From the pounding head, vomit taste in my mouth and dehydrated feeling I figure I must have been drinking heavily last night. My throat feels like sandpaper. It hurts to move. It is like the flu, only self-inflicted, which means I'll get no sympathy from anyone. At least the curtains are still closed, I always averse to bright light when I'm hungover. Maybe I can sleep it off. I curl under the duvet and close my eyes. I want to be nineteen again when I didn't get hangovers, now with each passing year, they get worse. This must be why so many older folks don't get drunk anymore, they learn the hard way. Suddenly, the door swings open and the curtains are torn apart. I recoil under my covers like a vampire as the sun reaches towards me.
"Rise and shine, El. A huge pile of shit is ready for cleaning up!" Trevor exclaims loudly.
"Go away." I grumble, snuggling further under the covers. "What happened last night?" I question, reaching out to the bedside table and grabbing my sunglasses.
"Like every night and day, you drank bottle after bottle of alcohol. Oh, that company called. You are in deep trouble with them. They are not happy that you hacked them."
Slowly, I slide out of the bed and pull on a pair of green shorts and a black camisole, before fumbling with the laces of my boots.
"Well, they deserved it. Trying to bribe me. I mean who do they think they are?" I grab a half-empty bottle of cider and take a swig.
"A multimillion dollar company that has super lawyers. Come on, El, we can hardly afford the vets bills as it is." He follows me out of my bedroom. "Jimmy is still having those dental problems and it's not clearing up. He's costing us a lot of money that we don't have."
I pause at the tone of his voice.
"Are you serious? You want to send Jimmy away?" I push the red-brown hair from my face. "I have never given up on an animal, and I don't plan on starting now."
My tone of voice tells him to drop the subject. Trevor loves the animals as much as I do, but he worries more about the financial aspect of our work. We started off ten years ago when Trevor and I got wind of an illegal pet trade of baby monkeys. We stepped in and rescued them, brought them to our trailer in Inlet, New York. We nursed them back to health and contacted the zoo to help us release them. Eventually, we got some funding and we built a sanctuary for rescued animals. We mainly take babies to rehabilitate them and release them once they are ready. We have over ten species of animals here, including: Elephants, Sloths, Monkeys, Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Leopards and Wolves. Each animal has their own enclosure, designed to look exactly like their natural habitat.
"Oh crap!" Trevor yells from a nearby enclosure. "Eleonora, get over here something has happened!"
My legs start moving before I have time to think. I arrive at the lion enclosure only to be met with a strange sight. The three lion cubs are pacing their enclosure howling and growling.
"What the hell?" I attempt to move closer, but the lion cubs pounce and attack the wire fence.
I fall backwards, landing awkwardly on my bum and I cry out. The lion cubs keep on attacking the fence; their eyes lusting for blood. Rough hands grab my arms and pull me back.
"What are they doing? Why are they attacking?" Trevor asks, looking panicked.
I don't answer him, instead, I grab the meat bucket and throw it over the fence. I expect them to eat the meat, but they stay prowling at the fence.
"We should call someone. The lions aren't acting normally."
"You can say that again." I grumble, chucking my mobile to Trevor. "Call Mitch."
Trev looks at me like I'm an alien.
"You sure? You haven't talked to him in years."
"Call him. He's a veterinary pathologist, he might know what's going on. Plus, he'll know it's serious."
Trevor shrugs and walks back into the trailer. I stay out in the burning sun, watching the Lions. I start walking towards the Tiger enclosure and the cubs follow me until they hit the fence; which they start attacking again. Normally it's so peaceful out here. We are far enough away from the City to keep to ourselves, but close enough to buy food. The Tiger cubs are lounging in the sun and the Wolves are sheltered in their caves. All the cubs and pups look up lazily as I walk past them. Tigers, normal. Wolves, normal. Lions ... not normal. I hear Trevor walking up behind me and I turn to face him.
"Mitch is on his way with a team of specialists or some shit." He looks around and grins. "That chick from Raden Global is here and she does not look happy."
Taking a deep breath, I start walking to the trailer.
"Come on, Trev, I'll need you to hold me back."
We both walk to the Trailer and I push the door open to reveal a blonde skinny woman wearing a suit.
"Eleonora Morgan, I am a representative from Raden Global. My client is suing you for two hundred thousand dollars."
"What the fu-"
YOU ARE READING
Falling for Oz
FanfictionFor centuries, mankind had been the dominant species. We've domesticated animals, locked them up, killed them for sport. But a series of recent events seem to suggest all across the globe animals have decided no more. And, so, we were hired. A team...
