The Pride

The Pride: Chapter 2

Natalie

The clocks sharp ticking used to bother my sensitive ears, before I got used to it that is. My four fangs poked into my thinly pressed lips in impatience. In the front of the large classroom, the balding teacher droned on. But my mind was not on the lesson of the American Civil War he taught. No it was out in the forest, thinking about the creatures that lurked there.

The last place we had hunted was Ireland. But after hearing from the pride that lived there, now extinct thanks to my family, that the strongest Pride of the Eastern or Western wildcats lived in America, we had packed up and headed out.

We were the only defense between the humans and the Wildcats. We were Jays.

The Jays were like humans with better strength, hearing, smell, speed, stamina, and wits. We had animals of our own, just as the Wildcats had cats, but ours stayed on the inside other than the occasional change of eye color and fangs if our animal was a predator.

I was Natalie Parker, only blood child of James and Renee Parker, famous Jays. My parents had both been wolves but I had somehow turned out to be a cougar. It was odd but just how it worked out. Of course, I wasn't a full Jay, though I was close with all my training. It had been six years since it had started training and now I was eighteen.

"Your lucky I stay on the inside, Nat." Kanya, my cougar, said in my mind.

I could practically feel her pacing in impatience, tired of sitting in this stupid school when we could be out hunting those sick creatures. They had all once been humans, just plain people unless they were born to be taught as the Wildcats were. The fact that anyone could become one was.... disturbing to say the least.

But that was why the Jays were around. To rid the world of Wildcats. The only sucky part was having to wait for them to come out of the woods to hunt. And they were smart. It was hard to distinguish them from anyone else but it wasn't impossible. They never could completely mask the smell of rotting meat from any Jay. If you could get close enough, you could find a Wildcat.

"Natalie, the bell rang." The girl next to me, Vanessa I think, said while tapping my shoulder lightly. I blinked and smiled at her, pulling my curly dark brown hair over one shoulder and standing. "Yeah sorry, I was daydreaming a bit. We went over this lesson at my old school." I lied smoothly while gathering my stuff.

Vanessa nodded and beamed back at me,"I could show you around if you'd like?" She offered. For a moment I actually took in the girl. She was about five feet and a couple inches and built like a pixy, complete with short cut dark hair. Delicate features and graceful movements finished out the gentle, nature like beauty she somehow possessed and I found myself automatically liking the girl.

"That would be great." I said. If possible, her smile grew and she threaded her arm through mine, leading me out into the bustling hall for my first day of Worthmire High School.

Surrounded by pimple faced teens and hormones, I prayed the Wildcats would get hungry soon and come out to hunt. But until then, second period Athletics. Oh Joy.

I scanned the halls for any signs of Wildcats, discreetly sniffing the air as I half listened to Vanessa point out each classroom, the library, the band hall, and the lunch room.

"And finally, this is the gym. The weight room is just on the other side there, that maroon door." Vanessa finished, standing in front of two wide open double doors that lead to the huge gym. The floors were polished hard wood and the walls were maroon, red, and yellow, the school colors of the Worthmire Pirates. Four basketball goals were mounted, one on each wall, and lines for what looked like volleyball and basketball lined the shining floor. Two sets of bleachers were folded on opposite walls from each other, on each side of the door and a concession stand sat on the far wall from the doors.