Chapter Nine
“Do we need to wait for it to cool back down in there or is it safe for us to get a shower now?” Josh teased as Kara and Thomas stepped back into the living area.
“I think you can manage it okay as it is,” Thomas told him, plopping down into a nearby chair and fiddling with his own phone. “No signal out here at all.”
“No. I guess they don’t build towers in the middle of sanctuaries,” Josh told him before following Barb off to the shower.
“There is a satellite phone in the ranger’s office on the other side of the kitchen if you need to make a call,” Khalib offered as he stepped out of the kitchen, overhearing the conversation.
“No. It’s fine. I was just going to check my email. I guess it will have to wait until I return to civilization,” Thomas laughed.
“Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes,” Khalib said, nodding toward him.
“Great. I’m starving. What are we having? Grain and berries you picked up during our trip across the plain?” Thomas joked.
“Boiled rhino feces with a side of rice,” Khalib said evenly.
“I think I just lost my appetite,” Thomas replied, noting the seriousness on Khalib’s face before adding, “Wait. You are kidding, right?”
“Of course, I’m kidding. What sort of barbarian do you think I am?” he said, laughing as he turned back toward the kitchen.
Thomas looked at Kara blankly. Khalib was a mystery. One minute he was condescending and rude, the next he was friendly and joking with them. One still had to wonder what had caused the sudden change in his behavior. It was very odd.
Thomas began to flip through a nearby outdoor magazine, while Kara flipped through one she had found on the Bengal tigers that inhabited the sanctuary. She was completely engrossed in the information she had found there when Barb and Josh returned from the shower and started to sit down, only to be interrupted by Khalib announcing dinner was ready.
“I’m afraid the table in here is too small for a proper meal, but you can all come in and grab a plate buffet style and just take it back to the chairs in there,” he told them.
“Is that roast beef?” Josh asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Khalib replied, handing him a plate.
“From where? I mean, how did you get fresh meat way out here?” he asked.
“One of my brothers delivered it,” he said evenly.
“When? I didn’t see anyone come in,” Josh replied, obviously not considering the obvious answer to this.
“He delivered it earlier, before we arrived. There is a small cooler in the pantry,” Khalib replied. “I brought some rice and spices with me, but he brought the meat and the vegetables by in preparation for our arrival.”
“Wow, that’s great. I was expecting canned corned beef or sardines, something from a pile of canned goods kept on hand. This is fantastic,” Josh said excitedly, piling a bit of the meat on this plate.
“I’m glad you approve,” Josh laughed.
“A sight better than rhino turds,” Thomas said in a dry tone.
“What?” Josh replied, looking at his brother strangely.
“Nothing,” Thomas replied. “Hurry up so the rest of us can get some food before it turns cold.”
Josh handed the plate of meat across the table to Barb, so she could add to it before preparing another one for himself and moving around to the other side beside her. Thomas and Kara moved closer and prepared their own plates, with Khalib going last. She noted that he didn’t eat any of the meat.
“You don’t eat meat?” she asked, trying to remember if she had seen him eating any of the jerky on the trail. She was fairly certain that she had.
“I do, but that is a little more well-cooked than I like mine. I had some earlier while I was cooking, before it got too done,” he said.
“I see,” she replied, feeling a bit nauseated by the idea that he probably ate it raw or mostly raw. She supposed that was in his nature, but she found it gross, which was probably why he had not eaten it in their presence. She would imagine most people in his past might have had the same reaction, and so he no longer ate it among guests. As they all sat down to eat, Kara decided to take the opportunity to learn what she could about their guide and his family.
“Your family has always lived here?” she asked.
“Yes, and no. My father says that we originate here, but then there was a horrible incident that wiped out much of our family. The ones that managed to survive scattered to the winds. It was mostly the younger members that escaped, many of them ending up in far-away places. Our particular line comes from a man named Tiogar that ended up in an orphanage on the other side of the country.
Kara tried to hide her surprise at the name. She wondered if his name, like that of her ancestor, was one he had taken instead of his own, or if there was some relation to it that had caused Khaleel to call his son that as a sign of endearment. Of course, since the name meant simply ‘tiger,’ it could merely be a coincidence.
“So, he grew up in the orphanage then?” she asked.
“No. The story goes that he was fifteen when he realized something was different. He had been sent to the orphanage when he was just a baby, his parents killed in the events that had taken place. He was angry, always angry with everyone, and the nuns at the orphanage were harsh. It didn’t help his attitude at all. Plus, he was big for his age, towering over everyone around him.”
“That must have been difficult for him. Bad enough to be orphaned, but then to feel different from those around you as well,” Kara nodded.
