“What do you mean?” Jade asked. The reddish highlights in Jade’s hair glittered like tiny strands of gold in the sun.
Raven walked without answering. She didn’t know. Finally she said, “I’m not sure. I feel really strange, almost like a robot. A part of me is missing, something important, something emotional.”
Jade didn’t know what to say to that, didn’t know how to fix this latest problem. She said, “Maybe you’re just tired.”
Raven shrugged, but she was certain it was more. The camp was now in view. They walked in silence toward the campground, Raven searching herself for the missing part. When they reached the campsite, Aunt Bertha was asleep in her tent. Claire and Water played ‘dance with Fire’ by spritzing the fire with tiny droplets of water and watching it sizzle in the steam.
Raven could barely walk in a straight line. Her feet were numb up to her shins. Jade helped her crawl into the tent. As she often helped Mindy, Jade helped Raven change. Raven had the thousand-yard stare, haunting and haunted all at once. She couldn’t seem to feel anything. She didn’t feel joy or relief at Air’s whispers, even though just yesterday she had longed to hear Air’s voice.
Raven let herself be tucked into the sleeping bag. She even said, “Thank you.”
She slept through straight until Monday afternoon. The Spirit Quest was a bust, at least as far as Raven was concerned. Claire and Water were always close, no improvement there. If Jade made any progress, no one could see it. Mindy was well, Mindy. And while Raven could at least talk to Air, she wondered that the Void might have taken more than it gave in her last exchange, if she could only figure out what was missing.
They drove back home in silence. Raven couldn’t even find the energy to care that they had school the next day.
Chapter 8
~~ Jade ~~
Perched on her Chemistry stool, Jade watched the door, waiting for Zach. They visited together a few minutes before school. It gave her strength for first period. Jade hated those minutes in between class, the ones without Zach, anyway. They were punctuated with silence or a joke at Jade’s expense.
Her classmates were convinced of their own wit.
Finally Zach strode through the door, a bright smile on his face. Jade felt warmth rise like a thousand tiny bees in her stomach when he put his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Lunch outside?”
They were ever more comfortable with one another as the days passed. Jade tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling pretty for the first time in her life. She wore one of Raven’s black silk shirts. She grinned, “Sure.”
Jade practiced confidence and comfort, the secret of love according to Raven. Jade was more accustomed to awkwardness and fear when it came to dealing with men.
They ate lunch out in the fall sunshine with just enough chill to keep any bugs at bay and make for a better time eating. They got to talking about families. Zach mentioned his Dad’s fence building project which got them on the subject of fathers. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Jade started talking about her dad’s death, “Raven and I saw him die. Some guy murdered him.”
Jade suddenly remembered her Mom’s warning not to tell anyone. She put a hand to her mouth, but it was too late. Somehow she had felt so comfortable with Zach that it was easy to talk…too easy. Zach said, “I can’t imagine how you felt.”
Staring across the school grounds, Jade said, “I believe in an afterlife. It’s just…Aunt Bertha found out she has cancer. She could beat it if she tried, but she says she’s too old.”
Zach said, “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
They were sitting side by side and he tugged her close, wrapping his arm around her. She liked that he was a little awkward doing it. It meant that he hadn’t spent a lot of time wooing other girls. She turned and found herself face to face with him. She had just swallowed a bite. At least she had eaten smoked turkey instead of peanut butter, but still, Jade wished she had time to brush her teeth.
The moment was already there, and as he leaned closer, Jade felt herself moving forward to meet him. At first she enjoyed the comfort of his company, the thought that someone else cared that she was going through a hard time, the excitement of liking a boy that actually liked her.
And then he kissed her.
It was spectacular! It was magic! It was everything she’d imagined and more.
Just a wee brush of the lips, but she felt so alive, so full of warmth and excitement. She gripped his collar and pulled him closer, pressing her lips to his. It was something she had long imagined and now she finally had her chance. She could taste the salt from his potato chips.
