Leo

by Rachel Medhurst

  “What can we do? I don’t know what we can do.” For the first time ever, I struggled to think of a way to fix it.

  Gritting my teeth, I cursed Moron in my mind. How dare he make us have to face such an issue? Was it his way of…?

  “Do you think this is the universe trying to make us unite in 2016?” My words were quiet.

  She pulled away from me, wiping her eyes and nodding that she was okay enough for me to let go. I did, going back to my seat and crossing my arms over my bare chest.

  “The way I feel for you in 2016 is completely different to any of these experiences. No offence, but I love you like a best friend.”

  Sitting forward, I leant my arms on my knees. “I feel the same. I didn’t miss you like I would if we were romantically involved. I know it took some of my siblings a long while to realise how much they were attracted to their flames, but ultimately, it was always there.”

  My cheeks flared red when her eyes narrowed on me. In this lifetime, her looks were my perfect type. And, if she had stayed standing in front of me for much longer, I would have found it hard not to reach out and touch her. But, that was just the remnant of the love I had for her in this lifetime. It was real…back then.

  “This is all so confusing. I always knew our future lifetime was going to be tough. I never realised we would have to relive all the past…pain.”

  “Have we never united? Am I that bad?” I clicked my knuckles, apologising when she frowned at me.

  “No…it’s not that you’re that bad. Like I said before, we’ve always put our love first…until we’ve destroyed it. Then, you go off on your jaunts. And, I…try and get back at you, or live miserably, hoping for your return.” Alyssa wiped a tear from under her eye. “Or, I die because of Nick. That’s happened a few times.”

  Her hiccup made me want to go to her again, but I stayed where I was. Knowing our history so well must be so frustrating for her. I couldn’t bare knowing the glimpses I had seen when I had travelled back for a few days, let alone whole lifetimes.

  “I can’t let you go through this again. I will not let this lifetime be littered with agony for you. I wonder…” I bit my knuckle as I thought about how we could change our lives.

  Alyssa got to her feet to find her clothes. Slipping her dress over her head, she opened the curtain. It was dark out, not even a star in the sky. “We’re poor now. Although…”

  Her eyes lit up as a baby’s cry came from the room next door. A hand went over my mouth as my memory came back. I was Larry, a saddle shop owner in the deep south of America. I hadn’t even noticed Alyssa’s accent as we spoke. And, we had a baby.

  Alyssa rushed from the room, her skirt flicking out behind her as a small laugh filtered back to me. She was excited to be a mother. That was nice. My heartbeat deepened as I stood and retrieved my off-white shirt. Lifting it over my head, I followed her into the next room, my bare feet slapping on the wooden floor.

  We lived above the shop in the middle of a proper cowboy town. If only Aries could see me now, he would probably have a heart attack. Standing in the doorway, I stared as Alyssa shushed our child, rocking her in her arms. She was a baby girl, just under a year old.

  “She’s beautiful,” I said, coming close to them so I could get a better look.

  It was odd. I remembered the history of our life when we arrived, but I didn’t know the future. Which, in a way, helped me to try and change it. Although, what would happen if we followed the exact same pattern as we had in the past? My brain clicked on something as I peered into the face of my baby girl.

  I had been here before. Well, that went without saying, but we had done this more than once already.

  “Alyssa,” I started, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, her face full of adoration. For the child. For me. My chest puffed out as an emotion I had never felt enveloped me. “We’ve been back here before.”

  Her smile turned into a frown as she carried on rocking. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

  “We’ve been back to this time before, but we must have failed. We must have destroyed our love. And, now we’re back to try to get it right again.”

  “Like karma,” she gasped, lowering the baby back into the hand-carved cot. “This is what people say karma is. You keep going over the same lessons until you learn them. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

  She grabbed my arm and pushed me back towards the door. Our talking would disturb our now sleeping child. A child? I was a father in a past life. It was no surprise really, yet, I had never visited a life where I had seen a being made by me.

