Savanna

Chapter 16

"I think you should talk to him," Jake said, breaking the silence that I only just had began to cherish.

At the moment I was too angry to listen to him. I came to an abrupt stop and turned on my heel, so that I was now facing him. "Stop following me! Just leave me alone and... could you all just leave me alone?! I want nothing to hear from savannians again. Better yet, I wish there was a way I could forget they even existed! And I don't want you near me again. I don't want to see you!" With that, I swiveled around again, leaving Jake slightly surprised with my sudden outburst.

But too soon he was catching up again. "Selina, I'm only trying to help," he said quietly, a shade of mixed carefulness and disappointment clear in his voice. I did not completely understand it, but I wasn't going to cerebrate. "I wouldn't say Rudy and I are anything close to being friends," he added, "but... you're being too harsh on him."

"I'm being harsh on him? Rudy has been my friend for as long as I can remember! He should've said something." I clenched my teeth, trying not to think about it.

"You're not the first one whose friend keeps a secret like this. Rudy is only trying to protect himself and his family."

The anger rose once again. "I already told you, Jake. Leave. Me. Alone." I emphasized every word. "Firstly you enjoyed chasing me, tried to kill me. Then you follow me around. And now... I bet you were playing with my mind, too, to use me back there."

He didn't answer, but it wasn't hard to read his expression.

"So you really did it," I muttered through my teeth.

Jake sighed and looked at me, his eyes actually pleading. "I wasn't forcing you for anything. I was only rising the feelings you didn't even know you had. They were deep down, small and hard to notice, but... nothing you didn't already have-"

"I don't care! Just stay away from me." My pace quickened and I didn't turn to look at him again. Jake didn't say another word either. And after a while, I noticed as if the atmosphere has changed - it was too quiet. Only then I afforded myself a glimpse over my shoulder, only to find that there was no one there. Good.

I thought about Rudy. I had no idea what I was going to do the next time I see him. I should talk to him, like Jake had said. But I was still mad. Rudy hadn't given me much explanation after it all had happened. Maybe because I wouldn't have listened anyway? But it didn't mean I deserved to see him leave without as much as a word.

I really don't want to believe that Rudy is one of those... murderous creatures. He has to belong to the good side, amongst the savannians who live like humans, who don't hurt us. But then I thought about how he has kept it a secret all these years, from me, his best friend since so long. For a moment I even began wondering if it was actually a good idea to let him take Nicole to her home. But Nicole is not the one to know his big secret. And Rudy has never hurt her, though he has had so many opportunities.

Talking about Nicole - Jake didn't tell me, what exactly he had done to her. All he said was that it was for the best. That he did it all easier, so Nicole and I could remain being friends, without her being all jealous. Jake said she'll be alright tomorrow.

I thought how I could go home and avoid mum, who would most probably see my anger. I had to lie, had to show her like nothing was wrong, so I could escape into the sanctuary that is my room, to stay there till I've cried my eyes out if that's what it takes to feel better.

Suddenly I felt my foot get stuck behind something I didn't see, and at the next moment I found myself on four limbs, pain shooting up from my knees. Clenching my teeth, I tried to get up carefully, but that only increased the pain. Finally I decided to just crawl on the grass, next to the sidewalk. Sitting there, I examined my knees, trying not to hurt them as I brought my fingers to help. My left knee had a lot scratches and bruises, a little blood seeping through small wounds. But it was a lot worse with my right knee. Crimson liquid trickled down my leg, knee itself was all covered by it, but I still saw the awful bruises. Quickly grabbing my bag to look for a napkin, I wiped away the blood. Then I gently pressed on the wounds, hoping they would stop bleeding, at the same time clenching my teeth even harder.