Cougar's Roar

by Jim Mohr

  “Today the glass is electronically frosted. Visitors cannot see your work,” the fat man says as he keys in the code to enter the mountain lion portion of the exhibit. “Do you wish for them to be sedated?”

  “NO!” I shout. My anger swells suddenly. I can sense the cats, I am on edge. “Do not sedate them. Mrs. Reed, you stay here. I will call you if I need you.” I feel my Kalashnikov secure in its holster under my jacket.

  “Very well, sir.” The fat man says as he enters a card into the security door. “Through that door is their den. They are resting now, as always.”

  I push the door open and instantly I smell the cats. I don’t know if humans can smell these smells, but to me, they are as obvious as the falseness of this room—the artificial lighting, the fake running creek, the stone hill into the back wall, the small trees. This isn’t a den, it’s a goddamn prison cell!

  The male is lying on the ground, his back is to me. The female, Kiara, seems to be pacing. She looks at me as Smokey raises his head and stands. “My friends, I mean you no harm. I am Cougar,” I say out loud. The female walks toward me, her tail swaying back and forth. The male stands and watches.

  I face the female and lower my head slightly to her. She trots to me. I can sense her excitement. As she reaches me, she slows and lowers her head. The contact is soft, loving, and all at once sad.

  I look into her eyes and I feel a connection to her, a kindred spirit perhaps. Is it something more? Is it a ‘spirit animal’ experience as the Native Americans used to call it.

  Kiara pushes her head into my shoulder and I drop to one knee. I snuggle my head into her fur and she purrs. “You are a pretty girl, Kiara,” I say, as she gently nibbles my shoulder. “Now don’t bite me,” I say as I sense Smokey’s approach.

  With Smokey’s arrival, Kiara backs away. I lower my head to the male. He stops, sits, and stares at me. He is confused. I look at the male, our eyes meet. He is suffering; boredom and this prison are killing him. My heart is breaking as I see the torture and suffering of these great cats.

  “Smokey, I can help you,” I say to him. He growls a low guttural growl. Kiara stands and faces Smokey. “Smokey, don’t be an asshole, come here,” my words are an order for the cat. They cannot be disobeyed. He stands, lowers his head, and presses it to my chest.

  I grab the mountain lion’s front shoulders firmly as I convey my dominance and my love. Smokey raises his head and softly licks my face. Memories of my last power dream, the healing dream, come to mind. I fought the mountain lion in that dream. It tore me to pieces. Afterward, it licked the blood from my face as we bonded. It was then that I became Mountain Lion.

  I gently rub Smokey’s ears as Kiara pushes her face into me. Kiara pushes Smokey aside, as she wants to be near me. “Come on now, girl. There’s plenty for everyone,” I say as I chuckle softly. Smokey gently places his head on my left shoulder as he too purrs. I can feel his fangs gently digging into my muscular shoulder.

  These cats are not crazy. They need not be drugged. They need to be freed. I turn my head to the door and yell, “Send Mrs. Reed in here.”

  The PA cracks. “She says no way, Mr. Reed.”

  “Tell her to get her ass in here or I’m divorcing her.”

  After a brief pause, the answer comes. “Okay, she’s on her way.”

  ***

  The mountain lions stay with me as Carrie cautiously approaches. Smokey’s head is on my left shoulder as he watches her. Kiara’s head is still buried in my chest.

  “What the hell am I doing?” Carrie says, obviously terrified.

  “Honey, this fellow with his head on my shoulder is Smokey. This lovely girl hiding in my chest is Kiara.” I tilt my head toward Smokey. “This lovely human is my mate, Carrie.”

  “I’m not your mate yet and if they tear me apart I won’t be either.” Carrie stops her approach, she is about 6 feet from us.

  “Carrie, Smokey could cover that 6 feet in about a second. Come here and touch him.” I convey thoughts with Smokey, we are linked. Carrie slowly approaches, her right hand extends in front of her. Her approach is as if she were walking in an old carnival style haunted house in the dark.

  Once her fingers are within inches of Smokey, the rogue tongue makes an appearance again. His tongue is quick enough to catch her entire hand.

