Heartlines ||Jared Cameron||

iii. drapetomania

DRAPETOMANIA: (n) an overwhelming urge to run away

"Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination."

- Christian Nestell Bovee

Makenna feels her body beginning to quiver, gasps uncontained and heart pounding dangerously in her chest. A part of her mind recognizes that she needs to calm down yesterday but there's a bear-like wolf meters away from her. She would love to meet a person who can remain calm in similar circumstances. It could tear her limb from limb before she even got a chance to yell for her.

The only sound she can hear at this point is the sound of her labored breathing. Makenna turns her head to look up at the sky. If she's about to die, she's going to be looking at something pleasant instead of the cause of her death.

The minutes tick by and the death Makenna has been expecting hasn't come yet. She could almost believe she's hallucinating the whole thing. Maybe she is, it's been a trying few weeks and she's entitled to hallucinating a huge-ass wolf appearing while she's alone who-knows-where. That thought gets thrown out the metaphorical window when a large, wet nose pressed against her cheek.

With a shaking hand, Makenna tries vainly to push the head away but only ends up whacking the creature's snout. Honestly, she's expecting to be growled at, most likely lose her hand. All that happens is a low growl that sounds like frustration and the nose being pushed more firmly against her cheek. It moves down to her chin and then back up all the way to her temple.

It's disconcerting to realize this creature, that could kill her with ease, is running its nose along her skin with no apparent desire to harm her. The back-and-forth motion draws Makenna's attention, something for her mind to focus on. Without realizing it, she's matching her breathing to the movement, getting it away from passing out territory and then slowing down even after that. Following her breathing, her heart begins to calm down too, no longer dancing against her rib cage. Slowly, the shaking of her hands goes away and her clamminess cools off. Makenna is still a little dizzy but she can now place her hand on the wolf's head. Assuming that the wolf isn't planning on eating her after spending the time to soothe her down, she begins to pet it. It's relaxing.

Makenna doesn't know how long she stays there, eyes falling shut not long after calming down. Laying down, even on the ground, paired with the fine drizzle is soothing and peaceful.

When Makenna is feeling nearly good as new, and less likely to get another attack, she cracks her eyes open. The clouds are blurry through her slitted eyes and she can't help think that she's had too many attacks today. The last time she had so much trouble controlling, or better-said monitoring, her heart rate was when she was a kid and freshly diagnosed. It sucked back then and it sucks now.

The wolf must know that the danger has passed because it stops rubbing its nose along Makenna's face though it does keep it pressed against her temple. It's a different feeling but still nice. Belatedly she realizes she's finding a lot of new things that are nice. Her mind is still a little fuzzy, evidence being the fact that she isn't freaking out or having a similar reaction to a wolf lying next to her, never mind that it's a giant wolf.

Remembering it's a wolf lying next to her, slowly because Makenna is keenly aware of the danger, she runs her hand through the fur behind the wolf's ear. As the wolf tilts its head into her hand, she notes that its fur feels short but thick and soft - definitely something she'd like to use as a blanket. Opening her eyes, Makenna turns her head to take in the rest of the wolf's appearance. The first thing that meets her gaze is brown eyes that are staring intently back at her. They're so dark they're almost black, sucking her in like falling into your favorite book that you never want to finish reading. Those eyes cause her to smile without her realizing it. The next thing that draws her attention is the dark grey fur around its eyes, a mask that bleeds into the brown fur of its body.