The Soulkeepers (27 page)

"What do you mean? I just met her
yesterday."

"I know. I can't explain it. It feels like
when you're a kid and something in you just knows that a spider is
more dangerous than a butterfly. No one has to tell me that she's a
spider. I just know. Please…" There was a familiar look on her face
as if she'd decided something. The same one Jacob remembered from
his snake dream and when she'd refused to go through the tree.

"Hmm." He thought about how his dreams had a
way of coming true lately, even if things didn't happen in exactly
the same way. There was something unusual about Auriel, unnatural.
"I think you're right," he told Malini.

"Good, because I'm going home. I've
obviously got the flu or something. Sorry we couldn't hang out but
we are still going on Saturday, right? To the Pumpkin Chuck?"

"Definitely. We'll pick you up." Jacob
walked her to her car and helped her in, backing toward Auriel as
Malini pulled out of the now almost empty parking lot.

"So are you still up for McNaulty's?" Auriel
asked. She had closed the gap between them and said the words into
his ear. With her body this close, he could smell her scent, spicy
and sweet, like fresh baked pumpkin pie. The scent was
irresistible. Even with the memory of his nightmare and the warning
from Malini, he found himself drawn to her. As he turned and saw
the bend of her neck above the clingy white blouse, he felt
helpless to resist her. It was as if he were seeing fire for the
first time. He knew it could burn but every cell in his body wanted
to play with it, craved to see how close he could get.

"I think I should go," Jacob forced himself
to say. His voice sounded weak, the hesitation of uncertainty
lengthening the vowels. She moved in closer and her presence
wrapped around him, an intoxicating and tangible thing that flowed
through his body like electricity. Everything felt warm. His
fingers and toes tingled. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her. Just. One.
Kiss.

"What are
you
doing here?" Dane
Michaels descended the last steps to the parking lot, attitude
rolling off of him like bad cologne. He looked at Auriel and then
at Jacob with blatant jealousy in his eyes.

"Dane," Jacob said, taking a step back from
Auriel whose expression morphed into rage, "Have you met
Auriel?"

Dane didn't acknowledge him. "Do you have
some of that stuff you gave me before?" he said to Auriel, sliding
up to her and taking her waist. Apparently, she smelled just as
good to Dane because Jacob saw him breathe in deeply and lean in
closer to her. "It was great but I'm all out."

"Leave or die," she said through her teeth.
Dane backed off a half of an inch and gave a shrug like he was just
goofing around. "What's with you? I told you Lau has a girlfriend.
I've been trying to get him to come meet you since last year. He's
not interested. Why don't you come hang out with me like
before?"

Jacob backed up another step. The wind
picked up and the coolness of it brought him to his senses. The
smell of pie was replaced with a hint of someone burning leaves
somewhere and all of that fresh air brought clarity. Dane had met
Auriel. He said he'd been trying to get Jacob to meet her since
last year. That meant Auriel was lying when she said she was new in
town. Jacob thought about the day at the grocery store and the
afternoon in the hall at the school. Dane had insisted there was
someone he'd wanted to introduce him to. Auriel had been trying to
reach him for a long time. But why hadn't she introduced herself
before? Why was she so interested now?

"He's right. Dane is much better company
than I am. And, I'm not really feeling well. Maybe another time."
Jacob moved around Auriel to get to his truck door.

"Problem solved," Dane said. Auriel looked
confused, like she couldn't decide what to do next. She bit her lip
in frustration and then as Jacob opened the truck door to slip
behind the wheel, she cracked.

Her arm shot out and grabbed Dane behind the
neck. At first she looked like she was going to kiss him. She
brought his face within an inch of her own and said in a voice he
could barely hear, "You should've left when you had the
chance."

Dane's body folded in half over her knee.
She flung him onto the pavement with one arm, his body limp like a
rag doll. His head hit the concrete with a sickening crack and
blood splattered the hood of the truck. Jacob didn't want to think
about how hard someone had to bust their head to get blood to spray
like that. He couldn't see if Dane was moving because his body had
fallen too close to the front of the truck but he could hear a
high-pitched wheeze. Dane was trying to suck air back into his
lungs.