  Carrie pulls back. “Awww…. Hell, that’s gross.” My left arm goes around Smokey’s head as I hug my boy while I laugh. Kiara looks up from my chest.

  “You told him to do that, didn’t you?! You are nasty.”

  “Lighten up. Princess,” I joke. “I can’t kiss you right now, so I asked Smokey to do it for me.” Smokey stands and takes two steps toward Carrie and sits. She is staring at him, terrified. “Give him a hug. He’s a big kitty is all. He won’t hurt you.”

  Carrie lowers herself as she trembles in terror. Smokey licks his lips, briefly showing her his teeth.

  Chapter 46

  Dove—New Orleans, Louisiana

  “There! Do you sense them? They are both together now!” Owl grabs my shoulder and shakes me.

  “No, I can’t sense them yet. Who are they?”

  “They are both moderately powerful. We should confront them.” She looks to the east, toward the direction of the recently detected Timere.

  “Owl, they must be staying out of my range. I only sense humans.” Suddenly, they are there. My power picks them up as they enter the range of my senses. “I sense them now, they seem to be heading toward us.” Owl guides me toward a back alley, there is no escape for us. “Why did you guide us here? Owl, we are cornered.”

  “Dear, I want to know who they are, and what they want.”

  The two approaching Timere are moving slowly, deliberately. The closer they get, the clearer I see them. There are a man and a woman. Owl’s eyes narrow as we watch the entrance into our narrow alley.

  In the distance, the sound of a clarinet fills the air. The bustle of the business district seems to ignore us. The music grows louder and, finally, they step into our alley. The woman, dressed in brown has an average build. The man is dressed in black. The pair of Timere blocks our escape.

  “Bonjour,” Owl says to the pair. They both do not respond, they simply stare at us.

  I step forward as my heart beats so loudly I can hear it. “Hello, I am Dove. Can we help you?” Again, no response. The woman moves her hands in the air as if playing the violin.

  Owl chuckles softly. “Having a tough time keeping your sanity, Missy? What do you two miscreants want? Are you just looking for sites in Nawlins or are you looking to get roughed up?”

  The woman stops her fiddling motion and smiles at Owl. The man steps forward. “So, we have one bird. Who are you? A bird also?”

  “Lovey, I am Owl. Unless my senses are shitty, it looks like a snake and a spider have crawled into our alley.”

  “Why are you here?” the man asks.

  “None of your damn business. Can’t a girl walk around and enjoy the sights?” Owl says as I step backward, so I am next to Owl. I sense her defensive powers raising.

  The woman’s eyes grow big. “Answer Rattlesnake, bird! He asked you why you are here!”

  Owl winks at the woman. “Rattlesnake, huh? Then who are you, woman?”

  The woman’s head tilts as if she is considering her options. My vision blurs as sparkles of light flash in my field of view. The woman’s form shifts and contorts. In one instance she is a giant, brown spider. On her back, there is a brown color design in the shape of a violin. She is Brown Recluse.

  “Hey honey, it’s not nice to cause hallucinations to my friend.” I sense Owls telekinetic power emanating outward as a trashcan hurtles toward Brown Recluse. The half-full can slams into the woman, breaking her concentration and hurtling debris across the alley entrance.

  The sparkles and shifting image of Brown Recluse cease. Ra
ttlesnake steps forward, his hands raised as if to calm the situation. “Ladies, ladies, let’s not fight. Hold your temper, Owl. Brown Recluse is just introducing herself.”

  Brown Recluse brushes debris from her chest and legs. “That’s your death, bird. I know how to get you; my pets know how to get you!”

  “Bring it on, bitch! Rattlesnake, how about you get lost and take Dove with you, I have a spider to squish,” Owl says.

  Owl’s defensive power is up, she is facing the spider, fists in sparring position. “Stop this, now!” I yell. I release a sliver of my empathy power. The Timere flinch as my power strikes them. Rattlesnake grabs Brown Recluse’s shoulder. Owl’s head snaps to face me. “Leave us Timere. Leave and never bother us again!” I point at Brown Recluse; my threat holds power.

