The Soulkeepers

by G. P. Ching

  Chapter 38

  Taken

  Pfoosh.

  The pumpkin rocketed from the giant metal pipe, an orange blur against the graying fall sky. It arced across the horizon before plummeting to its inevitable doom well past the point that he could discern it from the rural landscape. Morton’s Pumpkin Chuckin’ festival was just beginning.

  Jacob stood behind a row of giant cannons and catapults, watching teams of adults make last-minute adjustments to the machines with the sole purpose of projecting a pumpkin farther than any other. He smiled to himself and pulled his coat tighter around his chest. When you didn’t have the ocean or mountain to keep you busy, he supposed you hurled pumpkins.

  “That was amazing.” Malini stared as the next pumpkin disappeared behind the horizon. The bowl of pumpkin ice cream in her hand was disappearing rapidly. She offered a spoonful to Jacob.

  “Thanks.” The thick creamy texture was accentuated by the flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon with a subtle pumpkin pie finish. “It’s really good,” he said honestly, “but I can’t believe we’re eating ice cream at nine in the morning.”

  “It’s always sold out by lunch.” She scooped in another bite. “So, have you heard if Dane’s going to be all right?”

  “Yes. His dad called my uncle and said he had a concussion, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken arm. But they’ve patched him up and he’s in stable condition.”

  “And, you didn’t see who did it? You have no idea?”

  Jacob lowered his voice. “Malini, that’s what I told the hospital. That’s not what happened.” It was the first time he’d been alone with her since the incident and the last thing he wanted to do was text her the entire story. There was no way he was putting it in writing.

  “What did happen?”

  “It was Auriel.”

  The bowl fell from Malini’s hand, the sickly pallor returning to her face. He took her waist to hold her up.

  “What’s wrong? Are you sick again?”

  “No. I just knew. I knew there was something … evil about her. There’s something I need to tell you, Jake.”

  A loud bellow interrupted them. “What did you think of that one, Jacob?” Uncle John was waving his hat about ten feet away, a bottle of pumpkin beer in his hand. Linda and Mark stood in front of him with the twins. Next to him, Dr. Silva smiled up at the flying pumpkins. She did not spare so much as a glance toward Jacob.

  “Why don’t you go get some more ice cream?” he said to Malini. Jacob tilted his head toward Dr. Silva. Whatever Auriel was, if there was one person who would know what to do about her, it was Dr. Silva.

  Malini nodded.

  Jacob made his way over and stood between John and Dr. Silva. “That was really great, how far do you think it went, Uncle John?”

  “Oh, easily a mile,” he said.

  Jacob turned to Dr. Silva. “It’s good to see you again, Dr. Silva.” He tried hard to sound casual. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question about your garden?”

  “Her garden’s why she’s here, Jacob. She donates the pumpkins from her patch.”

  Dr. Silva briefly glanced down her nose at Jacob, her eyes icy daggers. “Oh, Jacob, you’ve proven yourself capable of figuring out all of your questions on your own. You don’t need me.” She smiled up at John. “It was nice to see you again, neighbor. I’ve got to get back. Enjoy the show.”

  “See you later, Abigail,” John called with a wave of his hand, never taking his eyes off the flying pumpkins.

  Dr. Silva rushed off toward a weathered red barn that stood on the property. Jacob followed. He had to practically sprint to keep up. As he watched her black cloak flutter through the open barn door, he saw Auriel.

  She was leaning against a tree near the side of the barn, her hands in the pockets of her jeans jacket and one booted foot propped against the gnarled trunk. When she saw Jacob, she began to walk toward him, a brilliant smile lighting up her eyes. She smoothed her blonde curls back from her face.

  “Hi, Jacob! Did you forget you were supposed to meet me today?”

  “No.”

  “Then why didn’t you come? Don’t you like me anymore?”

  “What are you?” he blurted, backing up as she advanced toward him. She abandoned the facade of sweet teenage girl, her smile melting into an expression that could only be described as deadly.

  “I’m the girl you want to kiss.” Her arm shot out and grabbed the nape of his neck, so fast it reminded him of the strike of a snake. She crushed his body to hers as if he weighed nothing and her lips covered his before he could even scream.

  And then he was surrounded by her spicy, sweet smell and the too-sweet taste of her breath in his mouth, both intoxicating and nauseating. While his body was drawn to her, his mind and soul were screaming to break free. He remembered too well the maggots in his dream and how she had maimed Dane.

  But Jacob was powerless. He felt dizzy, the field spinning. Auriel stopped kissing him and numbness crept over his body like a poison. She pushed him toward her red Jeep in the parking lot. By the time he reached it, his body would barely respond at all. Auriel had to lift him into the passenger seat. He was so disoriented he could hardly feel the Jeep accelerate, even when the speedometer reached ninety miles per hour.

