A Tale of the Other Kind: A Therian Novel (8 page)

He turned on his side and looked at his mother who stared down at him with a smile. 

‘Open it,’ she said, laying a small gift-wrapped box beside him. 

He opened the box and inside lay a silver dog-tag on a thick chain with the name Leo engraved on the back. He struggled to swallow, because he knew that the chain was the only reminder his mother still had of his father. 

'Mom, I can't...' he murmured. 

'Sure you can,' she said, smiling. 'It is yours now. I want you to have it.’ 

'Are you sure?' 

'More than ever. Your father would have wanted you to have it. It means more to me that you wear it than it lying in the drawer unused.' 

Kai leaned forward and gave his mother a lingering hug. 'This means a lot to me mom.' 

'I know,' she said, as she got up and headed for the door. For a brief moment, she lingered in the doorway, closing her eyes and whispered softly, 'I wish he could have seen the wonderful man you’ve become.' 

As she left the room, Kai stared at the chain for a while and then slowly placed it around his neck. 

****

As soon as his mother left the room, Kai lifted the chain around his neck to look at it shimmer, and felt a strange calmness come over him. He quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. He threw on a knee-length black coat and set off into the forest. 

The outfit wasn't his usual hiking gear, but he felt like he needed to clear his mind. He slowly started into the forest behind the cabin. The sunrays that broke through the thick trees melted the last bits of snow left from the weeks before. He sat down next to a large tree overhanging the area, not far away from the house. The incident with the lion was still vivid in his mind, pulling at all his senses, making him question who he was, what he was and whether he had the capabilities to handle something of this magnitude. 

He wished he could touch Sienna and hold her, but
that
dream seemed so far away now. The anger he’d felt was so intense that he couldn't control it, but it was controlling him. He knew that he shouldn't go close to her for fear of hurting her again. She was too precious to him and he didn’t want to hurt her. He picked up a piece of broken wood and scratched at the clammy ground, distracted. Thoughts kept racing through his mind about how he could make himself fully transform again. This time, he would be far away from anyone he could harm. 

He looked at his hands and tried to think of the anger he had felt when he attacked James. He jumped up from the floor and started pacing the narrow grassy area, trying to get his heart rate up, but he didn't have enough room to manoeuvre, so he took off his coat, placing it neatly next to the large tree, and started running, running as fast as he could. In his mind he kept picturing James insulting him, pictured James touching Sienna, and his heart beat faster with every step, and his breath became faster, and shallower. 

His anger started to burn deep in his chest, until a raging flame was engulfing his entire body, causing such excruciating pain that he could feel it running through his veins. He ran faster, and faster. Suddenly, his body started to change. First, his hands became paws and sharp claws shot out from the tips of his fingers, his feet transformed into huge catlike paws, and his crushing bones caused him to scream out in pain. His already large frame bulked up with muscles of another kind, strength enveloped his legs, making him run faster. 

His eyes transformed into catlike emerald green splendour, and sharp incisors replaced his harmless blunt human teeth. Suddenly, he could hear much clearer and he took in all the sounds surrounding him. Even the fish in the far-away lake could be heard swimming and jumping out of the water. He could hear all the animals and, somehow, he could understand them. Kai couldn't believe that he could run so fast. It now seemed so natural to him, to be in the forest and to run free where he always felt so comfortable. He reached the lake much sooner than he would have in human form. He stopped a few feet away from the glimmering waterside and slowly started moving towards the edge. 

Reflecting his image, the water painted a picture of a large, muscular, black-spotted panther-like being. His catlike eyes were a magnificent green staring back at him and shimmered in the water like emeralds. Kai could feel the adrenaline pumping in his muscles as he felt different - somehow still human, but animal-like too. He had become something else, something that he knew instinctively he couldn't share with others.
What would they do with him if they knew?
He wondered.
Who was there to tell?
 

Nobody would believe him, and if they did, they would shun him or lock him up to hide the beast he had become. He knew that this was the biggest secret of his life and that nothing would ever be the same again. He snarled at himself in the water, showing wonderfully sharp teeth. Staring back at him was the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. His eyes focused on the fish in the water and, within an instant, he snatched a fish from its haven. Delighting in its resistance, he knew he was quicker than it could ever swim. 