Jade groaned when she heard the bell and pulled away from Zach. He grinned, “Now that was a good lunch.”
She gave him a quick hug, “Hey, that stuff I told you, we tell everyone in town that my Dad is alive and in sales somewhere. Mom’s scared that someone will come after us. Please don’t say anything, not even to the teachers or anyone like that.”
She felt an inward groan when she said the word, Mom. As far as the town at large was concerned, Amy was taking care of Aunt Berth’s affairs in Denver. Aunt Bertha spread the news around town, effectively explaining away Amy’s disappearance. She had to get Mom back. Soon.
Zach picked up his laptop bag, “I’m really sorry that happened to you. Your secret is safe with me.”
As they returned to the school, Zach put an arm around Jade. She couldn’t believe how much better the world felt now that she was in love.
~~ Mindy ~~
Mindy had a strange dream.
From deep inside the Void, Raven’s soul struggled to free her from the strange gravity well that kept her locked in place. There was no visible cage, and yet Raven could not move. She drew more Fire. Mindy watched in the dream while Raven pulled the Element closer.
The Unmaker laughed.
Mindy didn’t understand all of it, but she knew that Raven had left part of herself behind, a vital part and the part left behind was trying to fight. She had to remember. Had to tell Jade. Earth promised to help.
Raven cried when Mindy said goodbye.
Mindy woke early in the morning. Now Jade slept just across the room. Mindy hadn’t wet the bed since Jade came to share a room. She was proud of herself. Jumping on Jade, Mindy said, “Wake up. Wake up!”
Rolling over, Jade sighed, “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”
Mindy was actually drawing the covers back and crawling into the bed with Jade. Were it any other sister, Jade would probably have come unglued, but for Mindy, she just lifted her arm and let her in.
Mindy said, “No. I remembered my dream.”
She rarely used full sentences. Jade asked, “What was it?”
“Save Raven.”
“Raven’s asleep in her own room.” Jade said, and then thought, She’d better be.
“I show you?” Mindy asked, snuggling into Jade’s space.
Jade scooted back to give Mindy more room, “No, Mindy. You can’t show me your dreams. It’s impossible.”
Mindy was quiet for a moment. She said, “Fire knows.”
Jade sighed and lifted her head to look at the clock. She said, “Okay, go to sleep. I’ll ask Fire.”
~~ Jade ~~
Jade couldn’t believe she was mounting a rescue for her sister’s essence based on Mindy’s dreams…Mindy who couldn’t tie her own shoes. Fire confirmed what Mindy had said. Fire knew exactly where Raven’s essence was hidden. Apparently, so did Mindy.
While Jade was talking to Fire, Mindy asked, “Go Raven?”
Fire said, Mindy should come, too.
“No. No way.” Jade said aloud. It was a bit crazy since she and Mindy were the only ones in the room and Mindy hadn’t said anything. She really should learn to speak to Fire mind-to-mind, but somehow she spoke aloud as often.
“Yes,” Mindy said, as if she’d heard everything that Fire and Jade had talked about.
Jade shook her head.
They weren’t in their room anymore.
“Fire big.” Mindy said.
Fire agreed.
Jade remembered how Mindy seemed to run the show the last catastrophe they’d conquered. The biting chill of the Void seemed to cut through her pajamas, even though Jade was certain that she and Mindy were only there in mind and spirit.
Jade said to Fire, “Whatever you need…”
Fire said, Not yet.
For the first time since ever, Mindy used whole sentences. Jade couldn’t believe it when she heard Mindy say, “I’m the foundation that will bring you and Raven home. Reach out for Fire. Fire will help. Don’t let go of me, though.”
Jade felt a strange jolt as if she had been turned inside-out for an instant and then back to normal again. Mindy held her hand tightly. As she floated deeper into the cold abyss, Mindy’s hold became a source of strength. Jade found Raven in the depths of darkness. She reached out, and felt the tenuous grasp of her younger sister’s soul as Raven took her hand with her spiritual body.
