The Soulkeepers (14 page)

"What was that? What were you thinking about
just then?" Malini asked.

"Nothing."

"You're keeping something from me."

"I…" He searched for the right words.
"Malini, if I could figure out a way to get us out of here—out of
this town—would you come with me?"

"You mean, like, permanently?"

"Yes."

"That's it, then. That's what you've been
hiding. You're thinking of running away."

He nodded. It wasn't really a lie. He was
just leaving out some information about using a tree that grew out
of a dead guy to get there.

"You can't go." Malini's arms crossed over
her chest. "I can't go. We're fifteen, Jake. How would we survive?
I mean, believe me I know, I want to go as much as you do, but this
is temporary. We just need to graduate from high school first and
then we can go to some college somewhere and leave this town in our
dust. It's the only way that makes sense."

Her hand was so small in his. He rubbed her
knuckle with his thumb and thought about leaving without her. Could
life get any harder than this? And then, as if in answer to his
question her lips were on his, her fingers were in his hair, and he
was falling back on the pink comforter, her full weight stretched
out on top of him.

"Don't leave me," she whispered into his
ear.

Jacob kissed her cheek, breathing in the
clean smell of her skin. Then he met her lips again.

She was the only girl he'd ever kissed, and
the experience was still new. He didn't think he would ever grow
tired of the softness of her lips or the way her hair fell against
his face. Before he could really think about what he was saying, he
replied, "I won't."

"Good," she said and crawled off the bed. He
grabbed her thigh and looked up into her eyes, the moon reflecting
yellow circles in the brown.

"So that was it? All you wanted from me was
a promise to not leave you in Paris by yourself?"

"No," she said, a smile creeping impishly
across her face. "I also wanted the kiss."

"Lucky me."

"I better get back." She walked toward the
window and then suddenly turned toward the box that sat on his
desk.

"What's that?"

"A jewelry box. It used to belong to my mom.
I haven't been able to get it open though. It's locked."

Her fingers found her hair and pulled out
the bobby pin that was holding her bangs back. She reached for the
box as a chunk of hair fell over her right eye.

"You don't have to do that," he began, but
before he finished his sentence the box was open. Without looking
under the lid, she handed it back to him.

"You should do the honors," she said.

He took the box and peeked inside. The blood
rushed from his face and Jacob felt his hands grow cold. The box
snapped shut between his fingers.

"This must be hard for you," she said. "You
miss your mom. Do you want me to leave you to your thoughts?"

He nodded. Jacob set the box down and moved
with Malini toward the window. With his hand under her elbow, he
helped her climb out.

"McNulty's tomorrow after school?" she
said.

"Sure."

She was down the lattice and smiling back at
him from the yard in a few lithe moves. He waved as she moved
toward her car.

When she was out of sight, he returned to
the box on the bed and lifted the lid. It was not a jewelry box at
all. Inside there were three indentations in blue velvet. The first
two were filled with knives. Double-sided blades with polished bone
hilts glinted ominously in the moonlight.

The last indentation was empty.

The Fight

"LAU," Dane Michaels barked from the end of
the row of mustard yellow lockers.

Jacob turned but did not respond. He was
waiting for Malini to finish talking to Mrs. Jacques about a job
working in the Biology lab. It was the end of the day, and the hall
was empty.

"Lau, I'm talking to you." Dane spread his
hands like he was surprised Jacob wasn't responding, as if they
talked every day.

"What do you want Dane?"

"I want to show you something. Can you come
with me, outside?"

"No."

"Come on, Lau. There's someone I need you to
meet." Dane looked agitated. He had dark circles under his eyes and
Jacob could smell that spicy sweet stench on him again, like a
combination of cigarette smoke, alcohol and coffee breath.

"Why would I go with you Dane? What? Are a
bunch of your friends going to jump me as soon as we're
outside?"

"No. It's not like that. Listen Lau, I met
someone who wants to meet you. I don't know why but it's important.
Just come with me all right?"

