Phoenix Rising

To Kill A Lion

"Knock, knock, knock." The door bangs abruptly just as I was about to fall back asleep.

"What!" I shout, exhausted. I open my eyes and the light is shining brightly from the window illuminating my room. Based on the angle of the sun, I judge that it is about ten o'clock. My room is painted a very pale violet and the furniture is all black and plum colored. I always keep my room spotlessly empty. I own no posters or pictures and my floor is covered with a black carpet.

"It's me. I'm sorry; I didn't know you were busy." My mother says with hesitation.

"No, it is fine," I say as I pull myself up. I quickly get dressed into a black, casual, outfit and open the door. "I was just about to go anyway."

I pull my jacket on and grab my car keys, wallet, and cell phone and shove them into my pockets. I walk down the hallway towards my car.

"Wait, where are you going?" My mom calls after me. "Don't you want to eat breakfast first?"

"To Dustin's house. I will come back later tonight. I will eat later."

"Hurry home and stay safe!" She lovingly adds as I jog down the steps of my porch. I continue down our little path until I get to my car.

"I will, don't worry. I will call if I run into trouble." She makes me say it every time I leave the house. And it's really, really annoying. I don't know what kind of trouble she expects me to fall into.

She smiles and waves at me as I drive off. I wave back just to be polite but once I'm on the road, I scowl. It always seems like everyone wants to keep me awake every hour of every night. Every time I go to sleep I either get woken up by my door being knocked, a dumb phone call, or creepy dreams. These dreams occur very often, preventing me from having a good night's sleep.

I know Dustin would be home since it's a Saturday and he is always home on weekends. He's kind of a nerd, but he's my only friend that compares to me in IQ. Saturday is his computer day and he will play World of Warcraft all day long.

My car starts making a loud beeping sound. I look down at my gas tank and notice it is on empty.

Crap.

I take the next right turn towards the cheapest gas station around. It's really is the only one around Travis. When I heard that my mom was going to be stationed in California, I was excited because I thought it would be like Hollywood. Sadly, we got stationed in the nowhere part of California.

I'll just have to wait until after I got gas to go to Dustin's. I glance down at my car's clock and see that it is only eight a.m. I reach the Mobile station sooner than I think and the annoying beeping makes me go insane. I quickly forget my train of thought. I hurry up and park by one of the gas pumps. Taking the pump, I start filling up my car.

"What was I thinking about?" It always annoys me when I forget what I am thinking about. I close my eyes and I start to feel a strange sensation in my stomach. It feels like my stomach is being squeezed like riding a roller coaster. I grab my stomach and the pain only feels worse. I turn around and lean my back against my car. I look forward and see a can laying on the ground in the street. I curl my hands into fists and the can crushes into itself.

I squint and the pain in my stomach numbs out. I quickly run to the can in the middle of the road and glance around. Nobody else is in sight. I pick up the can and it feels solid. I have no idea how in the world this could have happened. I lay the can back on the ground. I put my hand out flat and try to bring back the sensation in my stomach. It is nowhere near as fierce now. I close my hand again into a fist and the can crushes even smaller. I stand there for about five minutes seeing how small I can make it. I pick up the crushed can, which now resembles a tin ball, and remember that my gas is still being filled. I sprint back to the car and am relieved that my car is still there. Leaving an expensive car like this at the pump with the keys in the ignition doesn't seem to be a very smart idea.

I notice a man in the reflection of my window. I quickly spin around and slightly flinch.

"I'm sorry, do you need something?" I ask nervously. This man is quite creepy, most because he is ancient and is nearly seven feet tall.

"Actually, I do. My name is Lev. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He says in a Russian accent and smiles. He raises up his hand to shake my hand. I reach out hesitantly and he grabs my wrist like iron. Claws pop out from his fingertips like a cat, and he digs his nails into my forearm. I was too stunned to react in time. He smiles maliciously and I notice he has fangs like a lion. "You see, I have been looking for you for years. That little display finally showed yourself to me. I wonder if I consume you, would your powers and immortal blood would rejuvenate me to my desired form. You have far greater powers than you think. Enough with talking though, let's get down to business."

Before I can defend myself he already tackles me with lightning-fast reflexes. He rips though my shirt and deep into my flesh. Blood drenches the front of my body. I acknowledge the fact that I'm going to die. I feel so weak.

The lion man is suddenly hit by a strange force into my car, causing both, man and car, to flip over three times. After a few brief moments, I hear the explosion and see smoke plume into the sky. Even though I knew it was probably the least of my worries, I couldn't help but think how angry my mom would be now. She hardly ever gets angry, but when she does, you better hope you are at least a mile away for a few weeks. She turns into a very outrageous person.

My eyes start drooping and I already start feeling nauseous. A woman dressed in orange comes running to my side and orange light radiates from her hands. She reminds me of glistening sunlight.

"Everything is going to be all right. My name is Emilea, you are going to be fine." She reassures urgently.

Before I can respond, my world fades to black.