Bleeding Fear


Story by Dennis Spielman
Stories may not be reposted or published without permission

Aubrey, Corey, David, Jessica, and Kim had been friends for so long, they can’t remember when they all met, but they stayed together after high school. They were all in his or her twenties, Aubrey and Kim having the same birthday. Kim was beautiful, sweet, and a nice girl that attended college to become a doctor. David was skilled hunter and fighter, not someone you would want to make an enemy out of. Corey was not-so-famous actor for plays, television commercials, and he did work for other media productions. Aubrey was, well, Aubrey. She was a bit weird, but most writers are weird. Last and weirdest was Jessica. She was the weirdest and biggest of the bunch, but she was also a well-respected critic for a local television news station.

Time was getting late and they had a long way to go to get home. The five friends arrived at a lonely looking motel called, “The Blue Motel.” They got of the black jeep. They had no luggage except Aubrey had a briefcase that she took out with her and Kim had a baby tiger that she took with herself as well. They all went inside the hotel.

The inside to the lobby wasn’t so lonely looking as the outside. It was nicely decorated with lots of flowers in blue clay pots, a table with hot coffee and plastic blue cups, a counter with papers on top and keys hanging on the wall behind it. There were two hallways leading into the lobby. Corey walked to the counter and rang the bell resting on top.

“Hello?” Corey shouted. “Anyone one here?”

A hideous green faced monster with curly horns popped out from behind the counter. All of them expect for David jumped back at sight of the monster. The monster started to laugh at them. The monster grabbed his face with its scaly green hands and ripped its face off.

It was only a kid in a mask.

The kid laughed some more. The kid was a sixteen-year-old named Mark. He sat his mask and monster hands on the counter.

“Welcome to the Blue Motel,” the kid said. “My name is Mark and we hope your stay here isn’t scary as it was just a moment ago.”

“If I see anything unusual,” David said, “I’ll shoot it.”

Mark smiled and turned his attention back to Corey. Mark asked Corey a couple questions about how many rooms they wanted, how long they would be staying, and how he wanted to pay for everything. The usually boring routine stuff to get a room. Mark was pretty smooth and handled everything professionally. Corey paid him in cash for two rooms for one night.

“Dad,” Mark shouted. “We got some customers.”

When David saw Mark’s father, John, walk into the lobby, he could relate to him. John wore camouflage clothing. He was a big, hunter kind of man ? thick beard and everything. He looked very authoritative, but he was really a nice guy.

“Oh, hello there,” John said. “I didn’t hear you come in. Did by any chance my son scare you folks?”

“He made Corey wet himself,” David teased.

John chuckled, his belly bouncing up and down. “Yeah, Mark can be a handful at times. Mark, could you show these people their rooms, please?”

“Sure thing,” Mark said as he grabbed three keys from the wall behind him. “Walk this way.”

Mark went to a hallway with the five friends following behind him. John went to the other hallway that he came in from. Mark unlocked and opened room number three.

“The guys can stay in this room for tonight,” Mark said standing out of the way so they could get in. “Enjoy your stay at the Blue Motel. If you need any ice, the machine’s at the end of this hallway.”

Corey and David entered the room. David took the key from the lock and shut the door behind him. Mark strolled to the room across the hall to room seven. He took the other key he had and unlocked the door and opened it.

“You girls can stay in lucky number seven,” Mark said. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

The girls smiled at Mark as they entered the room. Aubrey led the way, turning the light on. Kim followed while Jessica grabbed the key from the lock and shut the door. The room had three twin beds with blue sheets, faded sunflower wallpaper, and an out of place high tech glass and wood dresser that supported a television set.

Aubrey sat the room key and her titanium briefcase on the dresser by the television. Kim carried her tiger to bathroom and the girls followed to check out the bathroom. Jessica flipped the light switch on for the bathroom for Kim.

“Thanks.”

“Wow,” Jessica said. “This is so cool.”

The bathroom was huge. It had a large bathtub, a heart shaped sink, and soft blue towels. It was everything someone could want in a bathroom. Kim sat her tiger inside the bathtub. She grabbed one of the towels and laid it down in the tub for the tiger to sleep on. The tiger went right asleep.

After a few seconds of looking around Kim said, “I don’t know about you guys, but my feet are killing me.”

