paramour

chapter 2

The air was tense with some kind of anticipation. The man in front of me was tensed as I was... readying for something. Then we heard movement in the shadows.

He restrained a growl –I could hear because I was close, tight to his back as I looked into the black. But I barely noticed- I was waiting for something to happen, something to appear out of no where.

And then we saw the eyes. The glowing, orange-like amber eyes, piercing and menacing, locked on our figures. I let out a snarl, challenging the beasts to come out of the darkness and fight.

"No," The man murmured in an irresistible, familiar, and soft voice. Although I was compelled to listen to that voice, to that person who spoke, my instincts took over and I shot out from behind him as a monster slithered out from the darkness.

It had coal-black fur, was on all fours, and baring dagger-like teeth almost the size of kitchen knives. Its ears were pulled back flat against its head and it was in a crouch, ready to attack. It appeared to be a giant wolf.

It growled, its eyes only focused on me now. I slipped down into a stooped down also, ready to spring.

"Marie, no!" That harmonic voice called behind me, now in a frustrated, worried way. I felt the man grab a hold on my arm, but I quickly and agilely shook it off.

The wolf sprang.

I awoke with a start, screaming and gasping. Momentarily forgetting where I was, I lost my hold on the tree and therefore, my balance.

I fell out of the tree, probably looking like I was trying to fly with my arms and hands waving up and down at my sides.

My body hit the ground pretty hard all at the same time. And I couldn't move for a minute until I gathered my thoughts together.

Well, apparently I had fallen asleep while I was in the tree. And I had had the nightmare again, except this time there was more to it. And that was why I had woken up and fallen out of the tree. Now everything made sense.

Slowly, not rushing anything, I tested to see what I could move. I flexed my fingers in and out, moved my arms, my toes, and then finally my legs...

Suddenly I heard laughing quietly from someone in the trees. It startled me so much that I shot up off the ground without continuing to check that everything was fine. Apparently it was because I was up, and only a little sore. Probably the only thing that fall had done to me was make more bruises and irritate the ones I already had.

I did a three sixty, whirling around in a circle to see which tree and or bush the noise had come from. But I saw no one.

"Who's there?" I demanded, scanning the brush for any source of life.

The only sounds I heard was the whisper of the wind blowing through the trees and someone 'shushing' someone else's uncontrolled snickering. Apparently there were two people watching me. My eyes widened. And that's when I decided to run.

I sprinted out of the forest, running at pretty much my top speed.

Who would be out in the forest, watching me sleep in a tree? Had they been there before I came? Had I not noticed them when I first entered, and had they been watching me since then? Had there been more than two?

All these questions swirled around in my head making me almost dizzy with anxiety as I finally got to the house. I decided even if it was too early to go to school, I would go anyway. The need to be out of this vicinity was too great to care about much more.

Before I darted out the door with my bag, I glanced at the clock and stopped dead when I saw the time. It was almost lunch period at school.

I stared at the clock, stunned for only a few seconds longer before I couldn't care less and ran outside. Oh well. At least I probably wouldn't fall asleep in class today.