Although it all happened so fast, I would later recall it in slow motion, analyzing every detail with a precision I didn’t know my subconscious possessed. With mine, Laura, Marci and Lacy’s strangled war cries, we sent our phantoms after the tiger, at the same time rushing out Rachelle’s front door. Lacy’s flamingo attacked from above, while Marci’s fox and my wolf lunged from behind, Laura’s dog assaulting the front. The tiger froze for less than a nanosecond before jumping higher than a creature of such size should be able to jump. It sailed over the fox and wolf, taking a swipe at the fox before taking off down the suburban street. Lacy and I exchanged glances, then took off after it. As we started down the driveway, thunder rumbled in the sky, and clouds churned above us. We had to hurry before a storm forced us back into the house.
About a block away and gaining, we heard pounding footsteps behind us. Lacy glanced back, then returned her gaze to the tiger that was picking up speed. Reassured that whatever was behind us was not a threat, I chanced a look over my shoulder. Grinning, I turned back to the challenge ahead, comforted that we had backup. Laura, Marci, and Sara chased after us, their phantoms running by their sides. Sara called out to me, but I couldn’t understand her with the wind in my ears. I looked questioningly at Lacy, and she pointed to the hawk above us, “Sara’s sending her phantom ahead to scout out, and the others are coming in the car.” Nodding, I sped up. The tiger veered ahead of us, cutting to the left through a backyard. The others had caught up to us, and the five of us put on speed, knowing it would be hard for the car to follow the tiger.
Crossing through the backyard, we ran into a secluded cul-de-sac. We all skidded to a stop, confused. “Which way did it go?” Laura yelled above the thunder that was getting louder. Unsure, we all shrugged and scanned in every direction. For some reason, Lacy ‘reabsorbed’ her phantom. I may never know why she did it, but I do know it’s what gave us a fighting chance. She screamed and pointed at the tiger, who’d been silently stalking us. “It growled and I didn’t know what to do,” said Lacy, apologizing for the scream. We all stared in shock as we realized that if Lacy hadn’t heard the big cat, it would have possibly killed us.
But that was the least of our worries as Marci and Laura quickly discovered that every yard in the cul-de-sac had a fence, all of them too high to escape over, especially me with my arm. The road and the one unfenced yard we had cut through were blocked by an angry feline. It had lured and trapped us. As it slunk towards us, it had a confident air, that of an opponent that knows it has already won.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a hawk dove at the tiger’s face, screeching its challenge. The tiger batted it aside, and next to me Sara collapsed. Laura and I quickly checked her over for injuries, but she seemed okay aside from being knocked unconscious. Heaving her upright between them, Marci and Laura looked at me desperately. I whipped around, looking for an escape. We couldn’t fight with our phantoms, it was too dangerous. Lacy went over to help Laura and Marci while I yelled at the tiger, trying futilely to keep it at bay.
When it was less than a hundred yards from us, we helplessly hugged each other. But then Lacy stood in front of Sara, and defiantly growled at the tiger. Laura and I did the same, while Marci watched Sara. Unfortunately, it did nothing to deter the predator blocking our escape. Terrified, I squeezed my eyes shut as I waiting for the tiger to pounce. But it never did. Instead a roaring engine filled my ears.
Snapping my eyes open, I saw a cherry red motorcycle barreling towards us. As it approached, the tiger barely sprang out of the way, and the motorcycle continued on its path. Straight at us! Not sure which death I preferred, I watched to see how the tiger reacted. The motorcycle screeched to a halt a mere three or four feet from us, the back tire squealing around so the machine was broadside to us. The tiger had recovered and was angry, I mean really angry, that its fun had been disturbed. The cyclist shouted something to us, but the helmet muffled the voice. Shocked, we simply stood there. The tiger roared, and the cyclist’s head whipped around at the noise. Lacy looked at me questioningly, and I understood her confusion. Why could this person hear the tiger? Further thoughts fled my mind as I watched what happened next.
The cyclist dismounted their bike, on the tiger’s side, and stood tall. All of the sudden a huge bear appeared out of nowhere, roaring in the tiger’s face. Startled, the tiger backpedaled. Taking this advantage, the bear lunged and swiped the tiger’s muzzle. Hearing a cat scream is a truly terrible sound, but it didn’t even phase the bear as it continued its attack. After a few more swipes, the tiger turned and took off on a dead run, quickly disappearing.
Now that the tiger was gone, we all turned our attention to our mysterious rescuer. Pulling off the sleek, black helmet, she shook her cropped auburn hair out of her impish eyes. Grinning at us, she ran her fingers through her hair. “What trouble are you getting into without me this time?” Paige asked.
***********
The others had arrived moments after Paige’s rescue, but explanations had to wait, as it was beginning to rain heavily. We carefully put Sara in the back of Mikayla’s car, and everyone squished into the other seats. I opted to ride with Paige, even though it was raining, other than attempt to fit in the car. Though fully soaked when we arrived, I had appreciated the fresh air to clear my thoughts. Rachelle and Lacy put Sara on the couch, and Rachelle found towels for Paige and me to sit on.
After Bri and Laura told the two stories, we turned to Paige. She looked almost guilty. “Okay,” I said as sternly as possible, which wasn’t very much considering she’s my friend and had just saved our lives, “Explain. You knew what that tiger was and how to use your phantom. What do you know that we don’t?” Paige cleared her throat, then said, “Not much. Most I just found out on my own. By accident. I don’t know any more than you guys do.”
I growled. A bit unnecessary, but I was mad. At myself, at the tiger, and at Paige. “Paige, this is serious. Even if you think we know it already, tell us everything. That tiger wasn’t just playing with us, it wanted to kill us.” Exasperated, I thrust my bandaged arm in her face. “This is from the tiger you just scared off. And it never made contact with my skin. That tiger is the reason Sara is lying unconscious.” Paige drained of color. I had scared her, probably more than she deserved, considering she hadn’t really done anything wrong. But I must say, it got results. We had to slow her down a few times to understand her.
“Well, it was last week when I was at the theater, bored out of my skull,” she began, “so when my mind wandered, as it often does…” she paused for laughter, but realized we were too exhausted to get it, and continued, “and I thought about our phantoms. This may sound silly, but I named mine Nuka. Well, after I thought up that name I couldn’t get it out of my mind. For days, I often lost concentration, my thoughts turning to my phantom bear, trying to figure out why it was a shadow-like black instead of like a patronus kinda thing.
And why it was a bear. Yeah I liked bears, but it was like I couldn’t have switched my phantom if I wanted to. It became a part of me, an obsession, a distraction. I wanted to tell you guys, to have someone to talk to, but I was scared. I mean, what if I was going insane? Like really insane, not just our usual craziness.
Anyway, so yesterday I was on my way home from work when I had a crazy thought. Why couldn’t it be real? I’d always dreamed that Harry Potter or Avatar was real, why not this? And that’s when I just accepted it.”
She looked at us, ready to be rebutted or laughed at, but we all breathed a sigh of relief. Including Sara. Startled, we all just watched as Mikayla rushed over to her. “Oh my goodness, Sara, are you alright?” Sara shook her head to clear it, looked around and said, “What?” The look of confusion on her face was so priceless that, despite the situation, we all burst out laughing. After recounting everything she’d missed, she sighed dramatically. “My valiant attempt dies in vain.” We laughed again, glad she was okay. Paige looked at me shyly. “We cool?” I smiled at her and grabbed her in a one armed hug, the best I could manage, and laughed. “We’re cool.”
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