“Attack of the killer feet,” Aubrey commented as Kim went and sat on the center bed. She looked up and noticed the door was open. Didn’t Jessica shut the door? Before she could get up and close the door, a cold hand reached for her from under the bed and grabbed her ankle with a tight grip. She screamed so loud that Aubrey and Jessica came rushing to the room. They all saw Kim struggle to escape from the monstrous hand. Aubrey pulled out her gun from her pant pocket.

Then John entered room. Aubrey hid her gun from his view.

“Let go of her!” John ordered. The hand released its grip. Mark crawled out from under the bed laughing. “You know better not to enter people’s room, Mark! Now go to your room.”

Mark left the room, his eyes downcast, without saying a word.

John shook his head. “I’m terribly sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Kim said. “I’m fine.”

“If he bothers you ladies again, let me know.”

“We will,” Aubrey told John. “He probably thinks Kim is cute.”

Kim looked at the floor so no one could see that she was blushing. She would always blush whenever someone told her or referred to her as being beautiful. John smiled and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“I guess it’s a good thing that I didn’t shot him,” Aubrey said.


About an hour before the friends arrived at the hotel…

“Oh, God,” a man choked from inside a glass tube.

Rule number one of torture: never find out a victim’s name. That’s why Jim and Charles didn’t know the man’s name. They did what they were hired for ? bring a live person, inject of bunch of wires and tubes into the body, and seal the person inside a glass tube. What was the man going to be used for? They didn’t know nor did they care.

Jim and Charles stood in front of three massive glass tubes inside the high-tech laboratory. Each tube was about the combined size of Jim and Charles. Inside one of the tubes was the man they got. He was chained up inside, unable to move.

“You’re at my mercy now, not His,” a voice spoke from behind.

Jim and Charles faced the voice. Their boss stood before them. He was young, rich, charming, and wickedly powerful like his name, Ryo. He was the one who hired them to bring the man. How their boss surprised them left them in wonder. Another useful rule: never ask the boss too many questions for curiosity kills more than cats.

“Sir, is there anything else you want?” Jim asked.

The boss ignored the question as he walked toward the glass tube the man was contained in. He examined the man with his cold eyes, making sure he wouldn’t be missed. He could tell the person was not important to society. In a blur, Ryo faced his workers. They jumped a bit.

“No, there is nothing else,” he told them. “You may leave.”

Far away where no one could see her, Jessica took pictures of everything in the lab. Jessica, a well-respected TV critic, was also a special agent. Spying was just a side job she and her friends did. She didn’t want to give up either job.

She pressed and held a button on her headphones. “Ashley, time for the next step.”

Ashley…


At the hotel, Aubrey grabbed briefcase.

“You know it’s weird not having three rooms of two,” she said as she sat down on her bed.

“I know,” Kim said. “I can’t believe she did that.”

“So, what did you manage to collect?” Jessica asked Aubrey.


Fifty minutes ago before the hotel…

“Okay, preparing for step D,” Ashley replied over the headphones to everyone. “Aubrey you ready?”

“You bet I am,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Inside the control room, Ashley stood next to two dead guards she’d killed with her handgun. Comfortable in the hard seat, she typed “self-destruction” and it appeared on the monitor directly in front of her.

“Ten minutes until self-destruction,” the security voice rang over the intercoms. “Ten minutes until self-destruction.”

Setting the building to self-destruction opened all locked doors and cabinets throughout the building. Special Agent Aubrey ran over to a locked freezer unit, she opened the door and grabbed several concealed test tubes. She ran to built-in wall cabinet, pulled out the massive drawer. Despite it’s size, it only had a few folders with papers and a few CDs in cases. She put all of the items in a titanium briefcase.

Aubrey looked around. There was nothing else to take. Slamming the briefcase shut and locking it, she raced toward the gray metal door. The security alarm didn’t make her nervous, but the flashing red lights did. She kissed the ring on her right hand that had a cross on it for good luck. With her black gloves on, she punched the “Open” button on the wall and the door quickly slid up.


In their hotel room, Aubrey opened the briefcase. “I hope it’s enough to destroy Namleips and find out what kind of illegal testing they were doing to people.”

“And animals,” Kim added as she sat next to Aubrey.

Aubrey handed some folders to Kim and she started going through them.

“Well, I guess I’ll go get some ice now while you guys do that.” She walked to the dresser and grabbed the plastic container. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Jessica opened the door and kept it open a crack when she shut it to get back inside. She walked down to the end of the hallway where the ice machine and a vending machine with candy stood alone with each other. Above the machines was a security camera. As soon as she got there, she put the container under the spot where the ice would come out from, and pressed the red button for some ice. The machine started.


