Page 11 of In Between Darkness
“RUN!” she shouts.
Panic spreads like wildfire, but we are the only ones about to get burned. I turn to run, but I am immediately frozen by the feeling of hot breath on the nape of my neck. I scrunch my eyes tight, helplessly waiting for impact, remembering the ‘do not make eye contact’ rule. The elion is breathing heavier. Its deep bellow vibrates through my body. I squeeze Nala’s hand tighter and pull her behind me in an act of bravery. Now I am face-to-face with the beast. I’m not letting both of us die today. The other students cower, still shuffling timidly towards the door. Jemima is lying hopelessly behind Nala and me. There’s no way out. My eyes are still closed as I wait to be devoured like the gazelle.
Chapter Five
I’m still here, in one piece. Is this some kind of sick joke? Do they like to toy with their food before they eat it? I un-scrunch one eye to assess my surroundings. I am now eye-to-eye with the biggest elion I have ever seen. He must be the leader because his pack loiters a few feet behind him. His hot breath wets my face, and his once white fur is now stained red with the blood of his last kill. Yellow eyes throw daggers my way. What is it doing?
Hovering, his face level with mine. I open my other eye, and the world around me falls silent and slow. His stare intensifies on mine, but his demeanour changes. Suddenly, I don’t feel so afraid. His breath slows. My hand reaches up before my brain can realise what it’s doing.
‘Click, Clickkkkk, Hmmmm…’ I hear. The beast tilts its head and looks at me curiously. Was that him? Is he talking to me? His head nudges into my hand gently as it is lost in his thick fur. Something inside me tells me to mimic his clicking back.
“Click, Clickkkk, Hmmmm,” I repeat.
He stops and waits for a minute. I see myself in the reflection of his eyes as he scans the length of my body up and down. Was he sizing me up to kill me? His eyes land on mine again, as if looking into my soul. He huffs his warm breath at me through his nose and then flies gracefully back to his podium to continue licking the bones of his leftovers. It is as if he told his pack to stand down because, one by one, they all follow him.
Veronica sees an opening, and I feel myself being dragged back into the safety of the room. She slams the mighty door behind her, and I watch as the dial spins anticlockwise, locking itself as the bolts click into place. We all stand still. The only sounds that fill the room are those of our lungs fighting for breath. I look down at my hand, its once pinkish flesh now tainted with the smears of that elion’s last meal. I feel Veronica’s eyes hot on mine. What just happened?
“Are you hurt?” Nala asks between breaths, looking at my hand.
“No, it’s not my blood,” I whisper, not wanting to draw any more attention. I can tell she has more she wants to ask me, but she grits her teeth and shakes it off, clutching my arm and following the rest of the class back towards the cable carts.
The ride down from the top is a quiet one. Everybody is still shaken up, and I don’t blame them. We almost became lunch.
Miss Worthington had everyone go to second meal early because of the incident that had just unfolded. I sit staring at my plate, a chicken burger and fries. I don’t feel like eating much. The meat keeps reminding me of the slaughtered tamer, and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. Nala has not said a word to me since the written room. She sits across from me staring; her gaze intense as if trying to figure me out. The hustle and bustle of the other students around us distracts her from her thoughts.
“What the fuck was that?” she blurts out in a kind of whisper-shout.
“What was what?” I respond, taken aback by her outburst.
“Don’t give me that. What was that in the stables? You said you have never seen an elion before, and now what? Suddenly, you can talk to one of them?” This was more of a statement than a question. Her eyes did not move from mine.
“I don’t know,” I confess, but she doesn’t buy it.
“I don’t know!” Silence breaks out between us again. Her eyes are now scanning my face slowly from left to right. “I promise. I am just as surprised as you. Maybe the elion realised we weren’t threats and backed down by itself,” I say as if trying to convince myself.
Nala shakes her head as if I am crazy.
“Do you know how many elions my mum has been around?” Her head leans closer to mine. “She told me that once they get spooked, it usually turns fatal. Not once have I ever seen one back down like that, not even to a tamer, let alone a stranger. The way it hovered by you was almost like it knew you,” she states. “Elion’s only click to humans when a bond is formed. My mum’s took months.” She pauses. “Months!”
I try to hide the shock on my face. I know she is right. I have read many books on elions, and it doesn’t make any sense.
“What do you think it means?” I ask, hoping for an explanation, and Nala’s gaze softens.
“I don’t know. But we’re going to find out together.”
She grabs my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine. “Oh, and thank you…”
“For what?”
“For stepping in front of me. It was stupid. Don’t get me wrong, and I never want you to do that again, but you kind of saved my bacon.”
I give her a consoling look.
“Are you still going to take the taming class, or are you put off for life?” I joke.
“Are you kidding? I’ve never felt more alive in my life.” Her eyes sparkle in the light of the orb. “I think you should take it too, then we can see if it was a fluke or not.”
I nod in agreement, trying not to think about the tamer that is now mincemeat.
