Beautiful Souls (15 page)

                                    Chapter 6.

Well Laid Path

path

/paTH/

Noun

1. A way or track laid down for walking or made

    by continual treading.

2. Such a way or track designed for a particular

    purpose.

                  That night as I slept, it started with a dream. My sleep was restless, yet I never fully awakened to be able to distinct between fantasy and reality. It was intermittent with small periods of semi-consciousness, but for at least part was filled with somewhat deep slumber.

    
              I rolled periodically, tossing my pillow from side to side, as the dream progressed. The images I saw in my head started to gain purpose with the appearance of a well laid path that stretched out before me. It was a path, I soon recognized, that I was completely familiar and comfortable with. A path that I had traveled many times.                   I heard the whispers of the wind slowly transform in to a softly spoken voice that beckoned, “Follow me.”

    
              I listened again as it pleaded, “Come with me, and I will show you the way.”

    
              I stepped forward, allowing the voice to lead me along the familiar and worn, dirt pathway; the very same one that existed alongside the edge of the woods which I had walked so many times before. The same path that would take me to the one person, besides my parents, that I knew now more that ever would always be there for me. Leo.

    
              I followed the soft, calm, enticing voice as it continued to guide me farther, where I soon found Leo standing at the end waiting for me.  He was there, with his pleasing smile that completely melted any feelings of control or strength I may have once had, as the voice began to speak again. That’s when I realized that the voice and Leo were not one and the same.

    
              Leo remained smiling, but I turned my head in search of an image or figure to accompany the voice. I stirred in my sleep while I simultaneously searched my dream for the person behind the words.                   “I said, follow me,” the voice now demanded, more firmly and loudly than before.

             
Still searching for a figure, I held my hand toward Leo’s outstretched arms, hoping for the sanctity of warmth and comfort that I felt whenever he held me. Something --- an opposing force, maybe --- was luring me in the other direction, even though all I thought I wanted was to feel Leo’s comforting touch.

     
              “That’s not the right way,” the voice said disapprovingly. “Come with me, follow me, and I will show you. This way meant for you…you’re destiny.”

    
              I was shocked and unbelievably torn. There was never any doubt in my mind that Leo was and always would be the
‘right way’
for me, whether it be simply friendship or otherwise.

    
              This newly proposed option had been presented unexpectedly, and it caused me to momentarily consider what else may be out there. I wanted to go the other way, even if it was only to briefly glance additional possibilities.

    
              I hesitated. Would choosing the other path cause me to lose Leo, or could I have both? Losing Leo was not an option; therefore, choosing an option that didn’t include him wasn’t anything to consider at all.

    
              Just as I pondered the different scenarios that were playing out in my dream, I heard a low roar in the distance. The intensity of the roar increased, as the unknown source grew more near. Menacing clouds rolled in across the ever darkening sky.

    
              I searched for the image again, but found nothing. Leo’s smile faded, as he too looked for the figure to accompany the deafening noise.

    
              The roar slowly turned into a growl, as the unknown sound was now upon us, and I could feel an incredible tension fill the surrounding air. Leo shook with fury. Fists balled, he pushed me aside with such an unbelievably strong force, it knocked me off balance. As I stumbled back, I looked up. A blurry, ferocious creature bolted out from somewhere in the foggy distance and lunged toward him full force.

    
              I screamed for Leo to watch out, as I turned to take cover. I recovered seconds later and ran, but he didn’t. Leo hunched over, shook violently, then sprang up in a rush of furry and rage as a snarling and incomprehensible, yet an unmistakable, growl came from his throat.

    
              I bolted back down the same dirt path in the opposite direction that I had originally come from before, sprinting away from the horrific sight and sounds that took place behind me.

    
              How could it be true? How could Leo ---
my Leo
--- be a vicious animal? He had transformed into a mountain lion right before my eyes, in my direct sight, and there was no denying it.

    
              I twisted in my bed, flopping my arms and legs, trying to escape the terrifying sight in my dream.

    
              The attacking coyote was lying helplessly on the ground as I slowed from my sprint and turned, double checking to see if I had been followed. Just as I had done the night before, I ran for my life back toward the safety of my home.

    
              Suddenly I paused, seconds later coming to a full stop. I was overcome with thoughts that filled every corner of my mind, and those thoughts halted me in my tracks. An immediate revelation and feeling of security rushed through me, and sudden realization hit me. Leo would never hurt me, he’s not a vicious animal --- he’s no monster.

    
              I turned slowly, once again, to see the mountain lion standing over his lifeless attacker. I looked on, and the lion stepped forward. It drew closer, and as it did I could see myself in its pleading eyes, pleading for understanding and acceptance.

    
              The mountain lion shook again, just as Leo had before, and in the blink of an eye it was --- he was --- Leo again. I stood staring at the unbelievable transformation of lion to human, and I saw nothing except my savior and protector standing before me.

