He ran. His feet slid against the wet concrete, and he went sliding halfway around the corner. As he tried to stop himself, his hands slammed down in order to decrease the speed. Instead of doing that, pain sliced through him as his skin was opened by the sharp concrete.

"Fuck!" he yelled out, gasping loudly and gripping his arm to his chest. He felt dread wash over him when he heard howls and vicious snarls follow after his curse. Fuck!

Running was his instinct, the instinct he was feeling to be the most dominant in the current situation. A small prick of emotion also said to stay and fight, but it did not win in his mental battle of what to do. So he ran faster.

His feet splashed into puddles, soaking his pant leg, but he did not care in the slightest. No, his attention was focused on getting away from them.

His heart was pounding to fast. It ached each time a new beat pounded against his chest, and the blood rushing to his veins burned like wild, unstoppable fire.

He turned a sharp corner and went through the alleyways, glad he was thin and quick so that he could slip through crevices. He did this many times until he was sure he was deep enough in the alley way maze that they wouldn't find him. The rain and water would be helping to mask most of his scent, thus making it difficult to track the boy.

However, the animals are determined. They are out for his blood, they desire to please their leader. The "leader" was a bulky man, with scars criss crossing his face, and a bald head. He was stony faced, and he controlled every single one of the mongrels.

"Line up!" he roared when he noticed the disfunction of animals as they rapidly sniffed around like lost puppies. "Now!"

They immediately started doing so by number, their name. Each animal was named with a number, and they were trained to line up in order of number.

"Stop sniffing around like a bunch of lost kittens and search," the man growled, walking up and down the line of still animals. "It isn't that hard, I've been training you."

Silence. "Am I clear, Trackers?"

Synchronized barks sounded from the group, and he flicked his hand. They began to be more orderly with their search, and then one of them howled when it picked up the boy's scent.

Meanwhile, the boy slowly dragged himself against the wall, his heartbeat slowing down as he relaxed.

He heard nothing, scented nothing. It seemed clear for him to go, so he slid out and looked around.

He heard a low, throaty growl, that he swore he could feel vibrating under his feet. The sound was familiar; not of the animals that were initially after him .. But different .. More feline like.

He slowly turned around, a lump in his throat. His fear came true when a large lion stepped out of the shadows, looking magnificent in the moonlight. It's golden mane was ruffled, but it held no shed of blood. Unlike the animals that were chasing him, the lion's dark brown eyes were filled with warning, alarm, and danger. Not bloodlust and desire. But this did not reassure the boy, it only made him more uneasy.

As he took a step back, the lion gave a loud roar and lunged at him with its teeth bared.

-:-

"Wake up!" I jerked awake, a stinging sensation tingling along my cheek. I blinked rapidly, shooting upwards in my seat.

"What the--" I snapped my head to Jada, who had her palm up and her head tilted. She had a look that told me she was irked and wasn't afraid to give me another slap. "Why the hell did you slap me?"

"You were moaning and groaning about lions and feral animals in your sleep," Jada stated, quirking one of her dark eyebrows. "It was freaking me and the people behind us out. So I decided to wake your little happy ass up."

"How much drive to we have left?" I yawned. The sentence didn't sound grammatically correct leaving my lips, but I could care less at this point. I felt like shit. I needed a shower, some aspirin, and comfortable sleep without strange nightmares.

"About two hours." Jada lifted her hand again, but this time she brushed her fingers across my forehead and cheek. "Crap, girl, you're burning up," she told me with surprise in her voice.

"It's hot in here," I defended, shrugging my jacket off and resting my forehead against the seat in front of me. "Like seriously."

"He has the air conditioner on," Jada insisted, leaning forward so she was looking right at the side of my face. "I, for one, am freezing. Look." I forced my head to turn to her as she jerked her sleeve up and revealed multiple goosebumps on her skin.

"Well I'm hot," I replied, running my fingers through my greasy hair and groaning quietly. "When we get to Story, the first thing we're doing is getting a motel room so I can take a damn shower."

Jada shrugged as she pulled her sleeve back down. "Mmkay. Fine by me."

Finally, we arrived in Story. As we piled off the bus, I felt my stomach do backflips more than three times. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked around. The hair on the back of my neck stood up uneasily, and a chill ran down my spine like a ghost's finger.

"Motel," Jada said, pointing to the building to our right. "That's classic. A Motel named Motel. Originality does not bide well with these people, does it?"

I pushed the feeling of unease away and smiled at her slightly. "Don't be so judgmental," I chided her gently. "It is, after all, just one building. Plus, the name gets straight to the point. It's a motel isn't it?"

She gave me a weird look and we started walking towards the motel. I gripped my back tightly in my hand, looking up at the old, beat up sign as we passed under it.

"This place gives me the creeps," Jada stated out loud, making me wince. I glanced around when her voice echoed around us, grateful nobody was around to hear her words. However, she spoke how I was feeling. It was very creepy for a motel .. Well, motels are naturally creepy.

"Let's just get inside," I said sharply, nudging her closer to the main lobby. "I don't like the feeling I'm getting."

"Me neither," Jada murmured, rushing through the door by my side quietly.

When we entered, we made sure to shut the door behind us. A man with scraggly hair glanced at us blankly and sighed heavily. "Name?" he drawled out in boredom.

"Seriously?" Jada whispered in my ear, scrunching her nose up in disgust. "I can smell him from here. And that says a lot."

Despite her words being absolutely true, I elbowed her in the ribs and smiled kindly at the man. "Jad--Jade and Melanie."

"What-" I slapped my hand over Jada's mouth and widened the smile at the man, who gazed blankly at me as he wrote our names down. "Two bed or one queen?"

"One queen," I quickly stated, causing her to shoot me a confused glare. I increased the pressure of my hand over her mouth, earning me a snort from her end. "Please."

"Whatever." He turned around and grabbed a key. "Room 3. Hot water and clean bedsheets included."

"How much?" I asked, removing my hand from Jada's mouth and slipping the key in her hand so I could grab some money.

"How many nights?"

"One."

"Forty dollars."

I pull out two rumpled twenties and handed them over. He took the money and lifted it to his nose, inhaling and making weird noises of pleasure. He ran the bills under his nose, his eyes rolling back to his head. Jada looked as sick as I felt. This guy was fucking weird.

He caught us staring and quickly stuffed the money in his pocket. "Enjoy your stay," he mumbled.

With that, Jada and I turned and quickly hurried out of the lobby faster than than Road Runner could run.