A/N: Here you go! Enjoy!
CHAPTER 16:
A Spot of Change
His lips were gentle against hers, Sheila's head swimming at the contact. She didn't move, clueless as to what to do.
Where should she put her hands?
Should she open her mouth?
She grabbed a handful of his shirt, determined to push all negative thoughts from her mind and just naturally go with it, even if it led to disaster...
Sheila opened her mouth with a sigh. "Caleb...?"
His name was a question, not an invitation and as the guilt quickly washed over him, Caleb stepped back, leaving the comfort of her body. Which was a good thing because his pants were about to burst into flames...
There, he did it. He made the first move and he didn't know why, but he felt some kind of selfish satisfaction at being her first kiss.
She turned questioning eyes to his, her eyebrows furrowed, a tentative hand raised to her lips. He gave her a small smile and took her hands in his, giving her knuckles a light kiss.
"Will you call me later?" His voice sounded hopeful.
Sheila smiled. "You're just trying to get my phone number..." She poked him playfully in the chest and opened her car door, taking a seat behind the wheel.
"I hope you feel better..." He closed the door behind her.
Sheila nodded, her emotions fighting for understanding. She didn't want to reject Caleb. She liked him, but had a feeling that he liked her more... She wasn't ready for that, not yet, she wanted to get to know him better. Take it slow...
Besides, the succubus probably had a lot to do with his attraction to her anyway...
She started her car and rolled down the window as she slowly pulled onto the main street, leaving Caleb cold and alone on the sidewalk. She stuck her head out the window, calling out. "I'll call you, okay?"
She never did.
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Sheila let the hot water steam and pool around her as tiny rivers of purified Spenser water ran slowly down her tired body. She closed her eyes against the onslaught, leaning her forehead on the cool tile beneath the shower head.
She sighed. Her thoughts were a blur, but the most consistent one was of the dark haired Danvers boy.
Sheila wasn't stupid. She was, after all, a 17-year old girl and she did room with the school's biggest mouth. She knew that look Caleb gave her. She saw it in every male that she came across, heterosexual or not. It was lust. Need. Desire.
She ran a hand across her face, rubbing her eyes, exhausted.
But with Caleb, his gaze was somehow different... It was softer... Understanding... Trusting... And dare she say it, caring...
Sheila shook her head. 'No.' She turned off the water, stepping out of the shower as she wrapped a fluffy towel around her dripping form. 'He's just like all the other ones... Only after one thing...' She took a deep breath, a tinge of disappointment at the edges of her mouth. 'He wants the succubus, not me...'
She walked quietly back to her dorm room , her haunting thoughts the only thing keeping her company in the empty hallway.
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Sheila closed the door to her dorm room behind her with a soft 'click' and nearly tripped over the box the Provost gave her earlier that day. She kicked it under her desk with a growl.
"Sheila? Is that you?" Kate's voice wafted from behind the closed door of their private bathroom.
Sheila could hear her rummaging around as she answered. "Yeah, it's me." She quickly dropped her soaked towel on the floor where it landed next to Caleb's discarded shirt and put on her night clothes. A soft crash sounding like glass against the sink made her step closer to the bathroom, her feet padding across the expanse of the somewhat large room. She knocked on the door. "You okay in there?"
"Yeah. I'm just trying on my dress." More rummaging. "Damn, I think this thing shrank a little since I bought it."
"It's not the dress, it's all that ice cream you ate today..." Sheila mumbled, moving away from the bathroom door and plopped stomach down onto her still rumpled bed.
"What?"
Sheila laughed. "Nothing..." She picked up a magazine and flipped through it, her eyes not really looking. She just needed something to distract her from her thoughts of Caleb and the kiss... "Can I see it?"
"Nope, it's going to be a surprise. You'll just have to wait until next Saturday like everyone else."
Sheila poked out her bottom lip. "But I'm your best friend..." She fake whined.
Kate stepped out of the bathroom, pulling a tank top on. "That's beside the point." She walked over to their oval vanity mirror and started brushing her hair. "People should learn to be more tolerant."
Sheila threw the magazine onto the floor. "Pff... Tolerate this, bitch..."
THUD
Kate gasped, dropping her brush and turned to see one of Sheila's pillows lying at her feet, Sheila kneeling on her bed, laughing.
"Hey now, that wasn't necessary..." Kate threw the pillow back, hitting Sheila in the face. "Whore."
Sheila gaped at her, then got up, pillow in hand. "That's it..."
Kate looked at her, then rushed over to her bed, snatching one of her pillows. "Bring it on!"
WHACK
Kate got Sheila in the stomach. Sheila doubled over, coughing, but quickly retaliated by getting Kate's legs, then her butt. Kate stumbled forward, dropping her pillow.
"Hey!" She abruptly seized the pillow Sheila was holding and used it against her friend.
It was Sheila's turn to yell 'Hey!' as she tried to capture the pillow back. Kate hit her again, the seam that was slowly unraveling at one corner of the pillow finally ripping, down feathers and cotton bursting from within, turning the dorm room into a real life snow globe.
