Maya asked Leo to keep away for the night, leaving behind the necklace he was anchored to. For once, he didn't protest—spying on his childhood crush during her date with another guy felt uncomfortable, even for him.
Directionless, he left the room.
To his dismay, his presence was becoming more obsolete by the day. To combat the unbearable boredom of death, he decided to check what Elena was doing.
Banished from Maya's company for the night, he wondered about what Elena does on her own. Though Leo preferred staying by Maya's side, whenever privacy was needed, he would seek out the only other person who knew of his existence out of a lingering habitual need for human connection.
However, Elena was quite elusive. If he didn't start following her from the start, he would often be unable to find her anywhere. This time he didn't have his hopes up either, but while aimlessly searching around, he ran into her in the streets of the male dorm complex.
Elena was standing in front of a building, staring at it with a dark expression as if old bricks had crossed her in some way. On further inspection, he concluded she must've been looking at one of the windows.
While he was trying to discern which window in particular had her interest, Elena had somehow managed to slip away.
"She was next to me a second ago. How is she so fast?"
Fruitlessly searching the streets, Leo eventually gave up.
"How can she be so good at hiding from ghosts?"
However, Leo then ran into another familiar figure. It was Adam. He must've been leaving for his date with Maya.
Adam was dressed in a casual outfit, looking fresh and ready for his date. Humming a tune while mentally going over his plan for tonight. Leo felt a pang of jealousy seeing him so excited. It was hard not to be scornful, knowing that Adam was about to enjoy what Leo could only dream of.
Unexpectedly, Leo noticed Elena appear further up on Adam's path, appearing all wobbly and stumbling.
"When did she get so wasted? She didn't seem so drunk when I saw her earlier."
It was obvious to Adam as well that she was intoxicated, and he quickly rushed to her to see if she needed help.
"Elena, hi. What are you doing here?"
They were at the male dormitory complex, but they were nowhere near Keith's building.
"Just chilling," Elena said trying to sound casual, leaning on a nearby street-light pole to catch a balance. She didn't look alright.
"It's nighttime. You shouldn't be outside 'just chilling'."
Adam noticed she wasn't dressed all too warmly and began to worry more.
"Yes, sir," Elena saluted drunkenly.
She attempted to move forward but lost her footing. Instinctively, Adam caught her to prevent a fall. Now in his arms, his eyes widened as he took in her lovely fragrance from such close proximity.
He couldn't refuse to help her when she was in distress, and she clearly needed help. It was on his way, anyway. "C'mon. Let's get you inside," he said.
"I can't go to my room, right now," Elena whispered into his ear. "I wasn't supposed to be there."
Even Leo watching them felt flushed. As a guy, he could relate having such beauty up close could make things difficult for him.
"I have a great idea!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Let's go grab some drinks, right now."
"Umm… I can't right now," Adam was unsure.
"Just one tiny drink," Elena was pinching her fingers. "They refuse to serve me when I'm alone."
Leo stared at Adam with his mouth agape. "No. Are you seriously considering going with her? And she… What is she doing?"
Leo was baffled by the scene unfolding before him. He wasn't particularly happy about Adam's date with Maya, but he couldn't brush past him ditching her for this either.
"Don't you care about Maya's feelings?" Leo pranced around them. "Both of you!"
However, neither of them could be aware of Leo's harsh judgement and protests. He was nothing but the air around them. He didn't exist in any tangible way.
Leo had joined them through their little adventure as they went into a bar for drinks, criticizing them out loud the entire time, which they were unable to register. He watched as Adam was effortlessly enticed and seduced by barely coherent Elena, paying for one drink after another while she rambled about inconsequential things.
Adam must've been feeling quite good about himself, consoling a distressed beauty who took him as her hero, all while Maya was being stood up.
And then, if things couldn't get any worse, Leo watched them leave the bar together. At that point, Elena was barely able to walk, while Adam gallantly led her toward his dorm room.
The door to Adam's room was the furthest Leo was willing to go. He didn't have to enter to know what was happening on the inside.
