The Next Step

~1~

I watch the workers lower Jericho into the ground with stoicism. It's been three days and I've yet to shed a single tear. Time loses all meaning as the dirt is piled onto his casket, and only when the groundskeeper touches me on the shoulder do I realize that the sun has long since set, and the sod has already been laid before me.

"I'm sorry miss," he says, sympathy deep in his eyes. "I've got to lock up."

I nod, unable to form a response of any kind and mechanically turn and walk back to my car. The gates to the cemetery clatter shut behind me, and something in me breaks.

It starts with a flutter in my stomach...a light stirring that swirls around inside of me and builds to a crescendo. My lips twitch, working long neglected muscles, and before I can fully comprehend what's happening, laughter bubbles out of me. I smack my hand over my mouth in surprise, but I can't seem to stop. I gulp in a deep breath and stumble to my beat up burgundy sedan, giggling like a child the entire way.

The laughter takes control of me and I double over, leaning against the driver's door for support.

"That's an odd reaction," a deep voice calls out from the shadows.

I jump, suddenly aware of the fact that I'm alone, in the dark, in a notoriously seedy area of town. I fumble my keys, attempting to uncap the pepper spray, and curse as they clatter to the asphalt at my feet.

"Don't worry, Red. I'm not the big bad wolf." He laughs at his unoriginal joke as he steps forward and into the ambient light from the streetlamp.

He. Is. Massive.

Standing at least a foot taller than my 5'9, he's built like the love child of the Governator and Paul Bunyan. Seriously. His muscles have muscles. He's wearing all black, and oddly, a pair of sunglasses that obscure his eyes from my view. I don't know why I'm not screaming. If I were smart, I'd be running as fast as possible in the opposite direction from him, but I'm uncharacteristically calm.

Mr. Olympus grins devilishly at me and it does funny things to my insides.

"See?" He holds his hands out and turns slowly, smirking. "Not a wolf, Little Red."

My laughter returns and I shake my head. "Don't call me that," I surprise myself by saying. I purse my lips."There's definitely something lupine about that shit-eating grin of yours, so I don't know." I cross my arms and roll my eyes. I have no idea where this attitude is coming from, but I can't seem to stop myself. "Seriously? Red?" I huff and bend over to snatch my keys. "You could've called me Ginger, which I've also heard about a million times, and I'd have given you at least some creativity points."

He opens his mouth and I hold up my hand to stop him. "Don't even think about it, Sasquatch." I narrow my eyes at him and he bursts out with booming laughter.

He steps forward and I begin to actually feel small. He reaches out and twists a lock of my fiery hair around his calloused finger and leans in. Electricity zings between us, and though I can't see his eyes behind the mirrored lenses, I can feel the intensity of his gaze anyway. "Alright Aurelia," he purrs. I suck in a gasp at his use of my name and it's as though I've been doused in ice water. My skin prickles and my stomach trembles. He hovers  a moment more, making me very aware of the fact that he could do whatever he wants and I wouldn't have a chance of stopping him.

The corner of his lips lift, and he leans back, breaking the tension of the moment. "So tell me, Lia, why were you laughing?"

I'm still reeling over the fact that this stranger obviously knows who I am, and I begin to feel lightheaded.

Not now!

"Aurelia?"

His voice sounds further away than it should, and the air presses in against me, heavier than is natural. My heart stutters, and a frigid wind tears through me, ripping my consciousness away with it.

*

Blood. So much blood. My hands are sticky with it, and I can taste it in the air. Something wails in the distance, and I'm filled with elation.

I look down at my claw-tipped fingers and feel a grin split my face. I lift my hand to my mouth and lick the sweet ichor from my palm. I take my time, savoring every last taste as I clean the evidence of my latest kill from my flesh.

*

"Lia? Come on babe. Talk to me Red."

"Don't call me that," I mumble, coming back into myself and becoming increasingly aware that I'm cradled against a seriously muscled chest. I snuggle deeper for a moment before my brain catches up, and smile when I realize that it's him that smells like cinnamon.

I take one more deep breath before pushing against him. "Let me down," I demand, swinging my legs out of his grasp and toward the floor, which is quite a bit further away than I'd anticipated. I stumble and swear as my toe hits his gigantic clown sized work boots.

"Careful, Red," he croons, and I scowl at him as I regain my footing.

"I told you not to call me that," I grumble. I fold my arms and glare at the behemoth. "And who the hell are you, anyway?"

He smirks and takes a step closer. I automatically move back, but my car door stops me from further retreat.

"I'm an old friend of Jericho's."

My heart skips a beat and then picks up in pace. Adrenaline surges through my veins and my fingers curl into a tight fist by my side. I won't be trapped in a situation like that again. His mouth goes wide as I feel the fire ignite inside of me, and he takes a step back and raises his hands.

"Whoa there, Lia. It's not like that." He waves his hands in front of him and his voice softens. "Cut the pyrotechnics, and let me explain."

The air around me crackles and something zaps me in the thigh. "What the hell?" I shout as I jump back from the now bubbling asphalt. "What just happened?"

I look up at the cloudless sky and wonder if I've just been electrocuted by spontaneous lightning or something? I glance at my normal looking hands and pat my hair, trying to find any evidence of this. The man, who still hasn't told me his name, steps right up in front of me and takes my wrists in his hands.

"Calm down, Aurelia," he orders in a voice that sends shivers down my spine. My breathing hitches and I feel a tingling at the base of my neck as panic sets in. "AURELIA!" he barks, forcing me to focus my attention on him.

He traps both of my wrists in one of his hands and uses the other to slowly remove his sunglasses. It's somehow mesmerizing and I can't help but follow the movement. His eyes are the palest blue I've ever seen, and as I stare, they begin to glow.

I can't look away.

"Aurelia," he whispers, drawing me deeper into his gaze. "Put away your magic and come with me."

The combination of his voice and his eyes has me in a fog, but I manage to clear enough of it to mumble one phrase before I pass out.

"But I don't have magic."

***