Fortuity minutes before the hotel…

Aubrey ran out into the laboratory’s simple white hallways. She, Ashley, and Jessica had gathered up enough information to bring the organization known as Namleips down for performing illegal experiments on both animals and humans. As she ran through the empty hallway with flashing red lights, she pulled out her magnum gun from her slick black trench coat.

In a hallway intersection, she met up with Ashley and Jessica. Aubrey led the way since she was faster than they were. They turned down another hallway. A security guard was in the hallway. Before the security guard could reach for his gun, Aubrey shot him in the head. They didn’t bother to look back at the guard as she ran passed him for another door.

“Eight minutes until self-destruction,” the security voice rang over the intercoms as Aubrey opened a door. “Eight minutes until self-destruction.”

They ran up the metal stairs, leaving the door to shut by itself. The stairs twisted several times before they reached the door to the rooftop. The building only had two floors, but they felt a little tired from running. Aubrey turned the door handle. It didn’t open.

“Damn it,” Aubrey said. “I thought I got all of the doors unlocked.”

“I bet it’s just jammed,” Jessica said made her way to the door. She raised her leg up and kicked the door down with one swift kick. “Cheap door for a lab.”


“Cheap ice machine,” Jessica said as she waited for ice to come out.

A girl’s scream screaming came from the room to Jessica’s right. The number on the room door was thirteen. At first Jessica figured it was just the television in the room, but then the girl started pounding on the door, trying to open it.

“Help!” the girl screamed. “Oh, please God help me!”

Then the screaming and pounding stopped. The ice machine finished filling the container.

“Hey, look at this,” Kim said to Aubrey.

Kim handed Aubrey a photograph of the front of the Blue Hotel.

“That’s weird. Why would there be a picture of this hotel?”

“I don’t know.”

With charming grace, a thirty-something Asian man dressed in an entirely black business suit stood entered the Blue Hotel. He would’ve looked sharp, but his suit was all ripped and burned. John stood behind the counter chewing on a rib bone when the man entered. John sat his bone down.

“What happened to you?” John asked.

“John, you have some agents here.”

“I’ll take care of them, Ryo.”


Thirty minutes before the hotel…

The light of the full moon shined, giving Aubrey, Jessica, and Ashley the prefect light to see around them.

“Come on, to the edge of the building,” Aubrey said.

The three ran to the edge of the three-story building and jumped off. With grace, they landed on safely on their feet on the dirt.

“Well, we know these boots work for sure,” Ashley commented. “I’ll have to thank Aimee for designing these later.”

A black jeep pulled alongside them. David was at the wheel while Corey was in the passenger seat. Corey opened the door. The girls jumped in and they drove off.

“Where’s Kim at?” Aubrey asked.

“At the front,” Corey answered.

David made a sharp turn. Everyone held on. He floored the gas and slammed the brakes once he got the front of the building. They saw Kim running toward the front glass door holding a baby tiger. Ashley had the backside door open for her.

“Oh my god,” Ashley said. “Did she try to save some of the animals?”

“That’s Kim for you,” Jessica said.

As soon as Kim stepped outside, a man in a suit fell from the roof, landing perfectly in front of Kim. The man was Ryo. At this time, his suit was perfectly pressed and free of burn marks and rips.

“You shouldn’t take what doesn’t belong to you,” Ryo said.

“And you shouldn’t hurt animals,” Kim snapped.

“I own this company and I’ll do whatever I want.”

Kim’s rage was building up.

“Oh no,” Corey said. “Is she about to do what I think she’s going to do?”

“Shit, we can’t let use her ability,” Ashley said as she got out of the jeep.

“Wait!” Aubrey shouted.

Ashley ran toward Ryo, building up speed quickly. Kim moved out of the way. Ashley grabbed a hold of Ryo and kept running until she went through glass door with him. When the glass door broke, it triggered a metal door that appeared where the doors and windows where throughout the building.

“Ashley!” Kim screamed. “Ashley get out of there!”

“Ten seconds until self-destruction,” the intercom warned.

“Kim, get inside,” Aubrey ordered.

“Ashley! Aimee’s going to be pissed if you don’t get out there!”

Aubrey ran out of the jeep and grabbed Kim’s arm and dragged her to the jeep. They drove away as the building started to explode. She’s gone? They kept driving in silence. Then Jessica spoke up.
“I think this is going to be my last mission.”


