Saving Sophia

Chapter 1: Trapped

The caw of a crow in the distance seemed to break the long silence and now it was clear to Sophia that she and the world in fact was alive and reality hit like a cold breeze but when those two cat like legs began to move swiftly in her direction the only thing she cared about was the treacherous path ahead. It didn’t matter though because she was much too afraid to even think about turning back.

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Sophia ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her breaths were heavy and erratic but that didn’t stop her. She could hear the loud sound of claws against the earth behind her only adding to her fearful state. She could barely breath but stopping to rest wasn’t an option. Her only instinct at the time was to run the fastest she had ever ran before but the heavily vegetated forest was much too tricky for her young body. Trees and loose branches seemed to mockingly reach out from their places to block her way but she didn’t let that stop her. Only the loud popping sound erupting from her ankle caused her to cease all movement all the while causing her body to tumble to the ground fast and hard into a patch of moss under a huge oak tree.

“Ah!” She cried, reaching down to examine the injury. She could already see the blood beginning to seep through her sock but the beast never lost its place in her thoughts. She hurriedly tried to scoot back into the shadows but it was much too late. The beast was fast and Sophia had a feeling that it had caught up to her long before she had tripped and injured her ankle. It just stood staring down at her frightened form, its teeth fully revealed as if ready to attack. Sophia could barely breath. Now that it was standing so close she could see all of its features each and every horrifying detail. It stood at least 6 feet7 inches on two strong legs above her, its long black hair flying back and forth with each small breeze. Its face wasn’t that of a full beast but had a slight manliness to it. A long black beard hung from its chin not taking away from the youthfulness of its features. Two pointy ears stuck out from each side of its face almost fully covered by its hair. The beast wore a long flap of cloth over its front area but its chest and legs were bare except for the thick auburn hair covering them. The beast was muscular to the point of being able to rip a person in half using merely its hands and yet it just stood there watching Sophia intently almost studying her movements. Its green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. The beast reminded Sophia of a Centaur but amazingly it stood on two very capable legs like a normal human but were catlike.

“Who are you?” The beast said in a low growl. Sophia, back pressed so close to the tree that her back began to bleed, sat aghast when she realized that the beast could talk perfect English. She couldn’t open her mouth to utter a single word.

“Do you speak child?” It asked again, stepping closer to the terrified girl. The two golden hoops around its ankles clinked loudly in the midst of silence. She dug her heels into the soil and got ready to run again.

“This is my forest,” it said, banging the long silver cane it held against the tree she had been resting on. It startled her immensely. “What comes in this forest belongs to me.”

Sophia took in a rather large breath.

“Tell me your name?” He said, kneeling down somewhat. Sophia backed away a little more.

“My…my name….my name is Sophia,” She replied, her big forest green eyes wide in surprise and fright. Her medium long red hair blew haphazardly across her damp forehead some of the strands resting in place. Her cheeks were flushed by now from the coolness of the air.

“…Sophia. Now that you have come here you belong to me,” it said, dropping its cane. Sophia finally getting the courage to stand yet somewhat clumsily dashed off in the other direction uncaring of whether or not the beast was chasing her. Her father had always warned her of the things that lied deep within the forest and that she should never under any circumstances wander off into their clutches but Sophia had disobeyed. The last thing she wanted was to be killed by a horrifying beast.

“Father! Father! There’s something chasing me!!” She screamed, limping in and out of the maze like trees. “Fa-

Her speech was cut short by a large clawed hand making contact with the side of her face. She immediately fell backwards crashing into a pile of scattered leaves and twigs.

“You belong to me now!” The beast roared, pouncing on top of Sophia roughly. Using its clawed hand it grasped Sophia’s neck causing bright red indentation to form there. Sophia gasped for air.

The beast using its other clawed hand began to slowly pop each and every button on Sophia’s shirt one by one. Sophia, nearly paralyzed, made a weak attempt to knee the beast and succeeded in making contact with the area between its legs. The beast let out a surprised groan but continued to hold Sophia’s neck firmly in its grasp.

“Sophia….never….never do that again!” The beast roared angrily standing to its feet and bringing Sophia along with it. Effortlessly it tossed Sophia into the air causing her to bang her head on a thick branch above. She fell back onto the ground with a loud thud. The beast was angry almost furious with Sophia.

“My name is Leo…remember that name pet,” It roared loudly its voice echoing throughout the forest. Sophia had learned about the more possessive species in a few of her mythical creature classes and now she was witnessing it for herself. She had never seen such a beast one that looked so beastly yet manly and so very very horrific.