Sheila's jaw dropped. "Kate!" She stole some of the falling feathers from the air and threw them at her roommate. "That was my best pillow!"
Kate held out the pillow, half like a shield and half like a peace offering, her bottom lip protruding out. "Well, now you have a sack to put stuff in."
Sheila smiled, taking the empty casing from her. "If I wanted a sack to lug around, I'd just go and bother Caleb."
"Is that who gave you that hickey?"
Sheila paused, her back to Kate. "What?" She quickly strode over to the vanity, her destroyed pillow forgotten.
Kate grinned, wiggling herself underneath the covers on her bed. "You heard me." She said, picking up the magazine Sheila was flipping through earlier. "You have a hickey."
Sheila pulled the collar of her shirt away from her neck, leaning in close to inspect her reflection. "I do not."
"Other side, genius."
Sheila glared at Kate through the reflection, then pulled the garment from the right side of her neck. She gasped. "I don't believe this..."
Kate let out a tiny laugh. "You said you wanted someone to suck on your neck..."
"Yeah, but because they wanted to, not because they had to show up some chump at an ice cream parlor!" She touched the discolored spot gingerly with her fingertips. "This sucks..."
"No." Kate paused to take a deep breath, she was laughing so hard. "Caleb is the one that sucks!" She clutched at her chest, pointing a French tipped finger at her friend. "And when you fondled him..." She trailed off. "Classic!"
Sheila whole body reddened in a deep blush. "You saw that?"
Kate nodded. "Everybody saw it, but I'm sure Caleb didn't mind..."
'Caleb...' Sheila's mouth twitched at the memory. She sighed. "Not funny... It was an accident. I was reaching for his belt buckle, I swear."
Kate threw her a skeptical look. "Right..."
Sheila stepped away from the mirror and, after sweeping the feathers from her bedspread that she vowed she would clean up tomorrow, she wormed her way into bed.
"I didn't even realize he was sucking that hard..."
Kate had finally stopped laughing, her mind wandering to images of her boyfriend and her own acquired love bite. "Because it felt good, that's why..."
Sheila nodded her agreement, allowing herself a small smile although Kate didn't see it, and rolled onto her back. Both girls grew quiet, lost in their own thoughts.
A beat passed before Sheila cleared her throat, her voice soft. "He kissed me today..."
Kate's eyes widened. "Caleb?"
"Yeah."
Kate was astonished. Caleb rarely talked to girls, let alone hooked up with them... "When?"
"Outside. After Keira threw that shake on me." Sheila shifted listlessly in her bed and propped herself up on her elbow, her head resting unenthusiastically on her open palm.
Kate mouthed a silent 'Wow'. "How was it?"
Sheila shrugged. "It ended quicker than it started..."
"But he kissed you, right?"
"Yeah..." Sheila's eyes glazed over, a smile spreading unknowingly across her features, thoughts of Caleb dancing a hateful taunt in her mind. She thought of the way his body felt so warm, fit so perfectly into hers. The way his lips moved as he spoke comforting words to her. The way his lips felt on hers... That warm, dark desire she tried to abolish as he sucked gently on her neck, the succubus stirring, excited, within her...
"Hello?! Sheila?"
Sheila blinked. "Hmm?"
Kate let out a frustrated sigh. "I asked you if you found a dress for the dance yet."
Sheila shook her head, not even realizing that the subject had been changed. "No. Not yet."
Kate shrugged, turning off her bedside lamp, bathing her in shadows. "At least you have a date."
"Well, I didn't really have a choice, did I?" Sheila clicked off her own lamp and fell back onto her pillows with a tiny huff. "It was either go along with Caleb's story or go with Aaron..."
"Hey, look on the bright side." Sheila could hear the faint hint of a laugh in Kate's voice. "If Aaron tries to take you captive again and Caleb comes to your rescue, you're guaranteed some neck action..."
Sheila picked up one of her pillows and threw it across the room, letting out a satisfied 'Ha!' as she heard it hit its mark, Kate's tiny grunt drowned out by Sheila's laughter.
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Sheila slept, occasionally tossing and turning in her small twin sized bed. Her pink and gold sheets were snaking around her inert form as if holding her back... Or protecting her from something... The sheer, princess canopy that hung from the ceiling enveloped the bed, stifling the quick, short breaths of its sleeper. Through the fabric of the canopy, the moon snuck in, its pale, yellow light glistening on the sweat of her brow.
Sheila turned towards the window, the moonlight now falling directly over her closed eyes, casting the rest of her face into exiled shadows. The only sounds that could be heard in the dorm room were her whimpers as she dreamed and Kate's soft snoring from across the room.
"CALEB, I HAVE TO DO IT OR ELSE WE'LL BOTH DIE!"
"NO, SHEILA! NO, YOU CAN'T!"
Sheila's hands gripped the sheets beneath her, twisting them into unrecognizable knots. She let out a choked sob, the dream intensifying.
"I HAVE TO! I'M THE LADY! THERE'S NO OTHER CHOICE!"
