Animal? Cannibal?: The Blood Pact

Chapter 4: Downfall

Elliot:

5:28

A wave of freezing cold wind washed over me and I shivered. Never was the type to enjoy the cold. I turned away from the train road. Far off into the distance a forest was there. It seemed so far from where I stood.

I turned and examined Leoni. She was swaying around with the wind, wearing her sleeping clothes. It would be lights out soon. I looked at her softly and sympathetically. I was only half monster. My mother was a species known as 'Salandri'. I understood her pain and all its ins and outs.

"We should head inside!" I called her from far away. She looked up and made a gesture with arms. I couldn't tell what she was getting out but it was most likely her not wanting to leave. Snow was trickling down upon us. Everyone was packing up and getting ready for the long trip. We'd be leaving at moon high.

I turned to look back at her and watched as she was running over to me. She was holding some sticks. As she ran up to me she had a wide grin and her eyes were starting to glow from the diminishing light. I helped her and grabbed some of the sticks from her arms.

"What's with the sticks?"

"Ssshh." She put a finger up to her lips and squinted her eyes at me. The slight glow slowly evaporating with her. She trotted off away from me and around the corners. I sighed and walked slowly after her.

The chill wind tickled my neck. I shivered in response. I really couldn't stand the cold. My skin was chilling to the bone and my fluffy hat had my ears tucked in.

When I caught up with her I saw she was making a small little fire. She swung her head to see me and gave her grin once more. She then continued to work on the fire. Leoni had a chip on her front teeth that sometimes caused her to sometimes have a lisp. That mainly happened when her sentences had many S's in them. I always found that adorable about her and would often teased her.

The fire was slowly starting to die out. Leoni furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. She quickly ran off and left me with the dying fire, I carefully put my hands to the fire. Soaking in the familiar warmth. The flames drew near me and danced on my fingers. It felt like a warm body just barely touching. Too scared and afraid to hug me, yet curious enough to touch and feel.

After a couple minutes she ran back over placing dried up leaves. The fire continued to flicker and started to grow now. She craned over admiring the fire and smiling in the warmth. The fire casted shadows in the edges of her skin. Her skin was a golden shade compared to its usual pale sand in the morning dawn color.

I stood up and dusted the dirt off my clothes as I cautioned her, "I'll be heading off now. It's starting to get late, don't stay out. A wolf might get you as well."

"I'll be fine!" She called after me, "I promise I'll head to bed when it gets dark."

I looked up to the sky. The sun was setting and the sky had turned into an oil painting. It seemed like streaks of dulled out tones were stretching across, as if they were a cat in the sun. Maybe the sky was a cat. Stretching at the dying sun, getting ready for bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I was shocked awake by screams and cries. I jumped out of my bed and scrambled about. My fingers flinging about in desperate attempts to get out of the makeshift tent.

As I ran out quickly I almost instantaneously stopped in my tracks. The big circus tent was up in flames. My heart was skipping beats in swift rhythms and patterns. I ran around and as I did it became clear that there was no saving the circus. The flames roared in agonizing pain. The snow that dripped on it causing it to scream with hatred.