Steal My Soul

I was sitting in the back of one of my classes listening to another professor drone on and on about the different essential amino acids. Half of which I don’t even think I could pronounce. I mean really? Who even came up with these words?

I sighed and rested my cheek in the palm of my hand as I began doodling in my notebook. Maybe this lecture wouldn’t be so boring if the professor spoke with more fluctuation in his voice. Not only that, but I had kind of learned this stuff already a couple years ago. As I sat there sketching a random image, my thoughts turned to Luc. I hadn’t seen him nor had I heard from him in the past week. Not since the big reveal on whom he was. It still bothered me that Natalie had adapted to the thought of the supernatural being real more quickly than I had. In a way, I wished I could have accepted everything with such ease and nonchalance like her, but I was the type of person to question everything. How was I supposed to know I wasn’t being duped or something? Although it is true I probably should have thought more about actually showing up to the date.

I mean, I had hardly known the man when he set up that date. The way he had said it, too, made it seem like the only option for me was to show up. Since I had a feeling if I hadn’t, he only would have tracked me down and forced me to go out with him anyways. It was better to go willingly I suppose. As my pencil flew across the notebook paper bringing my image to life, my other hand reached up to brush the tips of my fingers along the smooth pendant. I wasn’t completely sure how it was keeping me functioning by just sitting there above my collarbone, but I wasn’t going to bother questioning since I’d probably only get more confused by the answer.

I laid down my pencil as I picked up the pendant to weigh it in the palm of my hand. It was such a light ornament for carrying such a heavy weight in its center. Who knew that your soul had so much impact on your life? Most of us didn’t even give a second thought to our souls. Sure we joked around saying ‘my soul is damned’ or ‘I love him with all my heart and soul’, but we never really knew much about our soul. We just figured it was our spirit; our ghost. The deciding factor upon if we went to Heaven or Hell. It was much more than that though.

Without our souls…we would all go insane. It’s not just our looks that make us individuals; it is our souls, too. Sure, we would still be unique with the way we dressed or looked overall, but without our souls we would all be lost in a sea of never-ending unanimity. That probably sounded good right? Everyone agreeing on everything? But I don’t think so. If everyone agreed with something, then who knows how technologically advanced we would be right now? Or if we would be any closer to discovering cures for diseases? We probably wouldn’t be as far as we are now.

Slowly though, our minds would slip into a crazed, maddened world and our hearts would cease to beat. God created us with a soul for a purpose so that we may live and change the world into a better place. It’s still stands to debate if the world is actually changing for the better or not, but that’s irrelevant. Basically, without our souls, we wouldn’t be US. The unique being He created us to be. If he had wanted us to think the same, he would have made it so that we could survive without a soul, but honestly? Who wants to be a walking clone that does the same as everyone else? I don’t.

That brought me around to another question of mine. Luc had said my soul had been calling out for help…but why? Surely it wasn’t telling me that I needed to marry Luc in order to get my life back on the right track? Had it been because I was slowly slipping into the background, merging in with everyone else instead of standing out and being my own person? Was my soul crying out for not specifically him, but for anyone to come along and help my soul return to its unique state of living?

I sighed and glanced up at the round, Roman numeral clock in the lecture hall. There was still twenty minutes left of class. I rested my forehead down on my desk and inwardly groaned. I peeled the notebook paper off my forehead from where it had stuck to my face thanks to the sweat that glistened along its surface. They always kept these rooms ridiculously hot when fall was around. That’s when my eyes landed on the drawing I had been sketching on in the top right corner of my paper. I immediately recognized it for which it was: Luc.

I had drawn him in the white button down shirt I had first seen him in that night at Olive Garden, only it was unbuttoned halfway down his chest to reveal a toned chest. His hair was styled back like it had been that night. The only thing different about this Luc and the real one was this Luc had no cocky grin on his face. Instead his lips were turned down and his pencil gray eyes held sadness and longing. Maybe I had drawn him in that way because it was secretly the Luc I wished to see. Instead of the one that was always acting smug and carefree. The only time I had seen that look on his face was during the time he had been recalling his father’s past. Almost like even though he agreed with what his father had done, he still wished for a different life.

