My Soul Keeper (24 page)

“Muriel?” Shamar opens his hand for her. She appears conflicted as she looks to us, then to Darius.

“No, she belongs to me.” Darius puts his arm up, pushing her behind him in a protective manner.

“You can’t keep her. Drakeen would never allow it,” the man in white says.

“Mom!” I call to her and it seems to weaken her resolve. She creeps out from behind Darius and walks towards us. I see actual pain on his face as he watches her leave.

“I will be informing Michael of this visit,” the man in white tells us. Before we can say anything, the water rises above us and then collapses all around us, engulfing us into choppy water. I feel like I’m being pulled and twisted, tugged around, until I surface in calm waters, at least thirty feet from the waterfall.

“Simone!” Shamar’s voice calls out and I spot him swimming toward me.

I watch as my mother struggles. She swims to the edge and drags herself from the cold water. Shamar’s arms circle around my waist, his lips crush down on mine. It’s the best feeling in the world. I return his touch with all my love poured into the kiss. I offer him my tongue, willingly caressing over his. I wrap my legs around his waist and only pull away when we start slipping under the water. I drop my legs and kick back to the surface with a giggle. We swim to the shore and he helps me to my feet.

“Uno, Charmeine didn’t surface.” My mother touches Shamar’s father’s arm with clear affection. His eyes flit from her to Shamar as realization sets in. We left her there!

“We have to go back,” I say, but I see the looks in their eyes. We’re not going back.

“We need to get away from here. We’ll go to Liam and Leah, they will be anxious to see that Simone’s okay. Let’s not mention Charmeine to Liam yet. Not until we have a plan.” We all nod in agreement.

We sense Liam, ending up at a motel similar to the one we went to before. The walls are the same dark green, the carpet worn, the original colour buried under a mountain of grime. The furniture is old and cheap. The TV flickers in the corner; the snowy screen casts a light over the bed where Liam and Leah are curled up, asleep. My heart races to see them. They’re okay. A smile touches my lips as Liam rouses from his sleepy slumber. He croaks my name as he rubs his eyes, like he’s not sure if he’s dreaming or awake. When he sees I’m not alone, realization settles on his face. He’s not dreaming. He sprints from the bed and his arms come crushing around me, pinning me to him.

“Simone, you’re here. Did he hurt you?” He begins his usual survey of my body looking for injury.

“I’m okay,” I reassure him. His hands cup my face and he kisses my forehead.

I look around him to Leah.

“What? When?” she stutters, until her eyes fully open and they find me standing there.

She rushes from the bed, her feet getting tangled in the covers. A squeal escapes her lips as her body flops over. Her hands break her fall and she lands in a heap on the dirty carpet. I hear a snigger coming from Shamar and a tutting sound from his father. Liam rushes to her aid. He helps her to her feet.

“Shit! That wasn’t very graceful, huh?” She laughs and I run to her. We embrace and I feel tears threaten my eyes.

“Where’s my mom?” Liam asks, breaking the brief reunion.

“She went to Heaven to keep up appearances.” Shamar lies convincingly. “We need a plan. That transporter is going to tell Michael of our trip to Purgatory and I’m worried he will mention Simone and Muriel.”

“Muriel.” Liam says her name like he’s just realised she is also in the room. She doesn’t speak to him. Her eyes never lift from the thread she’s fiddling with on her gown.

“If they sense her light, they will take them both,” Liam informs Shamar.

Shamar has been pacing the floor, deep in thought.

“Wait, I have an idea,” his father speaks up.

“Shamar, remember when I was telling you that when a soul enters the vessel for the first time, it’s like a light switch turning on its life force? But when the soul is extracted from a living vessel, then put back in, you can’t see the light or the darkness of the soul? Because the body doesn’t need the spark, it’s kind of like pulling the drapes on a window.”

“So it cloaks their light?” Liam asks dubiously.

“Yes, or darkness, but it’s painful on the body to push the soul back in.” He nods and looks to me.

“I don’t care, I can handle it. It’s the answer we’ve been looking for. If they can’t see my light, they won’t know what I am.”

“It’s risky, Simone. There has never been a soul like yours before,” Shamar mutters, cupping my face and piercing me with his intense gaze.

“Shamar, discuss and come to an agreement. I need to go to work. I’ll be back.” His father disappears after a loving look to my mother. They know each other, it’s clear. She called him ‘Uno.’ I’m curious to ask her about him, but I’m frightened of her mental state.

“Shamar, we have to do this. I’ll take my chances, but first I need to go see…” I look over at my birth mother, and then reach up to whisper in his ear, “my mom and brother. I’m worried about them. My dad was working with Lucas. I know he wouldn’t hurt them but...”

I stop talking when Shamar’s breathing becomes laboured. His heads drops and dread fills my body in a rush like a tidal wave crashing the shore.

“Oh no, no. Shamar! Please, tell me they're okay?”

“Sit down,” he whispers, like a doctor approaching a patient, telling them there’s nothing they can do. My legs give out. He catches me in his arms, guiding me across the room, and lowering me to a sitting position on the bed. He drops down until he is at eye level with me.

“Okay, Simone. You know when I told you about Junior's soul being young?” he begins, but I know what he’s going to say. I feel my heart constrict.

“You killed him.” It’s a statement, not a question, as the words fly from my mouth without my brain filtering them; it’s what I feel. God, after everything, he still took him from us. I see the pain torture his features but I don’t care. My heart hurts. I feel a loss so great and I feel betrayed.

