One Foot in the Grave

Dreams are said to be the way that the brain makes sense of everything that has happened to you, like it’s deciphering the code so that when you wake up you are better prepared for the situation. In psychology class we had watched an experiment where a man was told to play a snow boarding video game. After he finished it he was told to go to sleep and his brainwaves were studied throughout the night. When he woke up the next morning they had him play the video game again and he did much better, when asked he explained how he recalled bits and pieces of his dreams and they all dealt with snow and going down mountains.

As I lay in my bed, on the edge of falling asleep again, I kept telling myself that the reason I had dreamt of Lucian last night was just for that reason. My brain had to sort out all the new information and file it away so I could use it to my advantage today. Still, Lucian’s eyes seemed to stay in my vision like ghostly blue orbs. I couldn’t remember anything that had happened during my dream, just that it had been about Lucian. I was just glad he wasn’t still laying next to me, even though I yearned to see him again, the two marks on my wrists tingled at the thought of him and I shivered.

“He must’ve entered your mind last night huh?”

The question startled me so much that I shot up in bed, my wide eyes searching for the speaker. It didn’t take too long to find him; he wasn’t making much of an effort to hide.

“Why do you say that?” I asked suspiciously.

The mystery man stayed sitting on the small couch across from my bed, but he lifted his hand to point at me. “Your eyes, it’s wearing off, but when you first shot up they were just as blue as Lucian’s. Means he entered your dreams last night.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, “what do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“I guess you were just too weak to block him out,” he mused.

“Excuse me? Who are you?” I demanded.

“You’re cute when you’re trying to be demanding,” he said with a wink.

“Answer my question.”

He just chuckled, “nice try Blondie, you’re going to have to do better than that if you plan on getting any answers out of me.” I knew he was messing with me because of the playful glint in his eyes. Not an innocent one however. It was empty, as if he had shut off a majority of his emotions.

Just as I was about to reply a light knock sounded on the door and Apophis entered.

“Leo, I thought I told you to wait outside,” Apophis said, raising an eyebrow.
Leo shrugged, “I heard her talking in her sleep, thought it’d be a good idea to be in here with her.”

Apophis seemed to think for a moment then nodded.

“What’s going on?” I asked, glancing from Apophis to the other man.

“This is Leo, he’ll be going to school with you to make sure you stay safe,” Apophis said, laying a neatly folded pile of clothes on my bed. I looked from Apophis to Leo in horror. This jerk was going to being going to school with me everyday?

As if on cue Leo stood and gestured at the St. Reynolds uniform he was wearing, “don’t look so put out, it’ll be fun,” he said with a look that said anything but.

“Leo, please go and get all of your things, I need to speak with Sigrid.” Apophis didn’t seem surprised by Leo’s behavior. The man in question nodded and left my room with a lingering look at me.

I opened my mouth to begin protesting this matter but Apophis cut me off, “he may seem rash but he is one of our best fighters and the smartest, and the only guard that appeared young enough. Lucian assigned him to you because he will also become the head of your own personal guard.”

I couldn’t believe it, that pompous idiot was one of their best and smartest fighters? “How did you even get him enrolled, St. Reynolds never accepts students halfway through the term.”

“For the right price they did, along with a bit of persuasion,” Apophis chuckled at my expression of surprise. “I am very good at getting things done kitten,” he said with a smile. “Your school books are on your desk and here is your uniform, freshly laundered.” He indicated the pile of clothes as he spoke.

“Leo will be waiting upstairs for you when you are finished getting ready,” he said as he began to leave.

“Aren’t you going to come with me?” I asked quickly.

Apophis shook his head, “I would not fit in at high school and you are in safe hands with Leo, his personality just takes some... getting used to.” With that he was gone from my room, leaving only the ghost of a laugh.

After I had finished getting ready I hurried to the exit of the underground with my books in my bag. After knocking quickly on the door the werewolf from before, Dan, opened it and smiled warmly at me. “Good morning, have fun at school,” he said, laughing softly as if he could not believe that I would want to go to school. “Leo is waiting for you in the parking lot,” Dan said, pointing to another door.

“Thank you,” I called out as I quickly ran out to find Leo. He was leaning against a very sleek, very expensive looking red sports car. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“What?” Leo questioned, genuinely surprised by my reaction.

“I thought we would be staying under the radar, you know, try to attract as little attention as possible?”

“Everyone who goes there is filthy rich, I’m just trying to fit in,” Leo said with another of his shrugs. “You’re welcome to walk to school, but it’s a pretty long walk and we’re already running late.” His little reverse psychology trick worked and I stomped past him and got into the passenger side of the car, making sure to slam the door.