“Yes. He didn’t feel sorry for himself, though. Instead, he felt sorry for the smaller boys that would get picked on by the more ruthless kids. He tended to step in to defend them, so he was pegged by the nuns as being a troublemaker and punished for it along with those he put in their place. One day, he had taken on a group of boys that were attempting to beat up a frail, little boy who had just arrived and was scared of his own shadow. He fended them off, but that night, they came in the dark and tried to gang up on him.”
“They hurt him,” Kara said, feeling an incredible sadness that seemed to be the lot in her paternal ancestor’s lives.
“No. Very much the contrary. Something happened. They had him pinned down and were threatening to do some very bad things to him. Then the same to the other boy he had protected to show him how to mind his own business. One of them cut Tiogar’s pajamas off of him and told the others to hold him down as he undid his pants.”
“Oh, God. No,” Kara replied, unsure that she could hear anymore. The looks on the faces of the others reflected her feelings as they all paused in their dinner and stared at Khalib.
“I’m sorry. This isn’t a story for dinner. I just realized,” he said, glancing down at his watch for some reason.
“No, it’s okay. Go ahead and finish. Please tell me he got away from them,” Kara said.
“They say that he didn’t know what happened after that. He felt something horrible that seemed to be rippling beneath his skin. It felt like his bones cracked, and his muscles pulsed with life.”
“What?” Kara replied, looking uncertainly toward Thomas. Was he really about to tell them what his family really was? Why? He didn’t know them, so he surely couldn’t think it was okay to tell his family secret.
“He was changing, but he didn’t understand it. He couldn’t see himself. He could only feel this power and rage as he tore free of them and began fighting back. He heard screams coming from them and then from the nuns that came running into the room. He backed away, looking at the dead bodies scattered all over the floor, frightened. A caretaker came in with a gun pointed at him, and he ran, jumping out a window. He knew it would be his death, but he saw himself as a monster. To his surprise, he landed on his feet.”
“Like a cat,” Thomas filled in, his eyes leveled on Khalib suspiciously.
“Not like a cat. Just a cat. He caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby glass pane and stood there looking at his reflection. He was a tiger, and not just any tiger, but the most massive one he’d ever seen. He didn’t know what to think about what he had become or what he had done. He heard voices yelling, coming for him, and he ran until he was far out in the woods.”
“They never looked for him?” Kara said, her heart racing.
“Yes, and they found him, curled up in a naked ball with blood all over him. They took him back to the orphanage, thanking God that they had managed to save him from the horrendous tiger that had taken him into the woods.”
“Didn’t it occur to them that it was odd for a tiger to be roaming the streets and making its way into an orphanage?” Josh asked.
Glancing at the Higgins brothers, Kara could tell that they were just as uncertain about why they were being told this story as she was. Khalib continued as if nothing he was saying was out of the ordinary to himself or anyone else. Barb was speechless, studying his face as she was want to do when she was trying to figure someone out.
“Yes, but they assumed it was escaped from a zoo or a traveling circus. Of course, even if it had, no one would have laid claim to missing one that had committed such a horrible atrocity.”
“I imagine not.”
“He left the orphanage after that. He was frightened to be around people who couldn’t protect themselves from an animal like what he had become. He lied about his age and joined the military. In the course of his military career, he learned that his abilities came in quite handy, though he was careful not to reveal them to anyone. After a while, he got tired of running from who he was and decided to try to find out what he could about his origins.”
“And that led him back here,” Thomas said.
“Yes. Him and others. Eventually, he learned that he was not alone, and those that remained rebuilt their family here. We are a very close-knit pride. We are kind to everyone unless they give us reason not to be, but we can be fierce if we are attacked in some way by people from the outside.”
“Do I detect some sort of threat in there?” Thomas asked, squinting at him as he sat his plate aside.
“Just a warning,” Khalib said, taking another bite of his food as if there was nothing out of the ordinary in this conversation.
“Why are you telling us this?” Barb asked suddenly. It was evident from the look on her face that she had reached some sort of conclusion ahead of everyone else, and it alarmed her. She wasn’t psychic, merely human, but her skills in anthropology had taught her to understand social interactions far better than any animal instinct could ever guide them.
“Don’t you think we should all stop playing games?” he replied to Barb, but turning toward Kara as he finished the question.
“Games?” she replied, noting that both Thomas and Josh had already set their plates aside and were on the edge of their seats. Khalib turned back toward them.
“Take it easy, boys. At a bit of a disadvantage, aren’t you? Confined space and all?” he said evenly.
Everyone was quiet, waiting for what might come next, but they didn’t have to wait for long.