Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) (13 page)

             
“Any idea what?” Caden asked.

             
“I’ve never sensed this type of energy before. I can’t say for certain what it is, but I can tell you it’s strong. Once you change you’re going to be a force.”

             
“Are you sure she will? There have been cases where the energy was there but never materialized. Plus she’s a female. It’s unheard of.”

             
“As far as this happening with a female, it’s a complete anomaly. But, I can’t imagine at the levels she is throwing off that it’s possible for it to stay latent. T’s practically bursting out of her.”

             
“Dave can barely sense the energy, but I feel it more intensely than any other Drauth I’ve ever met.”

             
“Dave’s stubborn. He only sees what he wants. Been like that since a child. She’s different. Definitely different, but potent.”

             
“Carl wants her bad,” Caden said.

             
“Which means the others do too, I’m sure.”

             
I knew they wanted me, but hearing it just gave me goose bumps all up and down my body. I tried not to shiver but it was hard to hold back.

             
Charles looked me dead in the eye and spoke solemnly. “You should be scared. Whatever you think of us, you must have already realized that we aren’t all bad, but Carl and his kind, they’re ruthless. They’ll take whatever they can from you and leave just a shell of a person behind. Carl wasn’t always like this.” He shook his head as if he were discussing some normal kid that had gone wrong. “It is what it is. He likes who he is now, and he has a legion of others who like it too. He’s dangerous. And he’s not even the worst.”

             
“There’s worse?” I said and looked accusingly at Caden.

             
“I didn’t think it would serve any purpose telling you,” Caden replied.

             
“There was a man that came to my room last night. He healed my ribs,” I asked Charlie.

             
“What did he look like?” he asked.

             
I explained every detail as best I could to him, and I didn’t like his facial expression as I did.

             
“You’re different in a way that I don’t understand. Demons like different. They might want to play with you. Just because they heal you today, that doesn’t mean anything. They can be very fickle creatures, and they don’t respect human life.”

             
Charlie paused and I could see a look pass between him and Caden.

             
“No, I don’t think I know him,” Charlie said but I didn’t believe him. He had a guess and Caden had shut him up. I knew it in my gut.

             
He went from deathly serious to laughing in a heartbeat. “Thank god I’m too old for this shit now. It’s a bit liberating to know you’ve lived a full life and you just don’t give a shit anymore!” He punctuated this with another hearty laugh as he lit up a fat cigar.
             

             
“Margie lets you smoke in the house?”

             
“Course not, I’ll hear an earful from her as soon as she catches a whiff.”

             
“Charles I need a favor from you.”

             
“I know. You don’t have to ask. I’ll try to put an ear to the ground and see if I hear any of the rumblings. It was just a matter of time before this exploded though, Lexie or not. I’ll try to find out where the lines are being drawn. Some of them are Carl fans. They’ll want her with them. It strengthens them. He’s burned some bridges over the years with some of the further removed, but it’s hard to say who they will stand with them if they get involved. I know many of the old timers like me are tired of fighting. It jeopardizes everyone. We only want peace.”

             
“I’ve tried to keep the peace for so long but I’m getting awfully tired of trying. I’ve often wonder why I’m bothering anymore. They’re out of control,” Caden said.

             
“Charles! Are you smoking in there? I can smell it!” an older woman’s voice was yelling from the other room.

             
“I told her the den is mine. She gets the whole rest of the house, it’s only fair. Doesn’t matter, she’ll be so happy to see you that she won’t be able to stay mad. Come on, you guys have to stay for lunch now. You’re the only thing standing between me and an afternoon of scolding.”

When were driving home from there, several hours later, I was still stuck on what Caden had stopped him from saying.

             
“What are you keeping from me?” I confronted him.

             
“Nothing.”

             
“I don’t believe you.”

             
“At least we are keeping to form,” he replied.

             
He reached forward toward the radio and started blasting “Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance, clearly indicating the end of the conversation.

Chapter Fifteen

             
It was several days later when I decided I couldn’t drag my feet a moment longer,  I’d have to get my dreaded phone calls over with. Caden had insisted I take it easy, making sure my ribs were okay. I hadn’t talked to anyone, and I knew they must be starting to wonder where I was. Sitting around gave me nothing but time to dwell upon exactly what I didn’t want to tell them. I hated lying to my family, but I wasn’t going to tell them what was going on. I couldn’t. The more I thought about it, the more I was afraid to tell even my friends. I wasn’t sure what Amanda would repeat to her husband Mark, who might repeat something to Carl. I couldn’t be sure Gilly wouldn’t say anything to Amanda. After thinking about how any information could circulate, I decided just to make a quick call to my family. I’d wait on everybody else.

             
“Hi Ted.” I tried to infuse as much cheerfulness in my voice as I could muster up when my brother answered the phone. I probably should have practiced the voice as I did with my boss. Correction, my old boss, I thought with another pang of sadness hitting me square in the gut.