Wondering what the heck was going on, Jessica cautiously approached the hotel door. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her before she opened the door. The door was unlocked. She went inside and shut the door behind her.

Room thirteen was pretty much like the room she was staying in except for there was one king-sized bed with a red bed cover and a wide metal door with three bars over it. Next to the metal door was a large bookshelf filled with many books. A bathroom and a large closet were on the other end of the room.

Why would a room have a metal door? Jessica thought.

Jessica knew she should go get the rest of the gang and let them know about the door, but something about the door made her walk toward it. Maybe it was its size. Maybe it was its mysterious nature. She didn’t understand why the door was so special, but she walked toward it and opened it up.

The door was a bit on the heavy side, but she managed to get it open with her great strength. All her effort was worth it. Behind the door was a hallway with thirteen wooden steps leading down. She walked down the stairs. The first item she noticed once she got off the steps was the thirteen television security monitors on the wall. To her left was a metal wall with pictures of dead people in old newspaper clippings, but to her right was something even more wicked.

A gorgeous young blond teen girl was chained to the wall. Tape covered her mouth as hung lifelessly on the wall. Oh my God. Who did this? The girl made no reaction to Jessica coming near her. Jessica yanked the tape of the girl’s mouth. Instead of screaming as Jessica had anticipated, the girl started to laugh.

“Sweetie,” the girl yelled out. “She fell for it.”

“I knew she would,” Mark shouted from above the stairway. “They always do.”

Frighten, Jessica ran back towards the stairway. Mark was still standing in the doorway. Jessica was twice the size of Mark, so she charged up the stairs to tackle Mark, but he kicked her in the gut with incredible strength. She fell backwards and screamed so loud that everyone in the motel could hear her hopeless cry for help.

“Fair is foul and foul is fair,” said a witch on the movie version of Macbeth that Kim and Aubrey had playing on the television set as they went through the files. They couldn’t hear much of the next part for it was Jessica’s scream interrupted them. They immediately ran out into the hallway. David and Corey entered into the hallway from their room right after Kim and Aubrey did.

“Was that Jessica I heard screaming?” Corey asked everyone. They nodded their heads. “It sounds like she might be hurt.”

“She said she was going to get some ice,” Kim said.

“Okay,” David said. “Kim and I will go to the ice machine and look for Jessica. Corey, you and Aubrey go get John.”

“Wait,” Aubrey said. “There’s something you guys should know.”

“What?” David asked.

“In the files that we retrieved, there was a picture of this hotel,” Kim explained.

“This hotel?” Corey said.

“Yes,” Aubrey said. “So be on your guard.”

“Okay.” David said. He nodded at Kim. “Come on, let’s go.”

Kim and David rushed to the ice machine as Corey and Aubrey went to find John. Kim and David ran to the end of the hallway where they found a container filled with ice. The door to room thirteen was wide open. The room was normal to them, but they didn’t know that the bookshelf had been moved to disguise the metal door.

From the comfortable bathroom, Mark opened the door and entered the room. He looked at Kim and David and they looked at him. After a moment, Mark ran to the closet door and went inside the closet. Kim and David ran to the closet. David got there first and opened the door.

Mark wasn’t inside.

“What the ??” David said. All that was in the closet was a bunch of towels. “There has be some kind of hidden -”

A snake jumped out from the bewildering closet. Kim let out tiny shriek as she jumped onto the bed. The snake slithered its way out of the room. David went back to searching inside the closet as Kim looked inside it from the bed.

“Oh, it’s just a snake,” Kim told herself. She got off the bed and helped David look through the closet for a secret passage.

“Looking for someone?”

David and Kim turned around. Mark stood in the doorway.

“How did you do that?” David asked.

A long snake like tongue hissed out from Mark’s mouth.

“It’s one of my snake like abilities,” he hissed.

Corey and Aubrey arrived to the hotel’s lobby. Neither John nor Mark was there. They kept going to the hallway where they first saw John come from. The hallway wasn’t very long. There were no doors in the hallway except for a large wooden door at the end. Corey knocked hard on it. No one answered. He opened the door and they slowly stepped inside.

The room was a mess. The bed, table, chairs, lamps, paintings, and everything else in the room were destroyed. Nothing was in one piece. The room was very large, yet there was something pretty much everywhere. Then John entered the room from a door at the other end of the room.

“John!” Aubrey shouted. “What happened?”

“Oh, don’t mind the mess,” he said. “It’s been like this for a very long time.” John then smiled at them. “I’m about to eat diner now. Want to join?”

