Chapter Seven
Leona had run to her brother before to ask him questions like the one she had now. She was used to girls coming up to her to ask if she could ask her brother these questions.
This time, however, was different. Fern wanted to go with someone and Leona had ended up with a date instead of Fern. She wanted things to be fair so she was going to ask Max until he gives into her.
With newfound resolve, Leona sprinted across the manor to the fourth year tower. She knocked on the door and waited. �Who is it?� asked a girl from behind the door.
�Leona Sage� I want to see my brother�� Leona said.
The door opened and a tall girl with long blonde hair smiled at her. �Come on in, Leona.. My name is Alexandra.�
�Thank you� can you show me where to go so I can go see him?� Leona asked politely.
Alexandra pointed to the left. �Up those stairs� that�s where the boys� dorm is��
�Thank you!� Leona then dashed up the staircase.
She ran up the stairs and found a door that had a small sign on it. �Boys� dorm.. I think this is it..� Leona smiled and walked in.
She was nearly flattened by a tall boy. In fact, she was on the floor, with a tall, lanky boy lying on top of her and he was panting. She blushed at the predicament she had found herself in.
The boy lifted his head up and Leona got a glimpse of him. He had a pretty face with pale blue eyes and ash-brown hair. He looked a bit like Damien. He stared down at her in a surprised fashion. �I�m sorry, Miss� I didn�t see you��
Her cheeks went a deeper shade of rose. �L-l-l-leon-na�..� she stammered out.
This time, his pale cheeks went into a deeper shade of rose than hers were. �I�m sorry�� He said. His voice was soft and it sent chills up her spine. Then, he stood up, taking her hand in his on the way so she could stand as well. �My name is Eamon� Eamon Conrad� I hope I didn�t hurt you�� he said with a small smile. He brought her closer and started looking her over. �Nope.. nothing that I can see anyway��
She smiled weakly and stood back away from him. �Excuse me� I was just looking for my brother��
�Leona?!�
Eamon was almost shoved back into her again by Max as he rushed over. �EAMON! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!� Max panted heavily.
Eamon gave a frightened smile. �Nothing! I was just running to get out of here!� Eamon squeaked. �And then,� I ran into her��
Max looked like he was considering murder when Leona stepped in front of Eamon. �Leave him alone, Max�� Leona growled.
Max and Leona glared at each other for a few minutes until Eamon coughed to get their attention. �May I leave now?� he asked. He didn�t get an answer so he decided to leave.
�What do you want, Leo�� Max grumbled as he walked back to his bed.
Leona followed him and sat on the end of the mattress, pulling her knees to her chest as she did so. �I was asked to the ball�� She saw his glare and decided to continue. �I was wondering if you were planning on going with anyone��
�No.. I wasn�t�� Max said, finally calming down some.
Leona gave as grand smile. �Fern doesn�t have a date to the ball, would you go with her?�
Max gave her a small smile. �Alright��
Leona started jumping up and down on his bed. �YAY! I�ll go tell Fern the good news!�
Max grabbed her in mid jump, his hands resting on her waist. �Don�t jump like that� you�re getting to old to do that��
�Oh Max.. you sound like dad!� Leona giggled. Then, she jumped off of the bed. �See you later!� she giggled as she ran out the door.
Halloween came quickly. The entire school was buzzing with excitement. The teachers even had fun with Halloween. Miss Brighton cheerfully gave out candy to everyone as did a couple of the other teachers.
That night, Leona was so nervous about going that she had trouble trying to get her dressed zipped up. Fern walked over, in a blue dress that tumbled down to her ankles, and zipped it up.
�Thanks, Fern�� Leona said with a nervous smile.
Fern put on her angel wings and started putting on the makeup that would serve as a mask for her. The white shimmer and little jewels served well. �You look very pretty, Fern..� Leona commented as she sat down.
Leona started putting on the thigh high stockings. They were thick, like they were really socks instead of stockings. Then, she put on a pair of black, flat heel granny boots that buttoned up the side.