  “We have to get it right this time. What if…” I kept talking as we made our way back into our bedroom. “What if we have to unite in every lifetime to make up for not uniting in the future?”

  The thought just came to me. As if someone or something had dropped it there. Lowering myself back in the seat next to the fire, I held onto the arms of the chair, watching the flames.

  “I don’t know, it doesn’t really make much sense.”

  Shaking my head, I agreed. If we wanted to defeat Nick once and for all, every single one of the Zodiac love warriors had to unite with their twin flame in a lifetime. That’s why we had never achieved our mission. Nick had always won. We had never managed to have all twelve siblings unite. Was I prepared to make it another lifetime of failure?

  “I’m pretty screwed,” I whispered, not taking my eyes away from the fire as Alyssa sat in the chair opposite again.

  “Because of me?”

  Her quiet tone made me look at her. We were in the bodies of the past, but our minds were stuck as the future. There had to be a way around our predicament.

  Sighing, I ran a hand over my head, frowning when my palm met with a nice round bald patch at the top of my skull. A smile quirked Alyssa’s lips as I slapped my head involuntary. Stupid bald patch.

  “It’s not just because of you. It’s because of me, too. I don’t have anyone in my life right now, but I would feel the same as you do about Freddie. It is a form of cheating, even if it’s not voluntary.”

  Alyssa got to her feet, moving to put another log on the fire. It was well into the night, but we had a lot to discuss. “Did you do as I said?”

  Scowling, I stamped my bare foot on the wood, wincing when the wood stung the older foot. “No. That reminds me, we need to get this over with as quickly as possible. I wasn’t exactly in a good place when I went out.”

  Alyssa stopped what she was doing, glaring at me as she did. “Well, I’m sorry for being so inconvenient. You should have listened. Getting yourself to a safe place is the only thing you can do to control it.”

  “It’s not exactly controlling it if you still have to go.”

  She got to her feet, wiped her hands on her shift and sat back down, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “You have to accept that this is what we agreed to do. We just need to work out how to make it work to our advantage at the same time as being free from each other in our current life.”

  I couldn’t see how that was possible. If we were together in 2016, it wouldn’t matter what happened when we travelled back. We wouldn’t be potentially cheating, we would just be reliving our lives.

  As I thought of my siblings, I tried to reason in my head. Maybe they would be okay with me not being with Amelia. Or, if I pretended that we were somehow united. Could I go behind their back like that?

  “I don’t know how to fix this.”

  Her eyes drooped as she leant back in the seat. “Don’t think of it as a failure, yet, Leo. You’re always so quick to believe somethings bad. You know as well as I do, when you put your mind to something, you sort the challenge out. This time, you’ve got to let me help.”

  “Really?”

  I laughed when she threw a small pillow thing at me. It was tough, being a fair bit older in this lifetime. Groaning, I rubbed the spot where it had hit my forehead. She was the one laughing now.

  “Maybe we can figure it out as w
e work through this lifetime. In the meantime, let’s sleep.” Getting up, she made her way to the bed.

  Rubbing my hands together, I got to my feet. I was about to approach the other side of the bed when she stopped, spun round and put her hands on her hips.

  “Don’t even think it. You get to keep the chair company tonight.” She pointed at the seat I had just vacated.

  It wasn’t a comfortable place for me to sleep. Sulking, I looked around for another blanket. Alyssa huffed as she took the one she had around her and slung it towards me. I caught it, smirking when she rushed into the bed, gasping as her bare legs hit the cold sheets. Served her right, she should have let me warm them for her.

  “I much preferred what was going to happen when we first got here.”

  Her murmur sounded like a future swear word. I hoped she wouldn’t act like that around others, they would be horrified.

  Throwing the blanket over my shoulders, I put on the slippers that were by the bedroom door. Going out, I made my way into the child’s bedroom. Elizabeth…that was her name. A classic name. A pretty name for a beautiful girl. My eyes filled with water as I watched her suck her thumb as she slept.

