Theo kept glancing up at me, and Leah sent me periodic glares. I stayed exactly where I was. People flowed in and out, time ticking steadily on until it was five o'clock. 

I tapped my fingers on the table as Theo started to leave, my eyes searching for Leah. Theo walked towards me, stopping awkwardly.

"You ready to go home?"

"I guess. I just wanted to talk to you and Leah about-"

"I can explain anything you need me to."

I stared at him. "I wanted you to talk to you and Leah about what happened last night."

He looked at me, almost pleading. "I can explain everything."

"Why don't you want me to talk to Leah?" I pressed, watching as she was starting to slip away with a glance towards me. She was moving towards the door, moving further and further away from me.

He sighed. "She's... she has certain ideas that-"

I didn't hear the rest of what he said as I was rushing to catch up with one of the only people who could give me answers. I knew Theo would follow me.

I had to run to catch up with her, and she seemed to be walking faster to avoid me. 

"Leah!"

She stopped, seeming to force a smile on her face. "Hey, Rosella."

My stomach lurched with the memory of the green reflected by her eyes. I ignored the feeling, smiling back at her. 

"I just wanted to apologize for running out on you last night."

She looked surprised, but her voice remained thick with the same forced politeness. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's shocking. In fact, since it bothers you so much, you don't have to come again."

All the moral things I knew about her aside, I hated her at that moment, but the veil of politeness kept both of us in a conversation until Theo caught up to me.

"Actually," I was saying, "it doesn't bother me. I was just overwhelmed, which is why I was hoping you could explain what happened."

Theo was looking between us, his eyes flicking between us, but we both ignored him.

"I would love to. Anything you need, Rosella."

"Thank you. You have no idea how that much means to me."

She took a deep breath. "Would you and Theo come to eat dinner at my house? That's the easiest way I think we can all get together and," she looked repulsed for a second, "talk about all this."

I glanced at Theo and I saw in his eyes he didn't want to. I tried to give him puppy dog eyes, but his eyes already told me that he couldn't be persuaded that quickly. 

Leah also stared at Theo, her eyes glaring at him with veiled malice. 

He looked at me again. 

"It'd be nice to get a break from McDonald's," I said, saying the first excuse I could think of to go.

Leah piled on. "I'll cook dinner. We'll have privacy. It'll be good. What do you say?"

Theo looked at me again, and for an instant, I almost felt bad.

"We'll come," I said, ignoring Theo's hurt look. 

$$$

Leah's apartment was beyond anything I expected. She gave some lofty explanation of how her fiance came from a rich family, but I hardly listened. I was too busy looking at the finery around me.

Theo looked anxious, his eyes on the door from the moment we walked in. Leah invited us to sit on a couch so fluffy that we seemed to sink into it forever. I felt myself leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head and looked down at his hands, still not relaxing. Leah was bouncing between rooms, and only when she left did Theo start talking.

"I don't trust her, Rose. Not as much as I used to, anyway. I don't-"

She was back in the room again, and he stopped as though the breath had been sucked out of his lungs. She banged pots and pans around, leaving again.

"You seem to trust her enough to go into dark alleys at night and-"

She was back again.

"Something doesn't feel right."

I shushed him, but somehow his unease was contagious. Every bang made me jump in my skin. The whole room felt like it was building with tension for something bad. I just didn't know what.

In no time, Leah had me and Theo sitting at a table with food in front of us, an awkward silence hanging over us.

Theo fidgeted until he eventually started a conversation. "Where's Ben?"

Leah looked down at her food. "Out again. I forget where it was this time."

I couldn't make myself feel sympathy for her, just like I couldn't Theo. She took a deep breath, a breath full of emotion that I wished I hadn't seen.

"Well, it doesn't matter too much. What did you want me to explain about Soul Theives?"

I put down my fork, the food, for all its savory smells and delicious texture, unappealing. 

"How? Why?" I stammered like a child.

"How is very interesting. Actually, I don't know how it started, but it's taught, one person who needs the skill to another. Someone taught me so I could... someone taught me and I taught Theo and Theo will teach someone. Why's almost always the same. It's the only way to cure Soul Sickness. You cure the rotting soul by replacing it. Simple."

"Yeah. Simple," Theo repeated dumbly.

"So... you take a soul from someone? What happens to them?"

"Their body lives off instinct. They don't have any personality, but it doesn't really matter to them anymore. There's no pain. No feeling in the body. It sounds quite nice actually. And the soul lives on in the body of the new person. It's a win-win." Leah said, seeming like she was speaking of something divine.

"It's not a win-win."

Leah looked at Theo with exasperation as though he was unbelievably stupid.

"Of course it is."

"No. It's not. It's not a perfect cure for the person getting cured, and I sure don't imagine having your soul trapped inside you feels good."

Leah could barely open her mouth before her phone starting ringing. She picked it up and her face went pale. She stood up shakily.

"I have to take this. Keep eating. I'll be right back."

Me and Theo looked at each other. What could make Leah go that pale?