Fern was finished putting on her mask and smiled. �Leona! You look so scrumptious!� she giggled.
Leona blushed. �Well� It seems to fit me, I guess��
Fern grabbed Leona and forced her into the vanity chair. �Now for make-up�� Fern smiled cheerfully.
Leona sat patiently as Fern brushed and powdered her face. In the end, when Fern was finished pampering Leona, she saw a fine job done on her. �Wow� I look like those models!� Leona said as she poked her cheek.
�Well� maybe a little�� Fern blushed.
The door to the girls� dorm opened and a small group of four boys walked in. Jen, the red haired girl suddenly blushed and gave a small squeak as she backed away to her brunette friend.
Leona recognized Jack and Max instantly. Then, she saw Damien with Eamon beside him. Eamon blushed slightly when he saw Leona as did Jack. Max smiled down at Fern as she gave a contented sigh.
�You look nice, Fern..� Max said with a smile. �Let me guess� you�re dressed as an Angel?�
�Correct!� Fern sighed happily.
Jack walked over to Leona. �Wow! You look great!�
Leona noticed Damien walking over to Jen and giving her his arm. Eamon walked over to the brunette and gave her his arm. Leona smiled at Eamon and noticed him blushing again.
At the dance, they all sat at small round tables where only four could sit at each. Leona and Jack sat down beside one another and Fern and Max sat on the other side.
When it appeared that everyone was present, the food was served. Leona ended up with a chicken breast with a creamy mushroom sauce on it. Fern had something similar.
�This looks scrumptious!� Leona said breathlessly.
�I think you do�� said Jack. Leona blushed furiously as she turned to see Jack trying to stuff his fist into his own mouth. Max looked like he was trying to figure out whether he ought to help Jack in the procedure.
Fern giggled. �But you do, Leona! I said it myself earlier!�
Max turned and gave Fern an incredulous look. �You?� Now he looked thoroughly confused.
�Of course!� Fern giggled.
�Let�s get away from the idea of eating me and into eating our food�� Leona sighed.
�And who can spot the innuendo in that?� said Damien as he leaned back in his chair so his head was right next to Leona�s.
Leona slapped Damien on his head. �Take that, you pervert!�
Damien rubbed the top of his head. �As if anyone would want a skinny little girl like you, Sage�� he grumbled.
�Damien� come back over here and be my date�� said Jen through gritted teeth.
�Damien, stop picking on Leona�� sighed Eamon in his soft voice.
�Why do you care, Eamon�� Damien grumbled.
�Because she�s nice�� Eamon growled at his little brother.
�And because Max there is about to take your head if you get any closer to her�� Jen was pointing to a glowering Max. He looked like he was trying to incinerate Damien just by glaring at him.
Damien sighed and scooted back to his table. Leona smiled at Eamon and turned around. They ate silently as they listened to the soft music in the background.
When everyone was finished, a few people walked out and picked up the plates. Then, the principle, a tall man with broad shoulders and black hair, smiled and stated in a clear voice, �Let the dance begin!�
Music started. It was a waltz. Jack stood up and shyly gave Leona his hand. �May I have this dance?�
Leona blushed and gave him a glove clad hand. He swept her up into his arms and they danced like one of those couples in the movies. �Y-y-you dance like a pro!�� Leona stammered in surprise.
He blushed. �I learned when I was six�.� He said softly.
He spun them around and Leona caught a glimpse of Fern giving her a �Thumbs up� as she clung onto Max. Max just gave a small smile.
Damien glared at her as Jen had a smile that was hard to interpret. Eamon smiled and spun the brown haired friend of Jen. �I feel so weird doing this�� Leona whispered.
�Don�t be� it�s all fun..� Jack smiled.
Leona smiled back, but it didn�t last long. She was suddenly ripped out of his arms by someone. She rolled across the floor, knocking her mask off.
When she finally opened her eyes, she noticed several of the girls were screaming and she was lying across someone�s shoes. She looked up and saw Damien staring down at her.
