Inner animal. by Emily Zimmerman. (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

my room after robotically getting ready, wearing shorts that ended mid-thigh and an off the shoulder blue and white striped shirt. I had my bag slung over my shoulder and was headed for the lunch deck, a new determination in my eyes. I sat in the far corner of the deck with a sandwich and pulled out what was in my bag, I had decided to pick up art again. I set out my pencils and pastels all along the table, letting myself relax against the seat as I remembered all that my mom taught me, I picked up a pencil with harder led, sketching out my design and letting my hand connect to my mind, letting my imagination flow onto the paper. Suddenly, I was caught in a vision, I could still see, but the image in my mind was clear.
Running, I was running at inhuman speed through the forest, I could almost feel the wind in my hair. I looked back, hearing peals of laughter that sounded like…mine! Bane’s laughing face appeared in my vision and I felt phantom arms wrap around my waist.
I was snapped out of my vision by a warm hand catching my wrist. I realized that I had been furiously drawing, using every pencil I had at my disposal. I looked at what I had done in shock. In one corner of the page was the scenery of when I was running, and then in another was bane’s laughing face.
“Nina” Bane’s soft voice murmured, prying my hands from their vise grip on the pencil, almost breaking it. I finally managed to open my fist and let the pencil drop onto the page “what did I just do?” it was only a whisper, a mere breath.
“I don’t know, when I came in, you were drawing so fast it was hard to see your hand move when you switched pencils, you were staring at the page blankly and when I said your name you acted as if you didn’t hear me” he explained, cocking his head to the side.
I looked back down at the drawing, tracing a tree with the tip of my finger “I think…I think I was having a vision of some kind” I mumbled.
I looked back up into Bane’s eyes and quickly regretted it; his piercing blue eyes were boring into mine, as if he could see into my soul. I quickly looked away and back at my drawing, closing my sketch book, I quickly gathered my things and tucked my book under my arm, “I’m going to talk to mom and dad about this” I whispered, but then stopped in my tracks, how am I supposed to tell them that I had a vision about Bane? It seemed a little embarrassing and not to mention the vision seemed too intimate.
“On second thought, I’ll just…go back to my room” I decided and started walking again.
“Nina-“ Bane sighed.
“Stop right there, there is nothing for us to talk about and I’m not sure – if there was something to talk about – that I want to talk to you right now anyway” I turned my head to the side, not really looking at Bane at all.
He was suddenly standing right behind me, his hands on my arms, and his lips at my ear, almost making me drop my things “you might not want to talk now, but we will talk later” he whispered fiercely into my ear. My knees were weak and my breathing was uneven as he let me go with a deep chuckle.
I stumbled through the halls, my mind in a daze. When I reached my room, I hesitated at the handle, my inner animal desperately wanted to be free from the confines of my room, I could feel the urge to run through the forest and let my wild side free.
So I opened my door, threw my drawing stuff onto the bed and took off down the hall, passing several people whom I had met the first day I was here before I shifted. They all smiled and waved as I waved back, running passed them.
I ran through the music room, though my intent was not to go to the training yard. I had a very sudden urge to run through the forests, free and without a care in the world. As soon as I left the doors of the sanctuary, I shifted, letting my inner animal stretch out her limbs and then took off through the forest at my fastest speed. The trees zipped by me as I ran, letting out a feral snarl that was meant to be a laugh, I pushed myself faster. Animals scurried passed me and hid, my hearing picked up the squealing of monkeys as they warned my approach, and I heard the sound of galloping; horses, maybe?
I skidded to a stop and cocked my head to the side, listening to the galloping sound once more. This didn’t sound like hooves; it sounded like…paws, very large paws. I could feel the ground beneath me shake as the paws came closer and quickly climbed up a tree, settling on a branch to hide from whatever this was. The leaves on the tree shook as the creature galloped closer, and suddenly, it broke through the trees with a crash “where is it?” it snarled, its voice was booming, and it made me shake with fear.
I held my breath as it stomped over to my tree, snarling. It looked like a bear on steroids, big, beefy arms and legs, and a head that could probably crush me with one blow. His paws alone were half the size of me, and his big, brown, furry body was the mass of a manatee. I heard the pounding of not one, but two hearts, pounding so hard it almost hurt my ears to listen, I looked around for the second creature, guessing that I was hearing two, but I saw and heard no other.
“I know you’re here somewhere! I can hear your heartbeat!” it growled menacingly.
My silent breath caught, and I wished somehow that I could stop my heart from beating so rapidly. “Your friend killed my brother. And I have half a mind to cut off your head, and send it flying through the window of “the sanctuary” but, that would be too quick a death” it was still looking around as it explained its plans, and my breath caught in my throat when it’s eyes landed on me. It gave me a gruesome grin, showing sharp jagged teeth like a shark “there you are!” it snarled.
I leaped over him, landing behind him and digging my claws into the ground. Not looking back, I started running, clawing my way through the forest at dangerous speeds. I wasn’t as careful as before; braches caught my fur and ripped, making me roar in pain. I could hear his booming footsteps as he galloped towards me and pushed myself faster. I could hear tree’s fall as he ripped his way through the forest, it was dense, which worked to my advantage and slowed him down. I suddenly broke out onto the beach, freezing for an instant, but that instant was all that the creature needed, it clawed at my foot and left jagged, swollen scars running down my right leg. I roared in agony but pushed through it, kicking him in the face as I started running, like a startled horse kicking his master as he walked behind him. Running through the sand slowed me down, made it hard to run as fast as before, but I managed to maintain a steady speed enough to stay away from the strange creature intent on taking my life…slowly.
I crashed into the forest, my breathing hard and my pulse pounding in my ears. I couldn’t die, not by this…this creature, this freak of nature!