  “Stop,” he managed to say. “I want to go back.” His voice sounded weak, unsure, even to his own ears.

  “You don’t mean that, Jacob. We are going to go someplace special. I’m taking you home to meet my dad. He is going to love you.”

  “Why?” His mouth felt dry. The word was all he could force out of his lungs.

  “Because it’s time for you to go where you belong. You chose this!”

  “Chose?” he mumbled. His tongue was swelling.

  Auriel recklessly weaved in and out of traffic, sliding around the corners, tires screeching.

  “Don’t play innocent with me. You’ve made choice after choice that led me to you. You broke the dolls, you trespassed in the garden, you lied to John about your trip to Peru, you stole Abigail’s notes about the tree, and you traveled using the blood of Oswald Silva without permission. You even tried to force an innocent.” She turned to look at him, taking her eyes off the road for a dangerously long time for how fast she was driving. “That’s right, Jacob. I know every sin you’ve ever committed. You are quite the offender. I don’t think there’s one in the book that you haven’t done and I am going to see you get what you deserve.” She was nodding her head self-righteously. “Now I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

  As she said these last words, his tongue pushed to the back of his throat and his head slammed against the seat like an invisible hand was gagging him. The harder he tried to speak the more frustrated he became as he could produce nothing but choking sounds. He searched out the window for any sign of water but if they passed any, he was traveling too fast to connect with it. What was she? What gave her this power she had over him? What she accused him of … only half of it was true. But how did she know that much?

  “Whaa, whaa, whaa. Is wittle Jacob sad because he finally has to pay for all the bad stuff he’s done?” Her blonde head shook with the loud toothy laugh and she stuck her tongue out at him in an expression both immature and cruel. Jacob turned away to face the window.

  After watching the rural landscape fly by, he recognized landmarks that made him certain she was taking him back to Paris. It was only minutes before Auriel was pulling into Dr. Silva’s driveway, leaping from the driver’s side and practically tearing the door off its hinges to yank Jacob out.

  Auriel dragged him from the car by his collar. Mysteriously, his leg muscles began to work again, as if whatever venom she’d stung him with was wearing off. Like a dog, she led him forward by the neck, her fingers clawing into his flesh. She half dragged, half pushed him through the orchard and up to the wrought-iron gate.

  She turned the key and popped the lock.

  “But—” Jacob muttered.

&nbs
p; “You thought I couldn’t open the gate? Once you invite a Watcher in, Jacob, it renders the enchantment powerless against them. Abigail should have taught you better.” She cast him a wicked smile that sent a chill up Jacob’s spine.

  Jacob didn’t understand. Even if he had accidentally left the gate unlocked, he certainly never invited Auriel through it. Asking didn’t seem wise. She moved him down the trail and through the cactus maze quickly, with one single goal: to bring him to the tree. Each time he struggled to get away, she buried her nails deeper into his neck and lifted him from the ground like a puppy. Her strength was boundless.

  Standing before Oswald, Auriel’s hand moved to his wrist and she dragged him the last few feet toward the tree. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” she laughed.

  Jacob remembered saying those words the night he visited Malini in her room. What he saw in his mind, however, was what he’d done to Malini at the tree—from her perspective. He felt her terror as Auriel dragged him toward the tree. Worse, Jacob realized he’d been in Auriel’s position, the tyrant, the coercer. Whatever Auriel was, she knew his past. She knew everything he’d done wrong in his life and could pump it into his brain at will. He collapsed from the guilt and saw his own tears hit the sand. Auriel’s demonic grip only strengthened on his wrist, as if she was drawing strength from his suffering.

  Auriel touched the bark and Jacob watched it grow up her arm, shingling her shoulder before absorbing the rest of her body. The familiar slowing took over as the tree swallowed him, too. But this time, instead of rising and becoming the sky, he felt himself sink. The earth and every crawling creature that lived in it became one with his flesh. He slid down the roots of the tree, deeper and deeper until, at last, he emerged in a dark garden of twisting thorns.

  From the spot on the ground where he lay recovering from the effects of the tree, he glanced back at Auriel. She was more beautiful than ever. But his eyes could not miss what had changed about her, even in the faintest of light. Behind her back, two feathery wings folded against her body. Fluffy and white, they arced over her shoulders and extended down her back. As she fanned them out, stretching like a bird first one than the other, each looked about eight feet long.

  “Welcome to Nod, Jacob. Welcome to your new home.” She yanked him to his feet and led him forward into the darkness.