Sophia didn’t speak a word much to afraid that the beast would kill her where she lay. The nearly white skin of her collar bone was exposed now to the cold frigid night air that seemed to burn her skin like an icy fire. She knew that if she was to survive she would have to fight back despite the throbbing in her head now. She grabbed a fist full of dirt and tossed it right at the beasts face. It growled loud holding its eyes and struggling to clear them of the dusty mess. Meanwhile Sophia got up with the best of her strength and tried once again to get away. She was beginning to lose hope but a shadow in the distance told her otherwise. It was her father looking for her in the distance.

“Father its me! I’m over here!” She shouts, limping over to him like a wounded animal. Her father grasped her immediately and held her tight in his grasps all the while scolding her for wandering off like she did.

“I thought I told you not to come here by yourself! Never do this again Sophia do you understand me,” Her father scolded, holding her so that she could look into his horrified eyes. He had been worried to death because of her little escapade. He lifted her into his arms and carried her off to be healed. Sophia looked across his shoulder to see the beast standing in the shadows watching intently as she walked away with her father. She somehow knew in her heart that it wasn’t over but tried not to believe it. She was safe now and that was all that mattered to her.

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The next night Sophia awoke in her own bed as the warm fire of her fireplace glowed brightly, causing the room to be filled with a beautiful orange glow. Her leg was propped up and bandaged tightly on the count of the injury she had acquired. Her head was also tightly bandaged because of the small concussion she had suffered after being tossed into a tree by the horrific beasts. Because of the injury she hadn’t remember much and though she had believed she saw the beast she couldn’t help but to think she was just hallucinating from the cold. She had hoped it was all just a really bad nightmare but the reality of it told her otherwise.

She grasped the glass of milk on her nightstand and took a small sip before turning to the window thinking that she had seen something in the darkness.

“what was that?” she said almost inaudibly. She sat down her glass and propped herself up to get a better look. The curtains blew gently in the breeze because of the slightly opened window. She thought she had just seen the shadow from the trees in her backyard blowing in the cool night air so she brushed it off and relaxed once more but a low growl told her otherwise. She turned instantly knocking over her glass and spilling its contents all over her floor.

“I’ll be back for you…Sophia,” The beast said before disappearing into the darkness. She hopped out of bed quickly shutting the window.

“Father! Father! Come quickly!” She yelled into the other room. Her father came running almost immediately.

“Sophia my child what’s wrong!” He said, springing forward his eyes darting around quickly. He pulled a small knife out of his pocket.

“Father there was something at my window...it...it was a beast….a lion of sorts and it said my name!” Sophia cried pointing to the window frantically.

“Oh Sophia it was probably a nightmare. Go back to bed honey,” he said, putting away his knife for the threat he hadn’t seen. He had believed that because of the injury Sophia had sustained that she was probably just seeing things and nothing more. He lifted her up into his arms and laid her back onto her bed.

“But father it was there I swear it!” She pleaded, sitting up. Her panicked expression was replaced with a frenzied one. She hadn’t wanted to be alone at that time.

“Go back to sleep Sophia. You’ll feel much better in the morning,” her father said cutting off he lights and leaving the room. She grasped her blankets and pulled them up to her chin. She had known that what she saw was that beast and that she wasn’t just seeing things but it was apparent that her father didn’t see things her way. She laid her head down and after a while went peacefully to sleep.

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After a few weeks of recovery Sophia was back on her feet and able to go back to school. Her ankle had healed but she still had a slight limp in her walk. It was Saturday and though she had forgotten everything for the most part she was still slightly frightened of the whole thing. Her father had left on a business trip the previous day leaving her home alone with the Butler but she made it her business to stay close to him at all times of the day.

A rather large plate of pancakes and bacon was placed In front of her as she sat at the living room table. She drowned the plate in syrup and dug in.

“Your father should be back in a few days. No need to worry Ms. Sophia,” the butler, Rimy, said as he placed a few fresh pieces of bacon on the stove. They popped then began to sizzle slowly.

“Yes I know Mr. Rimy and I hope that this week goes by quickly. I miss him already,” Sophia said, taking a sip of orange juice. She had no plans for the day and just thought it best to stay in where it was safe. It had been quite a week and after breakfast she felt like taking a small nap before it was time for lunch.

She went to her room and crawled into bed.

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(Downstairs…)
The air seemed to grow tense and Rimy noticed the change in atmosphere. He had noticed that the door had been left open and walked over to close it thinking that it was the reason for the stuffy air filling the room. There was small paw print in the carpet leading him to believe that maybe an animal had walked in and was making its self at home. He turned and proceeded to look for whatever was roaming through their home.

“Here kitty you must not live here the master would have a fit,” He said, kneeling down to get a better look when a suddenly found himself being tossed backwards and into the wall like a doll. The tussle went on for a few minutes until Rimy was apprehended by the beast that had gotten into the house. He was thrown into the closet unconscious and unknowing of what the beasts was really after. He wanted Sophia.