Auriel didn't let up. Her lips were pulled
pack from her teeth like an animal and he could see the top of her
body flinch as she kicked Dane again and again. The rage in her
eyes, it didn't seem human.

Leaving now, just driving away, would be the
smart thing, the simplest thing. He didn't owe Dane anything. But
Jacob couldn't do it. It just seemed cowardly, what with him having
the power he did and Dane as helpless as he was. Jacob decided to
take the high road. In the cup holder of his truck was exactly what
he needed.

"Auriel, stop," he commanded as he opened
the car door and stepped toward her, a half empty bottle of water
in his hand.

She stepped back from Dane, who Jacob could
now see was trying desperately to crawl away from her, his head
bleeding profusely and his face a swollen mass of bruises. One arm
hung oddly against his body and Jacob wondered if it was broken. He
stepped in front of Dane and faced Auriel.

"I was just protecting myself, Jacob," she
said, her hand going to her neck. "You saw how he practically
attacked me."

"Sure," Jacob replied, thinking hard. One
wrong word and he could be next. "But maybe you should let me take
him home now. I think you've made your point. I'm afraid someone
might see and blame this on you."

"You're right." She looked down at Dane and
said, "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut
about this." Then, she turned back toward Jacob. "Will I see you
later?" she breathed. The warmth, the scent folded around him
again, only this time Jacob held his breath. He could feel the
water sloshing against the side of the bottle, pointing at
Auriel.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." He forced
himself to smile.

"When?" she demanded, and then smiled to
cover her harsh tone.

"Tomorrow? McNaulty's. We can pick up where
we left off." Jacob watched her consider this, as she gave the
situation a calculated perusal.

"See you then." She turned to leave looking
like any gorgeous teenage girl might, except for the blood that
covered her legs and boots from the knee down. She climbed into a
red Jeep in the corner of the lot and took off.

As soon as she was gone, Jacob knelt down
beside Dane. He wasn't moving. There was blood everywhere. With
shaky hands, he placed his fingers against Dane's neck, relieved to
feel a pulse, even though it felt too fast to be normal. He tried
to lift him but he was too heavy, easily two hundred pounds of
muscle. Jacob poured the water over the sleeves of his sweatshirt
and willed it to help. He scooped Dane up, taking care to place him
in the passenger's side as gently as possible. After wiping Dane's
blood from the front of his truck with some paper towels John had
in the glove compartment, he climbed in behind the wheel and sped
for help.

St. Mary's hospital was barely the size of a
large clinic. He pulled into the emergency entrance and tried to
think up a story that would explain Dane's condition. He decided to
stick with a version of the truth.

"I need help!" he called through the door
and a group of people in scrubs came running. They carefully
transferred Dane to a stretcher. As they rolled him toward the
double glass doors, his good hand shot out and grabbed Jacob's
elbow.

"Thank you," he wheezed.

The staff had Dane inside before he could
respond.

A nurse returned through the doors and asked
him the question he knew was coming.

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Jacob said. His voice
sounded authentically shaken. "I came out of school and found him
like that in the parking lot." It was a good lie, a necessary
lie.

"You found him like that after school?"

"Well, not right after. I left but had to go
back into the school because I needed something out of my locker.
When I came back out, the parking lot was empty except for Dane. He
was like that when I found him."

"That must have been horrible thing for you
to see, honey," she said, empathetically.

For the first time, Jacob could be entirely
honest. "Yes, it was."

Taken

Pfoosh

The pumpkin rocketed from the giant metal
pipe, an orange blur against the graying fall sky. It arced across
the horizon before plummeting to its inevitable doom well past the
point that he could discern it from the rural landscape. Morton's
Pumpkin Chuckin' festival was just beginning.

Jacob stood behind a row of giant cannons
and catapults, watching teams of adults make last minute
adjustments to the machines with the sole purpose of projecting a
pumpkin further than any other. He smiled to himself and pulled his
coat tighter around his chest. When you didn't have the ocean or
mountain to keep you busy, he supposed you hurled pumpkins.

