CHAPTER EIGHT: MY MYSTERIOUS PROTECTOR

Rhea’s POV

I stood still as I pondered the options I had. I could either run screaming for my life as any sane person in my situation would do, or I could try the martial arts I learned to fight them. As it had already been established that I was not a sane person, I chose to try and fight them.

But before that, I gave one last chance to my theory of denial. Slowly, I pinched myself to see if I was really awake. I flinched when I felt the pain. I guess I shouldn’t have pinched that hard. I rubbed my hand as I stared at the shadow creatures. As a last resort, I closed my eyes and stood for a moment before opening my eyes. I blinked when I saw that the creatures were still there and they were closer than before. Well, it was worth a try.

I sighed as I realised that there was no way out of the mess other than trying to fight. I wouldn’t go down without a fight. If these things thought that they had an easy prey, they are going to realise the hard way that they had it wrong.

I dropped my trusted can of pepper spray on the ground as I had a feeling that it would not do much against my shadow assailants. I promised that I would retrieve it after I took care of the stupid shadows.

I remembered the fighting stance I learned and stood in a pose I hoped was threatening. For a moment, I thought that the shadows were laughing at me. It must have been my imagination since they had neither eyes nor mouth.

I had it all choreographed in my mind. The first two shadows would attack me together and I would jump around kicking one in the chest. I would flip over and punch the next, and he would go down like a sack of potatoes.  The third and fourth shadows who were waiting on the sidelines would come screaming. I would get them in my hold and hit their heads together. And seeing all his comrades down, the fifth one will turn tail and run for the hills while I stand victorious, dusting my hands. That was how it always went about in movies.

Well, the shadow creatures didn’t seem to have gotten the memo yet. Maybe they didn’t get to watch movies wherever the hell they came from; no pun intended. Because all of them launched at me together instead of coming two at a time as I calculated. 

I didn’t have time to do anything else but try to evade their attack while hoping that I would get some outstanding idea to win the fight. It seemed unlikely though, since it was one against five. The odds were definitely not in my favour. 

The hissing sounds they made were getting to me and I felt dizzy. I tried to make a swipe at one of them, but the buzzing was affecting my balance and my aim was off. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the dizziness. 

All of them closed around me and I tried to find a way out. I cursed myself for not running away when I still had the chance. My overconfidence had landed me into this trouble, and I didn’t know if I would be alive to tell the tale tomorrow. 

In desperation, I tried to punch the nearest creature. I staggered forward at the force when the punch went straight through its shadowy body and I fell right through its body. It was like waddling through quicksand. Though it must have taken a moment in reality, it felt like ages as I passed through its body. The feeling of death surrounded me in that moment, which felt like an eternity and I felt shaken up.

Then I brightened up as it occurred to me that if they didn't have substantial forms, they couldn’t harm me. However, I was brought out of this notion even before it could take root in my mind when one of the creatures swiped at my arm. The place where its hands touched my skin, it felt as if I was being burned.  I looked down at my hand to see that it was bleeding. Oh, so I couldn’t touch them, but they can harm me? That was not fair!

Now I was pissed as hell. Demon or God, you don’t make me bleed and live to tell the tale!

With anger seeping through my veins, I felt a change in myself. I found myself feeling stronger. 

I screamed as I flung my hands around and the creatures flew away with high-pitched shrieks. I looked at my hands in amazement. They were literally smoking, but I didn’t feel any heat. 

I thought back to the day in the club when I saw the black mist. Everything started from that day. Now I was sure that I was responsible for that mist too. I felt slightly guilty remembering the state Eric was in, but he really deserved it after the way he treated that poor girl.

I was brought back from my musings to the present when I heard the shrieks of the shadow thingies. I thought they were down after my splendid performance, but they were approaching me again. Well, it would have been too easy if they just went down like that. I bet they were pissed off after being thrown around like rag dolls.