“No thanks,” Corey said. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what do you plan to eat in this mess?”

A long snake like tongue hissed out from John’s mouth, but his tongue was bigger and more noticeable than Mark’s. “You guys.”

John roared. His entire body started to slowly mutate to a greenish color. His whole body grew. His shirt ripped off from his chest to reveal a body of a snake. Corey and Aubrey watched in absolute amazement as John transformed into a massive snake ? three times the size of Aubrey and Corey combined ? with the addition of two short arms and hands. His arms and hands were the same size as they were in his human form, but they were scaly and green now. Then his tail formed, ripping off the rest of his clothing. His head changed to that of a snake’s with large glowing red eyes. He had transformed into his true form.

“HOLY SHIT!” Corey shouted.

John hissed again, his tongue much larger than it was earlier. He was like something you would see as a final boss in a video game. He charged after Corey with his snake speed. Before he could eat him, Corey rolled out of John’s way. Aubrey tried to run for the door, but John’s tail snapped the door shut. The massive tail rapped itself around Aubrey. John turned his head around to face the helpless Aubrey. He opened his mouth up wide, ready to eat her.

Inside the hidden place behind the metal door, Jessica laid on the ground dead. The girl that had tricked her to come down here was known as Dawn. She was out of the chains and stood by Jessica’s dead body. She walked away from the body to a ladder in a deep and hidden corner of the room. Above the ladder was a passageway that would led up to a room. She climbed up the ladder and pushed the door open hard. There was something on top of the door, but she managed to get it open after a few pushes.

Corey grabbed a piece a large piece of broken wood from a bed ? or was it a table? ? Corey couldn’t tell. Then he rammed the piece of wood into John’s body and then yanked it back out. Blood oozed out. John roared in pain, releasing Aubrey. Corey rushed toward Aubrey. A pile of junk erupted off the ground as Dawn emerged from a hidden passageway, blocking Corey from getting to Aubrey.

“Your not supposed to eat all the food, John!” Dawn shouted. From that remark, common sense told Corey and Aubrey that she wasn’t on their side. “I don’t get to eat that often either!”

John moved toward Dawn.

“Your father wanted them dead,” John said to Dawn. His voice was much louder and deep than his human voice. “So let’s get this over with.”

“Alright.”

Dawn flew to Aubrey ? fangs unleashed. She sank her fangs into her juicy neck and started sucking her blood.

Corey wanted to save Aubrey, but he knew she would want him to escape. He ran for the door he came in from. John stared at him with hungry red eyes.

Kim and David both got into a fighter’s stance. They both knew Mark wasn’t human. Mark went for Kim first. She punched him in the nose as hard as she could the moment he got near her. He stumbled backwards a bit and fell off the bed onto the ground. Quickly he got up on his feet. Before he could make any attack, David started in on the fight.

David punched Mark’s face, then gut, then gave him a powerful upper cut. Kim punched Mark in the back of his head as hard as she could. David then kneed him right in every man’s weakest spot. Before Mark could fall, David put each of his hands on Mark’s shoulders and head butted him, hard. David then released him and let him fall to the ground.

Kim jumped off from the bed, ramming her feet into Mark’s chest. David grabbed Mark’s head and snapped his neck, killing him.

“Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here,” David said.
“We have to get my tiger first,” Kim said.

“Fine.”

Corey got to the large wooden door and opened it. He ran out the door, shutting it behind him. He had only take a few steps away from the door when it came crashing down to the ground with parts of the wall. Dust danced in the hallway, making it hard to see, but Corey managed to pick up a piece of wood.

Kim and David came unexpectedly down from the hallway into the lobby. They saw Corey fighting against a giant snake demon. Corey turned around and saw Kim holding her tiger and David. But no Jessica.

“Run!” Corey ordered. “I’ll take care of him. Just get out of this death trap!”

Kim and David didn’t have to be told that twice. They ran out to the parking lot toward the gang’s jeep. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the driver’s door. He got in, shutting the door behind, and unlocked the passenger side door. Kim got in and shut the door behind her as David started the truck up. The car roared to life. They didn’t even have their seat belts on as put they speeded out of the hotel’s lonely parking lot out onto the highway.

David and Kim were safe.

Just because David and Kim were safe doesn’t mean the story’s over. Corey was still inside the motel, battling off the snake demon known as John. He used his piece of wood as a sword to fight the horrible demon. He wasn’t having much luck. He finally lost the battle when John roared and ate him whole.

