With Love from Eternity-Lana

itting beneath a bush far outside the military base Natasha had used her camera's to gain some more footage of Jon with the animals. She had followed him stealthily so that he wouldn't be aware that she was there. What had worried her most was not that he would sense her but the animals certainly would and so she used all the tricks that she could remember to try and avoid detection, such as keeping the wind blowing in a direction from him to her. With a lot of patience, some extra sunburn and careful exertion she had managed to film some stunning scenes with Jon and the lion. Much later on she had done the same with him the grizzled female hyena he called Kran. “Where had he found that name,” she wondered idly to herself. Thinking now of the strange and heart breaking scenes she realised that like the troops in the base she would never have believed it if she hadn't witnessed it herself. A lion she could understand, but a fucking hyena? Now as she observed him through the telescopic lens of her camera she could see that he was strolling casually back, the red sunlight glinting in the tears that streamed down his strong face. A moment ago he had shouted something and waved his goodbyes to the animals. But he was too far away for her to hear anything clearly. The bush veld was quiet now except for the cries of a bird or two and the sun was a sinking ball of softly glowing fire. Shadows were lengthening around her and in the distance the sound of muffled growls and the occasional mewing startled her. The cool air seemed to flow around her, together with the nagging feeling of exposure. She was, after all, completely alone. Uneasily Natasha pulled her bottle out and took another slug of vodka. She couldn't help it but tears also rolled down her cheeks. It was heart breaking for her to see Jon like this, and yet the way he strolled through this wild bush so confidently, his shoulders squared and pulled back, he was every inch a creature of the bush himself, the bush that was now beginning to feel mildly hostile to her all on her own. Despite her gnawing trepidation of her current situation alone in the bush, the love that she felt for him was something that she couldn't ignore and she felt the realisation that she had known from the beginning that he belonged to Lana, hurt like a cruel knife in her heart. She took another gulp of her vodka then screwed the cap on and put the bottle back in her pocket. The silver hip flask had been a present to her from him. He had kept his word and maintained regular contact with her after they had returned to South Africa and gone their separate paths, even sending her presents like this same flask, from time to time. She had never drunk anything but vodka from it. Come to think of it, she reminded herself, she had never drunk anything since except for vodka. Now the darkness was creeping across the land and she realised that she had better start back on her way to the base. Reluctantly she stood up and brushed herself off - ants and grass and dirt. The gathering dusk was enveloping her and with the coolness of the soft wind she also had the chilling sensation of dangerous isolation flow up her spine. Up until now she had never considered that it might be unsafe for her to be out here on her own and she was still determined that Jon mustn't see her, but now she was feeling distinctly vulnerable. The eerie sensation of being watched grew in her mind and she didn't want to turn her back on the lengthening shadows to walk back to the base. The darkness grew as she slowly retreated and so did the nagging feeling that something was lurking out there. She could feel it as she struggled to hold down the panic that was threatening to engulf her. With trembling hands she took her flask out again and gulped down some more vodka and then with a slowly growing fear now she screwed the lid back on and replaced the flask in her pocket. The shadows had lengthened to a semi twilight and the cool breeze blew dust around her. Somewhere out there something moved and then she heard the sound of scuffling. She wanted to run but she knew from what Jon had told her, in most cases in the bush this is a fatal mistake. Turn and run and whatever is there will chase you and catch you, but if you face it, it will be cautious and the smell of your perfume or whatever may put it off altogether. That all had sounded so comfortable when Jon had explained it to her in the safety of the base back then, but now there was something out there and it was definitely watching her and with that creeping sensation of a lurking and menacing presence she couldn't feel calm at all. The dusk darkened rapidly around her and her heart hammered like a concrete pounder that you see workers using on the streets when they need to break the pavements up for whatever purpose, as she started to pace slowly backwards. Suddenly a piercing barking laugh burst through the nights silence and she froze. Then in the gathering near darkness she was horrified to see pairs of gleaming red eyes that all seemed to be looking in her direction. Shadowy shapes were moving towards her and they were getting closer all the time! In the distance she could barely make the figure of Jon out.