The Soulkeepers (31 page)

They turned a corner and Malini witnessed
one Watcher having his bag stolen as he was distracted by his own
stealing of merchandise from what looked like a jewelry store.

"Don't let it suck you in," Dr. Silva
whispered to her. "Don't look."

"Where do you think he is?"

"I don't really know. I haven't been here in
several hundred years."

Malini looked at her horrified.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out." They
found a corner of concrete that was fairly empty and distanced
themselves from the others. "There are only three things that dark
angels do with human souls. The first is they ingest them, but
Jacob's not a good candidate for that."

"Why not?" Malini asked.

"Well, he doesn't scream when he's in pain.
They like the ones who scream." Dr. Silva paused and shook Malini
by the shoulder when it looked like she might vomit.

"What's the second thing?" Malini
managed.

"They make slaves of them, a real
possibility for someone as strong as Jacob. Although I doubt they
chose that for him."

"I'm afraid to ask why."

"Because the third thing they do with humans
is display them in order to remember and copy the image of
God."

"There is nothing here in the image of God,"
Malini blurted, still sick from the thought of Jacob being eaten
alive.

"Yes, yes, you have to remember that these
things do not understand good. They assume that since they know man
was made in the image of God that it is his physical image they
must emulate. It's like a spiritual cosmetic to them. There is
nothing a Watcher loves more than power, so they emulate God's
power. It's not real of course, but they take pleasure in the
shallow illusion."

Malini nodded.

"You may have noticed that Jacob is easy to
look at?"

A blush crept across her face.

"Don't be embarrassed, girl. You'd have to
be dead not to think so. That is why I believe we will find him on
display."

Dr. Silva led Malini to an odd sort of train
with glass walls. They boarded in a crowd of pushing and shoving
Watchers. It was less of a conscious decision really and more of a
necessity to board as the crowd had surrounded them and rudely
forced them onto the train. Malini and Dr. Silva stuck close
together as fights broke out for the limited seats. After several
minutes of violent pushing and angry yelling, Malini began to worry
they would be detected by their lack of obnoxious behavior. She was
about to scream an obscenity just to fit in when the doors opened
again and the crowd emptied into an ill lit alleyway with red neon
signs in a language unfamiliar to her. When the doors closed again,
they were alone in the car.

"Tell me again, why are they called
Watchers? Why not fallen angels?" Malini asked.

"They are called Watchers because their
entire purpose is to observe human weakness and seize every
opportunity to corrupt and enslave them. They are voyeurs, doing
and feeling nothing that isn't immediately gratifying to them.
Instead they watch the unraveling of the universe, contributing
only to its chaos."

"So, if they just watch, how do they have so
much power?"

"Think of it this way. If you have a garden
plot and plant nothing, what will grow?"

"Weeds."

"Yes. The evil is already there. And how do
you hold back the weeds?"

"You plant things to crowd them out."

"Exactly. The good people of the world are
the ones who hold the evil at bay. They crowd out the weeds. See
the Watchers wait for opportunity, a corrupt politician or a
failing corporation, and they pounce. They push the weak ones over
the edge. They lure them to do things they would normally never do.
And after their evil has taken root and corrupted everything in its
wake, they bring any guilty humans they desire here."

"So, Jacob?"

"Yes. It was his sin that allowed Auriel to
take him. An innocent person cannot be taken unless they choose to
come here of their own free will. But the reason Auriel chose Jacob
was not because of his indiscretions but because he is a Horseman.
Everyone is guilty, Malini, of something. The Watchers choose the
important ones, the ones whose taking will leave a bigger space in
the garden so that more weeds can grow. They leave the weeds."

The train jerked to a halt and the doors
opened. They exited the train, alone on a poorly lit dirt path.
They could see a metal arch ahead of them. The path led toward it
and was otherwise surrounded by desert and garbage that protruded
randomly from the sand.

"Dr. Silva, I feel something here."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel a…tingling. There's something like
butterflies in my stomach but in a good way. I don't know why but I
think Jacob is in there."

