Chereads / Palace Life: The Rings of Secrets / Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Where Are You, Walliams?

Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Where Are You, Walliams?

"What are doing in here!?" Elizabella whispered harshly as she froze in her chair and casually looked around to see if any of the other students looked over her way.

When she saw that no one there paid attention to her, she sighed with relief before turning her attention to the small cub. She noticed that the small cub had gotten into her various snacks that she would eat throughout the day. She wondered if he had been attracted by her snacks in her bag.

Actually, Elizabella carried more food then she did books. All of her textbooks had long been memorized so she would mostly carry a folder that held her homework and a notebook filled with clean paper. She had her writing utensils in a bag on the side of her bookbag pocket. Where she should have her textbooks is where she held her snacks.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought that she would not be able to eat her snacks. The bell suddenly sounded, prompting the students to settle down while the teacher walked in.

Elizabella wondered what she should do. If the cub had been a normal domesticated animal, she would definitely say something to her teacher before calling someone from home... but now, what can she do? This cub is a rare race that people would kill for; however, since he is too young, his features are quite generic and practically looks like a young black cat.

She struggled with what she should do when she noticed that the little cub yawned and closed his eyes. The teacher began to teach as Elizabella carefully took out her things that she would need while she placed her bag on the floor next to her feet. She decided that she would wait until lunch so she could deal with this situation.

The day went by slowly as Elizabella waited for lunch. There were times when she would feel her bag move and a few munching sounds, making her glad that she sat in the corner, last row. The day was sunny but cloudy as the window closest to her was open. She tried to appear like nothing was wrong as lunch rolled by.

As soon as the bell rung, she dashed away with her bag. She found a quiet place under the stairs and looked inside her empty bag. She felt her heart sink as she only saw the empty wrappers and containers, but no silver eyes.

Her eyes darted around trying to find the little cub's silhouette and quickly made her way back to her class. She noticed the mostly empty room and then noticed the opened window. She dashed to the window while still somehow appearing like she was gracefully floating on air.

Her eyes scanned the area as her class was on the first floor and because of this reason, she was not worried if the cub hurt himself while falling down. There were some flowering trees that blossomed year round with a manicured landscape and with the clouds around, it made it near impossible to find a cub that could hide in any shadow.

Seeing that she could not see his body around, she hastily left her empty classroom to leave the building to go outside. There were normally students scattered around the campus during lunch. She tried to look around while appearing that she was going on a leisurely stroll.

Elizabella was not a tall person as she was only 158 cm (5'2"). It normally did not bother her but right now she wished that she could have longer legs to quicken her steps. She scanned the darker areas more as she was sure that he would play there as dark places are typically more comfortable for shadow panthers.

Suddenly, she heard a rustle near a bush off of the path. She immediately became alert as she focused on the noise and looked around her. When she saw that no one was around, she stealthily made her way to the noise. She knew she had to be careful as she knew that shadow panthers were normally silent in their element and the noise she heard could be something else.

As she made her way closer, she saw a familiar black tail and was grateful that the cub was not old enough to know how to melt into the shadows completely. She quietly stalked her prey as she slowly made her way closer, while hiding her breath and presence.

At times like this, she was glad that she was not tall as she was able to shrink her body closer to the ground while she slowly made her way towards the cub. Her hair began to darken as well as her eyes with every inch she made. The closer she got, the more her presence began to melt into the environment around her.

When she was finally close enough, she felt her heart beat had slowed down to such a degree that many would be alarmed, while her breath had long stopped. There was a subtle glint in her, now, black eyes as she pounced on the cub with great precision and ease. The cub was startled and tried to struggle from her grip until he looked back at her.

The little black cub stopped struggling when he saw Elizabella giving him a murderous look that frightened him. She frowned as she looked down at the frightened cub in her grasp as she wondered what she should do with him now that she had caught him. She sighed as she wished that Walliams had followed her to school today in her shadow so that he could take the young cub back home with no problems.

"I guess I will call for your brother to pick you up now," said Elizabella while she searched for her CD in her pocket. "He should come running as soon as I tell him you are with me. Walliams must be worried sick looking for you back home."

Elizabella picked up her CD, which looked like a compact mirror, and began to dial it while the cub stayed quiet. As she was about to press the last button, she heard voices that made her perk her ears and the rest of her body froze. She slowly looked up from the medium-sized bush she was resting next to that conveniently covered her whole body. Her eyes widened even bigger as she saw two people talking on the other side of the bush.

She knew if she tried to leave, they would see her. She frowned again as she really wished that Walliams would be there at that moment.