Beautiful Souls

by Mullanix, Sarah

  “I think she’s coming to.”

  That last comment I understood. What the hell? I passed out? Again?

  “Becca, can you hear me?” I recognized Leo’s frantic voice. I felt his hands on my arms and I could sense his panic.

  “Yeah, I’m good, I think. I’m here,” I responded groggily. I hadn’t noticed my eyes being closed till I finally opened them.

  Leo was crouched over my dirty body, concern filled his bloodshot eyes. There was another figure also. Lots of black. Oh right, Luke was here.

  “Becca, why the hell did you do that?” Leo helped me to a sitting position.

  I rubbed my head, massaging away the final traces of brain fog. “I don’t know, really. My instincts kinda took over I guess, I just decided to do it, and I did it.”

  “Or stupidity took over.” Leo shook his head.

  “Hey.”

  “I’m serious, Becca. You have no idea what kind of soul you possess now.”

  “Well I guess we’ll find out, won’t we,” I responded sarcastically.

  “That’s not funny,” Leo snapped back.

  “Leo’s right, Becca. You didn’t know Zoey very well or what she was capable of. The soul you now possess could be a dark one,” Luke explained.

  “Or my mom’s,” Leo mumbled.

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Well for starters, I think you should both know that Zoey wasn’t a seventeen-year-old high school girl.”

  If she wasn’t that, then what? I shook my head in an attempt to comprehend. “What the hell was she?”

  “She came from a coven of very old Witches and Warlocks. Our so-called parents, for all intents and purposes, were from a similar practicing coven. They’re ancient in age and in practice,” Luke spoke slowly.

  “Wait a minute,” Leo interrupted. “Are you telling us that Zoey’s body…that body right there, isn’t really her body?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. She’d hexed that body to be her current one, but no, it’s not the one that she was born with. Neither were our so-called parents’ bodies. They moved on months ago, by the way. Our entire family structure, it was all just a show; part of the ruse in order to get any one of us nearer to you.” Luke’s intense gaze burned into my retinas.

  I scrambled backward clumsily and slipped on the mud and gravel-packed ground.

  Leo shook. “You’re not going to lay one hand on her!”

  “Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” I yelled. “Who are you really?” “I’m not a warlock. Is that what you thought? No, no, I’m really just an average eighteen-year-old guy. Well, if you forget the fact that I lived with Wizards.”

  “Why were you with all of them?” Leo asked skeptically, gesturing toward Zoey’s lifeless form and keeping up his stance, reading to fight at any moment.

  “Wrong place, wrong time. They snatched me off a beach in the Florida Keys a couple years ago and used me as their muscle and errand boy. All this time, we’ve bounced from state to state, tracking down new souls for them with each new location. Their ultimate goal was finding The Book Of Magic, but finding and killing Naturals was always a bonus for them.”

  “I don’t understand. Why do they want to kill Naturals?” I asked.

  “Less to contend with. No one standing in their way, I suppose.”

  “Hang on a minute. You said they moved months ago? Where?” I asked, confused.

  “Don’t know. Matriculated again, but they’ll be back.”

  “You said they’re ancient?” Leo questioned.

  “Again, I don’t know for sure. You see, none of them ever intended to die. This was their way, they’re plan, to gain immortality. With each and every new place they traveled, another life would be taken and a new soul possessed. Since they never remained in the same body long enough to grow old or sick, then essentially they could live forever. Well, that was their plan, anyway.”

  “Oh. My. God.”

  “I don’t get it.” Leo looked baffled. “How’d they do it? I can only stay in my shift form for a few minutes. How did they stay, and live, in those bodies?”

  “Some type of ancient black magic, voodoo magic, that I overheard them mention in secrecy once or twice. But again, I don’t really know the details. They never confided their plans in me. They only kept me around for their convenience. They even told me I’d be dead the moment I’d no longer fulfilled a purpose. I’m lucky to have lived this long. I actually thought they would’ve tried to kill me a long time ago.

