Black Tattoo

Animal Attack?

"Are you sure?" David asks. He is standing with his arms crossed looking down at Nadel, who is on the couch. Alex is sitting in the armchair. Sokaku is next to me leaning on the wall.

We are all here, in the night, because we want to talk with Nadel about what happened with the man. Kate, Paul and Sidney are asleep and we don't want to wake them. We don't want to scare them more.

"I'm sure! It wasn't me, I didn't attack him and I didn't rip his leg off!" Nadel yells. He moves his arms and lives to regret it, he stops moving because of his wounds. 

"I know how this looks but I didn't kill him. I was knocked to the ground before I could see what really happened." He says.

"If it wasn't you then who was?" Sokaku asks. He sounds tired and he even looks it, but I can see how his eyes moved. Looking at everybody in the room. He is looking for a reactions from everyone here. Maybe they know what's happening. Maybe, somebody here killed that man.

Who knows. But I'm not taking any chances.

"He's pulling the strings." Paul says it with so much hate and anger.

I don't know who he meant. But I'd be dammed if I didn't figure it out.

"I don't know." Nadel says. He's looking at his dark skinned hands. He looks lost.

"It wasn't me, I didn't kill him in cold blood..." He whispers quietly to himself. He looks small for the very first time. It wasn't because he was sitting, no, it was more because he looked small and afraid.

Afraid of himself.

••••• (flashback)

"No! Don't hurt me! Someone, anybody please help me!" The woman screams. She can scream all she wants but it won't help her. Nobody will come and save her. Nobody will hear her screams...

She starts running away from me. She runs deeper into the woods. But doesn't she know that it's useless?

It doesn't matter how fast she runs, I'm faster.

I grab a rock as big as my fist and throw it at her. It hits her in the back and she falls forwards. I'm standing over her body in a matter of seconds.

I hear lightning in the distance and the rain starts to fall on us. Her hair is completely wet now. Her clothes, too.

He whole body is shaking because of fear. She slowly starts to drag herself away from me. And I let her.

I let her get away from me. I'm giving her the opportunity to get away.

She is now a few feet away from me.

She's to slow. I'm getting impatient. I take one step and she turns around. I see fear in her eyes. Because of those eyes I hesitate for a second. But just for a second.

I take another step.

"Please, please don't hurt me." She whispers quietly.

I take another step.

She moves back and her back hits a tree. She can't move anymore.

I take another step. I'm now in front of her. I growl and lift my hand.

She screams.

With my hand I grab her by her throat and lift her up until we're face to face. She can't scream anymore.

The night is silent once more, well, until I start to rip her apart.

•••••

Those eyes will hunt me until I die. Those eyes full of fear. She will be always follow me, after all, I killed her because I lost control. I lost control of my animal instincts! I remember everything clearly, the way I was still there but couldn't really do anything about it. The feeling of my own body moving on its own is something I never want to feel again.

I can still feel the cold air against my skin as I chased her away from her friends and into the woods.

The worst part of all is knowing that if she hadn't gone camping with her friends that night she would still be alive. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

David says something in the background. I don't really hear him.

"You didn't kill him." I say simply. "You would have remembered if you did."

There's an animal big and strong enough to kill a man in the forest. For some reason that thought made me excited and nervous at the same time. What was it? It has to have a big jaw to rip a leg off. Where did it come from? I've been going in those woods since I was a little girl and have never even seen signs of a animal that big.

It could also be someone like us, with the power to transform. But I don't think so, for some reason, I don't think it was a person who did it. The way the body was left, the way the leg was ripped off. The whole thing gives me the feeling of an animal. The brutal instinct to kill.

Because I myself have felt that instinct and I know how strong and persuasive it can be.

I don't think the animal did it because he was hungry. I think it attacked him just to kill him. But I'm not sure. I have to go back out there. I will find out when I go back and inspect the body, well more like the place surrounding the body.

I have to get out there.

I don't realize I was slowly walking towards the door and wouldn't have if it wasn't for Sokaku.

"Kara where are you going?" He asks. He isn't leaning on the wall anymore, he is a few feet behind me. He looks worried. His dark eyes shine with a worried and protective glow.

Looking at his eyes made my heart skip a beat.

What the hell is he doing to me? Please tell me it's not what I think it is...

"I'm going out." I tell him but I can see the question in his lips even before he asked. "To the woods."

"Why?!" He asks in disbelieve.

I'm getting a déjà vu has this happened before? Yes it has and last time ended with a huge fight.

I stop to think for a moment. "Sokaku w-would you like to come with m-me?" I can't believe I stuttered! That was so embarrassing! I hope he didn't notice.

Who am I kidding? He is trained to notice those reactions in peoples faces!

He is surprised yet greatful that I didn't leave him behind this time.

"Of course! I mean... yeah why not?" He coughs.

Why is he embarrassed?

He follows me out the door and in to the night. Surprisingly nobody follows. We are both quiet, we walk silently into the forest and without a flashlight. We don't need one.

"Where are we going?" He asks confidence in his voice.

"We're going to pay a visit to a dead man." I say.

He doesn't answer, instead gets quieter. I can see how the glow in his eyes changes from curiosity to seriousness.

Sensei once said, "The best man to fulfill a mission is the one that makes every decision with a clear mind.'