A Tale of the Other Kind: A Therian Novel (3 page)

He felt bad for not telling Daniel the real reason why he punched James, but he didn’t know how to explain why things had gotten so fiery between them. They never kept secrets from each other, but this wasn’t his secret to share. 

He felt lost and alone, not being able to share something so bothersome with Daniel. For the first time since they were kids, there was no one he could confide in. 

‘So, what do you think we should do for the summer holiday?’ Kai asked, trying to clear his mind from the thoughts that were overwhelming him. 

‘You know we’re still in winter, right,’ Daniel chuckled. 

‘Yeah, sure, but spring is a couple of weeks off and then we can get into planning our next trip,’ Kai said, smiling. 

‘I think it’s time we finally head down to Mozambique. I’m not keen on doing the whole rough-it-up in the jungle thing with you again. I’ve had enough of vampire mosquitos sucking the life out of me,’ he said, cringing. 

‘I agree,’ Kai said laughing, ‘this time we do the beach house. I’ve been thinking, it would be great if we could go do some diving at the coast. 

‘I’ll give my dad a call. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we crashed at his place. He’ll probably be down in Cape Town for business as always, so we’d have the place all to ourselves,’ Daniel said with a mouthful of food. 

‘Good, that’s settled then,’ Kai replied, anxiously watching the time, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. He could feel James’s eyes burning holes into the back of his head. Even with Daniel’s company and the slight distraction his friend provided, lunch still felt like an eternity of torture and hell. Once the lunch bell finally rang, he headed towards his English literature class. One part of him preferred though, that he did not have to see Sienna for the rest of the day, but another part was still hoping that he could spend some time with her in class. 

He felt relieved that he already knew Macbeth, which they were currently reading in class, off-by-heart, thanks to the many hours spent in the bookstore. However, his anxiety of having to sit next to Sienna caused doubt that he would be able to concentrate. His thoughts were interrupted when Allison McIntyre called him. 

‘Hi there handsome. Some shiner you have there.’ 

‘Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it if you don’t mind,‘ he smiled, curious why she wasn’t home in bed. ‘I thought you were in bed sweating off that cold of yours?’ 

‘I wish. Mrs Wolmans insisted that I come in to write the test, so I came in for just this class,’ she said, sounding hoarse. Her short brown hair hung a little dishevelled over her dark brown eyes. The light layer of makeup barely concealed the dark circles around her eyes from the lack of sleep. 

Kai looked at her sympathetically while keeping an eye on the classroom door.
Sienna was supposed to be here by now
, he thought. Just then, Mrs Wolmans entered the room and dropped a stack of papers on the table. Kai got nervous, as the seat Sienna usually occupied remained open. 

‘She’s not coming, Kai,’ Allison said softly. ‘I saw her head into the principal’s office and overheard her ask to be excused.’ 

Kai threw her a look like he was confused about what she was talking about. He felt disappointed, but realised that she was probably trying to clear her mind and didn’t need him to make things worse. 

Allison got up from her chair and nestled herself into Sienna’s unoccupied seat. ‘Hey, isn’t this cool,’ she said, excited. ‘We always used to sit beside one another and we haven’t for at least a year. Now it’s like old times.’ She happily, rummaging around for a pen. 

‘Yeah, it is nice. We should chat more often,’ he replied sincerely. 

‘Quiet!’ Mrs Wolmans voice boomed from the front of the large classroom. She pushed her glasses up high on her nose and scanned the room. ‘All right then, put away all your crib notes, cell phones and other belongings. All you may have with you is your pen and the piece of paper that was just handed out to you.’ 

Silence fell over the room. ‘You have an hour,’ she said and sat down. Kai struggled to concentrate. He pressed his fingers against his forehead, trying to get rid of the headache that was torturing him all day. He sighed, looking down at the swimming letters on the page and hoped that he didn’t mess this up too.  

Kai headed home once school came to a close for the weekend. He loved the forest and the smell of the eucalyptus and pine trees, and the flowers that surrounded the house. Sometimes, at night, he could hear the jackals crying and the sounds of the animals inhabiting the forest coming out to hunt. He found himself drawn in by this world of wonder. He knew everything about the forest and every detail of where all the trails led. 

