The front door opened, then slammed shut.
“Hello?”
“We’re in here, Dad!” I called. Normally I would be rushing to greet him, but not this time. I felt like I was going to pass out.
“You should tell your dad you’re sick,” Dani said.
“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to worry him. He has enough to think about.” I reached down and started to coil up the vacuum cord. The throbbing in my head was getting worse. “He’s only here for a couple of days.”
“I don’t know, Seth.” Dani didn’t look convinced.
I lowered my voice. “I’m fine. Really. Please don’t say anything to him.”
“All right.” Dani said, raking me with narrowed eyes. She turned toward the hallway. “Hey, Mr. Thompson!”
“Hey, Dani!” Dad grinned at her, but his smile grew even wider when he spotted me. “Seth!”
With each forward step he took, his arms spread out wider, ready to pull me into a hug.
It hadn’t been long ago that my dad, Martin, Marty to his friends, had towered over me, but now I towered over him. He looked the part of a trucker: worn jeans, nylon jacket over what looked like a new t-shirt, and a baseball cap that hid his graying brown hair. His skin clung a little tighter to his cheeks, but below his eyes, it hung looser than the last time I’d seen him. He looked tired tonight and I felt the usual stab of guilt. I took a step towards him and braced myself for one of his bear hugs.
“It’s good to see you, buddy!” he said, slapping my back.
“It’s good to see you, too, Dad.” I pulled back and stared down at his shirt, lifting the edges of his jacket to get a better look at the words. “My wrestling champ can pin your honor student in 3.14 seconds.”
Dad grinned, obviously thinking that was the greatest line ever. “Get it?” he laughed. “3.14 seconds. Pi? Math? Wrestling?”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Geeze, Dad. I hope nobody saw you wearing that.”
“What’s wrong with it?” He turned to Dani. “Do you see something wrong with it?”
She giggled. “It’s adorable. Really.”
I glared at her. “Don’t encourage him, Dani.”
“I want everyone to know what a great kid you are!” He pulled me into another hug and laughed.
I could do no wrong, as far as Dad was concerned. It was sometimes hard to live up to. I looked over his shoulder at Dani, who seemed to be getting a kick out of the whole thing. Even though I was a little embarrassed, I wouldn’t have this moment any other way. Who could complain that his father cared too much?
“Okay, Dad,” I laughed. “You win.”
“Hey, listen,” he said, holding me at arms’ length. “I grabbed a pizza for tonight. It’s still out in the truck. I’ll get it—oh! I almost forgot! Dani, your birthday is coming up, right?”
“Uh-huh,” she nodded.
“I thought so. I have something for you,” he said, patting his pockets. “I thought I’d be a bit early, but… Where is it? Oh, here.” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small plastic gift card. “I don’t know what teenage girls want these days…”
“Tell me about it,” I mumbled.
“So I got you this.” Dad handed the card to Dani and shrugged. “Sorry it’s not wrapped or anything. I’ve never been good with that kind of stuff.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Dani said, taking the card from him. “Thanks, Mr. Thompson!” She stood on her tip-toes and gave him a hug. “That’s so cool!”
“You’re welcome.” He laughed, obviously relieved. “Okay.” He clapped his hands together. “So, let me go get the pizza. Be right back, kids.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Looks like he beat me to it,” I muttered. “I wanted to be the first to give you a gift.”
“Hey, it’s not a big deal.” Dani said, moving close. “Besides, I’ve told you not to worry about it. But,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist and giving me a lazy smile, “if you insist, you still have until next week.”
“I know.” A strand of hair clung to her mouth, and I pulled it away, smoothing it back where it belonged. “I’m looking for the perfect present.”
Dani tilted her chin up to look at me. “It doesn’t make sense to get something perfect for someone who isn’t.”
“I think you are.” I leaned over and kissed her, hooking my fingers through her belt loops, drawing her closer. This was where I wanted to be, close to Dani—all the time, my body against her…
…in her, around her.