Leo felt absolute disgust. Disgust at the both of them enjoying themselves while Maya was being hurt. He didn't like any of them, to begin with, but this was crossing every line imaginable. He was disgusted by Adam who seized this opportunity, and disgusted by Elena and her devilish temptress nature.
'The audacity…'
Leo didn't know how much time had passed. He had shut out the outside world for a while, immersed in thoughts of hatred and curses directed at the both of them. He must've been sitting on the floor there for a while when faint voices could be heard inside.
"Whoa, hey there…" Elena's voice was harsh and scornful.
It sounded like squabbling. Leo looked toward the window. The sky was getting lighter. It was almost morning.
"Go ahead. Tell whoever you want," Elena's voice was full of ridicule. "I'm actually curious about his reaction too, so I dare you."
"Do you think he won't believe me? I can prove it!"
"So can anyone after a short trip to the Charred Pavilion."
If Adam shared this story, people would likely dismiss it as mere fantasy.
"You're surprisingly alike," Elena added, scornfully. "Even those worst traits. Only you have nothing to offer… Not to me… And not to Maya."
"Maya would believe me! I'll tell her you seduced me!"
Elena's laugh echoed from the room. "I'm sure she'll take you back."
Leo didn't catch what Adam said or did next to make Elena's laughs die out. Then, a thud followed with sounds of struggling.
"Blair, you're a foolish man." Elena's voice was now deeper, not in a seductive, but a dangerous manner. "You heard all the rumours about me. Have you never wondered to what extent is the truth?" Elena's accent seemed to shift more toward her Russian roots, too. "Never provoke crazy if you like the sound of your heart beating."
'They were arguing… No, Elena was threatening him! What happened while I was lost in my thoughts?'
Adam thought he was getting lucky, but it turns out he stepped on a landmine.
Leo was baffled by the outcome, and Elena soon burst out of the room. Her posture was still wobbly, but her expression was dark and assured again. He followed her as she exited into the night.
She walked quietly alone back toward her dorm building, pausing now and then, listening to any sounds and keeping a low profile.
"Are you ashamed? Who could see you now anyway? Except for me, that is."
Elena suddenly stopped and straightened out.
"You saw, right?" she said out loud.
Leo was caught by surprise, looking around to find who was she talking to. However, there was no living being in sight.
Elena chuckled to herself as if something was amusing. "I'm speaking to Leo the ghost."
This shocked him. Not only would she explicitly ignore his existence even when she knew he was around, but right now she was speaking to him when there was no Maya to relay his message.
"You knew I was following you?" Leo asked, deeply worried by the possibility of Elena being able to perceive him in some way.
"Ha! Well, there's no way to know if you answered, so I'll just presume you're here."
Well, this makes it even worse if Elena was aware the whole time that Leo could be following her…
"I don't know your opinion of this fiasco, but I bet you are glad."
"Glad?! Why would I be glad when Maya was played by the two of you like a fool!" his yells could only fall on deaf ears.
"I got rid of the nuisance, am I right?"
Leo paused.
"It seems Maya will stay all yours for a while longer. No need to thank me."
Elena's words pushed him to think about it more deeply. In truth, this does benefit him. He hated Adam's presence in Maya's life, and Elena just put him out of the picture.
"I guess it's up to you if you want to rat it out, but you should consider it carefully before you do."
'This girl… How's she so… The audacity to have the confidence to manipulate a ghost she was unable to properly communicate with in the first place…'
And the worst thing was that it was working.
Leo was mad with fury the entire time, but when thinking over it with a clear head, he did nothing but benefit. Revealing what he witnessed to Maya would shift the blame to Elena for tempting Adam, and Maya may run back to him, absolving him of all blame because he was a victim of Elena's wickedness. But if Maya never knew the reason she was stood up… The blame was entirely on Adam, and Elena was never involved.
If Elena's threat was effective, the truth would never come out. And even if it was not, Leo had no doubt this manipulative wench could spin the story to make Adam seem delusional. After all, unlike Maya, Leo knew Elena's true nature was more twisted and cruel than anyone they had encountered before.
So Leo agreed to keep silent. This time, he sided with a villain.