  “Hello, lovely.” Although I didn’t know the child as Leo, the memory of her was strong in my heart. Stroking her cheek, I left her when she moved. I didn’t want to wake her.

  Walking down the stairs, I wrapped the blanket tightly against me. It was chilly in the rooms that didn’t have a fire. The stairs creaked as I stepped off the bottom and went into the kitchen. I froze, going still when a figure, who was slumped over the table jumped suddenly, sitting up and aiming a gun straight at my chest.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Nick.” The single word resounded around the small kitchen.

  The whole house was made up of wood. It was set in the very middle of town with a grocers and a clothes shop on either side. The Wild West was in the deep gold rush. And, I was right in the middle of it.

  “Nick? I don’t know no Nick.” The raspy voice of the older man made me cringe.

  It was Nick, but that wasn’t his name in this lifetime. In fact, I had never seen the man before. As his shadow moved, his face was lit by the light of our neighbour’s window. A gnarled face with wrinkles and acne marks snarled in my direction.

  “Who are you?” I had to play along.

  His chuckle made him wheeze. There wasn’t much life left in the old body. If he had come to hurt us, I had to protect Alyssa and Elizabeth. I tried to remember the time, what had happened. But, I couldn’t.

  “My name is Bill. I’m here because you have something I want.”

  Looking around the dark, I planned my move. He was probably going to rush from his seat, using his pistol.

  “I can’t kill you,” he went on when I didn’t answer.

  A flick of a match made me pause. Light bathed the table and his face as he lit the candle that rested in front of him.

  “That’s better. I can watch your face as I take…”

  “Larry?” Alyssa’s voice came from the top of the stairs, her footsteps light as she moved down them.

  She had obviously heard me speaking to Bill. Rushing to move forward, I froze when the sound of a gun being cocked echoed.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  My initial instinct was to stay where I was. Her footsteps grew louder. Instead of listening to my fear instinct, I followed my gut and rushed forward right at the time Alyssa came around the doorframe. A gun shot was fired. I threw myself across the room, blocking the bullet from hitting my wife.

  “No!” Bill’s shout was full of rage.

  Alyssa screamed as I fell to the ground, the bullet lodged in my chest. I couldn’t die. Well, I could die, but Bill couldn’t kill me. Except, the pain that exploded inside me sure felt like I could. Bill was still screaming, yet, he didn’t come closer.

  Clutching my chest, I looked over at him. He was slumped over the table, holding his own chest. Did the pain I feel resonate through him because he had broken the rules?

  “Larry,” Alyssa cried, dropping to her knees next to me.

  The back door crashed open, our neighbour, John, coming straight in with his gun ready. “What’s going on?” He pointed the gun at Bill, his eyes narrowing on him. “What a surprise! I’ve seen you hanging around here.”

  My eyes rolled back as the pain filtered to every part of my body. Alyssa went to her cabinet and took out her medical kit. Coming back, she nodded at John to take the other man out. Our neighbour took Bill by the arm and dragged him towards the door. As John was about to leave, he glanced over his shoulder at me. “Keep well,” he muttered.

  Aries. John was Aries. I had rarely come across my siblings in our past life excursions. Only because we didn’t know that much about each other back then. We had always been related or known each other, but my knowledge and memory was getting better. I could recognise that fiery gaze anywhere.

  “I’m going to die.” I took hold of Alyssa’s hands as she bent down next to me.

  John closed the door behind him with a slam. We both jumped, grabbing hold of each other.

  “No, you’re not. You can’t, remember?”

  She was right. Alyssa would never know that, but Amelia would. It was confusing being two people at the same time, yet, the same soul. Having experienced this before, yet, not remembering how it went.

  Alyssa calmly moved my hand from where I clutched my chest. I was losing some blood, but not as much as I should. Finding the hole in my shirt, she ripped it open so she could get better access to the wound. Pouring a bit of alcohol on it, she proceeded without saying a word.