"No way. I'm not going anywhere with you. If
you're going to do something to me, do it right here. And, don't
think I don't know you were behind what happened to Malini last
night." He pointed a finger at Dane's face.

Dane chuckled. "Hey, that was just a joke.
Besides, it was Amy not me. Now stop messing around and come on."
His hand shot out and grabbed Jacob's shoulder.

"Let go of me," he said, yanking free of
Dane's grip.

Dane looked frustrated. He opened his mouth
as if to say something else but then seemed to give up. Instead, he
sank his shoulder into Jacob's gut and tried to lift him from the
floor. If he wasn't willing to come voluntarily, Dane was prepared
to force him.

Jacob sank a knee into his chest and with a
twist freed himself. Thinking fast, he sprinted toward the office.
No way would Dane pursue him there. But he was wrong. Something
hard hit his ankles and his forearms slapped the linoleum floor
with such force, pain shot up both elbows. He clenched his teeth to
avoid yelling out. Paris High School had a zero tolerance policy.
If he was caught fighting with Dane, they'd both be suspended
regardless of who started it.

Dane's body weight was on top of his calves
from the tackle. There had to be something he could do to fight him
off. But every time he pushed himself up off the floor, Dane pulled
his legs back, flattening him to the linoleum. The worst part was
he knew Malini would be coming out of Mrs. Jacques' room any
minute. If Dane hurt her…

In an army crawl, he pulled Dane toward the
wall. If he could just get some leverage, he might be able to flip
himself over. He reached for the pipes of the water fountain across
from the office. The silver tube hung down from the porcelain bowl,
almost level with his head and he desperately gripped the cold
steal. The humming started again, the same as that day at the
grocery store. He could hear it, calling to him from the pipes.
Everything slowed. He tried to gather the hum inside, like he'd
done before.

The door to Mrs. Jacques room opened. It was
now or never.

The release reverberated inside his chest.
Water sprayed from the fountain towards Dane's face, not a gentle
spray but like hail that formed in the air. The sharp pieces pegged
Dane in the forehead and he released Jacob's ankles to block his
face with his hands.

"Ahh! What the hell?" Dane yelled from
behind his forearms.

Jacob flipped himself up onto his feet,
leapt over Dane and headed for Malini who was emerging from the
science lab.

The fountain stopped, just as Principal
Bailey stepped out from the office door.

"What's going on out here?" he asked. His
eyes moved from Dane to the puddle of water on the floor, which was
all that was left of the hail, and then towards Jacob. He stood at
the other end of the hall, completely dry.

Dane stood on wobbly legs, holding his
head.

Principal Bailey gave Dane another once over
and then turned back toward Malini and Jacob. Eyes squinting in
their direction, he looked much older than the man Jacob had met
the first day of school.

"You two move along," he said. He placed a
hand on Danes arm. "Let's have a talk in my office, Dane."

"We need to go," Jacob said to Malini. He
took her hand and headed for the exit. As he held the door open for
her, he looked back to see Dane seething with rage as he followed
Principal Bailey into his office.

"What was that all about?" Malini asked.

"Dane."

Malini needed no further explanation. She
nodded and walked faster toward Main Street.

* * * * *

"So what did he say to you?" Malini asked
once they were safely nestled into their regular booth at
McNaulty's.

"He wanted me to come with him. He said he
wanted to, I don't know, introduce me to someone or something. It
was really weird."

"What do you think he was trying to do?"

"It's obvious. He wanted to get back at me
for that day at Westcott's. I'm sure a bunch of his friends were
waiting somewhere to beat me senseless."

Malini took a deep breath, puffing up her
cheeks before allowing the air to escape her lips.

"Don't worry about it," Jacob said. "School
is almost over and I'm sure Dane will find something better to do
than to torment us over the summer.

"I hope you're right."