A burning heat trickled out through my fingers and warmed her skin where I touched her waist.
She leaned into me, sliding her arms around my neck. “Seth.” My name was a whispered breath against my mouth.
I tugged her closer, having to practically holding her up.
“Eh-hem…” Dad cleared his throat. “Who’s hungry?”
Whoa! That was intense. Even when she pulled away and buried her face into my chest, the connection between us was still smoking hot. I stooped to look into Dani’s face. She looked a little dazed, a little confused, but she… glowed. And I’d made her feel that way. Not Dirk, not anyone else. Whatever had been going on between us in the last couple of days was really heating up and it was definitely helping me feel more secure with her. Looking over the top of her head, I couldn’t help smiling.
“Sorry, Dad. I was going to grab some plates but Dani stopped me.”
“Hey!” She snapped out of her daze.
I laughed, dodging Dani’s reach as I headed to the kitchen. “So, Dad,” I called over my shoulder. “How’s the studying going?”
I was really proud of him. Dad never had the chance to finish high school because his dad, my grandpa, in one of his drunken stupors, had kicked Dad out of the house after beating the crap out of him. Dad could have gone back home when Grandpa had sobered up, but he just kept walking, never looked back. He did okay for himself over the years. He met Mom and had a pretty good life after that. But now he’d decided to get his high school diploma.
“Great!” my dad said loud enough for me to hear. “I’m getting close. And after I have my G.E.D., I’m going to sign up for some online college courses. By the way,” he added, “I have some questions on my math assignment. Can you help me later?”
I walked out of the kitchen carrying forks, napkins, plates, and leftover salad in my hands and cans of soda tucked under one arm. “Yeah, sure.”
“Here, Seth, let me help you.” Dani grabbed the cans and handed one of them to my dad.
Putting everything else down on the table, I pushed the plates in their direction so they could help themselves to the pizza and salad. Just as my hand got closer to the forks, electric shocks spidered out across my palm and splintered up my arm, tightening my fingers until they locked up like a claw. Flexing my fingers only intensified the tingling in my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, held it for a second, and tried to relax my arm, but couldn’t. Straightening my arm made a little bit of a difference, but not much. Less than an inch away from my fingers, a fork spasmed off the table and shot into my hand, and my fingers reflexively wrapped around the cool metal.
“Holy shit!” I looked from the fork to Dani and then quickly to Dad, whose jaw hung open just a little bit, but I think it was because he’d never heard me say something like that, not at what just happened with the fork. At least I’d hoped so. I handed the fork to him and got another one for Dani.
A trail of sweat inched down my back. Man, it was suddenly way too hot in the house. “Dig in. It’s getting cold,” I said, gesturing at the pizza and salad. “Oh, I forgot the dressing, didn’t I?”
“I’ll get it,” Dani offered.
“No, no,” I said. I needed to get up and move around. Actually, I wanted out of that room. “You eat.” I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Dani stared at me a second longer before turning back to Dad. “So, what classes are you thinking
of taking?”
I hurried to the kitchen. I was wound up—like one of those toy cars that you spin the wheels back further and further until they wouldn’t move anymore; and then you let the car go, letting it fly. I felt sort of like that—my heart sped up and my muscles tightened, as if ready to explode out the starting gate. I steadied myself against the counter. I’d swear my heart had found its way up to my throat and was trying to jump out of my mouth. And the way my hands shook? I was lucky I didn’t drop the dressing when I finally took it out from the fridge. Maybe eating something would help.
“… hopefully that will land us both at the same college, or at least in the same state,” Dani was explaining to my dad when I got back to the dining room.
When she reached across the table and squeezed my hand, my insides settled down almost as quickly as they had gotten fired up.
She looked at me, her eyebrows slightly raised. She mouthed, “You okay?”
I nodded and pulled a slice of pizza from the box before sitting down. Using my plate instead of my hand, I pushed my fork away from me, then pushed it farther away. I waved off the bowl of salad my dad held out to me. No forks. I wasn’t about to risk that one again. The fork, just like Dani’s keys, had looked innocent enough while it lay on the table, but I wasn’t going to let my guard down, at least not until I figured out what the hell was going on.
