I'm Not an Animal (Slow Updates)

Chapter 8

Miss Carter's eyes went wide. She began slowly walking from her position at the front of the class to her desk up the back. I turned my head in her direction.

"Don't move!" I growled. My canines were growing longer, my fingernails growing sharper. She edged back down the wall and I grinned. "Now," I turned back to the class, "I have to tell you that you've all been lied to. For your entire schooling, you believed the lies the Society fed you. And I admit, I did, too. But then I found this." I lifted the book.

"'The Hand Guide to The Great War'?" Misha asked, cocking her head. She was playing the role perfectly, acting like she had never seen it before.

"No." I pulled off the cover and several kids gasped, Misha included. I didn't deserve such a beautiful friend. "'The Hand Guide to Big Cats'. Shall I read some?"

"No!" Miss Carter cried.

"Oh," I turned to her, "why ever not?" I ran my tongue over my canines, even managing to draw a drop of my own blood. Miss Carter swallowed hard, and I grinned savagely. I turned, once again, to the class. "Right here, in the Introduction. Right on the first page, this book contradicts our History." I opened to the first page.

"'The reason why The Great War was fought was because the Big Cats didn't like Society's way of running things. They decided to rise up and overthrow our leaders, but it all went horribly wrong. As you read in History textbooks, the Big Cats were defeated. But not as you may think. There was no Peace Treaty. They didn't have equal numbers. The Society had enough fighters for a thousand armies, their numbers hundreds of times bigger than those of the Big Cats. We stood no hope. We were crushed. Only a mere few survived, their lives spared as long as they swore to the lies the Society feeds you.

"Of the ones that were captured, many didn't agree with the proposition, and were tortured until they either gave in, or died. The few that managed to escape undetected, the ones never caught by Society, they are the ones who passed on the truth'."

I looked up at the class. Many hand their hands over their mouths. Misha was wide eyed. It still racked her world.

"This is the truth!" I cried. "Do you want more?"

"No... No more, please." Daniel whimpered from the back of the class.

"I'm sorry Daniel. But I have to tell you this." I hadn't realised that Miss Carter was edging towards her desk.

"'The Great War was a bloodbath. Hundreds of PC's died in brutal ways. They were either killed or captured. The ones that were caught were forced to submit to the Society's laws. If they didn't agree they were tortured, many until they died. The few who escaped spread the word of truth. My Suburb was filled with Big Cats. It was. Until the Society found out that we knew the truth. They began to kill anyone who let slip that they knew. There's a mere handful of us left.'"

I skipped the next paragraph, as it only talked about the danger I was in.

"The War is the most important thing in our History, but for different reasons to different people. Most likely thing is you would have been brought up with the textbook History, where the two sides had equal numbers and the War was ended when a Peace Treaty was made. This is rubbish. The truth is that the Society outnumbered the PC's roughly 10 to 1. It was a massacre. The Peace Treaty was nonexistent and hundreds died for naught. The Society had numbers and guns on their side. If you find yourself swept up in a fight, in another war, try to make your side see reason. Stick to streets and Suburbs, don't venture out into the open. You may not have advantage in numbers, but you can make your way through side-streets and back alleys with stealth. If you can get your hands on guns, you could possibly turn the battle in your favour, though this is unlikely.'"