    
              I woke understandably startled. I sat up stiffly in my bed, my eyes wide from the epiphany that was my dream. An overwhelming feeling amazement filled my body as I came to grips with the truth revealed to me as I slept. Could Leo have really been the figure I had seen out by the woods last night?

    
              My mind slipped back to the timing of when Leo had come running across the field to save me, and also later when I found the tuft of fur on his sweatshirt. The fact that he was admittedly hiding something from me almost had me convinced. But could things like this actually exist in our world?

    
              The timing of when the lion jumped in front of me just in the knick of time to protect me from the attacking coyote, the look in his eyes before he slipped back into the woods, the fact the Leo appeared as I dashed from the trees --- it was all true. My dream was
true
.

    
              Leo was --- is --- the mountain lion, but what did that mean? A shape-shifter, maybe? I didn’t know. Did that stuff even exist? Obviously some, if not all, of the stories I grew up believing to be fiction had shards of truth to them, I now realized.

    
              I wasn’t a believer, I never had been. Even as a child, I knew that all of the fairy tales were just that ---
fairy tales
. The supernatural world was simply something we all watched on TV and in the movies for a brief escape from our ordinary mundane lives. I wasn’t supposed to be real.

    
              I wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep, to pretend that this was all just a silly dream and not something so prophetic. How could I ever deal with this, and how was I ever going to be able to confront Leo with my realization? What if I was wrong --- even though I knew I wasn’t. This was just so hard to accept. If it was anyone other than Leo, I never would have even entertained the idea that something like this was possible, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that my realization tied every loose end together. All the strangeness and things I’ve thought and seen over the past week were completely explained by my dream being reality. The more I thought about it all, the easier it became to believe rather than not. It was easier having an explanation --- even if that explanation was implausible --- than to be left wondering about a bunch of things that didn’t make any sense.

    
              I now knew his secret. Had this been what he was hiding from me last night when he told me
“it’s not the right time“
? It had to be, but why did he mention our parents? My parents,
oh God
. I didn’t know how to keep this type of thing from them. I was the type of person that had a very readable face, in which every emotion came shining through. Surely they’d be able to tell if I was keeping a secret as heavy as this one.

    
              I reluctantly climbed out of bed and headed over to the bathroom. A few minutes in a nice warm shower would give me time to think before having to face my parents --- and Leo.

    
              The hot steaming shower was a nice attempt at distraction, but failed miserably as thoughts of Leo and images of the lion rushed through my head, keeping me wondering about one particular point --- why was Leo pushing our relationship? Why would he want to embark on something that would clearly be a mental distraction, in addition to a complication of our friendship, when he had already been dealing with such a --- I didn’t even know what to call it.

    
              I turned off the shower, dried off, dressed, fidgeted with my wet hair, played with a few different shades of eye-shadow --- anything to delay this day that was promising to be problematic. Butterflies bounced off the walls of my stomach repetitively, causing me to feel nauseous. I wanted to crawl back into my bed and forget everything I now knew to be true.

    
              I knew what was coming when my dad finally called upstairs for me. He wanted me to go out to the woods with him and show him the exact place where the coyote had initiated its attack and, in turn, had succumbed to an unknown force that I still had not spoken a single word about to anyone. I met my dad downstairs five minutes later, then we headed out back across the field toward the woods.

    
              “So, are you still shaken up a little from yesterday?” he asked.                   It was obvious that something had been causing me to remain quiet, even more than usual, and my dad, along with everyone else, could always read my emotions written all over my face. Right now, he read nervousness and trepidation. He probably assumed these feelings were caused by retracing my steps back to the original spot of the attack and seeing the dead animal that had attempted to end me. But these feelings were, in actuality, caused by something else altogether that I was not going to consider discussing with my dad.

    
              “A little,” I responded honestly about being shaken up, but it wasn’t from the events of yesterday.

    
              “Don’t be nervous, Bec,” he said calmly. “I’ve got my gun, and this
is
what I do for a living, you know?”

    
              “Yeah, I know.”    

    
              “So, where exactly were you when you came into the woods yesterday?” he asked, refocusing on the task at hand.

    
              “Um, it was right about there,” I pointed to the single pine that sat along the front row of trees beginning the entrance to my path into the woods.

    
              “You sure?”

    
              “Yep,” there wasn’t a doubt in my mind.

    
              I had always entered the woods from that exact point, merely out of habit. I loved to brush the palm of my hand against the fur of the thirty-foot pine that I passed by every single time I visited back there.

    
              We walked side by side as we approached the mass of trees, then I stepped ahead of him to take the lead. After a few more steps, we were within yards of the rock that I had first found so peaceful and serene. My dad and I both scanned the dirt and pine-covered forest floor for any signs of what may still remain of the coyote.

    
              I suddenly heard the familiar buzz in my ears, rapidly becoming the decibel of a blow horn. I knew what would come next, so I leaned my shoulder against the nearest tree and wrapped my arms around its trunk. I braced myself for the inevitable visions sure to ensue.