Strangely, with his sense of smell magnified, the fish became the most irresistible meal he had ever encountered. Without thinking, he wolfed the fish down without chewing. He scratched his head as he licked his teeth clean. Pacing up and down beside the water, he wondered how this could have happened. This changed everything and he had to find out more. He lay down next to the pond under a large, shady tree, and after a while, he began to feel calmer and more at ease. 

Slowly, his eyes closed, and fell into a deep sleep.

****

Kai awoke next to the river, naked and shivering. Hours had passed since he entered the forest and his lips had turned blue from the cold, engulfed every bone of his already aching body. He slowly started to stand up as the realisation of what had happened returned to him. 

'It wasn't a dream,' he thought. 

The sun was already setting over the mountains, and Kai realised that he had to get back home before nightfall. He began his journey through the thick forest and finally reached the area where he’d left his coat. It was cold and his body ached with every step he took. Once he reached the open meadow, he found his clothes lying under a large Eucalyptus tree. He picked up his coat and wrapped it around his freezing body. Finally, he reached the house. Looking around to see whether his mother was home, he slowly walked towards the back door of the house. His frozen fingers covered the icy steel door handle, pushing hard to open it from its swollen doorframe. 

Upstairs, he climbed into a hot bath, soaking away the cold and pain, healing the bruises that resulted from the change. He could feel the warmth returning to his body as the water rose slowly in the bathtub. Closing his eyes, he remembered the reflection that had looked back at him in the lake. 

‘Kai, are you almost finished in there? I need to finish up if we’re to make your party on time,' his mother called. 

Kai opened his eyes sharply. He thought his mother had already left. 

‘Just a second!’ Splashing water all over the floor as he climbed out of the bath, he felt awkward and unsteady. He reached for the towel railing to balance himself. Taking a moment to catch his breath. He quickly ran a towel over his damp hair and body before throwing on a pair of jeans, cowboy boots and his coat over a long-sleeved shirt. 

'All yours mom,' he called as he left the bathroom. Upon entering his room, he walked over to his laptop. He hoped that he could find some kind of answer to what was happening to him. Something that would give him some information on humans changing into animals. He frantically searched the net, and stumbled upon a website that spoke of therianthropes, ailuranthropes and shapeshifting -  specifically werecats. 

His eyes grew wide at what he read. Was he a shapeshifter? The legend spoke of humans turning into animal forms. Sitting back in his chair, the realisation hit him that what he was reading wasn't merely a legend - he was the legend; he was a shapeshifter. 

Frustrated, he closed his computer, not wanting to know more. It all seemed so unreal, and he was just not up to reading more about what he was going through. Perplexed, he got up from the chair and headed out towards the car where his mother was waiting for him. 

'Happy birthday!' came voices from all corners of the bookstore as Kai and his mother entered the door. The entire area was decorated in colourful balloons and streamers. A large cake with blue icing was standing on the counter along with an assortment of party snacks. 

'Thank you,' Kai replied, smiling. 'You really didn't have to go to so much trouble, mom,' he said, looking fondly at Bethany. 

'Thank your friends hon; I hardly did anything with so many of your friends willing to help. They had everything ready and set up before I could do anything,' she replied, smiling. 

He shifted uncomfortably, uneasy with the attention that was on him. He slowly moved forward, greeting everyone, and thanking them for coming. 

'Happy birthday, bro,' Daniel said, shaking Kai’s hand fiercely. 

'Thanks man. This is so unexpected.' 

'Well, you sure as hell have been missing in action lately, so we thought this the only way to get you in the same room as everyone for once,' Daniel laughed. 

‘I have some good news from my side,’ Daniel gleamed. 

Kai looked at him curiously, eager to find out what the big news was. 

‘A recording company was at the gig the other night and they said they would like to start off with our band on a short-term contract to test the market,’ he said, his eyes growing with excitement. 

