Instincts - c.h.

Chapter 5

A few days went by without anything suspicious happening. I currently stood on Calum's porch, my Grimiore tucked under my arm and a bag of salt in my other hand. I had insisted that I do a quick cleansing to ward off any negative energy and put up some protective charms just for good measure. Calum obviously doubted my skills, but went along with it anyway because we both knew it couldn't hurt to be extra safe.

Luke answered the door. "Selena, come in" he beamed, ushering me inside.

There was a shuffle about in one of the rooms, Calum emerging from where the source of the noise came from looking a bit roughed up. His hair stuck up a bit on the sides and his shirt had wrinkles everywhere. Either he had been doing something or he just woke up.

"You're...here early" he mumbled, moving towards me.

"I'm actually a bit late" I chuckled "I think your clock might be broken" I added, glancing at the worn clock on the wall that read 6:45pm when it was actually almost seven thirty.

"Oh, right" Calum replied, seeming a bit frazzled.

"So...where do you want me to start?" I asked, rocking back on my heels.

"Um...upstairs? And we can work our way down" he suggested.

I nodded, following him up the rickety wooden stairs to the very end of the hall. I noticed the tension in his body as we approached the very last door on this floor. Locks seemed to line the door ranging from padlocks and deadbolts to the double lock on the doorknob. I counted at least five deadbolts.

He pulled out a set of keys and began opening the door with ease, the action seeming more like muscle memory than anything else. It didn't take long to undo all the locks, only a few moments at the most. He pushed the door back and let me step in before him. Two lamps served as the only source of light besides a curtained window off to the side.

I quickly realized this was Calum's bedroom. Besides the imprint of his energy being on practically everything, the room smelled heavily of him. That earthy nature smell that was both common yet uniquely his at the same time filled my lungs as I walked further into the room. I heard him shut the door. No doubt in my mind there would be more locks on the other side, sliding latches and more deadbolts.

A black bass rested against a speaker in the corner closest to the bed. For the most part the room was bare of any personal touches besides the instrument and a few t-shirts on the floor. Calum felt awkward having me in his room after only knowing me a few days, I could feel it. The moment I spoke he would probably try to make a joke or witty comment of some sort to lighten the mood.

"The locks...are they meant to keep you in or them out?" I asked, turning to face him.

He seemed to study my face for a moment before smirking lazily. "Why such a deep question?" he questioned back, taking a step closer to me. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him at this point "Maybe I just like locks" he shrugged.

I stared at him a moment to see if he was being serious or just joking. It ended up being the latter because he laughed to himself quietly, his eyes bright with amusement.

"I've never known a werewolf to be so sassy" I teased, setting the bag of salt down.

"Then you probably haven't met many great werewolves" he replied, never moving from his place so close to me, his smirk growing into a crooked grin.

"Not many like you..." I murmured, smiling to myself as I felt a blush begin to creep on my cheeks.

I knew he heard me, but didn't say anything about it.

With the mindless bit of flirting behind us, I began to get to work, beginning to clear out all the negative energy with multiple spells and incantations. Calum just stood beside me and watched, his eyes scanning the pages of my Grimiore curiously, yet having no idea what any of the words meant. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to have studied Latin at any point of his life.