Primal Nature

by Monique Singleton

  Jesus introduced the members of the council to her. There were seven people in total, two women and five men. Angel Rivera, a small wiry man of about thirty-five, and Diego Diaz, more than ten years older and physically his opposite—she had met yesterday. They had accompanied Jesus and Alex to the clearing. The women: Isabel Mendez and Adriana Gomez, were in their late twenties, young to be in a council, but with hard eyes and weathered features that made them old beyond their years. The elderly Jose Lopez, his nephew Juan Torres and the shy Miguel Soto completed the group. The men were without exception hard men, all had experienced too much, and it showed.

  Then it was time to introduce Tonal to the council

  ‘This woman is the reason that I am sitting here. She saved me in the laboratory and brought me home. She is Tonal. I trust her with my life and that of my family.’ Jose said.

  ‘What happened at the Pharmaceutical Company?’ Jesus kicked off the meeting. During Julio’s answer, Tonal experienced some problems understanding all that was said. In the long journey south Julio had taught her the language, but here the pace of the conversation was too high for her to be able to grasp everything. Julio noticed and slowed down his story. Pronouncing his words clearly and without the accent that some of the council members used. Jesus continued in the same fashion. He rarely missed anything, Tonal thought. This was a special person, someone not to underestimate.

  Julio continued the emotional tale of his capture. The betrayal by one of their own lay heavily on the group. Moving on, he talked about the spa and the torture at the hands of the General. He spoke about the stranger in whose cell he was unceremoniously dumped and who took care of his wounds, the journey south and finally the reunion. The council as one refrained from any comment or interruption, allowing Julio to end his tale before voicing their questions.

  ‘How did you escape?’ Adriana asked. This was the one hole in the tale, the one discrepancy. Julio had described the spa, the military and the laboratory. He had left out the actual escape, jumping to the journey. Hoping against hope that they would not expect more detail.

  ‘The military kept wild animals in the same laboratory’ Julio continued, avoiding eye contact with Tonal, who kept her head down, wondering how he would explain. ‘During one of the tests they wanted to put us in with the lions and something went wrong. The animals escaped and killed the scientists and the soldiers, but miraculously left us alone, I think they were spent. Tonal managed to loosen her bonds after the lions had left the lab and freed me. She helped me out of the compound and we escaped to the south.’

  Validity of the tale came from an unexpected side. ‘There was a rumour on the internet, that scientists and soldiers had been slaughtered by wild beasts in the spa in Chiapas.’ Isabel opted. ‘About twelve people were killed. There was one survivor, according to the sources. But they said nothing about any escaped prisoners.’

  ‘Well they wouldn’t, would they?’ Julio was relieved that he had pulled off the lie. ‘The Americanos will never admit that any one escaped from their prisons.’

  All this time Jesus had been observing Tonal. She raised her head and looked him in the eye. He was not buying the story, however much it was collaborated by Internet. There was more to this tale and he would find out, one way or the other. Glancing at Julio he once again refrained from comment. Details would come later, when the council had retired.

  The council voiced their sympathy at the deaths of Julio’s kin. Lowering his eyes, a tear running down his cheek, he took his seat again. His tale had been extensively detailed and had tired him both emotionally and physically.

  Jesus took centre stage. ‘Thank you, my friend, for your difficult narrative. It is clear that you have endured too much. It is also clear that we have much to thank you for’ he turned to Tonal. ‘Julio is a very important part of this council and to our struggle, and I thank you that you brought him back to us. I welcome you to our compound and our family.’ He paused. ‘It is obvious that Julio trusts you totally and values your input and opinion, we will extend this trust and invite you to join our council. First as a spectator, until we find your special talent that will aid our goal.’

  ‘Thank you’ she replied. ‘It means a lot to me.’

  ‘But...’

  She smiled, ‘But I will not be staying long.’

  ‘Of course you will’ Julio protested, standing up from his chair. ‘This is your home now.’

  ‘Please Julio, we will talk about this later’ she replied.

  Jesus stopped Julio’s protests with a wave of his hand. ‘For as long as you wish, you are welcome.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘The council meeting is closed’ resolutely stopping any other protests, Jesus closed the discussions. ‘You must both be tired from your ordeal. Take some time to recuperate and we will all talk again later.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Slowly the group dispersed to their daily tasks. Tonal stayed in her seat. Jesus would have to be made party to her special talents. It was only right, and besides he was not one to give up probing for a more believable explanation. He was amused that she had understood why he sent the rest of the council away. Julio looked at Tonal, then glancing at Jesus, he sat back down in his seat.

  ‘So,’ Jesus said, ‘now you tell me what really happened.’

  With a sigh Julio answered. ‘You won’t believe it, my friend.’

  ‘Try me.’

  Tonal took up the story with a question to Jesus. ‘Do you believe in the supernatural Jesus? In strange things that are impossible, strange animals?’

  ‘I am open-minded.’

  ‘You may have to be more than that.’ That caused a raised eyebrow.