‘That is fantastic news!’ Kai said, grabbing Daniel’s hand with a congratulatory shake. ‘I wanted to apologise for not being around these last couple of weeks. Things haven’t been going so well,’ Kai admitted, giving Daniel a hopeful look. ‘But all of that’s about to change, I promise,’ he said, smilingly. 

'I hope so!' Daniel returned. 'I have written a couple of new songs and was hoping you would take the time to listen to them,' he pleaded. 

‘Sure!’ Suddenly, he could smell Sienna’s citrus-flavoured perfume float through the air. He turned around and there she was, more beautiful than he remembered. She was dressed in a pale blue silk dress, which slightly revealed the scars on her back. She stood by herself in the corner of the bookstore, looking unsure. Her hair was taken back into a ponytail, but a few short locks fell loosely around her heart-shaped face. 

'Kai,' she said nodding, clearing her throat as he moved over towards her. She seemed nervous and a little uneasy standing next to him. Kai looked down at her - too scared to get too close to her. He felt like a coward for taking her to the hospital and then disappearing without a word. 

'Sienna,' he replied. Words escaped him and he didn't know what to say to her. He was taken aback by her beauty ... and scared at the same time. His breath became shallower standing so close to her. His heart beat faster, making thinking clearly much more difficult. 

'I ... I can’t do this,' he said, turning around and walking towards the doorway. 'Don't you dare walk away from me again Kai,' she said angrily as she walked after him. He opened the door and stepped outside, hoping that she wouldn't follow him. 

'Kai!' she yelled, grabbing his arm. Her touch immediately made him stop and he turned around to face her. 

‘Sienna, I’m sorry for what happened to you. I will never be able to forgive myself, but you
have
to stay away from me.' 

‘Why?' she asked, clearly upset. 

‘Because it’s not safe and you don’t know what it means to be close to me,' he replied, getting angry. 

‘I don’t know what this means? Kai, you left me! You left me and I was attacked by a freakin lion,’ she said as anger welled inside her, showing her frustration. 

‘And then there was this black leopard, which I always thought was just a legend, but it wasn’t. It’s more real than you would ever know. I thought that I was never going to see the light again.’ 

‘I’m so sorry Sienna. It wasn’t my intention. I never thought that something so terrible would ever happen to you,’ he replied, softly. 

‘But it was okay to leave me if you thought nothing
would
happen to me?’ she asked angrily. 

‘No, that’s not what I meant,’ he replied. 

‘Then what happened? Why did you leave? Why didn’t you come back?’ she demanded. 

He sighed, ‘It doesn’t matter now. It won't change anything.' 

'It might. I deserve an explanation. Look at me,' she said, pulling the sleeve back from her shoulder, exposing four claw marks across her back. 

Mortified he ran his fingers gently across the visible scars. ‘I should never have taken you there. And for that, I’m truly sorry,’ he tried to explain. 

She shook her head, frustrated, ‘I’m not looking for an apology. I need an explanation.’ 

‘I can’t explain it to you, Sienna. If you had any idea, you would run, and I couldn't bare it.' 

'I will not run. I haven’t yet, have I?' 

‘We are just not the same – you and I. We will never work.' 

‘What are you talking about? You’re confusing the hell out of me.' 

‘It’s for the best. Trust me. We just need to stay away from each other.' 

'How do you know what’s best for me?' she demanded. 

'I don't, but, for now, I should figure this out by myself.' 

'You’re driving me nuts and you’re being silly.' 

'Silly? You think I’m being silly? You almost died Sienna, and it was entirely my fault,' Kai scowled. Sienna looked at the ground and took a small step closer to Kai. Her presence made his resolve weaken and his heart beat faster, and his throat became tight. 

'I cared for you Kai. Why did you just leave me? How could you be so cruel?' she asked again. 

He had to compose himself, and with all of his senses, he tried to draw away from her, but there was something about her that mesmerised him, making it harder to move away from her. He looked at her silently, touching her face gently with the back of his hand. 'And I care for you. That's why I need to stay away from you. I’m bad news. I don’t want to hurt you,' he said, gently running a finger across her cheek.