Body and Soul (The Chronicles of Light and Darkness Book 1)

by Jamie Loeak

later, her long dark hair pulled up into a messy bun; flyaways framed her face, making her look both undone and gorgeous.

  “Well, I’m done cleaning up the mess. Your parents shouldn’t notice anything wrong in your house,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Kate said, suddenly realizing that was probably the reason why she was back at Adriana’s in the first place.

  “So, did you two figure out anything while I was gone?” Adriana probed. Her eyes landed on Rico who was still pacing the deck. “Rico, babe, you’ve got to calm down. We can’t figure it all out right now anyway.”

  “We know nothing more, Adriana. A strange demon tried to attack her, but Kate can’t remember a thing about being pulled into an alternate reality. She has no other clue to give us,” he said dejectedly.

  “Wait. Back up. Did you just mention an alternate reality?”

  “Yes. Remember how she was passed out when I brought her here and we thought it was just exhaustion? Well, she was floating around an alternate reality.”

  Adriana looked at Kate, perplexed. “You didn’t see anything while you were there? You were there for a couple hours, Kate.”

  Kate shook her head and looked directly into Adriana’s eyes. Wow, she was getting pretty good at this lying thing. “I told Rico that I only remember seeing colors. I didn’t see any actual images or anything.”

  Adriana looked at her skeptically then turned to Rico. “Look Rico, I’ve met some people that have traveled to alternate realities. They’ve all seen things. No one has ever mentioned seeing just colors.”

  “Kate has no reason to lie to us, Adriana. This thing is happening to her, not us. Why would she lie to us about something so important?”

  “Probably for the same reason that she didn’t finish telling you about the dream; she cares too much about what you think.”

  Rico turned around, his eyes fiery. “Stop, Adriana. I trust Kate. She wouldn’t lie about the images, and she’s going to tell us about the dream when she’s ready. I can’t force anything out of her. You can’t either,” he added, seeing the glint in Adriana’s eyes.

  Kate just stared at the two of them. Were they honestly going to argue about her, in front of her? She stood up, angry at Adriana for seeing through her, angry at herself for having broken the trust that she and Rico shared.

  “I’m going to go back home,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I would prefer further discussions about me to take place when I’m not around. It’s uncomfortable and I know you would want the same courtesy.” Kate stomped down the stairs, headed toward her home, half afraid of what she would find when she got there.

  Kate made it to the third house before Adriana caught up to her.

  “I don’t think you should sleep alone tonight,” she said. “It’s too dangerous.” She fell into step with Kate, her eyes searching Kate’s features.

  “I know you don’t trust me,” Kate said.

  “Of course, I don’t. But it doesn’t mean that I’m out. I’m still here to protect you, Kate. But you have to know that it’s not going to be easy if we can’t put the pieces together. Your own fate is in your hands right now. You need to decide what you want and what you plan on doing with the knowledge you’ve hidden from us. If you don’t want us to solve the puzzle for you, then you have to be willing to solve it to save yourself.”

  Kate looked over at Adriana. She understood what Adriana was saying, and she decided in that moment that she would be the one to figure all this out. She would find out what the demons wanted with her soul, what the burning world was about, and how she would save herself and the people she cared about.

  “So what do you plan on doing if I’m not sleeping alone?” she asked Adriana.

  Adriana laughed out loud. “We’re having another sleepover, silly.”

  10

  Kate’s parents loved Adriana. Then again, considering that Adriana was Kate’s first real girl friend, they had no one to compare her to. The four of them sat around the dinner table, talking about Adriana’s life here, fishing, and marine biology. Adriana knew a lot about the ocean and was able to contribute to the conversation.

  After dinner, the girls went upstairs to Kate’s bedroom, stopping along the way to peek inside Blaire and Aaron’s room. Adriana had been right about the house. Everything was back in order. Even the decorative pillows in Kate’s parents’ bedroom had been placed in the same way Blaire did each morning. Kate wasn’t surprised to see it that way; she knew that Adriana and Rico claimed that they were good at their jobs.

  When the girls first entered the room, Adriana moved about, checking the windows and walls. She pushed against the surfaces, making sure that everything was safe. When she finished she sat down on the bed and looked at Kate.

