Savanna

Chapter 8

I know I should have ran. Get out of here as fast as I could. But I couldn't get my eyes away from them. I watched as the boys went closer to Jake, how they laughed and sent each other strange glances. A deep, but not very loud growl caught my attention. It took me a moment to realize that it came from Jake.

"You have some kind of small gang, or a pack here, am I right?" the same voice asked. He was the closest to Jake. "Ten members? Less?"

Jake didn't answer.

"Okay, it is't that important anyway. You're still outnumbered."

I again heard that growl. Though Jake was facing the one talking to him, his eyes moved around on those surrounding them. Savannians, I'm sure.

"You don't have any last words?" the boy asked, smirking. When Jake still didn't say a word, the boy sent a meaningful glance to his friends. They were now everywhere around him. Very close.

Few of them launched forward, attacking him. Jake reacted fast, and turned around fast to face his enemies. Thanks to the darkness and their fast moves I didn't see everything that happened. But Jake managed to grab one of the attackers' arm and throw him over his back. At the same time, Jake was attacked from both sides. And there were more attackers every second. Soon I could hear disfigured growls, which were probably caused by the numerous blows and kicks that were directed to Jake. He couldn't handle them all. From time to time I saw him kicking away his opponents with inhuman strength, knock them out or scratch them, if I saw correctly. But even more often Jake was the one who had to defend himself, try to restrain his balance and bear the pain when they thrashed, scratched and twisted him and so on. And all this time I could hear the growling, and that same strange laughter.

I was frozen. I couldn't turn my look away. I only had to hope any of them wouldn't see me. I almost screeched when I suddenly spotted some kind of animal amongst them. And then I realized: there were many of them. They like came out of nowhere, because only seconds ago I didn't see any. I tried to have a better look to understand what they are, but they all moved too fast.

I happened to look at one of the boys who was a bit away from others at the moment. Already he dashed back. But he was directly under the street light. My breath got caught in my throat when I saw him jump, his body structure change with only a split second, and then him landing on four legs. Only for a short moment I saw this dog-like animal, with brown fur and dark spots under the street light. Its wither was much higher than its back. The same animal I think I saw in that valley. A hyena.

I was in shock. Now I recognized that laughter. I've heard hyenas from TV. That's why it sounded so strange.

Savannians as hyenas and humans were all together, their target Jake gone from my sight now. I knew he was somewhere there, in middle of them all, maybe still trying to fight. The familiar growl was almost gone now, replaced with muffled groans and screeches. At one point, some of them started to back off, watching others from the distant, clearly feeling pleased with themselves. I noticed some crimson on some paws or muzzles.

And then I saw Jake again. He was laying on his back, seemingly trying to cower, basically not even trying to fight off the last kicks he got mostly to his ribs and legs. Jake was covered with deep wounds and gashes, blood seeping through them. His face wasn't the same anymore. Long gashes were above his brows and on his cheeks, and there didn't seem to be much left of his skin on the right side of his chin. He took heavy breaths through his gritted teeth.

"Now wait," I heard the same voice who talked to Jake before. Everyone took a step away from Jake, who seemed a bit thankful to that, letting his muscles finally relax.

"We should go back to the camp. Staying in the city for too long doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll finish it off myself."

I heard quiet mumbling, many of them seemed reluctant to leave. The one who was speaking, probably their leader, sent them a stern look. "Go!" he demanded.

I heard some more strange noises from them, that I can't comprehend, but they all listened to him and started to leave. It was almost like they all went off to random directions. Some left as hyenas, running off. Others stayed or took their human form to walk. It didn't take long until there was almost like tomb-like silence. Only thing heard was the heavy breathing of Jake.

"You know, it would still be a bit helpful if you told me the number," the boy said, stepping next to Jake and looking down at him with no compassion. He waited for few short seconds, but didn't get an answer. I think I heard that growl again, but much weaker this time.

"Okay then," the boy sighed and bend down to him. "Nothing personal. It's all about hunting lands, okay?" After saying that, only a short moment passed, and instead of the boy, a hyena stood next to Jake. It revealed its sharp teeth and stepped closer, as Jake at the same time closed his eyes, waiting for his death.

I could be hating Jake, but I just couldn't watch this. As unbelievable as it sounds, I felt sorry for him. And before I realized what I was doing, I turned around to find few detached pieces of concrete. I picked up three little pieces and then I was already back at the street corner. I threw one towards the hyena. Which was probably the most stupid thing I have ever done. It hit the hyena at his shoulder, which caused him to jump away from Jake and look this way. At the same time I hid behind the corner, pressing my back against the wall and holding my breath. Few seconds passed and nothing happened. I peeked around the corner again. Which was the second stupid thing I did today.

The hyena stood there, about four metres from me, watching me with his dark eyes. It shocked me and at first I froze. Then I raised my hand to throw another rock at his face. His only reaction was to turn his head away a little for a moment. But otherwise he didn't seem to feel it at all. So I ran; as fast as my legs could carry me. Last thing I saw was he dashing towards me. I didn't look back anymore, I only heard him follow me. I waited, but there was no attack. I turned around the corner, and when realized he wasn't right behind me, I hid behind a dumpster. I was too exhausted to run any further. I did my best to get my breathing under control and hoped he wouldn't find me. Though I was pretty sure he would. Then I heard something. Like soft steps of some animal, but I'm not sure how close they were.

I looked around, trying to see if I can spot any open doors or fire escapes; anything that could save me. I clenched my fingers around the last piece of rock. I have a feeling it won't help me much, but it was my only weapon. A sudden noise from somewhere too close made me flinch. But then I was already laying on the ground on my back. Something heavy was resting on my shoulders. The piece of rock fell from my hand and I was unable to defend myself. I wanted to scream and start kicking, but when I looked up to the figure above me, something made me stay quiet. It wasn't a hyena; it was a jaguar. With wounds covering its face and body. Even here in the shades I saw his black eyes, and white sharp fangs which were visible from between his opened jaws. His face was only inches from mine.

I was still scared to death. I heard my heartbeat louder than any other noise around us. My shoulders were hurting from he leaning on them. But he didn't do anything else. He just looked into my eyes. I felt his hot breath on my face and neck. Few seconds later he raised his head and looked towards the street. Then he released me. Slowly he strolled away, his head down, like moving was hard for him. I noticed it hurt him to put his left front paw down.

After pushing myself up with my shaky arms, I stepped out from the shadows. I watched confused as Jake left. And where did this hyena go?

Jake moved slowly, almost leaning against the houses. When bright lights appeared from the distance, meaning that a car was nearing, I saw Jake shut his eyes tight as he stood up on two legs. With a second, he was a human. Wincing, he grabbed his left shoulder, leaning against a building. For a second I thought he would fall over. But he kept his balance and stayed there until the car had driven by.

Pushing himself away from the wall, he turned a corner to the left. I stayed where I was for a while, before I too kept going again. When I reached the corner where Jake had gone, I only saw a dark narrow and empty street. Deciding not to stay here for any longer, I hurried home, still shaking from what I had experienced.