  ‘In the laboratory they were trying to find out why I have some, shall we call them “special talents”.’ Jesus raised an eyebrow again but remained silent. ‘Some years ago, I found out that I was different than other people. I do not age—at least not noticeably—and can heal very quickly.’ Taking a bread knife from the table she made a two cm cut in her lower right arm. Within seconds the two sides of the wound knitted together, after a minute only a slight scar line was visible. There had been virtually no bleeding.

  ‘Now that is a handy talent.’

  ‘It turned out to be not the only talent that I have… or the most dramatic.’

  Taking a long breath, she continued. ‘Tension had been building up inside of me for quite some time at the laboratory. My strength had increased beyond anything I—or anybody for that matter—could imagine. The scientists and soldiers tested my healing capabilities and strength every day. Cutting and burning to see how quickly I healed. Slowly it started driving me mad, or so it felt. I started to have strange and violent dreams. In the dark I felt strange forces at work in my muscles. I didn’t dare to look.’

  ‘She can see in pitch black’ Julio volunteered.

  ‘They brought Julio one night and every morning they dragged him out of the cell and tortured him. In the evening he was returned to the cell and I did my best to take care of his wounds. The constant torture they rained down on Julio compounded my anger, that and the helplessness I felt when they came to drag him away every morning. Slowly the rage built up inside of me and I was literally seeing red.’ Putting her hands on the table she looked at Jesus. His face was passive, his eyes the only betrayal of his intense interest.

  ‘One evening, they took both of us. I fought them, but it didn’t help. They clamped us on to individual laboratory tables and righted mine, so that I could see what was happening to Julio. The tension was excruciating and when they started to cut Julio I snapped.’

  ‘You killed the scientists and the soldiers?’ it was more a statement than a question.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How?’

  A demonstration would say more than a thousand words, so she placed her right hand on the table and started the change. Jesus’ mouth dropped open and his eyes spread as wide as they could go. He glanced at Julio, almost to make
sure that he was not dreaming. Julio nodded, and Jesus turned his head back to the spectacle. On the table he saw a fully formed feline paw, gigantic in size and girth, connected to Tonal’s human arm. The paw sported enormous claws. To emphasise the power, she unsheathed them and softly dug them in the table, leaving long scratches.

  ‘Madre de Dios.’ Jesus had found his voice. ‘This goes all the way?’

  ‘Yes, the change can be complete.’

  Slowly extending his fingers to the enormous paw, he moved to touch the miracle that was in front of him. It was so difficult to get his mind around, he had to physically feel that what his eyes said was real. It defied anything he thought possible. A hallucination was a more believable explanation. But when he touched the fur it felt warm and soft, the muscles underneath apparent. The claws were cold hard and unbelievably sharp.

  ‘And you can do this at will?’

  ‘Whenever I want.’ she changed the paw back to her human hand.

  ‘What is the end result, what do you turn into?’

  ‘Some kind of feline. Not exactly a lion, but close.’

  They remained silent, Jesus digesting what he had seen. ‘I understand your reluctance to tell the council.’

  ‘I was afraid of panic and superstition’ Julio explained.

  ‘And rightly so. This would go in like a bomb. No, we will keep to the explanation that you gave for the time being, until further notice.’ Turning back to Tonal he asked ‘this tension that you experienced before the incident, does it come and go? Even now?’

  ‘I didn’t dare to change fully after the massacre at the lab, so it took quite a long time before I did it again. There was no real build-up of tension, like in the lab. But then again, there was no torture. The tension seems to rise when I get stressed, or exceptionally angry.’

  ‘Or protective’ Julio added. ‘I was attacked by a cougar and that triggered her next full change. But I know what you are thinking—she was no threat to me at any time in her cat form. Not even in the lab. I trust her fully.’

  ‘That I already know, and I am pleased Julio, but I had to ask.’

  ‘No problem’ Tonal answered.

  ‘By the look of the paw, you must be enormous when fully changed?’

  ‘She is almost the size of a horse, absolutely magnificent. The largest cat you have ever seen in your life.’ Julio’s enthusiasm was contagious.

  ‘I’m sure she is. This is a very special miracle. I would like to see the end result someday. But now it is time for you to rest. I also need to process all that I have seen and heard. It is hard to believe. But I saw the change and I felt the fur. Only my brain—my rationality—is screaming that it is impossible.’

  His mind mulled over what he had seen and how this could benefit the cause as he settled down to a good think. Tonal and Julio stood and left the room, walking back to their own dwelling.

  ‘Well,’ Julio said, ‘that went well.’

  Tonal stopped and looked at him, and then she burst out laughing. ‘I never knew you could be such a convincing liar like that.’

  ‘Jesus didn’t believe me.’

  ‘Jesus is an exceptional person.’ She wondered what the future would bring now that he was party to her special talents. She had no doubt that Jesus would find a way to use them for the cause. He was an opportunist, and this was just too good to ignore.

  For the time being she would just wait and see. Her intention was to leave the compound soon, not to stay as Julio wanted. She needed to have some time for herself. Get her own mind around what she could do. What she had become. Test the limits and get to terms with all the changes that had happened in the past months. Despite Julio’s unwavering trust in her, she was not so sure that she could control the change as well as she wanted. She occasionally had nightmares about the laboratory and woke up in a sweat with fur covering parts of her body. She refrained from mentioning this to Julio, but it gnawed at her confidence and left her anxious about the safety of those around her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The days passed, and I did my best to get used to life in the compound.