  ***

  Later That Night

  A scream awakens me, it is Owl. I sit up and I hear a soft, clicking noise. My senses come alive as I reach for the nightstand light. Something drops on my hand, small and light. It moves… I shake my hand as my skin crawls. I try for the light again. I press the button for the light, the room comes alive. Shadows stretch across the floor and cover the wall. I see small areas of movement on the floor, on the walls, and on my bed. I leap from my bed. My vision clears as the terror grips me. No less than twenty small brown spiders are all moving toward me.

  Owl screams again. “Mom, get them off of me!”

  I run to the door. The spiders under my feet do not squish, they do not die, they continue their march toward me. Am I hallucinating?

  When I open my door, the hall light comes on. Mrs. Constance has limped to the hall. Spiders cover the floor and some are walking down the walls. They are heading toward Owl’s room. At the end of the hall, Mrs. Constance hobbles from her room, cane in hand. She does not respond to the spiders. She limps toward her daughter’s room.

  “Mrs. Constance, watch out for the spiders!” I yell. The hobbled woman looks at me.

  “What spiders, honey? I think that you may be hallucinating.”

  Owl screams again. “Dammit!”

  The door to Owl’s room creaks as its hinges moan against a power pushing against the wood. The wood squeaks as it bends against the force being applied to it. A loud bang fills the house as the door explodes in a hail of wooden splinters. Owl lunges through the doorway, holding her arm. On her shoulder a spider clings, trying to reach her neck. I smack the arachnid and its insides splatter in my hand, and on Owl’s nightshirt.

  “Hallucinations, hallucinations mixed with real spiders! Brown Recluse is close! One bit me!” Owl’s eyes are fiery with anger and fear. “Mom, come on!” Owl turns to her mother as the woman hobbles forward. Spiders emerge from Owl’s room.

  Mrs. Constance screams at the sight of the dozens of brown recluse spiders pursuing her daughter. The spiders are real, not the hallucinations I see.

  “Jeni, run! Go!” Mrs. Constance yells as the spiders now split into two groups as if they were at the mouth of a river. One string of spiders’ heads for Owl, the other heads toward her mother. “Jeni, run!”

  Owl grabs me and pushes me toward the staircase, crunching sounds come underfoot as if we are walking on small crackers or chips. The staircase seems free of spiders, so we descend.

  I emerge in the dark kitchen. Mrs. Constance screams again. Another scream and the sound of something tumbling down the stairs that only moments ago was our route of escape. Owl turns back toward the stairs. Shortly after leaving my side she screams. “No! Maman!”

  The faint clicking of arachnid legs continues in my ears as shadows shift, either from live spiders, or hallucinations.

  “Owl, we have to leave! We are at a disadvantage here!”

  From outside the house, clearly heard, an owl hoots. Almost immediately a woman’s scream fills the night air. A flurry of screeching noises, screams, and shrill hoots come from the yard. The hallucinations cease. The rooms seem to brighten somehow as if the darkness were added to the visions.

  Owl reemerges from the stairway. She is heaving with deep breaths, sorrow, and anger. She looks at me, I can feel her power. “Outside! Now!”

  We exit through the front door, on to the small porch, the humid night air fills our lungs. In front of the porch, Brown Recluse is laying on the ground. She is struggling with a large, great horned owl. Blood is streaming from the holes where her eyes once were. The owl continues its assault on the Timere. Brown Recluse screams as her blood causes a gurgling noise in her mouth. I watch in horror as the girl struggles against the mass of feathers. Claws, beak, and the constant flapping of wings are all that I see as this bird is tearing her apart.

  Owl watches the attack. I sense her releasing her healing power, curing the spider bites. After what seems like an eternity, Brown Recluse ceases her struggle. The owl looks at me as it ruffles its feathers, hops clear of the corpse, and flaps its wings. It lands gracefully on Owl’s shoulder.

  “I’ve had enough messing around, Dove. We go to Cougar, and he better talk to you.”

  I gently touch Owl’s arm, I sense her pain, her loss. “Owl, I can help you.”