Leo was still grinning when he got into the car, he started it and we were off.

To say Leo drove fast would be an understatement.

“So, you’re a....” I left the statement open ended in hopes that he would finish it. I honestly had no clue what he was, I knew he wasn’t human because his features alone gave that away. His eyes were an unnaturally golden color and he had very subtly pronounced fangs for incisors. Probably from staying in his other form for too long.

“You can’t tell?” Leo asked, “Apophis mentioned that your powers were dormant but I didn’t think they’d be this weak.”

I didn’t bother asking what he meant about my powers, during the first half of the car ride I had discovered that Leo enjoyed dropping little bits of information here and there and then refuse to elaborate when I asked him to.

Leo chuckled when he saw that I wasn’t going to take his bait, “I’m a werelion, king of the jungle and all that.”

The more I thought about it, the more I saw that he actually looked like his animal counterpart, just like I did. We both had eyes that slanted slightly like a cats, his pupils were more of an oval compared to mine, and our facial bone structure was very pronounced with high cheeks bones and in his case a strong jaw line. Leo’s hair even resembled his lion form, it was thick and shaggy, and it hung down in chopped layers. And even his name.

“Leo the lion?” I asked, feeling pleasure in being able to tease him back.

“Oh? So we’re moving on to pet names? I could get used to this.” Well, that effectively shut me up.

As we drove into school I just wanted to melt into my seat and disappear. Sure, most of the kids who went here drove very fancy cars, but those were all the very upperclass kind of fancy. Professional would be a good way to describe them. Leo’s car was everything a guy would want, it possessed a unrestrained amount of power, looked like it could break laws just by existing, and had every lady’s eyes glued to it. While the other kids’ Mercedes looked expensive and fancy, Leo’s car looked threatening and dangerous. Just like its driver, I thought wryly as he parked and we both got out. Leo was carrying my text book and I had my bag slung over my shoulder as we walked to the main office to pick up his schedule.

And guess what? Every single pair of eyes was on us. St. Reynolds didn’t get that many new students, Leo was a new face and I could tell he was already in demand.

“Seems we’re very popular,” Leo whispered, leaning close to me even though I could hear him just fine from where he had been standing. I quickly side-stepped him as he tried to sling an arm over my shoulders and briskly walked towards the office.

This was going to be a very long day.

It wasn’t a surprise that Leo had the same classes as me, or that he sat next to me in each one of them. What was surprising was the fact that, all of a sudden, everyone wanted to talk to me and hang out with me. During art class, while Leo was making a mess of his pottery project, Sarah Prestons came and sat next to me. She was one of the ‘popular’ crowd here at St. Reynolds. She started talking to me about this and that and made a big deal out of complimenting my hair and quizzing me on what hair products I used to get it so wavy. She had found it hilarious when I told her that all I did was wash it and brush it. Jessica Samuels wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping with her and some of her friends after school. Melanie Roberts invited me to the party she was having this weekend. However, every one of these requests was followed by the question: “would your friend Leo like to come too?”

Leo found it absolutely hilarious. Thanks to him, we were supposed to be going shopping after school, going to get Starbucks tomorrow, going to a party on Saturday, and going out to a club on Friday. He had just accepted an offer for us to go to the beach this afternoon when I finally put my foot down.

“Won’t that interfere with our shopping plans?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and trying my best to intimidate him.

“We can always call her later, I got her phone number,” Leo said, looking over at me and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“I thought Lucian told you to protect me, not humiliate me,” I muttered. It was lunch time and we were headed to the lunch room.

“You don’t like the attention?”

“No, I don’t.” Especially since they’re all talking to me and inviting me just so that they can get to Leo.

“Hey! Segread, Leo!” I cringed at the pronunciation of my name. A girl I didn’t know at all came rushing up to us, “I never got the chance to-” She didn’t get the chance to talk either because Leo cut her off.

“Sigrid doesn’t want me accepting anymore invitations, sorry,” Leo said. I nearly punched him then and there. He was grinning as he noticed my glare.

“You don’t need her permission,” the girl said, waving a dismissive hand at me.

“You’re right, but she’s not who I’m worried about. Now go away, I’m not interested in you, nor will I ever be.”

The girl looked utterly stunned, I was too. Leo seemed to have a thousand sides to him, and I had just seen another. The girl turned and stomped off, obviously fuming with anger.

“How was that?” Leo asked, back to what I deemed his typical self: teasing and inappropriate.

“Now everyone’s going to start hating me.”

“You can’t have it both ways Blondie.”