I let my dad do all the talking through dinner. Fortunately, he was never at a loss for stories. I just nodded and smiled, all the while keeping an eye on the fork, half expecting it to lift itself up and stab me in the heart. What had I done to all of a sudden become a metal magnet?
# # #
I leaned back in my chair, my feet propped on the edge of my desk, my computer screen switched into screen-saver mode. Dani had gone home about an hour before. She’d studied while I sat across the couch from her and analyzed how crappy I felt. I couldn’t believe this. I never got sick. Maybe a cold, but even then I never felt like a furnace about to explode. It seemed that I had all the symptoms of the crud—stomach pain, headache, squeezing in my chest, tingling in my hands. I supposed it was possible I had a cold or the flu. The flu would have been a great explanation, except for the fact that I wasn’t coughing or sneezing, didn’t have a runny nose, sore throat, or trouble breathing. There was no explanation for the sudden strength and size I had. No way I should’ve been able to pull the keys and fork into my hand. And then my truck; it had been running fine—better than ever—since the day the battery almost gave out.
There will be no explaining me away.
I jumped at the sudden intensity of the pinprick sensation on my arms and scalp.
Congratulations! You’ve won! Faint laughing tickled the back of my mind.
No! I moved my head back and forth in denial. My thoughts raced to the place I’d been avoiding for the last few days, and this time I couldn’t stop them.
There’s no way. It’s not possible to buy a soul, online or anywhere else. A soul isn’t a tangible thing. I wiggled the mouse to wake up the screen, and glared at the eSouled page. What exactly had I bought and when was it going to be delivered?
Then I shook my head. What was I thinking? This was nuts. The sale was bogus. What exactly would buying a soul mean? Nothing. I was getting the flu. At this time of year, there was a lot of crud going around.
Pulling my feet off the desk, I closed down the auction page and grabbed my math book. I needed to do something normal, and studying was the most normal thing I could think of, but when I saw the words and numbers on the pages, they didn’t register. Resting my head in my hands helped steady the throbbing in my forehead, but not the speed of my heart pounding against my chest. I took a few quick breaths. Get. A. Grip. Thompson. I bit down hard. Control. Control. I cleared my mind, keeping it as blank as I could. Nothing in, nothing out. A little trick I used in wrestling to block out any insecurities or distractions. Okay. No voices, no doubts. Just white noise.
“Hey, Seth?”
I was really glad when my dad knocked on my door. I wasn’t sure how long I could hold my mind blank against the million thoughts pushing to get in.
“Come on in, Dad!”
He opened the door and stuck his head inside the room. “Is now a good time to go over my homework?”
“Sure.” I put down my own book and pulled up a chair for him. “Let me see what you’ve got.”
Dad flipped open to a page and put his book on my lap.
“Now, what I don’t get,” Dad said, pointing, “is how to get from this part of the problem to here.”
Stretching behind a stack of books piled on my desk, I said, “I know there’s a pencil back here.” My fingertips brushed the side of the pencil and it rolled away. Stretching just a little more, I almost had it. The closer my hand got, though, another round of tingling fired up the tips of my fingers. The front legs of my chair came off the floor as I leaned back quickly and grabbed the pencil.
I will not be ignored.
The chair legs landed back on the floor with a thud. “Did you say something?” I looked at my dad.
He put on his reading glasses. “Yeah. How do I get from here—”
“No,” I interrupted. “I mean, did you say something after that?”
He glanced at me and shook his head.
I straightened and stared down at the problem again. Freakin’ A. I did hear something. I knew it. I wasn’t crazy. Or, maybe I was. The pencil cracked under my grip.
“Okay,” I said. “You start by…” I managed to get through the explanation between wiping away the sweat on my forehead and rubbing my eyes. I hoped Dad understood what I said, because I didn’t have a clue whether it had made any sense. Words came out of my mouth, but I’d been more focused on listening for more whispers—inside my head or out.