  “No! The Timere did this. I’m with Cougar, the bastards need to die! Even my Timere mother wasn’t spared from their evil.” She rubs the great owl resting on her shoulder, it is winded, it is exhausted. She places her forehead to the bird’s head. “Thank you, my friend, you saved a damsel in distress. Because of that, I shall name you, Knight.”

  The owl hoots as I stare at the body of the dead Timere. The spiders will disperse, their master is dead.

  Chapter 47

  Cougar—Enroute to Wisconsin Illinois Base

  Prior to this moment, I have never thought about what parents go through when their children leave home. What regrets do they hold for their children’s futures? Is there a sense of relief that comes after the realization of the empty bedroom? Watching Smokey and Kiara placed in cages for their trip to Colorado has aroused those thoughts in me. I shall miss my newfound friends. Concern was raised that they could not care for themselves in the wild. Ten minutes with me and I assured the humans that the cats knew enough to provide for themselves. I saw to their knowledge.

  “Cougar, are you all right?” Carrie asks while I watch the passing countryside.

  I feel choked up, sorrow and anxiety for the cats. The feelings are causing me to lose focus on my power. “I’m just thinking about Smokey and Kiara. I will miss them.”

  “Honey, I understand. They’ll be better off than being locked in that damn zoo, right?”

  “Yes. It doesn’t lessen the pain though.”

  A Death’s Head jet passes overhead. A moment later and its partner follows. “Carrie, I need to focus on the war. The stuff with mountain lions and Psychokinetics has to wait.”

  “Okay. I think that is a smart choice. How do you feel about relationships?” she asks tentatively.

  I look at Carrie; her beauty takes my breath away. “I am falling in love with you. I want you in my life. I can already tell that I cannot live without you.”

  Carrie smiles as she continues to watch the road. “Honey, you are kind of fast with the ‘cannot live without you’ thing, aren’t you? If you think that saying that will cause any change in my feelings, it won’t. You have been through a lot in the time that I’ve known you. Cougar, I don’t want you to rush into something.”

  I look back to the window, to the passing scenery. “You trust me, you trusted me enough to enter the mountain lions exhibit. That is more than I have had my entire life from a female. You cared enough to play the piano for me. That is more effort than even my mother has made on my behalf. I don’t have time to go slow with my relationships.”

  The vehicle brakes and veers to the right, to the side of the road. When the gentle tug of the brakes grabbing and bringing the vehicle to a stop happens, I look back at Carrie.

  “Cougar, wh
at do you think is happening? What is it?”

  “This war… it will consume me. I know it. I have to focus on it, I have to help the Alliance. Because of revenge, or loyalty, I have to succeed.”

  “And because of that, you want to rush into a relationship with me?”

  “Well, if we don’t start a relationship, we will be separated. You are in Security, I am in Special Operations. You are enlisted, I’m commissioned. We can’t be in a relationship under those conditions. Either one of us has to resign, or both of us do…”

  Carrie stares at me, her mouth open slightly. “You’ve put thought into this…” she says.

  “I am a Psychokinetic. I think about everything.” I smile as the dark thoughts of Smokey and Kiara leave me. “Carrie, the Admiral warned me about the war. He told me not to lose myself in it. Being with you is the best way for me to not get lost.”

  She smiles as she puts the vehicle back into gear and accelerates. “Very well, Cougar. If you are sure of this. You bring whatever you need to spend the night at my residence. I will help you to not lose yourself… I will show you love.”

  ***

  The Next Morning (Monday)

  The buzzing of the alarm interrupts my dream. Was it another dream about the mountain lion? Was it something darker? I forgot.

  Carrie moans softly as she rolls over to face me. A lock of hair lays across her face. I move it gently, I yearn to see her lovely face. She smiles as her eyes open slowly.

  “What time is it?” she asks.

  “It’s 4:30, I have to go back to my residence to get dressed. The Admiral has my first recruit lined up, I can’t go like this.”

  She looks at my lower body with a devious grin on her face. “Why not? I didn’t complain.”

  I touch the blanket covering her thigh. I can sense her skin under it. “Hon, I feel sure of my decision. I’m sure that I want to be with you.” I smile as I gently squeeze her thigh.