Full Boar

Chapter 10: Instincts

Adrianna got used to Leslie pretty quickly. And that scared her.

Most of the time, she sat in the corner of Adrianna's office, blending in with the dark wood paneling, the one holdover in the room from the time before linoleum and fluorescent lights. She didn't move much, though she shadowed Adrianna wherever the doctor went.

The others didn't seem to be bothered by her. Alec was a bit wary, but Alec was a bit wary of anything. Dr. Forester always said hi to her whenever he stepped in to ask Adrianna's opinion about something. Dr. Kimber, however, never let herself get that familiar. The most interaction she had seen between with Leslie and Dr. Kimber had been an upturned nose to Leslie's quiet, subdued greeting. Perhaps Leslie resembled some troublesome student in Kimber's past.

All in all, Leslie fit into the office, and that worried Adrianna.

Mason's words came back to her, a promise to return to normalcy. What if that was to never happen? What if Leslie's implacable presence, like a shadow, never left her side? Worse... what if Adrianna got used to it? What if she became like the frog in the slowly heating pot, getting used to the warmer temperature until she didn't know it was boiling until it was too late?

"I want food," Leslie said. "How about you?"

Adrianna thought for a moment. It wasn't a long moment; she'd been hungry all day. "Sure. Besides, I need to stretch my legs." She got up, closed her laptop, and led Leslie out of the room.

The Foodworks was empty enough for Adrianna and Leslie to find a table and sink down after ordering their food. Adrianna ate both her meals. "At this rate, my bank account is gonna go into food. All of it, at this point."

"Yep. Or you get into hunting," Leslie said.

Adrianna arched an eyebrow. "Do I really seem like the hunting type?"

"Not really. But be open to change," Leslie said. She bit into her sandwich, and then her entire body stiffened. "Hold on, don't move. Someone's watching you."

"What?" Adrianna asked.

"Stop. Don't turn around. We don't want them noticing that we notice," Leslie said.

Adrianna didn't move. "What are you going to do?"

"Stop by and have a chat. But first I need some..." She downed her water bottle, reached into her pack, and pulled out a flask. "This should let us know if he's mortal or not."

"What is... is that holy water?"

"Yep. With... hold on." Leslie withdrew some black powder and some glistening powder and poured them in. "Silver and iron. And salt," she added, unscrewing the top of the table's salt shaker and pouring some in, "just in case." She thought for a second. "It's not got everything... but it's a general mix for anti-monster spray."

"And the silver?" Adrianna asked. "If I touch that, I'd blister?"

"Yep."

"So I'm a monster."

"Kind of." Leslie shrugged. "You still have your will about you. A lot of monsters don't."

"Are you sitting here waiting for me to snap?" Adrianna asked. "You my executioner?"

"No, more like a bodyguard preventing you from... hold on, he's getting up."

"The guy watching me?" Adrianna asked.

"Yeah."

"What does he look like?" Adrianna asked.

Leslie thought for a moment. "A bit pudgy? Got a scruffy beard, wearing slacks and a button down." She squinted. "He looks familiar."