“Okay, I get it,” Dad said. “That’s simple. Now, how about… Seth, are you okay?” He leaned closer, trying to get a good look at my face.
“Yeah,” I nodded, looking up at him. “No.” I shook my head. “I mean…” Shadows crossed my eyes, dimming the light, like something had passed across the sun.
“Let me feel your forehead.” The coolness of his hand and the concern behind his gesture made me feel less alone.
“You’re a little warm, Seth.” He dropped his hand to his lap. “Wow. I can’t remember the last time you were sick.” He grabbed my chin and turned my face towards him. “Your eyes are a little glazed over.” He straightened up and sat with his hands on his knees, studying me. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll work on this stuff on my own for now. We can try it again tomorrow, okay? You’d better get some rest.”
Rest. Yeah. That’s what I needed. I wanted to go to bed and close my eyes and have this all go away.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“No, it’s okay. We’ll see how you feel tomorrow.” He leaned over and ruffled my hair. “Can I get you some Tylenol?”
“No, thanks.” I gestured to my desk. “I have some in my desk.” The queasiness twisted my stomach in a knot before climbing up my throat. I forced myself to look at my dad and smile. I didn’t want him to know how I really felt.
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.” He picked up his book and closed the door behind him.
I wiped my face with my hand again. I was feeling worse every minute. My chest and stomach were too tense, and taking a deep breath was like pressing my ribs against a brick wall. It felt like there was no space in my lungs for air.
A hot, prickly sensation scratched at the back of my scalp. Oh, God! Not again. I sucked in a breath and shook my head back and forth, trying desperately to stop the feeling. I stood and paced the room, trying to walk it off, but it wouldn’t go away.
You can do it again.
I stopped pacing and held very, very still. What. The. Hell? This time, it was very distinct, very much a voice. Outside on the street, I could see how I could have been mistaken. But here, inside my room, in total silence, there was no doubt. I scanned the r
oom.
“What… can I do again?” I said out loud. Then I held my breath, waiting for an answer I hoped wouldn’t come.
Get your keys.
The breath I had been holding shot out of my lungs. I scrambled to my chair and sat, facing my computer again. Hitting the mouse, I brought the screen to life and restored the eSouled page. Okay, the night I thought I burned myself, when I grabbed Dani’s keys, the night I started feeling sick. That was the same night I made the bid for the soul. But there was no way that could be real, I reminded myself. Besides, souls are just dead people. And dead people can’t talk.
“Let’s see exactly what I bought,” I whispered, as I searched my account page.
Control. That’s what I remembered the description had said. Control I had - over my body and my workouts. Being stronger on the mat would mean control over my opponents. Bottom line – scholarship.
Power. The keys. The forks. I made those things come to me. Wasn’t that like telekinesis or something? Definitely power.
Seduction. Dani. The way she melted when I touched her. Yeah, we were definitely getting hot!
I dragged my hand down my face, taking the dampness away. I needed to talk to the seller, like now. I scrolled through my past purchases, but I couldn’t find anything that mentioned “Soul for Sale.” Damn! Maybe the seller had another soul for sale, or other strange stuff, and I could track him that way. After a few minutes of clicking around, though, I realized there wasn’t going to be anything on the seller or the sale.
My keys. They sat on my desk just like Dani’s keys had lay on the kitchen counter. They had hovered. I knew they had hovered. It wasn’t my quick reflexes, it was like something had helped me grab them. I pushed my chair back and stepped away from the desk and the keys, until I felt my bed against the back of my knees.
Did I really buy power? Was this an Aladdin’s lamp kind of thing? I spun around. “Who are you? Where are you?”
Silence radiated from the walls and wrapped around me like a blanket. My gaze slid around the room and stopped at my desk. Could I really do it again? The muscles in my jaw tightened. Out of anticipation? Out of fear? Maybe a little of both, but, as much as I hated to admit it, I really wanted to find out if I could.
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