"Good. You two are close. Perhaps the
connection between you will work to our advantage."

They continued up to the arch and Malini
stared at the strange language that was carved at its peak. "I wish
I knew what it said."

"It says zoo," Dr. Silva whispered. "It's
Aramaic."

They tried to blend into the Watchers
milling between the cages. In the first cage, a black man dressed
in rags did not look at them. His eyes stared vacantly at a stone
on the pathway.

"What does this say?" Malini whispered.

"African." Dr. Silva answered, sadly.
"Italian, Portuguese, French, Swedish…" she whispered the name on
each cage as they walked by. Malini felt her heart sink into her
stomach. These people where completely dehumanized. But it was more
than that. The people weren't talking to each other. They weren't
fighting to get out. They wore vacant expressions, bodies propped
up like empty shells.

"Why don't they struggle?" Malini asked
under her breath.

"They've lost hope," Dr. Silva said. "You
would be surprised how easy it is to make a human feel
worthless."

"But..." Malini stopped talking and grabbed
Dr. Silva's upper arm. A group of Watchers were gathered around one
cage in particular. The occupant was pacing, agitated, yelling
something not at the Watchers but at a person in another cage. They
moved in, joining the outskirts of the crowd.

Even at a distance, Jacob was
unmistakable.

The Emancipation of Jacob
Lau

"Lilly!" Jacob yelled
toward his mother. He was afraid to yell
mom
, afraid the Watchers would use
their relationship against them. "Lillian!" he called again but she
would not turn, would not or could not stop rocking herself in the
shabby bed. It was as if she couldn't even hear him.

A group of Watchers had formed around him,
imitating him and laughing. They were taking turns changing their
features to resemble his. Jacob watched as their skin became
lighter or darker to match his own and their hair changed to his
untamed cut. The female Watchers would keep their long locks but
try on his skin tone or cheekbones.

Oddly, two Watchers at the back weren't
participating in the game. They stared at him, a hint of something
he might have interpreted as compassion in their eyes. One was a
gorgeous Indian Watcher, tall with iridescent brown skin and eyes
the color of dark amber. Her friend had long red hair, piercing
green eyes, and a low cut emerald green dress. They looked familiar
to Jacob. He glared in their direction trying to sort his
thoughts.

The green eyes sliced right through him, as
if they could see into his soul. But it was the amber eyes that
attracted him, the golden hue made him feel warm from head to toe.
Where had he seen them before? He stared more intently and the
Watcher did the oddest thing, she nodded and smiled.

That small tip of her head, that smile,
Jacob's brain flooded with memories of Malini, the way the gold and
red had danced in her eyes by the fire, the sweetness of her grin.
One of these creatures might have copied her appearance, but they
could never copy the genuineness of her smile. It had to be her.
But how did she get here and why was she one of them?

Jacob turned away. To get her alone, he'd
need to be less entertaining. With a stretch and a yawn, he walked
to the bed and crawled under the pitifully dirty blanket. Peeking
out from a tiny crack, he made his chest rise and fall
rhythmically.

As expected, the crowd began to make
disgruntled noises. After a few rocks thrown in his direction, the
Watchers wandered off one by one. All except for Malini and the
Watcher she was with. The redhead approached the cage door.

"Jacob," she called in a raspy whisper.

He pulled back the blanket.

"Jacob, it's me, Dr. Silva."

He approached cautiously. "Dr. Silva? What
happened to you?"

"It's a long story. We've got to get you out
of here. Malini's here as well."

"I saw her."

"She's keeping watch, in case we have
company."

He looked down at Dr. Silva's fingers on the
cage door. "It's locked."

"Yes, of course, Jacob."

"Dr. Silva, I'm so sorry about what I did. I
know I don't deserve it but thank you for coming for me."

"I forgive you, and based on what Malini has
been through to get this far, I think she has also."

"Yes, I have." Malini walked up behind Dr.
Silva. "But Jacob already knew that."

