there,
slightly more males than females, moving together in the candlelit room. Her
ears twitched as the volume in the room grew louder… No, she only began to hear them more clearly. There was no mistaking their moans and panting.
They were all having sex in the same vicinity.
Her vision adjusted again and this time when she looked she
could see their bodies grinding each other, wildly, passionately, with abandon.
Some against or on top of each other in pairs or threesomes or foursomes.
In the center of the room there was a raised wooden
platform, and on top of it there was an attractive couple—a Middle-Eastern man
and a pale, platinum-blonde woman—making love above all of the others. They
wore matching necklaces made of black leather rope and the same silver charm.
She could just make out that the charm was an artistic figure of a lion’s head,
which reminded her of the Leo zodiac sign.
What was this, kind of a weird cat-worshiping cult? What did
it all mean?
Again Sofia’s eyes refocused and she could see with
painstaking clarity. Beads of sweat dripped down ripped abs and working torsos.
Eyes glowed and vocal chords purred and roared with lust and pleasure. Sharply
pointed teeth were bared as waves of orgasmic release brought animalistic
smiles to their faces. Once again Sofia’s senses adjusted and she could see the
powerful, feline animal within each of them—some cougars, others lions,
leopards, tigers or even cheetahs, but all some kind of big cat from a panther-like
species. She could hear the call to the wild screaming from their souls, could smell
it even—the scent of grass and trees and fur and masculinity and femininity
and desire.
Dios Mio. She was not in the company of humans.
Backing away from the bars, Sofia stumbled over a soft mound
on the floor and looked down.
She spotted the pile of her shredded clothes and the memory
flashed in her mind like a horror show. Jogging along the trail. The leopard
spotting her. Being pinned to the ground and attacked. The mountain lion
attacking the first cat before transforming into a man. Felt like real-life
madness, not injury-induced hallucinations.
Something was wrong with her. Sofia felt her arms and
legs go wobbly and she dropped to the floor. But soon the weakness in her limbs
turned into rigidness, then pain. She found her body moving against her will,
as if being manipulated by some unseen force, positioning her on her hands and
knees. She watched in horror as the hair on her arms elongated and thickened,
and cried out as her hands and nails became paws and claws right before her
eyes.
Hearing someone approaching the cave, Sofia intended to give
a warning yell not to come near her, but what came out instead was a strained,
dangerous-sounding roar. The cage door opened and she backed away and cowered
in a corner, not wanting to see whoever it was, not wanting them to see her
this way either—with her body contorting, her nose widening, her ears
elongating and fur rapidly growing all over.
But that scent! She knew who it was without looking up at
him, and before he even said a single word. No, not him . What was he
doing here? He couldn’t see her like this. Of all the people in the
world who could have come into that room right then, why him?
He opened the door and quickly rushed in, carrying a tray
with food, which he placed on the small table before moving toward her.
Wait, was he to blame for this? Had she been set up?
She bared her teeth at him and hissed loudly, swatting her
paws. Her paws!
“There, there now,” Nathan said. “Listen Sofia, it’s—” His
voice was mild and patient, but Sofia had no moderation or patience in her at
the moment. Her thoughts were feral with fear and fury, and her voice was a
foreign, loud roar of frustration. Nathan reached his hand out toward her, as
if intending to touch her. She wanted to shove him away but instead found
herself lunging at him, aiming her teeth directly for his throat.
* * * *
Yvette Hines, Monique Lamont