He helped her up and she saw something flash by her. She was thrown back and she hit the far wall of the cafeteria. Something held her by her throat against the stone wall.
She opened her eyes and saw the man in front of her. There was something different about him though. Every now and then, his face distorted into a freakish animal�s.
�Give me the necklace!� he growled at her. Even his voice distorted itself.
She coughed. She tried to pry his hands off of her, but couldn�t. She didn�t want the lion to appear in front of the entire school. Once had been plenty.
He took her away from the wall and hit her against it again. She felt blood starting to enter her mouth. �Go away!� she choked out.
�HEY! LET HER GO!� Max�s voice shouted out among the screaming girls.
�LEONA!� cried Jack.
Leona strained her hands trying to loosen the man�s grip on her throat. She was breathing shallowly now. Then, suddenly, he let go of her.
She choked and tried to get in some air when she fell onto the floor. She saw Max and Jack trying to fight the man. Damien jumped onto his back as did another boy. Fern was standing back, looking positively petrified.
�RUN, SAGE, RUN!� cried Damien.
Leona ran. She bolted out the door and ran as fast as she could down the hallways. Then, she heard the man creature crashing through the hall after her. He wasn�t exactly a man, Leona had decided. A man didn�t make the horrible sounds that she now heard.
It ran after her like a hungry beast. �GIVE IT TO ME, YOU STUPID GIRL!� its call could be heard.
She was slowing down. She heard Munirah calling to her. She felt the lion coming forth as she fell to the floor in a heap.
The man creature stalked closer to her. She could barely breathe from her exhaustion. �Are you willing to give me the necklace, now�?� he growled at her.
Then, she stood up. He yellow eyes stared at him. The man creature, whose form resembled that of a werewolf type creature, took a step forward. �A measly little thing like you won�t hurt me�.� he said in an amused sort of voice.
Leona cocked her head to the side and smiled. Suddenly, a light burst from her. She was on him in a second. Claws raked his throat and his eyes. He was blinded now.
Blood ran over her hands and Leona felt the pulsating urge to bite the creature in the throat. She felt the need to rip out his jugular.
The blinded creature made a motion at her. She ducked in time to watch a large chunk of piping and the wall get blown away. Small rocks fell on her as she shielded herself with her arms.
Then, she seized the opportunity. She grabbed a bit of piping that had fallen next to her and jumped on the creature. She was thrown off.
She fell on the ground and watched the pipe roll away from her. She scrambled for it. The creature came up behind her. She felt the hot breath sear her neck. She felt the cold metal fall into her hand.
In one motion, she jabbed the pole up the bottom jaw. It went straight through to the top of the creature�s head.
Leona lay on her side as the lion proceeded to leave her. She felt hands grasp her shoulders and lift her up. She felt herself being carried away somewhere. Then, she saw nothing.
When she woke up, she noticed that she was in the hospital wing. She smiled. She saw Max�s sleeping head lying on her knees. She saw Fern asleep in the chair on the other side of the bed.
She carefully sat up and looked around, grabbing her glasses off of the nightstand that was beside her. Max lifted his head and yawned as he stretched. �Where am I�� he said in a tired voice.
�We�re in the hospital wing.� Leona said.
Max�s head snapped around. He saw her and then grabbed her into a strong hug. She couldn�t even move. �Max�? Max� loosen up, Leona can�t breathe�� she coughed out.
Fern giggled. �Max� loosen up, she can�t breathe.� Fern struggled to get Leona away from her brother�s clutches.
�YOU SCARED THE LIFE OUT Of ME! DID YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WORRIED WHEN I SAW YOU LYING THERE ON THE GROUND WITH ALL THAT BLOOD ALL OVER YOU?!� He was crying as he shouted all of this.
�It�ll be fine, Max�� Leona coughed out as she was finally able to pat him on the back. �As soon as you let go of me, I�ll be able to breathe, however.�
He finally let go of her. He sat back reluctantly, staring at her with a worried glare. �You had better be alright, Leo�� he grumbled. She simply laughed. It was good to laugh. She knew that she was going to fine now.