With school winding down for the year, Jacob
was looking forward to being free of Dane's clutches. As a bonus,
Katrina would be graduating. She'd been accepted at the University
of Illinois. It would be a relief to not have her around next year.
Of course, he hoped not to be there either. If all went well with
Dr. Silva, he'd be back home on Oahu in a few weeks.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Malini
asked.

"I have to work." He didn't attempt to hide
the disappointment in his voice.

"That's right, you're still working for your
neighbor to pay off the window."

"Yep. I have a feeling it's going to take
awhile."

"Is it hard work?"

"If you consider shoveling compost for five
hours hard work."

"Ugh. Sounds awful. Is that woman nice to
you?"

"Dr. Silva? She's alright, I guess," he
said. There was no way he was going to try to explain his
relationship with Dr. Silva.

"Hmm, because she gives me the creeps."

"You've met her?"

"Just once, with my dad. She came into his
office to file the claim on her window. My dad started acting
strange, like he couldn't do enough for her. She just kept staring
him down. Have you noticed how she rarely blinks? How she almost
always wears black? And, her house gives new meaning to the term
Goth."

"Did you talk with her?" he asked.

"No. I wasn't feeling well, so I excused
myself. It didn't stop me from hearing their conversation though.
It was embarrassing the way my dad tripped over himself to help
her. She was just, I don't know, odd."

"Yeah, you should see her cat. Creepy big
and she doesn't go anywhere without it."

"Wow, so I was right. She's totally
whacked."

"As far as I can tell."

The sound of the door opening behind him
interrupted their conversation. Uncle John entered and walked up to
their booth.

"Jacob, I'm done at the store. It's time to
go," he said, then caught himself, "Hello, Malini."

"Hi, Mr. Laudner."

"Do you need a ride home?"

"No sir, I'm meeting my dad at his
office."

"Okay then."

"See you later," Jacob said, then rose to
follow John out the door and across the pebble parking lot to Big
Blue.

"How was your day?" John asked as he started
the engine and pulled out onto Main Street.

"Fine," he answered toward the window.

"Seems like you're spending a lot of time
with Malini. She a nice girl?"

"Yep."

They sat in silence for a while, as John
made the turn onto Rural Route One. Jacob stared out the window and
hoped John wouldn't try to talk with him again. Without warning,
the truck veered onto the shoulder and came to a rough stop.

Surprised, Jacob turned toward John. The man
stared over the steering wheel, eyes blank. His foot rested on the
brake.

"John?" he prodded.

"Jacob, do you know why I brought you here,
to Paris?" he said to the windshield.

Jacob didn't answer. He didn't know.

"Do you think a person is only as good as
the worst thing they've ever done?" John turned to face him as he
said it, shifting the car into park.

Jacob thought about what his uncle said.
Memories of all the things he'd done wrong in his life came rushing
back: memories of his father and mother punishing him for getting
into a fight at school, staying out past dark, and the time he
tried unsuccessfully to steal candy from the grocery store. He
remembered his parents explaining to him, loving him through his
mistakes. He thought of the day with Katrina's dolls, how angry
he'd been. Then he thought about his mother and the fight they'd
had in the apartment. If he believed she was only as good as the
worst thing she'd ever done, he'd have given up on her long
ago.

"No, I think people make mistakes and learn
from them. I think most people get better after the worst thing
they've done—if they want to."

"Well, what happened with your dad was the
worst thing I've ever done." He rubbed the stubble on his chin and
looked at the floor of the car. "I brought you here because I lost
touch with your father before he died. You look so much like him,
you know. Sure your coloring's a little different but your eyes,
the way you hold your head… What I'm trying to say Jacob is that I
brought you here because I want to know you. I want to know who you
are."

"Why?" Jacob snapped. "I'm never going to be
what you want me to be. I'm not like you or the people here. This
isn't home to me."

"That may be true and you may only be here
for the next three years and then be off to fame and fortune, to
never speak to a Laudner again. But aren't you curious, Jacob?
Doesn't even some part of you want to know who your father was? I
lived with your father for eighteen years, you know. We were close
for a long time. Don't you want to know what he was like?"