Eat or Be Eaten
Fourteen

"She's planning an ambush?" Selena asks after I explained what I had just found out to everyone.
I shrug. "That's what it sounds like. Over thirty innocent men and women turned, who'll most likely loose their lives. And the sick part is, she won't even care."
Selena paced around the room with her hands clasped behind her back. Temperance sat on Ben's lap, watching her go back and forth.
It wasn't fair to all the people out there, who would have to constantly fear for their lives because they'd either be killed, changed or both.
I hit the wall beside me in frustration, falling to the ground and holding my head between my knees.
Jake comes over and sits behind me, so that I'm sitting between his legs and leaning against his body.
Everyone is silent, the only sounds are the rain splattering against the house and everyone breathing in and out. I could hear Jake's heart beating fast and Ben rubbing Tempie's back. Nick walks in and turns the TV on without a word.
"Four bodies found dead on Water Avenue, their chests and stomachs ripped open, heart, kidneys, stomachs and liver taken out of each in turn."
Pictures of each victim flashes across the screen. Venus gasps at the face of Princple Sarah came across the screen. A second later, Monica Taylors with the evening news appears once more. "If anyone has any information on any of these crimes, we ask that you step forward immediatly to help put the families of these poor people at peace."
Nick turns the TV off and looks at us. "What do we do?" I sigh.
"No idea."

***

Everyone was long asleep when I crawled out of bed and snuck down stairs and to the training room, carrying a bowl of fruit and a jug of water.
I quietly walk into the room and freeze. Big yellow eyes stare at me in the dark, a glint of white fangs sparkling in the ray of light.
I turn on the switch that controls the over head lamps and stop about a foot away from the cage. I put the food and water down and slowly push it to where he can get it and step even further away.
He waits to see if it's a trick before hungrily grabbing what I have to offer and gulping it down.
I sit cross legged with my arm propped up on a long blade, almost a sword, and watch him carefully.
"What's your name?" I say, barely a whisper.
"Kota Winterbird." he responds through a mouthful of grapes.
I nod and look away, focusing on the steady rhythym of his heart beat and the growling of his stomach. The wind rustles leaves outside the window, like a child playing tag.
Fifteen minutes later, he pushes the bowl and empty jug towards me and leans back on his arms, yawning.
"What is your name, girl who turns into a tiger?"
I softly laugh, my eyes closed. "Iris Blackwell."
"And what do you plan on doing to me, Iris Blackwell?"
My eyes open and find him in the dark. He was looking at me as intently as I was at him. "What would you like us to do with you, Kota Winterbird?"
"I wish to be set free."
"I'm afraid that's not possible. You can't be trust."
"If I were to to gain your trust, would you then?"
I shrug. "Depends on how you plan to gain it."
"I will think of how I can, for I wish to go home."
"Home to Cherry?"
"Home to my sisters and mother."
I crawl towards the cafe, forgetting about how dangerous it was to get close to him. I wrap my hands around the bars of the cage and look at the man inside. He looked so sad, so lonely, it broke my heart.
"Gain my trust, and I'll let you go." i whisper, almost pleading.
I get up and leave after a moment, a tear sliding down my cheek as I rush out of there like a scared little girl.