The thought made her queasy, so she tried to focus on the present issues.

"Ah, good, you're awake," an all-too-familiar voice purred. "Now, the fun begins." he sauntered over to Emily's cage. She tried not to shriek, but a frightened squeak managed to escape her mouth.

"What do you want from me?" Emily managed to whisper as Jacobita paced in front of her cage, growing closer and closer with each lap.

"What do I want?" Jacobita paused, considering the question. He then locked eyes with her and spat on the ground.

"What I want is something that was taken from me long ago."

Jacobita's jaws suddenly sprang open, and Emily closed her eyes, expecting the worst. She heard a crunching noise next to her and realized that the wildcat had created a hole in her cage. He bit down on her tunic sleeve, drawing blood as he pulled her out of her cage. Kraa, who was circling above, swooped down and hissed something in Jacobita's ear.

"Perfect," Jacobita snarled. Kraa left for a moment, then returned, swooping so close to Emily that she was afraid he was going to pick her up, uncorking yet another bottle and pouring it over Emily. She tried to run once Jacobita backed away, but found she could not move. Her body was paralyzed from whatever the huge falcon had poured on her. The only part of her body that could move were her eyes, and she realized that she was facing her family.

"We'll make this simple," Jacobita said. "We'll start with your family, and work our way down. That way, you'll be the last to go, seeing all of your friends perish under the claw of Jacobita, the mighty king!" The huge cat's roar made the surrounding animals squeal with fright, the squalling echoing around the forest and causing even the brush to move with the force of the noise. Jacobita stalked over to her family's cage.

"The scrawny one should come to any minute now," Jacobita said. Emily willed Jacobita's words to prove false, but just as the wildcat said, Jackson started to stir. Emily watched as her brother groggily looked around, his eyes growing wide once he noticed the cage where his family lay in a forced sleep, and trapped animals around him. He suddenly noticed Emily.

"Emily? What's going on?"

Emily tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't.

She was trapped in her own body.

She couldn't move.

Couldn't scream.

Couldn't breathe.