However, John was still very hungry.

David drove way over the speed limit. Kim and David didn’t care. The street was empty. No cops or other cars were around, just miles and miles of trees. The peace soon changed as they heard a loud rumbling sound. Kim looked turned around and looked out the widow.

John was chasing after them in his true form.

“Step on it, David!” Kim said. “It’s coming after us!”

David went as fast as the jeep could go. He looked in the rear view mirror and noticed John behind them. He was gaining on them. David didn’t like the fact it was just him and Kim who were still alive. The gang would never be the same without them ? if David and Kim survived to stay friends.

David speeded past a cop car. The cop turned his sirens on and pulled out onto the street and after David. Before the cop could get far, John ran over him. The police car and officer were flat as a piece of paper.

John was getting closer to David and Kim. David kept going faster than the speed he should be going. The snake demon was right behind them. His mouth grew wider than the jeep as he lowered his mouth. David could tell that John was going eat them and the car.

“Well, since we’re going to die, Kim,” David said, “I just want to tell you that I’m going to miss you.”

Kim smiled back at David. “David, I can–”

“Don’t do it.”

“But–”

“Just, don’t do that thing, Kim.”

Kim sighed. She didn’t like to be told no. “I guess I’m going to miss you too.”

After Kim said those words, John took a bite out of the jeep. David shifted the jeep into cruise control. John took another bite. David and Kim opened their doors. Then John took another bite. He had only taken a few bites before he ate the jeep ? just moments after David and Kim escaped.

David ran as fast as he could while Kim ran the other way. They knew if they split up, one of them could have a chance of surviving, yet one would not. After chewing the last few bites of the jeep, John turned his head around. His snake tongue snapped out of his mouth and back inside. He could smell them. He hissed again and slithered towards Kim.

David kept running. He wasn’t sure if John was following him or not. He wanted to build some kind of trap to kill him. But what can I build? David thought. I have no time or supplies. Fuck, I don’t have any weapons either.

Faster than he thought was possible, he ran through the dark forest. A voice laughed at him. Was he hearing things? No, I heard that laugh. The laugher was like a wicked witch flying on a broomstick. Then he saw a girl soaring through the night sky. The girl was Dawn.

Dawn flew over David’s head with her wicked vampire strength to scare David. She had recently fed so she was extra powerful so she felt like taunting him first. Dawn turned around and flew at him again, but at a much lower level. David ducked out her way as she glided over him. Dawn laughed.

“Snake demons can’t fly,” David said to himself. He picked up a nice sized stick from the ground. “But vampires can.”

Dawn landed on the ground, several yards in front of David.

“Who in the hell are you?” David demanded.

A twisted smile came across Dawn’s face. “No need to be afraid. I can tell that you’re bleeding fear in your dark heart.” She put her right hand over her heart. “Besides, I’m not going to kill you.”

Dawn dashed at David in a blur of acceleration and badness. She grabbed the stick out of his hands and threw it aside. With a few quick punches and a kick in the crouch, she had David on his knees. She quickly moved behind him, and then got real close to his ear.

“Like I said, I’m not going to kill you,” she whispered. “We’re going to keep you alive for a special project.”

Dawn knocked David out.

Kim ran into the forest. She followed no dirt path, save where ever her feet led her. There was no doubt that she was very pale with fear from all the darkness. She paused for a moment to catch her breath. A stick broke. Kim’s heart jumped. Trees started falling. Mother Nature couldn’t hold the trees against John’s power as he slithered toward Kim.

Turning around to see the disturbance, she saw John standing near her. John opened his mouth wide. Kim ran away from John, but she tripped over a tree root and fell down. She released the tiger as she stood back up, facing John. The tiger stood by her side. The tiger let a little roar. John laughed.

Kim clinched her fits. She bit down hard. Enough running! I don’t care what anyone tells me. She was angry. Her rage built up. A brownish red smoke appeared from behind him and started to form over her head. The smoke quickly took the shape of a fifty-foot lion head. John backed away a bit. The lion’s mighty paw appeared and repeatedly bashed John into some trees at Kim’s command. Kim would move her arms and lion would move his to her directions. Then the lion finished John by ripped him into pieces.

The lion disappeared back to smoke as Kim fell to the ground, weak and tied. She laid down on the dirt and fell asleep. She didn’t care where she was. The baby tiger cuddled up next to Kim. They would be safe.