Son of Darkness

Weight

When faced with an abnormally large lion with the eyes of a human, there are a few things which you must never do.

You must not pay attention to the thumping of your heart as it wrestles to escape from your chest. You mustn't notice the trembles of the tables around you as the people in the diner storm out as quickly as possible. You certainly must not take any time to acknowledge the hardened glare of your ex-boyfriend as he instead stays rooted to the spot, watching the scene unfold before him.

Ianthe must not have been aware of this information. She did all three.

She knew that she was supposed to start running, but her brain and her body didn't seem to be on the same page.

This was it. It had to be. She had gotten lucky earlier with the car, but death was getting impatient now.

She had a maximum of four seconds before it got to her and that would be it; her time would be up. She squeezed her eyes shut - she didn't want nor need to look into those eyes again.

Three seconds. The crashes of chairs and tables rang in her ears as it bulldozed closer and closer.

I'm sorry mum.

Two seconds. She swallowed hard on the scream threatening to crawl out of her throat.

I'm sorry dad.

One.

There was a small grunt followed by a heavy thud in front of her.

She opened her eyes.

Thane was stood there, but this time he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the lion lying on the ground a few feet in front of him. It looked as though he had somehow shoved it out of the way.

But he couldn't have, right? It had to have been more than double his weight.

Even as it lay helplessly on the ground, its size was immense and Ianthe found herself stepping back slightly - one swipe of its paw could leave her in hospital for weeks.

It slowly began to stand back up, growling fiercely at him.

"Thane . . ." She whispered frantically. His head snapped towards her momentarily before returning to the lion.

"What are you still doing here?" He seethed in reply, just as it crouched onto its hind legs, ready to attack. He looked her dead in the eyes and she saw the fierceness on his face.

"Run."

She didn't need to be told twice.

By now, the diner had been deserted so it was a clear and straight shot to the door, only ten feet or so.

She thought that she would be fast enough, that she would make it outside before that thing could catch up to her.

She was wrong.

The top of her hair ruffled slightly before the dirty golden coat of the beast landed right in front of her, blocking her way out.

It had jumped right over her head.

She stumbled backwards over her feet as it prowled towards her.

She needed a way out. She didn't want to die here; not yet. She had to -

A slender, black blade slashed downwards across the lion's side and it roared, the sound reverberating around the room and rattling the windows.

Ianthe used this time to sprint to the counter on the far left of the diner and jump behind it, hoping it would buy her some time.