I'm Not an Animal (Slow Updates)

Chapter 11

"You can't just kill someone for no reason! You don't know how wr-"

"No, you don't know! You have no idea why I want to kill her! I'm not some heartless murderer. I've never killed anyone. But that bitch killed my family. She shot my mother, fired a shot at my father and took a shot at my brother, killing him in front of my eyes. So tell me. Am I killing her for no reason?" I dripped water onto the floor, and Zaki only then seemed to notice that I was soaking wet. He bent over and picked a towel from a pile under the desk. He stood and handed it to me, and I rubbed my hair down as he spoke.

"No. That is certainly a reason." He turned to look at the screen. "Dinner will be soon. Ruby will show you around, and then get some sleep. You got here just at the right time; we're leaving tomorrow. Here," he threw me a black cloak, "you'll be needing this."

"Why?"

"It'll be like a blanket, and it should keep you hidden at night from above."

"Where are we going?"

"The Resistance."

~#*#~

"So, you'll be sleeping in here, with me. Then the kitchen-dining-room-thing is up there, and Zaki is hot, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he- wait, what!?" I cried out, turning my head to look at Ruby. She burst out laughing and tightened the tie on her cloak. She lifted the hood and winked to me, then ran down the hall to the kitchen. I lifted my hood and ran after her, leaping between groups of people on my search for the location of the delicious smell wafted from between the doors.

I flung the doors open, followed by a couple other girls, and tried to process what I was seeing. Ruby was already sitting at a table with two other girls, eating a hamburger. I walked up to the counter to grab some chicken, peas and corn. I took a seat on the boho next to Ruby and she shifted over for me.

"Hey, Tora. Let me introduce you guys. This is Eleanor," she pointed to the blonde girl with blue eyes, contacts, for her vision, a tight green shirt, long black pants and boots, "and Marion," Ruby then pointed to the girl with long, straight black hair, green eyes, a dark blue blouse, dark blue leggings and lace-up shoes. "Girls, this is Tora. The Tiger girl I was telling you about."

"Pleased to meet you," Marion leaned over the table and shook my hand. "I'm Marion, as Ruby said. I'm a Blue Maccaw."

"Eleanor." The blonde said, reaching her hand out for me to shake. "Cheetah."

"A Big Cat?" I asked, stunned.

"Most of us are." Eleanor winked. "Zaki's a lion, you know?"

"Oh, I know. He kinda made that obvious. I read his entry in this," I held up the Guide Book, "so I have high expectations."

"Is that...?" Ruby trailed off, before snatching the book off me.

"It is!" Eleanor cried. A few others looked over to is, trying to see what all the commotion was about.

"What's up?" Called a boy from a few tables away.

"She has the Hand Guide to Big Cats!" Marion screamed.

I'd never seen so many people running and jostling over a book. They all turned their attention to me and bolted over to our booth. I backed away as the near-thirty people crowded around us.

"What's the big deal?" I asked quietly.

"This is a massive deal!" Ruby cried. "Only one of this book was ever released. With it, we have an advantage over the Society!"

"But it's just a book!"

"Oh, Tora. It's so much more than a book."

"What is going on in here!?" Everyone turned to face Zaki.

"Zaki! Zaki!" Ruby cried, jumping up onto the table to be seen over the crowd. She waved the book around wildly. "She has the Hand Guide! She has the Hand Guide!"

~#*#~

I was being chased. I was running from someone. I turned my head to see a Leopard leaping from tree to tree, claws scratching through the wood, opening it up for thick, red sap to flow down. The Leopard hit the ground and jumped and then it was Alyssa.

I couldn't shift. I tried to shift into my Tiger form, but I couldn't. So I just kept running. Alyssa was coming closer to me with every step. She had a short-range Pistol. She didn't lift it, though. I kept running. I ran. I ran. I ran. I ran. I ran. I shifted.

I ran through the trees, under the low branches, leaping over bushes and extremely low branches. Alyssa was still following me.

I roared to the sky and received no reply. I powered on. I roared again, and again received no reply. I ran and ran and ran and roared again.

And someone roared back.

I spun my head around to see Alyssa running behind me. In her Leopard form. I kept running until my body forced me back into my human form. I hadn't even been running for a kilometre, let alone the previous five. Maybe I was still too tired for much.

Alyssa caught up to me again and shifted back into her human form. I tripped over a root and rolled to a stop, facing her. She smiled, lifted the gun

And pulled the trigger.

"Aaah!" I screamed, sitting up. The other girls in the room, there were twelve, including me, sat up and looked at me. I pulled my knees to my chin and sobbed into them, shaking, as my body calmed down.

"What's wrong?" Eleanor asked.

"Was it Alyssa?" Ruby whispered quietly. I nodded. The girls all crowded around us as Ruby explained what had happened to me. Many of the others understood what I had gone through. I nodded when they gave me kind words and smiles, and I wrapped my cloak tightly around myself. I pulled my hood up over my head and lay down. I didn't know if I could get back to sleep, thanks to the dream I had just had.

But, not thirty minutes later, I was fast asleep again.