  “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you two anymore, but like I said, I’m not a Wizard. I can share my thoughts and visions non-verbally though. You know, like telekinesis. My so-called mother put some sort of spell on me when they first took me, so that I could communicate with them while I was out doing their bidding. I still haven’t managed to figure out if it works only through them or if I could use it on anybody. Probably just them, I imagine. I tried to share my memories of Zoey with you a few times, Becca. I tried to warm you of her dangerous ways, but I suspect you’d have known if it had worked.”

  I perked up. “It did work! I think.”

  “Really? That was a total shot in the dark. What’d you see?”

  “Well, the first time it happened, was in school and all I really saw was Zoey in different places. There were just flashes of her in locations and towns that I’ve never seen before.”

  “Yes! That was the first time I tried to send you my memories of her. That was my first day of school here.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. I remember you glaring at me from across the hallway. I couldn’t figure out why you’d looked at me like that.”

  “Sorry about the creepy vibe. I was trying to send you images of all the terrible things she had done, to warn you to stay away from her. I’d known we’d come here for them to get to you, and they had an inclination that you had The Book. They had all been following it for years, you know,” Luke nodded, as if he’d just told me something important. “I suppose though, that my images weren’t strong enough. You must have only received partial visions.”

  “I can’t believe that it was you, all along. I’d always thought the visions were connected to Zoey. I just couldn’t figure out the randomness of them, why at times they were so strong when I was in close proximity to her, then other times not so much. Sometimes I’d have the visions when she wasn’t around at all, and I could have sworn she’d been lingering in the woods just out of sight. I thought for sure the visions had been sent by Zoey,” I coughed up a nervous laugh. “It was becoming a little creepy feeling like I was always being watched,” I confessed.

  “Who’s to say you weren’t?” Leo added, as he dug a grave near the edge of the clearing close to the woods. He wanted to make sure the body would not be washed up or uncovered by the rushing river at a later point in time.

  “Honestly, Zoey probably had watched you. And like I said, the others will return eventually to check on our progress in obtaining The Book. You’ll have that to contend with one day…and so will I, come to think of it. But I was the one sending you the visions, not Zoey.”

  “Great,” I replied sarcastically. The news that ancient, voodoo practicing wizards would be back one day --- probably one day soon with me in their sights --- was not welcome news.

  “Yeah, well, it’s all in the life of being a Natural, I suppose.” Luke sent me a comforting wink, patted my knee, then stood to his full height. “I’ll talk to you again soon. I’m going to help Leo with the digging.”

  I nodded. I watched as the two of them used what appeared to be small logs to carve out a grave-like ditch. They used flattened river rocks to sculpt the bottom of the hole, and I could smell earth, smoke, and fresh springtime vegetation on the light breeze blowing across the river.

  I could tell Leo was attempting to play off his emotions. He was trying to act tough. Even though Zoey wasn’t really what we considered to be human because of all the lives she’d taken over so man
y years, I could tell that Leo was having conflicting arguments inside his head over what he’d done. I’m sure having to see his mom for months, knowing it wasn’t actually her, caused damage of it’s own as well. Leo had a lot to overcome, but right now he was simply trying to take care of what needed done, overcompensating for his pain by keeping busy and acting as if it all didn’t bother him.

  “We need to hurry and get this done before some morning jogger accidentally stumbles across what we’re doing here.”

  “Agreed,” Luke said determinedly. “I think we’re good here. Let’s get her body.”

  I watched and listened, as Leo mumbled words I couldn’t quite understand. My ears perked up at snippets of foreign words said under Leo’s breath, and I realized quickly that he had cast a spell. Moments later I watched with astonished amazement, as both Leo and Luke tossed boulder after giant boulder into the grave after the body, then Leo filled the ditch to capacity with the fresh unpacked dirt using only one full sweep of his arms.

  “How, how did you do that?” I stuttered.

