pdf - Unraveled Souls.PDF by Sandra Sookoo

Author:Sandra Sookoo
Language: eng
Format: epub

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Fog swirled and parted. Noelle's feet pounded against the rough pavement. She'd lost her shoes, but didn't remember where. The cool night air slithered over her overheated skin and brought the hair on her arms to attention. She shivered. The attempt to pull the diaphanous robe about her body failed. It dissolved under her fingers like sugar in water.

Naked and shivering, she pushed through the mist. Her heart pounded so hard she feared it would burst from her chest. The rushing of her pulse in her ears alarmed her.

Why am I so afraid?

Off toward her left, an animal growled. A big animal. Noelle squinted, but couldn't see the source of the noise. Another couple of steps propelled her forward. Suddenly, the animal sprang from the shadows to knock her to the ground. She struggled, pushed at the lion's shoulders, for she could clearly identify the cat now. It growled and she could smell the stench of rotting meat on its breath. She gagged. Fear clogged her throat as the animal lowered its head, fangs bared, golden eyes wide and feral.

"Nicholas?" Where did the blurry line between dreams and reality fade? Was he indeed a lion or wasn't he? She held the lion's gaze, choking down her terror. She refused to die not knowing the truth. "Nicholas, is that you?" The animal's muscles bunched and tensed beneath her hands. A drop of saliva dripped from a tooth to land on her forehead.

Noelle shuddered in disgust. The dark mane that ringed its head quivered in the breeze.

Was it real?

The lion lifted its shaggy head as a new person appeared. Nicholas loomed over them in human form, warm and just as naked as she. He wielded a pistol and leveled its nose directly at the beast. "Nicholas?" She renewed her struggles as confusion muffled her brain. One razor sharp claw dug into her forearm. Hot pain lanced her skin. "What is happening?" If Nicholas's alter ego was indeed that of a lion, why then did they both appear before her at the same time?

He didn't seem to hear her. He reached down and grabbed a handful of the lion's mane in his fist, dragging the big cat from her body. "Now is not the time, beast. I refuse to give you control."

The lion snarled and whipped his large head back and forth violently. It freed himself of the restraining grip. Nicholas stared at the few hairs that clung to his fingers.

"Are you not the lion after all?" Noelle scrambled to her feet. She wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering in the cool air.

"He and I are one, but we constantly fight for dominance. It remains to be seen which one will win permanently." Nicholas aimed the pistol at the lion as he stared the animal down. "Be gone. I will deal with you later." He cocked the weapon. The mechanism rang out as loud as if he'd fired.

For one long, terrible moment, Noelle thought the lion would attack anyway, but with a huge roar, it turned and loped away until it vanished completely into the mist.

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