Come Love A Stranger

Eight

Mariah couldn’t wait for the sun to set, the reason she was impatient to meet him was still a mystery to her but all she knows is that she wants to see him and also, get to know his name which she had stayed all day trying to guess the befitting one for him. At the end, she couldn’t decide on anyone and decided to just wait till she sees him.
Lydia noticed her silent happiness and she wanted so badly to know what was giving her such joy, she even asked but Mariah has responded with ‘nothing mother, I am just happy with being alive another day.’ Her answer was strange but she couldn’t force it out of her mouth and concluded to just let her be or even be happy with her.
“I’m going for a walk, mother,” Mariah grabbed her cloak immediately after dinner and kissed her mother cheek and her father’s.
“Hold on, why in such a hurry?” Lydia asked.
“Nothing, mother, I just want to leave early so that I can return early,” she beamed at her, already on her way to the door.
“Humph, it could almost be said that you are rushing off to meet someone,” Roderick spoke up casually, his attention still on his food.
Mariah turned sharply to him, if it wasn’t true, she would have laughed it off or ignore him as she usually does but hearing him so close to the truth not only surprised her but aroused suspicion in her, did he see them in the meadow? But that was not possible, Roderick hates the forest and there was no way he would be so deep in it so late at night. She shook her head and looked up at her parents who she saw from their expression were on the verge of believing him. She calmed her racing heart, “do not speak nonsense, Roderick, how possible can I be meeting someone in a place as lonely as this?”
Lydia’s hope died off immediately, she was right, no one would come so far from the kingdom just to see them, no one has done it before and certainly no one would do it now. She glared at her young son, “don’t say such things, and don’t constantly remind your sister how she won’t be with anyone.”
“But I didn’t mean it that way, mother, I only meant that if it was in Vagadon and she was rushing off like that, one would believe she was leaving to meet someone,” Roderick explained, angry that he has been misjudged.
“That is alright,” Josiah spoke up and looked up at his daughter, “hurry back, the forest can be dangerous at night.”
“Yes father,” Mariah smiled and left the house. She put on her cloak immediately she was outside; the night was chilly and dark with only the moonlight showing her, her path. She walked to the edge of the forest and turned back to look at the cottage her family was in, with a little excitement building up in her, she went into the forest. Before, she goes into the forest just because of the serenity of it but now, she has found new excitement and she even found herself wishing that the stranger would always meet her every night, that way, she would never be bored to death leaving in isolation.
Carried away by her excitement, she didn’t hear the deep growling behind her and continued walking, almost running to the meadow. Almost there, she finally heard the sound behind her and turned sharply, all her wish was to see the panther but today she wished to see it, it wasn’t there. Three wolves glared at her, showing off their sharp pointy teeth. Mariah took a step back in fear and stopped when she felt that another was behind her. Standing in the middle, she realized she was surrounded by four hungry wolves, why is it that today is the day she would meet wolves? Today that she had no care or worry about the wildlife in the forest?
The wolves growled, waiting for the perfect time to attack, Mariah doesn’t know if she should run, but can she really outrun four wolves that had her cornered? Will today that she had been the most happy be her last day? Would she die without knowing his name, without knowing anything about him? So many questions popped up in her mind and in all she wished she could be able to change her fate. She sucked in a deep breath, her heart beating loudly in her chest, she decided to give herself hope, maybe the wolves wouldn’t hurt her, maybe they would let her go like the panther did and also the dragon. But when she looked into their eyes, she lost all hope; their eyes were as vicious as they looked.
She tried to pick the stick beside her but a wolf pounced on her and she closed her eyes, sadly, her end has come. She waited for the pain she was sure would come with such teeth but nothing, what was happening? Why is it similar with the panther? She heard whimpering and growling and also the sound of flesh tearing and had to open her eyes but the sight she saw wasn’t the sight she expected.
Right before her was the panther; the silvery white line on its back was glowing than usual, almost like the part was lighted up. It was attacking two of the wolves and Mariah watched as the other two attacked from behind. One bit its leg and the other it’s neck, it growled loudly, almost like a roar and flipped the one on its neck on the ground and then with a single bite, bit it’s head off.
Mariah gasped at that, what would those teeth do to her body if it can bit a wolf’s head off? But the panther was ignorant of her presence and attacked the remaining wolves alive. Two bites killed another and the last one scurried off, whimpering as it ran.
Mariah stared at the panther that growled almost in warning to the running wolf before turning to look at her, it’s eyes were glowing like a midnight sun, brighter than usual, it’s teeth were glaring from its mouth, almost showing to her how pointy and sharp it was. Blood dripped from its mouth and it approached one of the dead wolves and cleaned its mouth on its body. Looking back at Mariah, it stalked closer to her.
Mariah, suddenly realizing that she was alone with it and should have ran away when it was massacring the wolves was scared and doesn’t know if she should hope on it not hurting her like it did the last time, but she was also afraid that it was in a killing frenzy and all it would take was a bite and that would be the end of her. But to her surprise, the closer the panther came, the dimmer its eyes became and when it was close enough to her, its eyes were just as she remembered them and the silvery white line stopped glowing as well.
It brought its giant face closed to hers and surprised her once more by licking her face and placing its head on her legs, almost begging her to scratch him. It took all the courage in her to do that and when she scratched it’s giant head, she noticed something magical, the wound on its neck began healing and she gasped and removed her hand immediately.