I waved my hands at them as if flaunting a threatening weapon. I smirked as I got ready to have some more fun throwing them around. I raised my hands and aimed them toward the shadows. I flung my hands with a shriek and waited for them to fly again. But nothing happened. I waved my hands frantically, trying to do something. I stared down at my hands to see that they just looked normal without any mysterious smoke.

When I needed them to be weird, and shoot black mist or lightning for all I care, they decided to be normal. It figured. Nothing was ever that easy for me.

I looked at the creatures and tried to figure out my next move. Attacking them physically was not an option, and my weird black mist was out of commission too. Running away was out of the question since they had me surrounded from all sides. I was out of options, but I was not going down easily. I would fight tooth and nail, even if it is of no use.

I expected them to attack me, but weirdly, two of them clutched my arms and tried to drag me with them. I put my foot down and tried to escape their hold, but I couldn’t escape their slimy holds. The longer I was in contact with them, I started feeling drained. I was about to give up my fight and pass out into oblivion when I was startled awake by a thunderous roar.

Even the creatures loosened their hold on me, and I used that opportunity to take a few steps away from them. I wanted to run, but I was so tired. It took all my energy just to stay conscious. I heard the roar again and looked around. My eyes widened at the scene that greeted me.

There was a huge tiger, and I mean huge as in double the size of a normal one, just a few steps away from me. Its ears were twisted, mouth was agape and eyes wide and a lashing tail signifying its aggression. I thought that getting attacked by shadow creatures was bad enough, but it seemed that it was going to get worse. I would have chosen to be killed by the shadows than becoming food to a tiger if I was given the choice. 

As the tiger prowled closer to me, I stood rooted in the spot in terror.  Then with a growl, it pounced, and I closed my eyes with a shriek, expecting to be torn to pieces any moment. 

I slowly opened my eyes when I didn’t feel teeth or paws on me. I stared in amazement as I saw that the tiger was snarling at the shadows. It stood a stance in front of me that almost looked protective if I didn’t know better. Even more shocking was the fact that the shadow creatures seemed to be afraid of the tiger. They seemed to be cowering at its very presence. 

The tiger jumped and caught one of the shadows in its jaws, then shook it around a bit. In a moment, it swallowed the shadow. Just like that, it was one less shadow creature in front of me. Wow, I thought that they couldn’t be hurt physically, but it seemed I was wrong in that assumption. But I had passed through its body and it didn’t seem even a bit affected then. 

The tiger leaped and swallowed another shadow mid-leap. I stood with wide eyes as I watched it swipe almost lazily at another shadow and it just disintegrated in front of my eyes. The tiger didn’t seem aggressive anymore, but in a playful mood as it started playing around with the remaining two shadows. 

Finally, it seemed to get bored and swiped at the two in a synchronised move and the creatures vanished with an audible pop.

The tiger turned towards my direction and it was then that I remembered that I would be its next prey. I cursed myself for not running away while it was having fun with the creatures. I was too curious to see it eliminate the shadows. But now I knew the truth in the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'. The only difference was that the cat would be the one doing the killing this time.

The beautiful beast stared at me, and I stared back into its blue eyes without blinking. I hoped that it was not hungry anymore.

 After staring at me for a moment, which felt like an eternity, it turned and walked away. Even after it turned the corner and vanished from my sight, I couldn’t bring myself to move yet.

As I stared at the gash in my hand made by the shadow creature,  I knew one thing for certain. The supernatural community was not a myth or my fantasy but a reality and I fit into that world somehow. I had proof that it was not just my crazy thoughts as there was no other explanation for the bleeding wound in my arm. 

My mind was full of questions. What were those creatures and what did they want with me? It didn’t seem as if they wanted to kill me. They seemed to try to take me somewhere. But where? How was I able to create that black mist? Did that mean that the girl who appeared in my house was telling the truth when she said I was a Goddess. And most importantly, how did a freaking tiger appear in the middle of the city? And it seemed to protect me? I thanked my mysterious protector in my mind, even though I was not sure if it just got bored and left or it really protected me.

I had no answers to these questions, but I was sure that I was going to get the answers sooner or later. I just hoped that I was ready to face them when the time came.