A Tale of the Other Kind: A Therian Novel (6 page)

‘Umm, hi, good morning. Is Sienna home?’ Kai asked the maid, but before she could answer, Sienna came flying down the stairs, straight into his arms. 

‘Whoa,’ he laughed, as she almost winded him. 

‘Hi,’ she replied, blushing. ‘Ready?’ She reached up on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. ‘I could get used to this type of greeting,’ Kai teased. 

‘Oh shush,’ she giggled. ‘So where are we going?’ ‘Mmm, well, that’s for me to know and you to still find out,’ he joked. 

‘That’s not fair!’ She complained, smiling brightly. 

‘No, maybe not, but if I told you, you would probably give me a big fat no!’ 

‘I wouldn’t,’ she replied mischievously, ‘anywhere we go will be fun. It will be perfect,’ she said shyly. 

‘Hold onto your horses there little one, you don’t even know what I have in store for you yet.’ 

‘Well, let’s get going then, so that you can show me this secret place we’re going to,’ she replied. 

He took her by the hand and led her out into the garden and then looked back, ‘Ready?’ 

‘I’m ready,’ she said, laughing out loud.

****

It didn’t take them long to walk to the edge of the forest. The shimmering sun had melted most of the snow away, while water dripping from the trees glistened and sparkled. Kai was used to taking the more strenuous journey into the forest, but decided that he didn’t want to scare Sienna off on her first trip and kept to the hikers’ trail. 

‘Kai, are you sure we should go into the forest? I’ve heard many stories, and none of them are good,’ she said nervously as she climbed over tree trunks, trying to steer her way through the overgrown shrubbery. 

His mouth bent upwards slowly, ‘you don’t have to worry; I know this forest better than I know myself. You’ll be safe with me.’ 

‘Okay, just stay close. I honestly didn’t think this outfit through and if I fall, it will be on your head,’ she said, looking down at her jeans and wedged shoes. 

They strolled through the forest, engulfed by large ferns, beautiful light green Jelecote pine trees decorated in pear-shaped cones creating a canopy above them. Although still cold, a light spring breeze whistled through the treetops, replacing the winter chill. Birds were chirping in the trees, bringing life to the forest that had, just yesterday, been covered by a cold blanket of snow, making animals big and small seek shelter to keep warm. Watching Sienna, Kai could see that she was taking in all the beauty surrounding them, carefully studying her surroundings, finding pleasure from every sound and animal that crossed their path. 

‘Look! A springbuck!’ She whispered excitedly, pulling Kai down to the ground, trying to hide from the baby buck so as not to frighten it away. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she breathed. ‘I cannot believe I’ve never been here, and have never experienced nature like this before,’ she marvelled. 

‘I’m glad you like it. I come here often - to think, and to relax. I feel so comfortable here,’ Kai confided. 

Smiling at him, Sienna looked over to the small buck as it jumped away. ‘Magnificent,’ she breathed. 

The baby buck was nibbling on a short plant sprouting from the ground. Soon, it was joined by its mother who stood by protectively, rubbing her horns against a tree trunk. 

‘Come on, let’s go. I’ve got so much more to show you,’ Kai prompted. 

They spent hours walking around the forest, occasionally coming across a pool flowing from the Ulusaba, known as the river of fear. Small mammals came out of their shelters, nibbling on the green grass peeking through the melting snow. Finally, they reached the Mac Mac waterfall, the one he always imagined taking her to, showing her its brilliant beauty. Surrounded by an overpoweringly large cliff, they were overcome by the beauty of the falls that stretched out in front of them, finally coming to a rest in a large pool at the base of the cliff. 

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ 

‘It truly is,’ she said as she walked over to the pool and ran her fingers through the cold water. ‘It's so refreshing.’ She looked around her, taking the scenery in and looked up at the overhang of the waterfall. ‘It's pretty high.’ 

‘Makes you dizzy just looking at it,’ he replied. He motioned over to a large rock out of the way of the spray from the falling water. They climbed on top of it from where they could see the forest stretch out for miles ahead of them. 

‘This is so nice,’ she said moving close to him and drawing her legs closer. His arm went around her small frame, holding her tight. ‘I could never have imagined this, you and me, here.’ She smiled as she lay her head down against his shoulder. ‘Why did you bring me here?’ she questioned. ‘Why this place?’ 