Fire reared back with a power Jade could hardly comprehend. A flash burned through the Void, leaving the darkness broken in its brilliant light. Fire shattered the strange bubble holding Raven. It exploded with the heat of a million suns.
Mindy yanked hard on Jade’s hand and she and Raven tumbled toward Mindy across eons of time and space. That’s what it felt like to Jade. She fell with Raven and Mindy.
Jade discovered herself in her room. When she opened her eyes, she thought perhaps being an Elemental might be a curse more than a gift. Every muscle in her body ached as if she’d run a marathon.
“Mom,” Jade croaked, the word coming out as a whisper.
An iceball exploded the window, shattering it into a million pieces. Mindy shook Jade, trying to get her to move, “Run. Run. Run.”
Raven and Claire burst into the room, both yelling at once. A thump echoed above their heads. Raven screamed,” We’re under attack.”
Claire grabbed Raven and pulled her forward into the room, kicking the door shut. It did no good. The Void servant appeared in front of the door. Jade somehow found the strength to push herself up.
Mindy cried out like a standard bearer, “To me. To me.” She shook her hands with an urgency that told Raven and Claire that she wanted them to grab her hands. Jade was so tired she couldn’t focus. She stared at the Void Servant feeling witless as an iceball flew through the window.
Mindy, Claire, and Raven disappeared an instant before the ball hit them. Sapped of energy, Jade could only stare at the empty space where her sisters had once stood.
Let me in. Fire insisted.
Jade whispered, “Yes.”
It was too late.
The Void Servant threw a javelin of ice at Jade. It pierced her stomach. She was shocked to look down and realize that not only was the ice a physical thing, but that she was bleeding a lot.
Fire screamed in anger, the agony of Jade's injury touching the Element’s sensitive soul. Jade clutched at the wound, holding her hand over it, thinking to stop the blood but it just gushed between her fingers. She felt Fire’s fear for her safety, for her life, and an anger chilling in its intensity and hot in its wrath. Fire spewed over the Void Servant.
With some apparent protection against Fire, the Void Servant lasted longer than Jade. She collapsed while the creature fought Fire. Normally an Element would have stopped fighting when Jade lost consciousness. Elements meshed their thoughts with Elementals to become a single unit, but Fire always did have a life of its own.
Fire had lived alone for so long, ostracized by the single event that marked the Gray family’s life. With Lawrence’s death, Fire lived on the periphery, aware in the recesses of Jade’s thoughts, like a shadow waiting to see the light of day.
It made Fire strong.
It made Fire fierce.
It made Fire ANGRY.
Fire stormed at the Void Servants, for there were many surrounding the house and in the house. Her time in the darkness, her time at the beginning made her strong. Fire used that strength to kill every Servant near the house, every Servant in the house. In one powerful burst, they all turned into ash. Every servant seeking to hurt her Jade was dead.
Fire woke out of her anger and looked for Jade.
Her girl was no longer alone. The older one knelt over her niece sobbing. Her bones were so creaky Fire wondered how her little Flame could be dying while the other one still lived in that rickety body.
Fire felt the last electrical impulse in Jade’s heart.
And then it stopped.
Chapter 9
~~ Zach ~~
Being a Death Keeper could be a heavy responsibility. By his fifteenth birthday Zach had already culled his thousandth soul. Carrying the souls of the dead across the stream of midnight into the river of light took a special kind of person, someone with empathy and yet the distance that allowed him to do the job despite the protests and begging that sometimes came with it when a new soul crossed over.
The urgent knowledge that he was needed struck Zach over a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. As with any culling, he had no idea who or even where it might be. Only that he was needed. Leaving his bowl on the breakfast table, Zach released himself into the transformation. His body faded from the Earthly realm to appear in the spiritual one wearing white robes. Zach never knew what he might be wearing when he went to cull a soul. Once it was swim trunks and a tank top, when he helped a surfer who hit a coral reef too hard and never came up for air.
