Panic Attacks with Karin:
A high pitched scream filled the air outside.
Instinctively, I jumped off of my bed and unfurled my wings as I ran towards the mansion atrium, ready to flee from or fight whatever was coming.
The large, ornate wooden doors burst open, but instead of attackers invading, the rabbit girl named Karin came sprinting in. She clumsily tripped halfway through the open hall and slid across the floor, eventually coming to a halt by the stairs. She did not move; only lay there in a crumpled heap, sobbing pitifully.
I quickly looked around to see if there were any other members around. I was not dealing with this. Just as my luck would have it, there was no one around. Where the hell was everybody today, anyway?
Frowning, I descended the staircase and took a seat on the bottom step. The blonde heard my footsteps and looked up at me through teary eyes, and whimpered, “W-wh-where’s Sebastian?”
I tried to sound as comforting as possible, but my words came out just as harshly as usual. “He went to go pick up a new club member. He won’t be back until tomorrow, probably.”
At this, the bunny-girl began to wail. I stared, unsure of what to do.
Karin eventually composed herself enough to sit up. But in doing so, she switched from sobbing to hyperventilating, rocking back and forth on the smooth floors.
“Um, are you okay?” I asked. After saying this, I mentally smacked myself. Of course she wasn’t okay.
“T-there was a-a dog,” she stammered after calming down a bit.
“And what happened with this dog?” I asked monotonously.
“I-I-it chased me.”
“What kind of dog was it?”
“I-I don’t know,” she sniffled. “It was small and blonde and fluffy and…”
She was having a panic attack over a Pomeranian chasing her? This girl was pathetic!
I sighed. “Tell me what happened.”
Karin inhaled and began to speak. “W-well I was walking down the driveway to see if there were any flowers growing. A-and then suddenly this dog was there! I figured that he was lost, b-because he had a collar, and I wanted to try to get him home. S-so I reached down to pick him up, and he started growling at me!” Her red eyes filled with fright at the memory. “A-and then he lunged at me, so I took off running and he chased after me!” She began to cry again, her ears twitching rapidly from all of the emotions. “And then, just when I thought I had outrun him… he b-b-bit me!” She pointed to a small spot on her ankle that was oozing blood.
I groaned. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.” I ran to the bathroom and pulled a band-aid from the medicine cabinet and then rejoined Karin.
I genuinely felt bad for the rabbit girl. I couldn’t imagine being such a wimp that a small dog instilled terror into my very being. Why had no one ever tried to make this girl brave?
I took the band-aid out of its wrapper and awkwardly attempted to place the sticky bandage onto the girl’s ankle. Yeah. Because this would make her feel better. But, I guess to a girl suffering from an anxiety attack, a band-aid was like the saving grace of all the gauze in the world.
Squatting at her side, I rubbed the blonde’s back and shushed her soothingly. “Now, now. Don’t cry. It’s over now.”
Karin sniffed and looked at me through red-rimmed eyes. “You promise?”
I smiled at her and brushed a few strands of matted strawberry blonde hair away from her eyes. “I promise to never let anything try to hurt you again.” I probably should have chosen my words more carefully; that was a steep promise.
The blonde rabbit girl smiled at my words, the tearstains on her face beginning to fade. I gave her a reassuring pat on the back as we stood.
I was going to get this girl to toughen up if it was the last thing I did.
