Ghostpherein: A Shifting of Lives

Chapter Two

Sadie

Hello, Mr. Kitty. Are you the lifeguard on duty? How lucky I am! I'm not going to freeze or starve to death after all. Instead, I will have my carotid artery chewed in half and disemboweled. At least someone benefits.

I was petrified. The giant cat was lying on its belly with its heavy head placed on its paws, quietly observing as I literally did nothing. Fortunately, Animal Channel had taught me not to run, or in this case swim, from predators. Unfortunately, I was neck-deep in water and had no way to make myself look large and intimidating. Forgetting how to scream, I stared into the golden depths of its irises. After an indeterminate amount of time, the staring contest ended. The mountain lion raised its body into a sitting position, cocked its head to the side, and then proceeded to lick the right side of my face, tasting me from chin to forehead. I am pretty sure, in addition to forgetting how to scream, I forgot how to breathe. The barbs on its tongue exfoliated better than any scrub on the market. It then gave my fur blanket and the bundle of sticks I had placed on the ground the side-eye, got up, and strolled out of the cavern through one of the tunnels leading deeper into the mountain.

I moved faster than any comic book superhero ever imagined, yeeted myself out of the pool, grabbed my fur blanket, and booked it into the tunnel Mr. Kitty hadn't taken. I didn't have a whole lot of other options. I could have, A, stayed in the cavern and become a meal; B, run back out through the tunnel I came in from and freeze to death outside; C, followed the kitty and refer to option A; or D, hoped the unoccupied tunnel led far away from my impending doom.

I couldn't keep up my superhuman speed for long because mere seconds after leaving the cavern, there were no more glowworms to light my path. If I didn't slow down in the dark, then I would add 'dying by blunt force trauma' to my expanding list of possible painful ends. I had to move horrifyingly slow, step by careful step, with my right hand following the wall.

Being careful was obviously not good enough in the pitch-black as I still managed to trip on something and land hard on my knees. "Unnnnnngg!" I couldn't help but groan in pain through clenched teeth. I didn't want to scream and attract my ravenous roomy to my side, but it felt as though I had just broken my legs. Salty tears streaked down my face as I stayed on all fours until the pain subsided and I could breathe again. It took me a bit longer than I would have liked to put strength back into my legs and attempt to stand. I reached my right arm out to the side in search of the wall to balance myself, but instead of cold stone, I felt thick, soft, and warm fur. The fuzzy handhold had the audacity to purr.

I blacked out at that point. Between dying, freezing, and coming face-to-face with four-inch canines, I had overloaded, and my brain decided it needed a reboot. I'm not sure how long I was out for, but when I came to, I was back by the spring, lying on a makeshift bed of animal pelts, covered in yet another pelt, with a warm campfire next to me. I was no longer wet or cold. It was surprisingly comfortable.

I stared stupidly at my new best friend, the fire, slowly processing the additions to my environment. Wanting to look around, I used my arms to sit up when an awkward cough caught my attention.

*Ahem*

"It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling? Is it warm enough? Are you in pain anywhere?" asked a clear masculine voice.

He, very obviously 'he', stood inside the cavern near the tunnel through which the mountain lion had departed. He was at least six foot and possessed a long torso, broad shoulders, and upper arms nearly as thick as my thighs. His bronze, abundant muscles were well defined without an ounce of fat, and he had a six-pack of Hawaiian sweet rolls for abs. For fuck's sake, the only part of him not exposed for my viewing pleasure was hidden behind a thigh-length white pelt tied tight at the hip.