Kai smiled, ‘It’s my place. There’s no one around and all you truly have is yourself and the sound of the water crashing down at the base of the waterfall,’ he said. 

‘It’s also a great place to vent anger. Scream and get frustrations out,’ he laughed. ‘You should try it some time.’ 

‘Mmm, I think I might just take you up on that,’ she laughed. 

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the sound of the waterfall and simply being in each other’s company. Sienna broke the silence first. 

‘When you helped me, at the game - why were you there?’ she said softly. ‘I mean … how did you know?’ 

Kai thought for a second, ‘I don’t know. I guess I could sense something was wrong. I felt like I had to be somewhere, but, I didn’t know where exactly that was,’ he said, recollecting the night he tussled with James. 

‘On my way home I took a shortcut behind the bleachers towards the parking lot...’ 

‘And that’s when you saw James and I argue,’ she said, looking down. 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘I expected him to be angry; I mean, I didn’t expect him to attack me like that, but I knew he would be mad that I wanted to end things between us. It all happened so fast,’ she explained. 

‘The thing I can recollect is how frightened you were and James holding onto your arm so tightly; shoving you against the wall. I didn’t give myself time to think. All I wanted to do was help you,’ he said, looking down at her. 

‘I don’t know how I got myself into this mess. I’ve always promised myself that I wouldn’t date jerks like that, but things went so wrong so fast. Before I knew it, I was unable to leave. But, even though I stayed, the situation wasn’t as clear-cut as it might seem. I kept telling myself that I was in over my head and that I should leave, but I didn’t.’ 

‘So what made you decide to finally try break it off with him?’ 

‘You did,’ she whispered. 

‘Me? Why?’ he asked, confused. 

‘Well, you made me realise that I was playing with fire,’ she said. 

Kai smiled and leaned down, softly brushing his lips against her forehead, pulling her closer into his warm embrace. 

‘So, why do you and your mom live so far away from town?’ she asked, suddenly changing the subject. 

‘History,’ he smiled. ‘My dad built the place. My mom doesn’t really like it there though. She literally gets a fit if she sees a Daddy-Long-Legs spider. She is so not equipped for the bush,’ Kai laughed. 

Sienna giggled, but suddenly her face fell when Kai questioned about her parents. ‘My parent’s … are nothing to write home about. I don’t know when last my parents had a conversation. We basically live past each other.’ She threw a small stone into the water. “And your dad?’ 

‘He left before I was born.’ 

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know...’ 

‘Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago and besides, I don’t really know much of him. It’s mostly been just me and my mom.’ 

‘So, why did your parents move here?’ 

Sienna lifted her eyes and pulled her lips in a thin line. 

‘Well, my dad got retrenched at the mine he managed back home. The gold was running out, apparently, so he got a job here managing a wood mill. It was weird having to relocate, not knowing anybody. And I’m most certainly not the best at getting to know people,’ she smiled. ‘I tend to spend more time at my ballet classes. It keeps me busy and I’m even thinking of joining a dance company in Johannesburg after school,’ she said, her eyes glimmering as she spoke about her dream of a dancing career. 

She jumped off the rock and tripled over to the water while she kicked off her shoes. She looked over to Kai mischievously as he followed her towards the edge of the water. ‘I think you need to cool down,’ she said, with a sly smile. 

‘What?’ he replied confused, and suddenly she splashed him with hands full of water, giggling loudly as the water soaked him from head to toe. ‘Oh, so that’s how you’re gonna play it,’ he laughed, shocked. 

He dropped his hands into the water and splashed at her, but she was too quick and ran away from the onslaught. The water only slightly touching her back. Kai stood up and looked at her curiously. Wondering what had made someone so kind and playful get stuck in such a bad situation. The only thing he knew was that she wasn’t as helpless as he first thought. She had more fight in her than she let on, and he was determined to get to know that side of her. He moved closer to her where she stood knee deep in the cold water. Her hand hung loosely by her sides. 

‘You are magical...’ he said as he lifted a hand to the side of her face. She lifted her chin to look up at him as he hovered close to her. ‘Magical?’ She asked with a sly smile. 

‘Yeah, magical,’ he stated, as he bent down and softly kissed her on her lips. 