  It was quite busy, housing more than one-hundred men, women and children. There was always something happening. The council met every two days and discussed what should be done to further the cause. Some of the council members were only temporary residents of the compound, leaving after the meetings to go back to their homes in the villages or towns nearby. Others lived here permanently.

  I was not party to all the meetings, only occasionally joining the group when specifically invited—not feeling at all sure of my status here and not wanting to create any lasting ties.

  My nights were filled with nightmares and my days with cautious meanderings. I struggled to act normal, or what I thought would pass for that.

  I felt stifled, but there was nowhere else to go.

  The horror of what I had done in the laboratory and on-route to the compound haunted me day and night. Before the lab I’d thought of myself as a peaceful person. Not capable of violence. And now? I couldn’t get my head around the fact that I had murdered not one, but countless people. How many were there? In the lab, there had been twelve. On the move down here another five or six. I felt dazed as I counted the dead. It seemed so surreal. How could this be me?

  Okay, it was self-defence. Or so I tried to convince myself.

  Julio would not hear of my guilt, adamant that it had been necessary and that they had brought it on themselves.

  But every one of them was a human—had a family, a mother.

  They had robbed me of many years, had tortured me physically and mentally.

  But I had surpassed that. I had robbed them of life.

  It killed me to think about it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  I tried to help Maria where possible, enjoying the company of the woman and her children. Both Dulce and Alex vied for my attention. The small girl usually won when she crawled up on my lap and fell asleep. Alex almost interrogated me, trying to find out as much as possible about me. He was completely infatuated, it was cute, but somewhat embarrassing. His face colouring bright red if I caught him looking at me, invariably bringing a smile to my lips.

  Occasionally I would accompany someone into the jungle, looking for fruit or wood for the fires. I thoroughly enjoyed the walks, finally away from the compound and in between the rich plant and animal variety. The smells and noises soothed my senses and I could finally relax, revelling in all around me.

  I tried to go out as much as possible, but Jesus was reluctant to let me go out alone, unsure of my jungle skills and sensing that my resolve to leave permanently had not abated. He did not want me to go, not until he had answers and maybe until I had aided the cause. Since the first council meeting we had not spoken of my changing capabilities. I felt that he had many questions but was waiting for the right time to ask them.

  I left it at that.

  I doubted whether I would be able to answer them anyway.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  They had been at the compound now for three weeks.

  She was getting used to the hustle and bustle of all the people and animals. The dogs had stopped barking at her, even though they stayed wary. She had not changed at all in the time she had been here, and Jesus had decided not to tell anyone else of her abilities just yet.

  Julio had regained his strength and was actively participating in the strategy and war room meetings. He was obviously one of the movement’s leaders, and his opinion was highly sought after. They didn’t see much of each other, even though she was staying in a separate room in the building that Julio’s family shared with some close friends. She preferred to be alone, but that was getting more and more difficult. Alex still had a crush on her. He managed to find excuses to be near her as often as possible. Even though she really didn’t need the company, she found herself spending more time with Alex than with Julio.

  Finally managing to leave the compound for a short time, she
’d accompanied the Partisans on two trips into the jungle to follow up on rumours that the military were in the area. Both times they had returned empty handed without encountering the soldiers. The Partisans were wary of her at the beginning but had come to accept her presence and her heightened senses were a big benefit on the forays.

  Julio was adamant. She belonged here, this was her home and he would hear no arguments. Not even from her.

  The Partisans had spies and informants in all the towns and villages in the area, and they regularly received information and streams of suspicious or alarming events. It was one of these streams that caused Jesus to call her into the war room.

  ‘There are four strangers in San Maestro.’ He opened the meeting. ‘They are not military, although they look, and act like them. Probably mercenaries.’

  A hush went over the congregated Partisans. In these times where the military was for sale to the highest bidder, the mercenaries were even higher on the sadistic scale. They did what was too atrocious for the corrupt soldiers. They had no ethics, no sense of guilt or compassion and answered to no one, all of them sadistic psychopaths. Their main drive was violence. Not money. Most had been kicked out of the military for excessive violence. To be excessive—even for the sadistic military—was quite a challenge.

  ‘We have a stream of them. They are dangerous men. They already killed two farmers that we know of because they didn’t get the information that they wanted, or maybe just for fun. The farmers were tortured, the bodies unrecognisable. Even the military in San Mateo avoid them like the plague.’ He turned to Tonal. ‘Watch the stream and tell me if you recognise any of them.’

  ‘Why should she know any of them?’ Julio asked surprised.

  ‘Because it is her they are looking for.’ Jesus answered. The silence was complete—all eyes were on Tonal. She walked up to the table and looked at the computer screen. The stream was taken from a window higher than the street the four men were standing in—through a transparent material, probably a curtain. They stood in a circle around a fifth man who was on the sandy ground with his arms over his head trying to ward off the blows from the mercenary’s boots. They were kicking him in an almost relaxed and uninterested manner—business as usual.