The bell chimed signaling the end of the first lesson. Ray ignored Seth completely as she abruptly stood up and slowly made her way towards the door. She sneaked glances at everyone through her lashes. Today's generation certainly did not measure up to her standards. They were slothful and stupid. In her day, these people would have died through survival of the fittest. Being here was degrading.
She inhaled deeply. Yes, she could smell pheromones mingled with perfume and ...fear?
Her gaze swept over the classroom, taking in the facial expressions and the overall atmosphere.
Of course, people tend to disguise their fear. She shrugged and made to walk through the door not really being arsed to investigate further when Nathan blocked her path. There was a strange glow in his eyes and his cheeks were red as he towered over her, slightly panting.
Ray felt the instinctive urge to blast him into oblivion. How dare he obstruct her way! He who was not even worthy of licking her feet!
Just as she tensed her muscles with anticipation, pain seared across the scars on her back, making her stiffen in agony.
She gritted her teeth hoping her expression didn't give her away. Display of pain is a display of weakness.
As the pain began to fade, so did her unreasonable rage, her shoulders slumped and she had worked up a sweat. Nathan was still staring at her, blocking the door. The other students behind her started to crowd the door, but still giving her a respectable berth as they didn't know what kind of person she was yet. No one had dared to tell Nathan off yet, not even Mrs. Jansen. They held their breath waiting for Ray's reaction.
Ray's primal rage was replaced by annoyance. It seemed that everyone but Nathan felt the air crackle with electricity and backed away from Ray as waves of fury emanated from her body.
Nathan mistook her angry expression for nervousness at the thought of him asking her out. So he puffed out his chest importantly and said:
-"I'm Nathan and it's the duty of the captain of the football team to show new students around the school. A babe like you would definitely look good walking down the halls next to me. So whaddya say then? I'll definitely show you around everywhere and I'll take real good care of you."
He stressed the last sentence and leered at her. Ray looked openly disgusted and fought to keep her temper in check for fear of the horrendous pain she new she would feel otherwise. She took a deep breath to steady herself. Before she can reply to Nathan, however, a smaller figure with chocolate brown hair flew at him and started biting and scratching at his face like a rabid cat.
Sydney was humiliated, and she wanted Nathan to pay for it. How dare he ask another girl out when SHE was his girl friend?
-"I hate you! You bastard! You son of a bitch!"
Nathan roared and backhanded her, sending her sprawling to the floor. He laughed at her.
-"why would I want a used up slut like you? I'll date whoever the fuck I want bitch. You're just another lay and you were a really good fuck at that."
He chuckled at her enraged expression and then reached for Ray's waist intending to pull her closer to him.
Ray watched as he backhanded Sydney and felt no sympathy for her at all. It was her fault for not learning how to defend herself. Weaklings... the lot of them.
As Nathan was reaching out towards her, she felt her rage build up again and her scars began to twinge in pain.
PAIN BE DAMNED!
Ray whipped her leg around with lightening speed, aiming straight for the solar plexus.
Before anyone could register what happened Nathan was thrown against the lockers outside the classroom, causing them to dent inwards from the force of the blow.
He was knocked unconscious and there was blood trickling down the side of is head. The entire class rushed out and surrounded him, and student who were already in the hallway were startled and crowded over for a better view. Whispers and gasps were being exchanged and there was much commotion. There were flashes of light as the crowd clambered to take pictures with their cell phones.
Seth knew the rumor that Nathan got his ass handed to him by a girl half his size would spread like wildfire, but he didn't care about that just now.
During the entire encounter, he was staring at Ray. He felt her rage and he noted the pain she felt. He felt it inside him. It made his eyes tear. He saw her fall to her knees after kicking Nathan, tears rolling out of her beautiful eyes as she squeezed them shut and bit her lip in pain, drawing blood.
Mrs. Jansen fainted after one look at Nathan. poor old woman wasn't accustomed to seeing much violence and she was rather old fashioned.
Sydney got to her feet crying and started walking over to Seth, purposefully swishing her hips.
No one had noticed that Ray was now on her knees, hunched on the floor gasping as the pain reached an unbearable climax.
Seth shot to his feet and was walking towards her without thinking. Ray was in pain and she needed help were the only thoughts in his mind, But he was intercepted by Sydney who threw herself into his arms, crying pathetically.
He tried to push her away but she clung to him. He was looking over at Ray the entire time while absentmindedly trying to brush Sydney off.
He stopped dead however when he heard a rumbling growl come from Ray.
She stood up slowly and turned to glare at him, and then her gaze locked on Sydney, still clinging to him. She moved so fast that he barely registered her movement. She grabbed Sydney from the back of her Jacket and tore her away from Seth with a possessive growl then slammed her against the blackboard, knocking her out. She then tossed her to the floor where she lay crumpled in a heap.
Seth stared at her, fear evident in his eyes. But as his fearful gaze met hers, he saw her eyes glaze over and knew that she was going to lose consciousness. He caught her as she stumbled and fell.
***
Ray fought to stay awake, but the pain was making it hard. She felt the blackness that was closing in and tried to maintain focus. But at her eyes met Seth's, she saw the fear in them and she instantly felt regret. She knew that seeming vulnerable would quench that fear, she could feel it in his thoughts. She stopped fighting the impending blackness, allowing herself to slip into darkness and fall into his arms.
****
Ray looked around. The familiar walls, tan in color and made out of stone were welcoming. She inhaled and smelled the aroma of incense. Yes, she knew this place perfectly well. It was where she was created. It was home.
She looked down and realized she was dressed in the traditional robes of the temple, made from Egyptian cotton, tan in color, with slits that ran up her legs from the sides, with the insignia of the ancient Egyptian goddess Bast on the chest. How she loved this place.
She walked along the hallway, admiring the sculptures and artwork along the walls, then through a door that led to the altar, only to find the entire room turned over as though a storm had struck and the walls smeared with blood. Her heart slammed against her chest as she realized which time-period she was in. it all played out in her mind like a video being fast-forwarded.
Legend had it that the goddess Bast, the great desert lion, was the daughter of the god Ra. She was created to restore and maintain order, but her thirst for blood became insatiable. So her father tricked her into drinking an excess amount of beer which he tainted with blood to trick her into a stupor that she did not awake from. When she did wake, she was completely docile, a demure kitten.
What the legend failed to tell was that because of her thirst for blood, she pillaged villages and slaughtered people mercilessly; saving only one young man. He was so beautiful that she fell in love with him, and he, just as taken with her beauty and ferocity fell for her.
They mated and Bast gave birth to a litter of desert lions that later grew and were able to shift into human form. Their aging stopped from the moment the shift occurred.
She realized there was a gap in her memory when she was suddenly thrown into blackness, as though someone had cut part of the video that was her memory.
Then her memories continue from when she and her sisters, the girls she had grown in the temple with, had trained with, were restrained and locked in the temple as Ra was deceiving his daughter into submission. When Bast fell into hibernation, so did her children. All but Ray...
She knew why she hadn't fallen into hibernation, but she couldn't remember. She just knew that she had to run away from the temple and nearly died in the desert. Why she was running, she did not know.
There was a nagging sensation, as though the memory was just beyond her reach, when suddenly she was thrust into a different time-period and the faces of two friendly middle-aged people flashed in her mind. They were a married couple with kindly faces as they answered their front door. "How may we help you?" asked the woman politely.
Ray did not remember what happened after that either. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach and dull pain throbbed from her back where she knew her scars were. What happened to that couple? Why was she still awake and not in hibernation like her sisters and her beloved mother?
