The Devil May Tempt (Predicted:Unraveled)

Destined

Chapter Two

Azura was freaked out of her nerves when the huge beige monster began to advance slowly. She had absolutely no clue what to do.

Small segments of scenes from the movies she'd watched began seeping into her thoughts. She remembered how every character would always just stay put, or move really slowly near an animal.

From the corners of her eyes, she saw the rock, and behind her was the cave. She knew it would be easier to get into the cave, but the animal could easily follow her in there. If this was the lion that had killed the old History teacher, it would be pretty hungry by now – there hadn't been any killings since then.

Azura made her mind work. She didn't want to die, not before college, not before she'd lived all of her dreams. And even if she wanted to die, the last thing she wanted to be was prey.

She began moving towards the rock. She figured, all the gym classes she'd taken in rock climbing might just pay off. It was her only hope.

Her speed matched the lion's. Every step he took forward, she took backward. He didn't increase his speed, and neither did she. Once she felt the rock poking her back, she looked at it cautiously, making sure she didn't snap her head or make any abrupt movements to provoke the animal.

Her body kept moving, and the lion growled loudly, sending chills down her spine. But, fortunately, it kept its former pace.

She made her way through to the other side of the rock, and before the lion had followed her, she had one foot resting in a crack, and another a little higher up. The lion must've heard the sound of small pebbles falling, and increased its pace to see Azura climbing the rock.

It growled loudly and pounced, trying to get hold of Azura's left leg, but when it was inches away from the lion's reach, she sped up and climbed higher, with a burst of adrenaline she wished had come earlier.

She reached the halfway point on the rock, and stopped to catch her breath. She hugged the rock, holding on to dear life, as she looked down at the lion, who was pacing the area around the rock. It didn't seem like it would go searching for new prey anytime soon.

Azura kept climbing, but at a leisurely pace now. She was about to reach the top, but couldn't find anywhere to place her left foot so that she could climb. The little concave dents in the rock were too smooth for her to balance on, and there was no other way to climb to the top. She tried letting go of one hand to get her phone, but her hands were too far away from each other, and she feared she'd fall if she let go of either one. 

She looked up, at the top of the rock, searching for something, anything, that could save her. Never had she wanted to live more than she did at that moment. But a few seconds later, she realized there was no hope. Surely, she didn't expect anybody to be sitting on the top of the rock, did she?

She held on, nonetheless. Maybe some passerby could call help. But wouldn't they save their own lives first? Besides, it wasn't like the forest was the hub of the town. And she didn't even know anyone...

Her thoughts were leading her to believe that that was it. That her life was over before it had even begun. She was going to die as prey for a mountain lion. She was never going to attend college... Never going to see her mother or Sienna. Brad, Anne, John... Never would she see them again. She would die an ugly piece of leftover flesh and bones. No funeral home would want to take her in to try and make her look pretty for her death bed. She would just be...nothing.

As her hands began to ache, her hope deteriorated, and her dreams began to fade. How she had wished that she'd become a Historian and search ancient Greece and Egypt. That she'd travel around the world. That she'd find the love of her life in a dark alley of Paris.