I brushed my fingers across the drawing wishing I could see that side of Luc more often. Although I was afraid if I did, I might start falling for him. That was something neither Luc nor I could afford to happen now or ever. A lot of people said that my doodles were miniature works of art and would inquire as to if I had ever taken lessons. I always told them no; that all of my talent was self-taught. I didn’t care to take art classes. Art was just a passion of mine that I randomly chose to do when and if I ever got into the sudden mood to create something. I crumpled the paper in my hand as I dredged my anger back to the surface. I needed to stay angry whenever I thought about his face so it was harder for me to find reasons why I could see myself liking him. Or worse, finding myself ok with being called his wife.

“Hey there, honey,” that familiar low, British voice purred directly in my ear.

“Well, speak of the devil. Literally,” I grumbled turning to face Luc. I nearly choked upon seeing him. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans with a white belt interwoven through the loops of the pants. Loosely clinging to his chest was a thin navy blue and white horizontal striped shirt; the long sleeves were pushed halfway up his forearm to reveal the toned muscles in his arms. He had an elbow propped up on the desk that he was sitting in with his temple resting against his fist. Those icy blue eyes of his shone brighter from beneath the clear, stainless lens of the square framed glasses that were sitting upon the bridge of his nose. Today, the short cut sides of his hair were combed down while the longer length of hair on the top of his head had been teased with a decent amount of gel giving it an upward tousled appearance.

Those sinful lips curled upward into a knowing smile as I was caught staring at him. Again. I quickly turned my face away to hide behind the curtain of my long, brunette hair as I felt the slow, steady flush of embarrassment creep into my cheeks.

He sighed and relaxed back in the desk, kicking his feet up onto the empty seat in front of him down a level.

“How can you stand to sit through these things?” he groaned dropping his head backwards over the top of the seat.

“You get used to it. So, what are you doing here Luc?” I asked without bothering to look at him. I felt like he had already caused a lot of disruption by just suddenly showing up here. Not because he was a good forty minutes late to class, but because he epitomized the phrase ‘devilishly good-looking’ in both literal and figurative meanings.

“I wanted to see you. Plus, I was getting bored around the house and wanted to see what you were up to. Seems as if I was having more fun lazing around the house,” he sighed adjusting his position in the chair.

“Oh, I see…” I nodded. I turned my head a fraction of an inch in his direction. Just enough to catch his gaze from the corner of my eye. “Now the truth.”

His face broke out into a pleased smile showing off his dazzling white teeth. Whenever I saw that arrogant look on his face it made me want to knock his teeth in while at the same time kiss him into oblivion.

“You know me so well already,” he praised.

“Not really. You just kind of gave yourself away by using the phrase ‘I wanted to see you’. Now what’s the real story as to why you’re here?”

“My parents want to meet you before they decide on a date for the ritual,” he answered flatly.

“Don’t sound so overly excited. You might just get my hopes up,” I replied sardonically as I began packing my notebook back into my bag. Class was going to end in the next few minutes or so.

A harsh laugh escaped his lips. “I’m just concerned as to what they will make of you.” For a moment I almost thought I heard a flicker of worry interlaced with his usual blasé tone of voice.

“Um…what do you mean by that?”

“I haven’t quite told them you’re human yet. I’m afraid they might kill you if they find out since we aren’t technically supposed to inform humans of our presence in the world. They, right now, believe you are a fellow demon,” he explained.

“Have a great day everyone!” The professor dismissed us. I slung my bag over my shoulder and stood up with Luc at my side. Luc bent down to grab something as I watched every girl that walked passed us nearly trip over the stairs as they went to exit out the back door of the lecture hall. The guys made sure to puff out their chests and appear suave as they made their way passed Luc. I rolled my eyes. It seemed he had an effect on everyone. Not just women.

“Why didn’t you tell them?” I asked following behind the mob of students that were slowly drifting out the doors.

“I didn’t want to upset them. They were so happy when I told them I had found a soul to bond with,” he sighed shoving his fingers back through his hair.