His spiritual body flew above the houses and trees with a free-flowing speed that still gave Zach a sense of wonder even a thousand culls later. He hoped for someone across the world so that he could fly longer. It was disappointing when he dove down after barely getting a good start.
Zach didn’t recognize the house at first, not until he was dropping in through the roof. When he saw Jade standing by her body waiting, he thought he would die himself.
Don’t make me do this.
Sometimes the Universe or someone up there would talk him through a particularly difficult culling. This time, he heard silence.
Jade’s spirit was sitting on the edge of the bed watching her Aunt Bertha mourn. The poor Aunt was practically lying on top of Jade, and Zach thought perhaps that she wouldn’t be able to get up when she was done crying.
“What are you doing here?” Jade’s spirit tilted her head and looked at Zach in confusion
“Um…” Zach couldn’t think of how to put it delicately. He was normally all business. In and out, a spiritual catch and release program. Finally he said, “You’re dead.”
In death Jade wore a forest green sundress with daisies and suns patterned all over it. That was the thing about death. You really got to know a person from the inside out. Now that Zach could see Jade’s spirit, he knew he made the right decision in asking her out. She was a beautiful soul, innocent and caring.
Jade’s hair was loose and flowing. She seemed content to sit on the bed and watch Aunt Bertha and her body. She said, “I knew. I bled everywhere. Killed by an icicle. I never saw it coming.”
Zach stretched his hand to her, “Most people don’t. Come with me. I’ll take you home.”
“I am home. I don’t want to go,” Jade said, refusing him. Although the soul is a pure form of life, Jade looked at Zach with suspicion in her eyes. Her purity in death didn’t wash away the pain at knowing she had been betrayed. With hurt in her voice, she said, “You’re a Death Keeper?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, I would have told you, but…” Zach didn’t finish the thought. What could he tell Jade that would make her feel better. He was a spy. Plain and simple. Sent to watch her and report back. Even the date he went on with her was requested by his superior.
That was the thing about death. Spirits could read one another’s hearts. As his thoughts formed, she saw his shame at asking her to date him at Harold’s request, his embarrassment that the whole first date was a sha
m. Even if she could read the truth of his real affection for her, the shock of knowing that he had been goaded into being with her stung deeply.
Not only could Jade feel his heart-felt apology, she also felt the depth of his betrayal.
Her anger flared, “I’m not going anywhere with you. Get lost. I don’t even want to see you again.”
Zach couldn’t leave her. That wasn’t how death worked. He had two options…return her soul to the Light or return her soul to her body. If he failed, another Keeper would take his place. Worse, his attraction now that he could see her soul was stronger. Her anger hurt his feelings. He wanted to make it up to her.
A stray thought crossed Zach’s mind. He wondered what would happen if he returned Jade to her body and did the healing. The Universe gave the orders. Death Keepers followed them. Breaking those orders was unheard of. Zach didn’t know why, only that no Death Keeper in the history of Death Keepers ever admitted to choosing a soul’s path on their own. They were always guided, even now.
Whatever force guided Zach told him to cull her, to take her into the Light and leave her for the Universe. It seemed like such a waste. He could see Jade’s thoughts, her longing to watch one more movie with Mindy, her desire to test Fire with Water in a Claire and Jade training session now that she finally had an Element of her own. She just never had the time. Her regrets, so many for a young life, stacked one to the other.
Zach grabbed her hand.
Jade yanked away, but he pulled her to him, holding her fast.
He kissed her hard on the mouth. Even a spiritual kiss is a kiss. More innocent and true, but still a kiss. He felt her soar with emotion while annoyance and anger sat in the back seat watching.
As the Universe urged him to pull her up and toward the light, Zach pushed her into her body, sending every ounce of energy he possessed in with her. He could see the dancing Universe knit her vessels and skin together, a cosmic song that ended with a heart beat and a gasp. He reeled back exhausted, pulled like a dog on a leash back to his body.
A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) Page 9