When I Awakened

Turn Of Events

Elijah and I exchange looks and look down at the lion. I look at the lion from the bottom to the top. My vision freezes on the collar clasped on the lion's neck.

"Elijah, look!" I holler.

Elijah looks at me with curiosity on his face.

"Look, there's a collar on the lion," I point out.

Elijah squats down on his legs and unhooks the collar from the lion. There's a red light flashing on and off, over and over again.

I manage to trip over a rock and land on top of the lion. I expect a soft landing, but I am thrown off by the rock-hard feeling.

Elijah throws the collar down and leans down to help me up.

"Are you okay?" Elijah asks.

I nod and look over at the lion.

"What's wrong?" Elijah asks, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"The lion is made of metal," I tremble.

Elijah makes a face at me and squats down to take a look at it.

"If it was metal, I wouldn't have been able to stab him," he remarks, tapping the skin of the lion.

I squat down and pull out the stick inside of his stomach. There is no blood. That's the one place the lion doesn't have metal. What a lucky shot.

"Looks like I damaged it," Elijah points to what looks like a piece from a car.

The big chunk of metal is sparking a bright color of red. Elijah gets up and grabs the collar. It is still blinking.

"It's a tracker. I have an idea," Elijah smirks.

He takes my hand and pulls me in front of an outhouse. He smirks back at me and walks into it with the collar in hand. He walks out with no collar, and he grabs my wrist. He runs to a bike on the rack of rental bikes that cost 25 cents. He goes through his backpack and pulls out a quarter.

"Hop on," he commands.

He pays for the bike and hops on. I place my feet on the rods behind the bike and hold on to his shoulders.

"Hold on tight."

I tighten my grip on his shoulders, and he peddles fast. The wind blows in my hair, and it's as if I'm flying. I can't keep the grin from forming on my face.

"So when you said there was a tracker on the lion," I pause, "was the government tracking the lion, or us? Where did the lion come from?"

Elijah stays quiet for a moment. I assume he is lost in thought. It catches me off guard when he answers my question.

"I don't know for sure, but I think they made a metal lion, with the tracking collar to find us. They must have coded the collar with our descriptions."

I lower my eyebrows in thought.

"I wonder who released me from the chains when I was locked in the chair," I say out loud.

"Skylar," Elijah asks.

"Yes?" I question.

"I'm sorry," he pauses, "I shouldn't have been teasing you back there before we got separated."

"It's ok," I smile.

"No, it's not. It's not okay, " Elijah pauses. "Because of me, you were taken, and I couldn't do anything to help."