“You said you loved me,” I mumble, the words just falling from my lips. My brain is racing, filtering memories.

“I do, Simone. I love you more than anything, but I had to; it was his time. He was awarded his place in Paradise. He’s in a better pl...”

A sob shakes my body.

“Don’t! Don’t you dare. I won’t let you make me feel bad for wanting him to grow up and actually live a life before he was taken to Paradise! Oh God, my mom… this will kill her!” I swipe at the river of tears falling uncontrollably from my eyes. Shamar exhales hard.

“Simone.” His tone makes me alert.

“What? What else could possibly be as bad?”

His hands grasp mine as they rest on my knees. I try to pull them free. I can’t let him touch me right now, but he forces me to relax with his calming effect. I feel myself start to relax, but then anger flares and I jerk hard at my hands, freeing them. I push at his shoulders, clearing a small gap between us. I slip through it and put as much distance between us as possible in such a small room. Leah grasps my arm and pushes her body close to mine to offer comfort. My eyes flit to Liam, who cannot look me in the eye.

“Don’t use that shit on me, Shamar! How could you? You think you can take my brother and then manipulate my emotions into forgiving you?” I spit angrily, as he puts his hand to his heart, as if I’ve just stabbed him.

“Never, Simone. I just wanted to help calm you.”

“Well don’t!” I snap, grief controlling me. “I’ve had enough of people messing with my emotions! God, I need to see my mom.”

I turn to my birth mother, who’s staring at me. “I’m sorry. I just need to be with the only mom I’ve known,” I tell her, feeling guilty.

“She’s dead, Simone.”

Leah’s words are barely a whisper but I hear her loud and clear. I look over to see tears brimming in Shamar’s eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Simone. She killed herself,” he tells me.

Pain cripples my heart as a strangled cry rips from my lips. I notice my skin glow a little. I hear sniffles around the room and everyone looks like they’re grieving with me.

“What is that?” Liam asks, tears streaming down his face.

“You can feel her sadness, it’s pouring from her,” my birth mother says.

I can’t stand here any longer. I think of my house, my living room, and I feel the pull.

When I open my eyes, I’m standing in my living room. I take in the red walls and familiar pictures. I take a few deep breaths and turn to go through to the hallway but stop when I see my father lying still on the floor, a knife protruding from his chest. I collapse over him, shaking his cold, lifeless body. A scream pierces the air around me as I cry over his still form.

My hands shake as I pull the blade from his body. I take in the amount of blood that covers his shirt and the floor around him. I try in vain to heal him, but I already know he’s gone. A flash sparks in the room. Shamar, Liam, Muriel and Leah fill the space between the couch and me.

Simone’s pain when I tell her about her brother is torture. The way she looks at me, like she can’t believe I could do that to her. I know this will alter her feelings for me; it’s like falling from Heaven into a dark abyss. I can’t imagine my life without Simone in it.

When we tell her about her mother, the grief is too much. She actually projects it out from her body. Her grief fills the room, tugging everyone into the agony with her. We all feel her sorrow anyway, but to actually have her pain seep from her and pollute the air is like being dragged into an undercurrent of a dark sea of agony. The image of finding her here to discover her father’s body will be stamped in my memory forever, like a tattoo on skin. I feel Liam’s remorse cripple him and I fear the effect it will have on their friendship. She’s lost so much already. When her eyes flick to me, I see anguish and I hate it. It feels like a sledgehammer to my body, a dark shadow cast on my soul.

“Who did this to him?” she screams at me.

“Simone...” Liam’s voice is strained as he approaches her. My father steps from behind me. I didn’t even realize he was in the room. I can’t take my eyes off the love of my life, falling to pieces in front of me.

“It was me. He was dangerous. He attacked Shamar, nearly killing him.”

Her eyes scan my father with contempt, and then falter back into sorrow.

“I need the sky,” she whispers, dragging herself to her feet. She wanders out the front door, around to the back of the house. I go to the kitchen window that overlooks the back yard and watch as she climbs into the hammock.

“Someone should go out there to make sure she doesn’t travel.” Liam points up towards the heavens. I nod with understanding, but before I can reach for the door handle, Muriel places her soft, gentle hand on my arm.

“May I?” she asks and gestures to the door. I look to my father, who shrugs.

“Okay,” I tell her and watch as she opens the door and pulls it closed behind her.

I turn to my father. “Why does she call you Uno?”

The genuine smile that reaches his eyes is a rare sight on him. I see in his eyes that he’s remembering his time with her.

“She calls me Uno because there’s only one of me. She went through all languages but settled on Uno. Everyone, not just her, has called me that since.”

I smile but it’s fleeting, as the sadness of the past weeks washes over me. “How could I not know this about you?”

His heavy cold hand comes down on my shoulder. “Because I’m Father or Dad to you.”

I nod, turning my eyes back to the window to watch Simone lie on the hammock, while Muriel wanders around the greenery.

The sky isn’t giving me the relief I need. I still feel the weight of my grief dragging me further into a state of hurt I never knew was possible. My birth mother catches my eye. I watch her as she walks around the yard. She brushes her hand along the flowers that border the beautiful green lawn; the flowers respond to her. It’s like they bloom even more. Smiling, happy that she’s here. The grass seems greener and she seems content to be near nature.

“I want to help heal your heart, Simone, but I know how much your emotions have been compromised.”

I sit up as she speaks and look at her. She really is breath-taking. Her blue eyes gaze at me with love.