  “I think we need to have a spa and makeover night,” she said. “I’ve been dying to flat iron your hair ever since I met you. Don’t get me wrong, you have perfect bouncy curls that look great on your face shape. Have you ever seen yourself with straight hair though?”

  Kate shook her head.

  Adriana stood up and clapped her hands. “Excellent!” she exclaimed. “Let’s start with that. Then I can do your makeup afterward.”

  Adriana pushed Kate down into her vanity chair, and rushed to the window. She opened it quickly and whistled to Rico to toss up her supplies and waved before closing the window. Kate spun back around to face the mirror, shaking her head at Adriana.

  “What?” Adriana asked. “You know you’re just as excited as I am.”

  Adriana set to work then, and Kate watched as she ran the flat iron down the length of her hair, forcing her curls to unwind themselves. Kate was shocked to see that her hair seemed to double in length when straight; it was almost longer than Adriana’s. When Adriana finished, she spun Kate around so fast that Kate didn’t have time to stare at her reflection. She pulled out pastel chalk and waved it in front of Kate’s face, a genuine smile of excitement on her own.

  “Do you mind if we color the ends of your hair?” she asked. I think the blues and purples would look amazing with your eye color.” She bent down to get a closer look at Kate’s eyes. “Did you know that your eyes have hints of blue in them? That’s amazing.”

  Kate just sat there, agreeing to everything that Adriana suggested. She watched Adriana’s eyes get bigger with each new thing that was added to Kate’s look. When Adriana was finished, Kate was sure that she had copious amounts of makeup plastered to her face. She knew that she had nude fingernails and sky colored toenails, with a sun painted on her big toe. She knew that she had blue and purple streaks on the ends of her hair, but she didn’t know how it all looked as a whole. She grew nervous and excited at the same time, eager yet afraid to glance at her new reflection.

  “Are you ready?” Adriana asked some time later.

  Kate took a deep breath and then nodded. Adriana spun Kate around slowly so that she could take it all in.

  Kate leaned toward the mirror, not certain if she was looking at herself. Her eyes looked twice the size that they normally did, her lashes long and thick. The navy eyeliner brought out the flecks of blue in her eyes; they shimmered like glitter and confetti. Kate’s hair was long and thick, and slightly curled at the ends. It fell around her waist, the highlighted ends accentuating her slight curves. Kate was beautiful. She had heard people say this before, that she had a natural beauty, but she had not seen it until now. She twisted and turned in the mirror, taking it all in with a small smile that broke across her face.

  “Do you like it?” Adriana asked seriously. Her reflection looked over Kate, her eyes wide and waiting for an answer. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she twisted them.

  Kate turned around to face her new friend. “I love it,” she said, rushing forward to embrace Adriana. Adriana smiled, pleased, but pulled away quickly. Kate felt a jolt of surprise.

  “What about I make you over too,” she suggested, changing the subject.

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Kate.
” Adriana sat down in the stool, and Kate picked up the flat iron, and idea forming in her mind.

  When Adriana turned around a while later, she stared at her reflection. Her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders in beautiful curls. Her eyes were free of makeup, her cheeks rosy, her lips a pale pink.

  She turned toward Kate. “I look like you,” she whispered. Her eyes shimmered for a moment before she turned around and shuffled through her bag. A moment later she held an expensive looking camera in her hands. “Let’s capture this moment,” she said as she blinked several times in an attempt to stop the tears from falling. She ended up laughing at herself, and Kate pulled the camera from her, taking the first picture of the night.

  Later, after the girls were finished with their miniature photo shoot, Adriana and Kate climbed into bed and talked about normal girl things, not demons or dreams or lies. Kate was truly happy, because, for the first time, she had a real friend.

  “So tell me about love,” Kate said right before the girls fell asleep.

  Adriana rolled over so that she faced Kate and propped herself up on her elbow. “Love is absolutely beautiful,” she said wistfully. “It’s almost like waking up to a surprise or falling asleep after a wonderful day. It’s perfectly imperfect; you are entranced by him one minute but hate him the next. In the end, you wind up kissing for the rest of the night, making up for the minutes you spent