He fumbled with his house keys as he climbed off his motorcycle and smiled at the memory of Daniel’s first and only visit to the forest last summer.   

'Why, why, why,' Daniel moaned at Kai as he fell onto his bed, hands covering his eyes. 

They were packing for a two-week break to go hiking in the forest. Daniel would rather have gone to his dad’s beach house in Mozambique, but Kai had other ideas and talked Daniel into the hiking trip. He knew Daniel wouldn’t go easily, so they decided to flip a coin. Kai won the toss, and Daniel reluctantly agreed to take the trip with him. 

'It’s going to be great. You’ll see,' he said, to Daniel's obvious distress. 

'You know there are animals out there,' he complained. 

'And your point is?' 

'Just that. They might try to hunt us down.' '

Then we hunt them back,' he smiled at Daniel who was now twitching his fingers and looking around the room as if he was imagining the worst possible outcome to this trip. 

'Try to be serious for once bro, we could get killed.' 

'Dan, I’ll make sure that you don’t die. I promise,' Kai assured him, wondering if he should take advantage of Daniel’s distress and scare him a little bit while on their trip. 

'Uhu, you’re giggling at me now,’ Daniel sniped, ‘but wait until a big lion tears down our tent while we’re sleeping or pounces on you while you’re taking a wizz in the bushes,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I can see you try and run away from the lion with your pants around your ankles trying to save me. Or, what if we get attacked by the black leopard?' 

'That kind of thinking is exactly the reason why you need to get out into the forest and see that it’s not at all that bad,’ he said smiling. ‘Besides, lions don’t roam in these forests. They’re in the Kruger Game Park and the black leopard is a myth. It doesn’t exist,' he replied as he started packing his things. 

'No, the leopard exists. I know people who have claimed to see it. It’s here ... somewhere. And the lions aren’t kept in cages - only a river separate us from them.’ 

Kai shook his head and smiled. 

‘Whatever. Just remember, my head is yours to save,' Daniel warned. 

After Kai tidied, they headed downstairs with their backpacks and a few supplies they needed for their trip. Kai left a note for his mother and closed the cabin door behind him. They headed towards the trail behind the house leading into the forest and started walking towards a steep path that led into the surrounding mountains. The trees cut out most of the sun, which made the forest darker much earlier than expected. Soft beams of sunlight managed to break their way through the trees and a slight breeze rustled the leaves, cooling the warm air from the harsh summer sun. As the hours passed, their backpacks became heavier to carry, and Kai heard Daniel’s complaints increasing the further they walked. 

He looked back and threw him an encouraging smile. 

‘Why don’t we settle next to the lake tonight?’ 

‘Great idea,’ he grunted back as he slammed his backpack to the ground. 

Large overhanging trees surrounded the lake, except for a small green pasture providing a clearance where butterflies were playing between wildly growing grass. They flew away as the men approached the clearance, except for one, which nestled itself down on Kai's foot as he rested next to the water. He pulled out a water bottle from his bag and gulped the liquid down as the harsh sun penetrated his skin. The sunlight danced on the water, and the sparkling clarity of the lake was compelling and alluring. Kai often came to the lake to escape and to be by himself. It was peaceful. Sometimes, he was certain the forest could speak. Listening softly, he could hear the leaves on the trees whisper words unknown to him. This left him unable to stay away from the deep forest for too long as he craved the moments he stole from it. 

There were many myths whispered by the town dwellers about the secrets held by the forest. These stories left most people scared and sceptical about entering this mystical place. It was said that otherworldly beings lived deep in the woods, surrounding themselves with protection against human intrusion. Some folks even said that monsters abducted hikers. 

Daniel fiddled with his heavily filled backpack and retrieved a box of matches to start a fire before night fell upon them. 

Kai walked closer to the sizzling campfire and erected their sleeping quarters for the night. In no time, the tent was set up and filled with sleeping bags and pillows. Kai groaned at having to take the tent, but Daniel insisted on some comfort. Kai preferred sleeping under the open, starry skies, but couldn’t convince his comfort-whipped friend to relish in the beauty of the night along with him. 

Summertime in the Lowveld normally reached soaring temperatures, making the outdoors a refreshing option to the humidity trapped indoors. 

