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6. Horcrux

I don't know how I managed to talk to Orion with a casual cool face. As if I didn't just encounter a wolf who wanted to eat his cat, who sneaked out of his house to follow me. I don't know how Loki managed to get inside my car without me noticing. He was there the entire time I was grocery shopping. Fortunately, I left the windows a bit open so it wasn't too hot inside. Loki was also there when I was losing my mind because of my car's radio turning into Bumblebee. I don't know how the hell Loki and I escaped the wolf either. As soon as it barked for the second time and bared its canine teeth at me, I drove away immediately. I didn't care if I got a ticket for speeding. Fortunately for the two of us, we made it home safe without the wolf on our tail. I knocked on Orion's door to bring his cat home. I almost felt bad at how worried Orion looked. As soon as he saw Loki in my arms, he sighed in relief and hugged his cat, who kept his eyes on me. I lied to Orion saying that Loki sneaked in my apartment and now I just feel so guilty.

When I arrived at Psychology class, Roman bombarded me with questions. "Where were you this morning? I was worried when you didn't text me back last night and you didn't show up at the library."

I remembered seeing his text during the drive back home, but I never replied because I was a little busy saving my life and my friend's cat's life. Not to mention, my haunted car. It kept me up late. I was lucky that I even got to sleep. I woke up late and found another lavender rose by my feet. The sight of the rose made me not want to leave my bed and just hug it and go back to sleep, but then my alarm clock screamed at me to hurry up for school.

Loki was back on my doorstep as if he had already forgotten about the wolf. I don't know if cats have good memories, or if they can repress unwanted ones, but Loki acted like everything was fine. He was kneading my 'Welcome' door mat and clung onto me when I opened the door. He followed me all the way to my car and I had to make sure that he didn't go inside. He hissed angrily as he walked back inside the building.

"Astoria?"

I blinked, realizing that Roman is looking at me. Why am I always zoning out when he's around? He could be flipping me off and I wouldn't notice. He could be doing a bunch of ridiculous things and I would miss every single one of them.

"Shit. Sorry. I had a long night."

He frowned and put a cold hand on my forehead. "Are you okay? Are you sick?"

"Oh, no. I'm okay." I gently moved his hand and noticed that his left wrist has some yellow spots. Before I could ask about it, the professor arrived.

"Good morning class. Hopefully you guys aren't too shaken up about this whole werewolf talk of the town." He laughed along with a few people in the class. "It's actually kind of a perfect way to start our lecture today. We will be talking about phobias. Any of you have a fear of big dogs?"

A couple of people raised their hands, including Roman. I almost laughed at him. I think he noticed me suppressing a grin, because he sent me a playful glare. Why does he remind me of Loki? More importantly, why am I thinking of that little shit cat? I'm turning into Orion. I refuse to be a cat lady.

***

I panicked in front of Virgo's entrance. I couldn't find my ID and without it, I won't be let in the building. I always keep it in the same pocket of my backpack, but it was not there this time. I had to flip my backpack inside out and upside down just to find it in between the pages of my psychology notebook.

The guard laughed at me as I hugged the ID. "Better put it in a safe place next time." He told me.

I nodded and scanned the ID to the scanner. The door opened for me and I rushed inside, only to see Virgo's president, Doctor Vega, speaking to a whole bunch of security guards. As I passed by them, I heard the words 'thief' and 'missing chemicals' so I'm assuming they're talking about the stolen things from the lab. I also noticed an increase in security cameras. This is really serious.