Jacob's whole body tingled at the sight of
her. "It's nice to hear it out loud," he said. In fact, the
forgiveness seemed to heal some of the despair that hung in the
air. His chest felt lighter.

"I have something for you my friend," Dr.
Silva said. She handed him a bottle of water. "I recommend using
discretion. We are not entirely alone."

If there were a way for him to fit inside
the bottle, he would have done it. As it was, the familiar hum of
the water was soothing beyond belief. He took a small sip and felt
strong immediately. Then he filled his palm. A disc of ice shot out
from his hand, slicing the lock in two before returning to its
source. He willed every drop back into the bottle.

"Here," Dr. Silva said, handing him a mass
of garbage she picked up from behind the cage, "to stuff under the
blanket as a decoy. I could use magic for this but I have a feeling
I'd better save my energy for later."

With his bed stuffed to look like he was
sleeping, he exited his prison relieved at his unexpected freedom.
He hid under Dr. Silva's left wing. Watchers passed by but luckily,
they were so caught up in themselves they did not question why two
others would be huddled next to the cage door of a sleeping human.
Dr. Silva figured out that her wings were long enough to completely
conceal all but Jacob's feet. He pressed up against her back and
slowly they moved away from the empty cage.

"We can't leave without my mom," he said
from behind her.

"What? Your mother is here?" The words
sounded surprised but Jacob had a hunch that Dr. Silva had known
about this place when they visited the medicine woman.

"She's in the cage marked Chinese."

Dr. Silva stopped in her tracks. "How do you
know what her cage says?"

"It's on a sign above her head."

"Jacob, all of the signs here are in
Aramaic."

He peeked between her feathers and looked at
the sign again. As he focused on the letters, he could see they
were not English, but still he could clearly understand their
meaning.

"I guess I can read Aramaic," he
replied.

"Hmm. I guess you can," she said, rubbing
her chin. "Now let's go get your mom."

The three of them made their way to the
Chinese cage. Nearby, three male Watchers wrestled a female Watcher
to the ground, tearing off her clothes as she screamed and clawed
at their faces.

"Look away," Dr. Silva whispered. "If we
help her, they will know we aren't Watchers."

The distraction worked in their favor, as
all of the other Watchers circled the act of violence, watching and
laughing. The three of them arrived at the cage and Jacob used the
water to break the lock.

"Hurry, mom, it's me, Jacob. Come with me
now." He held out his hand. His mom stared in his direction, her
brown eyes vacant. She did not move.

"Mom, what's wrong? Come on, we've got to
get out of here!"

"Jacob." Dr. Silva put her hand on his
shoulder, "Your mom has been here a long time. This could be
problematic. She doesn't remember herself, only her weakness."

"I don't understand. Why?" He knew they
needed to hurry, before the crowd broke up again.

"Oh for heaven's sake." Malini pushed Jacob
out of the way and leaped into the cage. She shoved a wad of paper
under the blankets and scooped his mom up. She was a small woman.
Malini easily lifted her with her enhanced arms and was out the
door in seconds. She wrapped her wing around the front of her body,
shielding his mom from view. The position was noticeably awkward
but with Dr. Silva leading the way, they reached the entrance
without notice.

"That was incredibly stupid," Dr. Silva
said.

"Oh come on. Damaged or not, we were not
leaving Jacob's mother behind. Now change them to look like us so
we can get out of here."

"I can't Malini. I only brought one other
flower—for Jacob. But if I use it on him now, the magic could draw
attention to us. Plus, we'd have to wait for the pain to stop.
There's no time; we have to keep moving. Anyway, what would we do
with Lillian? If I made her look like a Watcher, she'd just be
harder to carry. It's an illusion. It doesn't affect the mind."

They headed toward the train and luck was
with them. The car was empty. Malini sat down and lowered her wing
so Jacob could take his mother's hand.

"Mom, it's me, Jacob. Everything's going to
be all right."

Her eyes focused on his face, squinting and
blinking. He rubbed her hand between his own, but she didn't
respond.