  “Superman spell. That’s what I call it, anyhow. It only lasts about twenty minutes, but sure as hell came in handy today,” Leo answered, while he and Luke walked around for a couple seconds making strong-man poses.

  It felt strange that none of us were showing any emotions over the death of an ancient Witch, especially since I had been infatuated with her just a few short months ago and Luke was her so-called brother. I supposed that was one’s destiny, though, when all they’d accomplished in life for centuries was the selfish death and destruction of the people around them --- Wizards and humans alike --- then this sort of seemed like part of her payback. I was certain Zoey would get more of what she deserved in the afterlife. I hoped, anyway.

  The boys fidgeted with the natural elements and perfected the grave sight till it looked as if the vegetation growing there hadn’t been trampled on in years. They made their way back over to me, and Leo put his hand out to help me up from the ground where I’d been sitting for some time.

  “We need to grab the horses,” Leo mentioned to Luke. “Do you want to ride back with us?”

  I knew this gesture took a lot for Leo to offer. I could tell that he didn’t know whether or not to trust Luke, but probably felt that he at least owed him this much after all of his help, not to mention being a traitor to his own so-called family in order to warn us. This situation was so utterly confusing and screwed up, and now The Book Of Magic was gone.

  “Yeah, that’d be great actually. I think my Superman strength has started to wear off.”

  “You know how to ride?” Leo asked, as we walked back to our horses holding hands.

  “Um, not really,” Luke answered.

  Leo and I just looked at each other and laughed silently at our private joke. Not only did Luke not know how to ride, but he’d be riding bareback.

  “Oh, this is going to be fun,” I giggled.

  “Think you can handle her?” Leo motioned toward a bucking Cleo. She had always bucked out of pure excitement whenever she saw Leo approach, but I wasn’t going to let Luke in on that fact and apparently neither was Leo.

  Luke’s eyes widened at the sight of her, but he played it cool. “Sure, no problem.”

  Leo and I eyed each other again as we approached the horses.

  “Okay, you’ll be riding Cleo, and Becca and I will take Sabastian together since he’s larger. Need help getting up?”

  “No, I think I’ve got it,” Luke answered, but as he stood side by side with Cleo he must have changed his mind. “Uh, maybe a hand up would be good.”

  Leo smirked and walked around next to Luke, laced his fingers together, bent down to accept Luke’s muddy boot onto the palms of his hands, then heaved him onto Cleo’s back. Wow, first try, I thought. He must still have a bit of Superman strength left after all.

  “All right, we’ll just take this slow,” Leo spoke, as he hopped up to Sabastian’s back.

  Will that ever stop being so damn sexy? My entire body awakened at Leo’s touch as he locked his hand around my forearm, simultaneously yanking my arm up as I leapt from the ground toward Sabastian’s high back. I landed on my stomach then quickly swung my leg around, sat up, and pressed the front of my body against Leo’s sweaty, muscular back, my legs straddling his. The sensation was almost too much.

  We three all rode off in the direction of home, retracing our very same path that brought us here. That seemed like ages ago.

  Chapter 14.

  Back To Good

  good

  /good/

  Adjective

  To be desired or approved of.

  Noun

  That which is morally right; righteousness.

  Adverb

  Well.

  Luke insisted on walking home alone --- we still didn’t know where that home was located or what it consisted of --- after the three of us arrived back to Leo’s barn. He assured us that the solitary confines of an empty house, and a philosopher’s walk to get there, was exactly what he needed right now; time and space to contemplate the whereabouts of The Book of Magic. Leo and I gave Luke his space, thanked him for everything. Without a second’s hesitation, he was on his way.

  The first half of the school day was already over, so I decided to skip the rest. Leo and I spent the warm, sun-drenched afternoon tending to the horses. When all was done that could be done, we lounged near the edge of the barn, enjoying the serene country view and smelling the sweetness of new shoots of bright green grass.