             
“Hey Lex! Where’ve you been?”

             
The excitement in his voice at hearing from me was heartbreaking.

             
“I’m sorry I haven’t called.”

             
“I was getting worried. Your phone’s going right to voice mail and your work voicemail’s full. What’s going on? Are you okay?”

             
I was struggling to get any words out past the constriction in my throat. Hearing his voice made this real again. I realized, right then and there, I had started to almost float through this in a sort of denial stage. I’d taken it all in, and then filed it away to cope with later. Talking to Ted brought home the reality that my life had been turned upside down, and maybe there wouldn’t be a later.

             
“Yes, I’m fine,” I finally managed to squeak out, hoping he couldn’t hear the tears in my voice. “I’ve just got a touch of the flu. How’s everything there going? How are the kids?” It worked as he started to ramble on about what was going on about Timmy’s hockey game and Sharon’s boss giving her grief. I let him talk on until some minor emergency or another seemed to pop up as it always did there. This time, the kids had let go of their dog, and it had chased the neighbor’s cat up a tree. I told him to say hi to Sharon for me and to let Mom and Dad know I was okay, just busy, and I hung up the phone.

             
I couldn’t face my parents right now. How could I tell them that their daughter was a monster, or at bare minimum, a freak? That my mother had unknowingly, at least I hoped, had sex with a demon? They had been wonderful parents.

             
And my mother, had she known? There were too many questions and too much raw emotion. I wasn’t ready to open up that can of worms yet. Maybe jumping from the frying pan into the fire might be a better-suited metaphor to my new position in life.

             
I felt a strong surge of self-pity approaching, and I looked around to make sure I was alone before I let it swallow me whole. Caden and his “you need to toughen up,” lectures made me want to kick him in his Drauth mouth. I found the most melancholy movie I could find on TV, which happened to be “Terms of Endearment”, and tried to drown myself in wallowing, to the fullest extent I could. I cried at the end of this movie on a good day. This time might be a real whopper.

             
Lying in the dimmed lights with my sad sack feelings and my sad sack movie, I wasn’t even in the slightest mood to deal with perpetual optimist Mike when he walked over and was standing at the end of the couch, looking down, shaking his head at me.

             
“How are your ribs?” he asked.

             
“Healed,” I replied in my most monotone, don’t give me shit, depressed voice.

             
“What are you doing?”

             
Looks like he wasn’t taking the hint. “What does it look like? I’m embracing my emotional pain Mike. Now move, you’re blocking the screen. They’re just about to tell her she’s dying. I can’t miss this part. It’s the crescendo of my day.” I tried leaning to look around him. The jerk moved with me.

             
“Lex, you need embrace the brighter points of this.
Sometimes life has a way of shedding the frivolities from your soul. That doesn’t mean you give up. It’s what makes you who you are.
”

             
“Mike, I don’t like who I am. I’m at least part demon. You do realize we are considered pariahs in the normal day to day way of life, right?” I looked back at him raising my eyebrows, wondering if he was completely comprehending the situation.

             
“You’re a beautiful woman, and now you’ll stay that way for a really long time. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

             
“Yes, I’m sure my new boyfriend will have no issue with the fact that part of my family tree might have horns.”

             
He scrunched up his face as if how could I think that.
             

             
“Nobody has horns! That’s so old school. Now come on, we are going to go work out. That’s going to make you feel a hundred percent better.” He reached a hand out to me, trying to urge me into an upward position.

             
“Absolutely not, I’m sitting here wallowing. At least until Caden shows his face. Then I’ll be going in there and wallowing.” I pointed down the hall to indicate my bedroom.

             
“Nope, you’re getting up.”

             
“No, I’m not,” I started to say, but I didn’t have a choice anymore, he was pulling me to my feet. “I don’t want to be healthy….I want to wallow. Why won’t you let me wallow?”

             
All I got was one of his biggest smiles as he tugged me toward the elevator.

             
“Can’t I at least change?”

             
At that he laughed. I guess he was right. What was I going to do anyway, change my wallowing sweatpants attire, for different, I’m being healthy sweatpants attire?

             
We made it to the stock room level and passed Joey on our way to the stairs.

             
I could see on his face what his thoughts were before I even heard him.

             
“Yeah, you don’t look so good Lex,” Joey said as we continued past him.

             
Mike held up his hand in all seriousness and informed Joey that he had it completely under control.

             
Making it up to the third floor of the building, we came to a bright open area. It was all windows and light shining into every corner.

             
“Why aren’t the apartments upstairs? This is so nice.” Just the late afternoon sunshine was lifting my spirits, although I would chew and swallow my own tongue before I would admit it.

             
“After you start to change there is this weird compulsion to be underground. Cliché, I know.”

             
It wasn’t what I had expected. It looked like a boxer’s gym. No big weight machines like you would think when you looked at these guys. It was just mats and punching dummies.

             
“Caden said you wanted to learn to fight.”