She didn’t move away, and slowly melted into him as her eyes closed at his embrace. He slowly pulled away from her and searched her eyes. Before he could say something she interjected. ‘There is something I need to tell you,’ she said, furrowing her brow. ‘I don’t need your protection. I mean I don’t really need your protection. It might have gone too far with James, but only because I allowed it,’ she sighed as she pulled away and walked away from his embrace. 

Kai looked at her curiously. 

‘The thing is, that I have been aware that James has been up to something for a long time now. He’s involved in some dangerous things, and I have been trying to figure it out. It hasn’t gone so well. Obviously,’ she said, putting her hands on her hips. 

‘What do you mean?’ Kai replied, confused. 

‘Look Kai, I actually didn’t want to tell you this, but things have happened so fast between us. I have been fighting the idea of there being something here, but I have been hopelessly unsuccessful at staying away from you,’ she said, shaking her head. 

‘I don’t understand,’ he said, quizzically. 

She walked over to where Kai was standing and placed her hands on his arms. ‘In the beginning I truly was dating James because I liked him, but then he started doing strange things.’ 

‘What things?’ Kai prodded.

‘Well, I’ve seen him hang out with the wrong type of crowd. I know everyone knows he hangs out with those types, but I wanted to know more. I was curious, and I kind of tried to get in on his secrets, because I wanted to know what they were up to. Half of it didn’t make sense, but what I found, I didn’t like,’ she said drifting off. 

‘Why didn’t you just break it off?’ Kai said frustrated. 

‘I got in too deep. I thought that if I played the helpless victim, he wouldn’t care to be frank around me. He knew I wasn’t going anywhere. But then he started to frighten me. He upped his violence level about ten times when I confronted him about everything he had been doing,’ she sighed. 

‘That was when you should have just left,’ Kai said, angered that she would let her curiosity lead her into such dangerous situations. 

‘I should have,’ she agreed. ‘But there were so many things that didn’t make sense, that I convinced myself to keep up appearance. I knew that it was just a matter of time before he slipped and I could figure out what he was really up to,’ she said nodding. 

Kai sighed, and moved away. ‘Do you even know how stupid that is?’ 

‘Yes,’ she replied, slightly annoyed. ‘That is why I tried to break it off once and for all at the rugby game the other night. I realised that he wasn’t going to let me in on his secrets.’ 

‘And what was your plan when you did find out what he was up to?’ Kai asked. 

‘I haven’t really thought that through,’ she replied. 

‘Anyway, Kai, can we just drop this now? You know now why I was involved with James, but it’s ancient history now. I won’t go near him again. I promise.’ 

Kai looked at her, not completely convinced that she had given up on her attempts at playing spy. ‘The sun is starting to set. We should probably start heading back towards town.’ 

‘Hmm,’ she huffed. ‘I wish we could stay a little longer.’ 

‘The forest isn’t going anywhere,’ he laughed, ‘I’ll bring you back here, as many times as you want.’ 

‘Good, I like that idea,’ she grinned. 

Slowly, he bent down and kissed her softly on her forehead. A wave of nausea overcame him before a noise in the bushes behind them startled him and he looked up suddenly, scanning the area carefully, unsure of what he had heard. 

‘What’s wrong?’ 

‘Nothing, I just, I heard something back there. Stay here, let me check,’ he said, as he moved towards the far side of the forest. 

‘What, what is it?’ she asked nervously. 

‘Shh, stay there,’ he said looking back at her. Her eyes grew wide with fear. Kai tried to stay calm, keeping his heartbeat steady. He slowly moved through the thick bushes, trying his best not to make a sound. He couldn’t hear anything but kept moving forward. He was worried that Sienna might find him strange but he once again felt that strange sensation he did the night he got into a fight with James. Something was wrong. Suddenly, the same sound filled the air again, but this time, he could make out what the sound was ... a lion. 

He shook his head in disbelief, knowing very well that no lions were ever around these parts. He kept moving forward, hoping to find something that would make him laugh at his silliness. But something seemed different in the forest. Something didn’t sit right. It was far too silent – he could not even hear the birds chirp and no monkeys could be seen anywhere. This is strange, he thought to himself, not quite certain what was unsettling him so much.