Daniel packed more wood on the growing fire and surrounded it with stones. 

As soon as Kai felt assured that his friend was comfortable, he decided to take a swim in the lake. He stripped off his clothes and headed closer to the edge of the lake. He slowly moved over the rocky pebbles towards the water and dipped the sole of his foot into the water. It was lukewarm from the day’s sun. Slowly entering the water, he soon enough felt the colder, deeper water swallowing him up, first his feet, then his legs, and then, his entire body was cloaked in the cold water. Now and again, he could feel the fish slip past his legs. 

After thoroughly cooling down, Kai headed back and dried himself with a blue towel he’d packed at the last minute. 

'Hey Dan, stop working so hard and try to enjoy yourself,' Kai laughed. 

'Doing what? Any suggestions?' Daniel said, somewhat miserably. 

'Find dinner,' Kai smiled. 

'I brought packed biltong.' 

'And how long do you suppose that’s going to last you?' 

'At least a few days. It's filling enough.' 

'Okay,’ he sighed. ‘No problem, but then we go out and hunt tomorrow. Find something nice and juicy.' 

‘Urgh. Just remember, I’m not skinning the thing, whatever you catch.' 

'Leave it up to me,' Kai replied as he walked over towards Daniel and sat down next to the fire on a blanket. 

Before long, the sun was setting over the hilltop and Kai had drifted off into a deep sleep. Daniel, on the other hand, was unable to sleep all night. Every sound and creek in the forest made him jump. Kai felt bad for him, and two days later, he decided they should pack up and head back home. 

Kai thought fondly of those days and remembered how they spent the rest of the holiday hanging out at home, eventually breaking the porch chair to build an aeroplane that couldn’t fly. 

Bethany made them rebuild the chair from their pocket money to replace the one they’d broken. It kept them busy and Bethany was even more proud of the new wooden bench they’d built. 

Kai was brought back to the present when he walked up to the house and saw Sienna sitting on that very bench, waiting for him to return from school.   

He hesitantly moved towards her. 'What are you doing here?' he asked, surprised. 

'I came to see you,' Sienna replied, staring at him and shifting uncomfortably. 

'You shouldn't have come,' he said. 

‘I needed to,' she said, blocking his way to the front door. 

'Sienna, don’t.' 

'No Kai, we need to talk.' 

'No, we don't. We’ve already said what we had to. I’m sorry I interfered. I’ll stay out of your business from now on. Now please, let me get on with it,' Kai said sadly. 

‘No, you don’t understand Kai, we need to talk, please don’t avoid me; I hate it when you’re angry with me. What happened yesterday...' she said, breathing deeply. 

'I’m not angry with you Sienna, I’m just frustrated at the situation and what happened yesterday is, well, I was stupid. I should have stayed out of your business, but it angers me so much that you can’t see what scum James is,’ he replied, irritated. ‘My intention was not to hurt you in the process, I only wanted to protect you,’ he said, looking into her eyes. All he wanted to do was talk to her. But he felt restless around her. Unnerved. In her eyes he could see that she was confused and didn’t want to leave. A small tear formed in her eye. She looked so beautiful - too beautiful. The wind lifted her hair off her shoulders as she stood there, staring at him. Kai felt a sense of confusion swallowing him, and he didn’t know what to say to her. He so desperately wanted to hold her, to tell her how much he cared for her and that everything was going to be fine, but he wasn't sure how to. 

He felt like screaming. Like his heart was being torn from his chest. He couldn’t tell her how he felt. That would just confuse things. 

‘Please go,’ he said, suddenly. 

‘What?’ she replied startled and confused. Why?’ He didn’t answer and tried to give her the steeliest look he could conjure. It tore him up inside to push her away, but he felt he had no choice. 

'Please Sienna, just leave,' he said icily. 

'Kai, don't do this. Please, we can talk about it,’ she pleaded. 

‘Haven't I done enough? I beat up your boyfriend. Even if I think he’s a complete asshole and that that he’s completely wrong for you,' he tried to convince her as much as himself. 

Her lingering tear dropped to the ground. 

‘Look, Sienna, your relationship with that guy is dumbfounding, but I can’t be the guy who saves you, only to see you go back to him for more abuse,’ he explained.