"THERE HAS TO BE A WAY AROUND IT! I WILL NOT LOSE YOU TO HIM!"
SHEILA GRIPPED THE CRYING BOY'S HANDS TIGHTLY IN HERS. "CALEB?" SHE WHISPERED. "LOOK AT ME." HE DID, WATCHING HER EYES BLACKEN WITH POWER. "DO YOU TRUST ME?"
HIS TEARS WERE FALLING FASTER NOW AND HE TURNED AWAY FROM HER. HE SHOOK HIS HEAD IN A VIGOROUS MOTION, HIS SILENT ANSWER CAUSING FURY TO BUBBLE INSIDE HER.
"CALEB!" SHE SHOUTED. "YES OR NO?"
"YES." HIS VOICE WAS SHAKY AND HE DID NOT MEET HER GAZE. "DO IT NOW. HURRY, BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND..."
RELIEF SPREAD OVER SHEILA'S FEATURES, THE FLAMES SURROUNDING THEM LICKING AT HER LONG GOWN. SHE REACHED OUT AND TOOK CALEB'S FACE IN HER HANDS. "I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU..." SHE KISSED HIM, BRIEF AND SUDDEN, THEN STEPPED AN ARM'S LENGTH AWAY FROM HIM.
"YOU READY?" SHE LOOKED UP AT HIM, TEARS ROLLING DOWN HER FACE. HE CLOSED HIS EYES, HIS BREATHING SHALLOW, AND AFTER ONE MORE BRIEF HESITATION, CALEB NODDED.
SHEILA LICKED HER LIPS. "I-" SHE BEGAN, HER VOICE SOFT AND AFRAID. "-WILL YOU-"
CALEB GRIPPED HER HAND HARDER, THE ANTICIPATION OF THE ONSLAUGHT OF MAGIC CAUSING HIS ENTIRE BODY TO SHAKE.
SHEILA PAUSED, SQUEEZING HIS HAND WITH LOVE AND REASSURANCE. "-MY POWER..."
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Sheila woke up screaming. She attempted to take a deep breath, but found that she wasn't breathing at all.
'Oh my God! I'm dead!'
Sheila scanned her surroundings. Her vision was blurred and her eyes were stinging. There was a slight pressure on her head and she couldn't hear anything except her own heartbeat.
'No, not dead... Underwater...'
She looked up and could see the pale glow of florescent lights streaming through the clear water. Swiftly, yet cautiously, she swam to the top, her head finally breaking the surface. She took in several deep breaths, then looked around her.
"The school's indoor pool..." She said, causing some water to enter her mouth. She gagged, spitting out the chlorine treated water.
She groaned, her muscles aching as she slowly swam the length of the pool, towards a sign marked 'Exit'. Sheila hesitated before getting out.
She floated silently at the back corner of the deep end, her mind eventually wandering back to the dream. She remembered it so vividly, like she was really in it. Obviously they were being threatened, the unknown person or thing never making an appearance.
In the dream, they were both scared witless and for some reason, she had Willed her Powers to Caleb.
But why?
Or better question, how did he know about her Powers in the first place...?
She could only contemplate the thought for a split second when the Exit door was thrown open and pulled shut with a bang. Sheila flinched at the loud noise, her concentrated float breaking a bit, causing her head to drop a few inches underwater.
She pulled herself surface level again, slowing her movements to a near stillness as she listened intently to the conversation happening directly above her.
"Reid, it's 3 in the morning. Do we really need to practice right now?" The voice was male and it sounded very exhausted.
Sheila pushed herself against the slimy pool wall, her hands like suction cups as she steadied her breathing. Okay, so one of them was Reid. She wasn't surprised... He was, after all, Spenser's resident troublemaker.
She pressed herself further into the wall and lowered her head underwater a bit when she heard their bare feet slapping a path around the cement pool directly above her head and towards the boy's locker room.
"This isn't about swim practice..." Another male voice. It was a low, playful growl. Definitely Reid. "This is about something much more fun, Baby Boy..."
The voices and footsteps faded away and Sheila let out the breath she was holding.
She didn't even want to begin to contemplate who this "Baby Boy" was with Reid or what they were doing at the pool at 3 AM...
She pulled herself unsteadily out of the water, her night clothes weighing her down. She flopped onto the solid tile surrounding the pool, catching her breath. She shivered in the cold, closing her eyes so the excess water couldn't get into them... Or so the tears couldn't escape...
Sheila shook her head. "What does it all mean?" She let out a small sob. "Why do I keep having these dreams...?"
She rolled onto her side, coughing out the remainder of the pool water from her lungs, then stood up on shaky legs. She put a hand to her forehead, a splitting headache throbbing against the back of her eyes, and, avoiding the boy's locker room at all costs, she slowly snuck out, the metal 'Exit' door clanging quietly behind her.
A/N: In case you haven't already figured it out, the dream is the little bit in caps and italics. I didn't want you guys to get confused with what was actually happening to Sheila in real life (which is written in regular script). Please review!