  Gritting my teeth, I tried to keep still as she picked up a tiny pair of what looked like tongs and pushed them into the hole. I groaned as the pain increased, almost knocking me out.

  “There you go,” she muttered, pulling the bullet out quickly.

  I released my breath, panting as the pain started to subside. Alyssa turned away to throw the bullet in the bin. When she looked back, she gasped. I put my hand to my chest, feeling for the wound. It was gone.

  “You’re healed already. That’s crazy.”

  The kitchen door crashed open. Alyssa jumped to her feet, standing in front of me. John walked in, his gun tucked into his belt.

  “It’s okay. He just fell down dead out there.” His accent was stronger than ours. He was a true cowboy.

  I frowned as I got to my feet, trying to pull the ripped edges of my shirt together. John stared at me, right at the spot that had blood on it, but no wound. Hopefully, my soul brother would know not to ask questions.

  “Are you okay, ma’am?” he asked Alyssa instead.

  She nodded quickly, going to the sink to wash her hands. Elizabeth started to cry upstairs, drawing her attention away from us.

  “Go,” I told her, gesturing for her to see to the child.

  John took a seat at the table, still staring at my chest. I had given up trying to cover it, there was no point.

  “Where’s Bill?” I asked, going to look out the kitchen door window.

  Shaking his head, John finally looked away from me and got to his feet. “The sheriff was passing as the man dropped dead. I told him he had tried to attack you. I…you might want to hide that shirt, he’ll probably be here any minute.”

  Ripping the shirt off, I rushed up to our bedroom to wipe the blood off and change. I could hear voices in the kitchen as I came back down.

  “Sorry, Sheriff, I was just checking on my wife and kid.”

  The sheriff. I almost laughed as I felt Scorpio’s energy. I had never experienced so much knowing in one life time. Sometimes I could tell if someone was one of my siblings, but most of the time, it never entered my mind.

  “What happened here?”

  Clearing my throat as I ran my hand over my hair, I pointed at the now vacated chair. John stood by the kitchen door, his hands resting on his belt. The sheriff looked at the table, his eyebrows raised.

>   “I came down for a drink and that man sat at my table. I saw his shadow straight away. He said I had something he wanted, but I don’t know what. My wife, Alyssa, heard voices from upstairs so she came down. He shot at her, but missed. He then started to grab at his chest and talking rubbish. As I comforted Alyssa, John came in and took him out.”

  John nodded when the sheriff looked at him. The red haired man had a moustache over his top lip. He rubbed his lips together as he studied us, the room and then looked towards the stairs as Alyssa’s footsteps came down them.

  “Ma’am,” he greeted her, nudging his hat as she came into the room.

  She came straight to me and put her arm around my waist. A dressing gown covered her shift, making her a little more decent.

  “Sheriff, thank you for coming. We’ve had a terrible fright.” Her pale face and shaking hands were not fake.

  We really did have a scare. But, now, Bill was dead. What did that mean? I had never seen a time when our enemy had died. John wouldn’t have lied about it, he was my friend and neighbour.

  “Where is the man?” Alyssa asked, looking between the two.

  The sheriff glanced at John, his gaze lowered to the floor. “I’m afraid he had a heart attack, ma’am. He died in the street.”

  “You’ve not left him out there?” Alyssa gasped, putting a hand to her chest very convincingly as she looked at the door.

  The sheriff stepped forward quickly. “Oh, no, ma’am. I’ve taken him to the station.”

  Alyssa let out the air from her lungs in a long breath. “Thank goodness.”

  The men nodded at her, allowing her a moment of panic before they looked at me. The sheriff cleared his throat again.

  “I’m sorry to have to ask this so late, but is there anything you have that…belonged to him?”

  My jaw dropped. Was my brother from the future accusing me of stealing? He would pay when I got back to 2016. He was supposed to be a supporter. Well, I always had that impression, anyway.