“Wait…I thought humans were the only ones with souls? So wouldn’t they know just by that simple fact that I was human and not a demon?”

Lucifer shot me a glare from the corner of his eyes. That glare was lost on me though as I realized how incredibly sexy those glasses looked on him. They made him appear intelligent and…kinda hipster, but in a sexy way.

“No, Leighra, humans aren’t the only ones with souls. Remember that demons are just Fallen Angels. Angels have souls, therefore so do demons. We can just survive without ours is all,” he clarified.

“Oh, ok. So…they want to meet me? And where, might I ask, will that be happening?”

We finally exited the lecture hall and now stood outside in the bright, early afternoon sun.

“Back at my home,” he simply answered.

“Which is where?”

He arched a dark brow. “Now that is quite a silly question to ask.”

My eyes widened. “In Hell?!” I blurted out in shock. A few passers-by slowed their walking speed to stare at me funny. I waved them on before lowering my voice. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How am I even supposed to get there? I can’t exactly MapQuest it!” I hissed.

“Actually you can. It’ll just lead you to Michigan,” Luc said with a crooked smile. That cute little dimple made another appearance and I had to refrain myself from pinching his cheek. That dimple was too adorable on him especially with him wearing those glasses.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a point blank stare. “Seriously, Luc. How do you expect me to get there?”

He reached out a hand and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear; his fingers drifted across my jawline before dropping back to his side.

“Don’t worry your pretty little face. I’ll get you there safe and sound. Al though I can’t promise that for when we actually get to the house.”

I sighed trying to shrug off the way he had softly touched my face. “When do they want to meet me?”

“Well, now preferably.”

“I still have two classes left!”

“Well…” he said thinking on it. “You’ll just have to skip them today. My parents are the type to rain check.”

I dragged a hand down my face in frustration. This man had absolutely no care in the world for anything else except for what suited his needs.

“Fine,” I conceded. “Just allow me to go back to the apartment and drop my stuff off, ok?”

Luc nodded as a large goofy grin lit up his handsome face. I quickly turned my back on him so that he wouldn’t see my cheeks stained red at seeing that sort of smile on his face. For once it wasn’t the cocky grin I was used to seeing. I could feel my heart racing; it was pounding hard against my chest at seeing that smile.

I shook my head remembering that I had to hate him with everything I had. There was no room for me to like him. I had to find a normal guy to settle down with after all of this was over. If I was even allowed to leave after everything was said and done. I shoved my headphones into my ears and blasted some Breaking Benjamin into my ears to drown out the chattering of passing students and to hopefully get my mind off Luc for the time being.

************************************************************************
Luc’s P.O.V.

I watched as the short, feisty brunette walked away shoving headphones into her ears. I shoved my hands into my front pockets and began following after her. My fingers ran into a thick crumpled ball. That’s when I remembered having found the crumpled piece of notebook paper on the ground at Leighra’s feet shortly after she had stood up. Before she could take notice and possibly rip it out of my hands, I shoved it into my pocket waiting until the right moment to look at it. It was most likely just notes for the class, but if that were the case then why would she crush the paper?

I made sure I could still see her walking to the beat of her music as I carefully unfolded the paper. I had only gotten the top half of the paper spread-out when my eyes locked on with a sketch of…me. Except at the same time it wasn’t me. The eyes she had drawn held such loneliness…such depth…something I always thought I had hidden well. Yet she had captured so perfectly. Next to the sketch of me was a question she must have scribbled down while lost in her thoughts, but she hadn’t finished it. It read:

Why can’t he

I stared down at the paper for a long time while I continued trailing after Leighra. Why can’t I what? My eyes lifted up slowly from the wrinkled piece of notebook paper that was trembling slightly in my hand. I had known from the moment I felt the undeniable connection her soul held with mine that she was going to be the perfect match. I just wasn’t ready for any sort of love to sweep into my life. My heart had ceased to beat thousands of years ago. I honestly think it’s forgotten how to beat.

I quickly glanced down, shoving the paper into my pocket, when Leighra abruptly glanced back at me over her shoulder. I just had to keep believing she was nothing but another deal to me. She was just another soul.