"That was amazing." Malini stared as the
next pumpkin disappeared behind the horizon. The bowl of pumpkin
ice cream in her hand was disappearing rapidly. She offered a
spoonful to Jacob.

"Thanks." The thick creamy texture was
accentuated by the flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon with a subtle
pumpkin pie finish. "It's really good," he said honestly, "but I
can't believe we're eating ice cream at nine in the morning."

"It's always sold out by lunch." She scooped
in another bite. "So, have you heard if Dane's going to be
alright?"

"Yes. His dad called my uncle and said he
had a concussion, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken
arm but they've patched him up and he's in stable condition."

"And, you didn't see who did it? You have no
idea?"

Jacob lowered his voice. "Malini, I told
you, that's what I told the hospital. That's not what happened." It
was the first time he'd been alone with her since the incident and
the last thing he wanted to do was text her the truth. There was no
way he was putting it in writing.

"What did happen?"

"It was Auriel."

The bowl fell from Malini's hand and the
sickly pallor returned to her face. He took her waist to hold her
up.

"What's wrong? Are you sick again?"

"No. I just knew. I knew there was
something…evil about her. There's something I need to tell you,
Jake."

A loud bellow interrupted them. "What did
you think of that one, Jacob?" Uncle John was waving his hat about
ten feet away, a bottle of pumpkin beer in his hand. Linda and Mark
stood in front of him with the twins. Next to him, Dr. Silva smiled
up at the flying pumpkins. She did not spare so much as a glance
toward Jacob.

"Why don't you go get some more ice cream?"
he said to Malini and handed her some money. Jacob tilted his head
toward Dr. Silva and Malini seemed to understand. Whatever Auriel
was, if there was one person who would know what to do about her,
it was Dr. Silva.

Jacob made his way over and stood between
John and Dr. Silva. "That was really great, how far do you think it
went, Uncle John?"

"Oh, easily a mile," he said.

Jacob turned to Dr. Silva. "It's good to see
you again, Dr. Silva." He tried hard to sound casual. "I was
wondering if I could ask you a question about your garden?"

"Her garden's why she's here, Jacob. She
donates the pumpkins from her patch."

Dr. Silva briefly glanced down her nose at
Jacob, her eyes icy daggers. "Oh Jacob, you've proven yourself
capable of figuring out all of your questions on your own. You
don't need me." She smiled up at John. "It was nice to see you
again neighbor. I've got to get back. Enjoy the show."

"See you later, Abigail," John called with a
wave of his hand, never taking his eyes off the flying
pumpkins.

Dr. Silva rushed off toward a weathered red
barn that stood on the property. Jacob followed. He had to
practically sprint to keep up. As he watched her black cloak
flutter through the open barn door, he saw Auriel.

She was leaning against a tree near the side
of the barn, her hands in the pockets of her jeans jacket and one
booted foot propped against the gnarled trunk. When she saw Jacob,
she began to walk towards him, a brilliant smile lighting up her
eyes. She smoothed her blonde curls back from her face.

"Hi Jacob! Did you forget you were supposed
to meet me today?"

"No."

"Then why didn't you come? Don't you like me
anymore?"

"What are you?" he blurted, backing up as
she advanced towards him. She abandoned the facade of sweet teenage
girl, her smile melting into an expression that could only be
described as deadly.

"I'm the girl you want to kiss." Her arm
shot out and grabbed the nape of his neck, so fast it reminded him
of the strike of a snake. She crushed his body to hers as if he
weighed nothing and her lips covered his before he could even
scream.

And then, he was surrounded by her spicy,
sweet smell and the too sweet taste of her breath in his mouth,
both intoxicating and nauseating. While his body was drawn to her,
his mind and soul were screaming to break free. He remembered too
well the maggots in his dream and how she had maimed Dane.

But Jacob was powerless. He felt dizzy, the
field spinning. Auriel stopped kissing him and numbness crept over
his body like a poison. She pushed him toward her red Jeep in the
parking lot. By the time he reached it, his body would barely
respond at all. Auriel had to lift him into the passenger seat. He
was so disoriented he could hardly feel the Jeep accelerate, even
when the speedometer reached ninety miles-per-hour.