  We became acquainted with one another again --- the newness of Spring, Leo and I --- after a long, stale and lonely winter. I had missed Leo so much, and this. All of this. I needed my best friend back in my life.

  We talked about everything: his mom and how he’d been coping with his dad the last few months, my mundane life without him in it, and I explained more in depth about how I had come to acquire The Book of Magic. I told him all about what the ancient, dusty pages contained. I actually confessed about the anonymous letters I’d been receiving monthly, a total of eight now. And we talked about Zoey, too. Leo confessed his sadness over killing her --- even though we both felt it was self-defense --- and his relief that she was actually gone and out of our lives forever.

  I couldn’t believe that I’d never told Leo about The Book, the letters, or my visions. They were all subjects I hadn’t figured out, so without knowing how to explain them properly, along with Leo pretty much walking out of my life --- for understandable reasons --- I simply hadn’t shared these parts of my life with him. But it was time to change all of that. There was so much I still didn’t know and that still freaked me out, but it was time for the truth.

  This line of thinking made me curious, sparking questions about all that I’d seen that day. Entertaining as the Superman spell had been --- and it was quite hilarious to watch, regardless of the circumstances as to which it had been used --- I hadn’t grasped the concept or reasoning behind why Leo and Luke felt the need to heave potentially back-breaking boulders onto the body, when it had already been buried six feet under.

  I contemplated the best approach to bring up the subject with Leo. “So, loved seeing you all buff and Superman strong today,” I grinned.

  “Oh, yeah?” Leo replied, his twinkling eyes told me that he wouldn’t mind hearing more.

  I sat completely still for a moment. My focus had shifted momentarily from inquiring about the burial ritual to full-on admiration of Leo. His eyes were welcome waves of teal waters, and I wanted to run my lips across the faint stubble that had grown from his chiseled jaw.

  My lips quivered, and my nose twitched. I couldn’t place his new smell. He used to smell of fresh air, his familiar musky cologne, and something else indistinguishably delicious that I had always chalked up to simply being essence of Leo. All of those same smells still existed, but now when I breathed in his intoxicating scent, there was something else added to the decadent mixture.

  Leo, himself, seemed to b
e slightly different, as well. Not much, but there was definitely a hint of his character that had changed. Not necessarily bad, just different. Perhaps the life-altering events of the past few months ran so deeply into his soul --- and how could they not --- that even his body chemistry had been slightly altered, too.

  Leo caught me staring, and I quickly turned my head away; the beautiful image of his handsome face still burned in my brain.

  “Why did you have to cover the body with boulders?” I asked, attempting to mask my embarrassment.

  “That’s a Wizard thing.” Leo had my full attention, and I listened attentively. “The rocks are to ensure that the body isn’t found or moved…magically, you know.”

  “How does that work?” I shook my head, still not fully comprehending. A vital part of his explanation on reasoning had been left out.

  “Spells exist, well, more in the category of hexes, actually, that can call a body from its grave and put life back into it.”

  “No way. So, someone could bring Zoey back?” I asked, completely and utterly astonished, not to mention fearful. Zoey was finally out of my life and could no longer torment me or Leo; I never wanted to deal with any of that again. She reeked havoc in our lives and changed Leo’s forever. The bitch deserved what she got, and I wanted to make sure that it stayed that way.

  “A very powerful Wizard could so, in a manner of speaking…yes.”

  “That’s a very scary thought.”

  “Yeah, it is. You need to understand, though, that I chose my words to describe that hex very carefully. I said it would put life back into the body, I didn’t say it would bring Zoey back to life. What she would come back as would be very dark, almost zombie-like, and she would be ready for revenge.”

  “I’m almost sorry I asked. I’m sure I just signed on to a night full of nightmares for prying into this one.”

  Leo’s lips twitched and a grin grew across his beautiful face. “Want me to sleep over and scare away the bad dreams?” Leo showed off his irresistible crooked grin with an added edge of ornery wickedness.