Chapter 2

Outside, speckles of hail fell from the grey, murky sky. Inside, Max staggered around and ran to the other side of the forest to hide himself. Snapped chunks of wood lay on the floor, cobwebs hiding in the corner of trees and under leaves and water dripping from the trees continuously. To his disbelief, he figured there was no way out – there was no other way to go.

All of a sudden, the creepy man stood illuminated behind a tree, a knife glinting in his hand. Max gasped…

At that moment, something growled, deeper than thunder! Out of the darkness not one but two yellow eyes appeared in the shadows. A flash of black and the strongest of teeth. Whatever it was, sprinted past Max and it stood between him and the man.

It was huge, huge and black. Max realised that he was standing beside a massive Jaguar. It threw forward its shaggy head and growled. At that moment, the man had fled. Max stood rooted to the spot paralysed by fear. Is Jaguar a nice creature?

Jaguar turned ; she leant down in front of Max, resting her head on the ground. He could see that she was wounded. She had : bruises on her skin, cuts across her back and was shaking continuously, (she was in a lot of pain). A gash of red ran across her side. He had never been so close to such a magnificent creature before . He could smell and earthy, watery scent and watched as her pelt of black fur ripple across her back.

Opening their souls, they stared intensely at each other and Max felt that she was sizing him up, seeing deeper into his very being. Luckily, his fear began to fade and he held out his hand. She leaned her head forwards and sniffed. Then she licked his skin with her bristly, rouge tongue. Her eyes sizzled as if heated by fire. He could see kindness but also a well of sadness.

It was then that she spoke. A low gentle voice that seemed to rise from the ground itself. It was a voice of rock, water and mud. ‘’I need your help now!’’ she slowly explained. ‘’We must find the gateway.’’

Max stared back, his head nodding as if he understood. He knew in that moment he would do anything to protect this huge, beautiful creature – anything – ‘’They will be back!’’ cried Jaguar, ‘’So I must conceal myself (She had to hide away)

Twenty minutes later, Max and Jaguar had slunk through the streets down to the old garages by Elizabeth Road. No – one had ever dared to venture there. Rumour had it that the ghosts of WW2 soldiers haunted the garages but that last summer, Max had made an entrance. He often sat inside and played games with his football, it was like a bedroom in there. Jaguar curled up in a dark corner and slept. Max kept watch