And that’s when I got hit by something big, heavy and black.
Chapter Ten:

I struggled under the giant body, roaring in the creatures face. “This one’s a feisty one, Gabe” the creature, seeming to be female, snarled a laugh.
“She’s fast too, and strong, stronger than even our shifters” he panted, coming up beside the other one. His face was bloody where I kicked him, and his eye was clawed up and slowly healing.
“Get off me!” I snarled, snapping at the creatures face.
It snarled at me, showing sharp, jagged teeth. My paws were free from her heavy body, so I dug my claws into her shoulder and raked them down her chest. She roared a booming, sound that would have blown my hair back from my face if I weren’t a cat. She rolled off of me, and in the process, I heard the crack of one of my ribs, and roared in pain. I pushed through the pain and got up, pushing myself to run. The pain in my ribs was excruciating, but I could hear the cracked rib slowly healing, and pushed myself forward again.
I heard the roar of…not the creatures, but of…shifters! I could hear paws headed this way. The only question was, was it my family, or theirs?
I had stopped to listen, and I heard the galloping of the creature, it was close, and all the sudden, I felt claws rake down my side, I roared in agony as the blow through me into a tree, cracking the newly healed rib again. I panted and tried to get up, but all I could do was stumble and fall again, letting out a low growl.
“Now, you are mine!” the creature, Gabe snarled.
A deafening roar, shaking the forest, stopped him in his tracks as he stalked toward me. I was suddenly forced into my human form again, and so was the creature…wait, what? The once savage beast was now a big, beefy looking human.
“You!” he snarled, turning around.
I reached a hand out and grasped the dirt and grass, dragging myself away while he was preoccupied. Suddenly, excruciating pain hit my entire body and I screamed out, clutching my head as it felt like it was about to explode.
As quickly as the pain started, it ended. The only pain left was the pain in my side which, compared to the pain I just experienced, was like a scratch.
I dragged my body into the forest and turned to see who was fighting the beast. It was Bane! His bright blue eyes were half crazed with anger as he leaped at the now human beast. He tackled it to the ground and, without a single thought, snapped its neck. I gripped a tree and started dragging myself away, cries of pain coming from my mouth with every movement of my shredded side.
“Nina!” Bane was human again, running towards me.
He leaned down beside me, taking in my shredded, bloody shirt, and sucking in a shocked breath. He gently lifted my shirt, and his eyes became like ice. “Come on, let’s get you home” he said gently, though it face was set in a mask of rage, his voice was the complete opposite; he sounded completely