There's Just Something About Leo.

Chapter 6.5

***Nina***

“Well, we’re thinking of going hiking.” I smiled. “It was my idea!”

Damien’s face was drained of its entire colour as his gaze flickered from Leo to Kyle, and back to Leo again. “And…” he said slowly; his eyes still wondering between Kyle and Leo. “Your grandfather completely allows this?”

“Yup” I chirped “Why? Is there something wrong?” I cocked my head to the side, letting them know that I had figured something was going on.

“No,” He paused, “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go hiking…”

I blinked at his response, ‘I thought it was considered wrong for my Grandfather to agree to let us go hiking…it wasn’t the fact that I wanted to go hiking that was bothering Damien.’

Then Leo cut in. “As soon as we finish, we should get going.” He mumbled, looking down at his watch.

“Agreed.” Kyle muttered in response. “But, there’s no rush…right Leo?”

“Oh no, there’s no rush at all.”

‘Funny.’ I thought. ‘That sounds like sarcasm.’

“First we’ll have to stop off at the warehouse to get safety equipment and emergency supplies but the forest isn’t far from it.”

“Cool!” I cooed, soaking in the scenery. The beach was still quiet, baby blue waves rolled up onto the shore and then swung out again. A breeze tinkled aimlessly around us as the sun beat down heavily onto the sand outside the protection of the shade. It was an image that we’d see in holiday brochures, different to the dull grey sea and rocky beaches of the UK.

In all my thinking I hadn’t noticed Natalie sitting silently. “So what’s this game everyone’s on about?” she quizzed, chewing slowly in thought. It seemed as though she’d been thinking for a while.

Damien, Kyle and Leo froze. “What game?” Kyle whispered.

“I heard about it on the news…Gruesome!” She made a face. “Apparently, it’s supposed to mimic some kind of myth…or something.”

“Oh that!” Leo laughed stiffly as the other two watched his coy expression; picking it to pieces. “It’s simply a gang war, the myth is really a children’s bed time story!”

“Yes, it’s been going on as some kind of stunt.” Kyle continued.

“But, what caused it?” Natalie replied; unsatisfied by their responses.

“Just mentally unstable people that honour the myth, that’s all.” Leo muttered as he swallowed a mouthfull. “Have you known gang wars to happen in London?”

“Umm no, not that we’ve heard of.”  Natalie said, looking at me.

"Yea, it seems this kind of thing is of…oriental tradition, if you don’t mind me saying…but I’ve heard of the myth.”

“Oh no, that is true miss, and there are many of them… they are well hidden, this one however is much more ‘loud’ and famous.” Said Kyle.

“Miss?!” Natalie and I shrieked simultaneously.

“I’m sorry…what would you like us to call you both?”

“I’m Nina and she’s Natalie.” I said pointing with a fork, to each of us in return. “And we’d prefer if you weren’t so…formal.”

Damien chuckled pulling out a bottle of fresh juice and some cups. “Thank god, I hate it too.”

It was around mid-day by the time we had finished talking, so we packed away our hamper and headed back into Damien’s café, and then back to the car parked on the main road. I was still thinking about this tournament or ‘game’ as Natalie called it. Despite it being impossible for this myth of ancient transforming creatures to be true, the reactions given by the agents once the topic was brought up, caused me to question its legitimacy. ’Maybe some aspects of it were true, but not the part about the creatures with extra terrestrial abilities?’ I thought, as I walked along with the others.

“So what other crazy plans do you have for this holiday?” Kyle asked, with a boyish grin. Not knowing who he was asking, I looked up.

“Umm, not much.” I smiled. He nodded loosely and seemed much more relaxed without his formal ‘act’.

We got into the car and Damien had forgotten his bike, so he sat in the back with Natalie and I.

“I hope you don’t mind…” he blushed. Smiling, we let him in and he sat down slowly closing the door. As Leo switched on the AC I felt a cold shiver run down my spine and realised how much I’d been sweating even with the natural sea breeze wafting through my clothes. Leaning back, I began to feel drowsy with the sudden temperature change and decided to think of another conversation starter to get things going again.

“So…do you guys have another job? I mean you must do something other than guarding my grandfather…” I rambled.

Leo looked into his overhead mirror, seeing my reflection as I was sitting in the middle.

“No, we look after his apartment too…since he fired the maid.” Both he and Kyle laughed silently.

“Other than that?”

“I help out with my father’s business part time, just to gain experience.” Kyle added.

Leo snorted. “Oh? Is that what you call it?”

“Don’t start!” Damien commanded firmly. “It’s a great day; we all don’t need the two of you spoiling it.”

“Just a spot of harmless teasing Damien…nothing to fluster about!” Leo replied. “…and I attend university part time.”

“Oh…so what are you studying?” I asked as he took another turn.

“Computer science and some psychology…but I guess you can call me a techie, or a gadget freak. I take care of your grandfather’s databases and keep them away from hackers.”

“Any more questions?” Kyle smirked, probably waiting for some attention to go his way.

“I have plenty!” I smiled.

“Wait, now it’s our turn!” Damien laughed. “What do you both do?”

Natalie answered first: “I’m in college doing A-levels: art, maths- statistics, English literature and politics . They’re A-level certificates and considered higher qualifications than the basic needed for a job.”

“Oh yes, we have those here, but they have another name…” Damien tapped his forehead while mentally racking his mind for the missing word. “I can’t remember it; my memory is so corrupt these days!”

“So how about you Nina?” Kyle asked.

“I study a combination of medicine and ancient sciences which include little additional maths classes on the side.”

“Ancient sciences?” Leo puzzled, as he pulled into a drive. “We’re here!”

We all got out of the car and in a matter of seconds I began sweating again. My eyes scanned the landscape. We were practically in the middle of nowhere with a single main road as a travel path. It lead from civilisation, to this place and then off into a thick forest. The structure seemed ancient. Dark brick was a contrast to all the white buildings we’d seen. It definitely seemed like the haunted mansion type building. Security seemed tight with a well-disguised CCTV monitoring system I didn’t notice until I found myself inspecting the Ivy trailing from the bottom of the mansion all the way to the roof. Our shoes made horrible crunching noises as we walked across the gravel driveway.

******

Walking in Leo expected the warehouse to seem empty, but somebody was already here. He looked around and lightly inspected a shoe rack that had (among all the black heavy duty boots) a pair of red heels.

“Linda.” Leo sighed rolling his eyes.