I shoved him away from me when he tried to get closer and he just chuckled and followed closely behind me as we entered the cafeteria.

Suddenly I was ambushed. Leo quickly pulled me back into the circle of his arms as two rambunctious werewolves ran over to me. “Quit it Leo, they’re my friends,” I snapped, struggling to get out of his hold. He let go of me but stayed close behind me, obviously displeased with the situation.

“Sig, where have you been?”

“What happened in the clearing?”

“Who’s this guy?”

“Are you really a wereleopard?”

Their questions kept coming one after another and I had no opportunity to jump in and answer any of them.

“Dean! Sam! Remember your orders!” Rafael’s voice was a very low, very threatening growl that sent shivers of fear through my body. Dean and Sam cringed at the sound of his voice and, after casting me apologetic looks, hurried back to Rafael. The weak smile I sent him was returned with a glare. The look made me want to break down and give up, this was how he was going to treat me? Like we hadn’t been the closest of friends for over two years now?

“Fine, go ahead and hate me Raf,” I muttered, knowing he would hear the words even though they were spoken quietly. He tensed as the words hit him, but that was it.

“Trouble in paradise Blondie?” Leo asked, his stupid grin curling his lips.

“Shut up Leo,” I muttered, earning a laugh from him.

After school I was waiting outside the main office for Leo. He had to get a permanent parking spot and pass for the year otherwise his car would be towed. I couldn’t decide on whether or not I would find that hilarious. I think it would probably be deserved.

“Hey!”

I don’t know why I looked, but for some reason I reacted and found myself staring at Will and his group of friends. I rolled my eyes and tried to just ignore them. Will had been making jabs at me all through PE today, calling me names and aiming the volleyball at me whenever he was serving. Of course Leo had ‘accidentally’ hurled the volleyball into Will’s gut and knocked the wind out of him. It was obvious that he was still peeved that I bested him in dodge ball.

“What’s up?” Will asked, putting on his best pretty boy look.

I eyed him suspiciously before answering, “what do you want Will?”

“Don’t be so snappy, I just wanted to apologize and take you out tonight to make up for it.”

If he had said those words to me a month ago I would have probably swooned immediately. However, things had changed. “Will,” I said, pausing and watching his obnoxious smirk grow, “there is no way in Hell I would ever go out with you.”

For a moment he seemed taken aback, it was a rare thing for a girl to turn down a date with Will.

“Excuse me?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you really want me to turn you down in front of all your friends, again Will?”

“Sorry, forgot you’re incapable of being anything but some freakish loner, I was just trying to be nice since you’ll probably never have a boyfriend,” Will said, chuckling once he was finished. I knew he was just trying to protect his ego but the words still got my blood boiling and set the leopard inside me off. I felt a warm rush of the sun’s heat that always signaled the start of my transformation. I immediately bit back my insults in an attempt to keep my anger in check.

“What’s this about Sigrid never having a boyfriend?”

The smooth voice of Leo washed over me and seemed to take away the burning sensation to shift, it was like the urge was there one moment and then gone in the next. I sent a wide eyed stare to Leo, how did he do that? Leo stopped next to me, suspicious eyes set on Will.

Will paused, taking a moment to size Leo up. Leo was lean and slightly toned, which for a shape shifter was extremely toned. Will, however, made it obvious that he spent a lot of time at the gym. So, Will ultimately decided he had the upper hand. Too bad he didn’t know Leo was a shapeshifter.

“Well, she chased away the only guys who would put up with her,” Will said, laughing along with his friends.

“I wouldn’t say they’re the only ones,” Leo said, putting an arm over my shoulders. “I happen to be Sigrid’s boyfriend.”

I nearly had a heart attack, what in the world was Leo doing?!

“Of course, she’d have to go for the poor new guy who doesn’t even know who’s who yet,” Will continued, laughing along with his friends again.

“I’d really appreciate it if you quit treating her like that, I saw what you were doing during gym and if you keep it up I’m afraid things aren’t going to end nicely.” Leo said the words with a friendly smile but the warm growl in his voice indicated otherwise.

Will took a step towards Leo, “is that a threat?”

“Was I not clear enough?” Leo said, a smirk slipping over his lips. I could not help but get the impression that Leo was enjoying this.

“You’re new, so I’ll let you get by with that, but you had better watch what you say to me from now on,” Will said in a hushed tone. Then Will went to shove Leo back but Leo was too quick for him, Will ended up shoving nothing but air and had to stumble to catch himself before falling.

“I understand,” Leo said with a mocking smile. “Com’on Blondie, I’ve got homework to do.”

I scoffed but followed Leo anyways, as if he would ever do homework.