Soul Protector (7 page)

I decided to take the coward’s
way and ring Arthur instead. He could pass on the message and save
me the grief of speaking to Camille.

He picked up after two
rings.

“Y’ello.”

“Hi, Arthur, it’s me.”

“Gracie, my dear, how the devil
are you? I hear you have a ridiculously high temperature, you poor
thing.”

“Oh... yeah, I have. Who told
you?”

“Some gentleman rang in first
thing. I’m not sure who it was, he spoke to Camille. She was quite
concerned initially.”

It must have been Dan
.
Well if he made Camille show concern, he was even more amazing.

“Great, well, I’m just checking
she got the message. You sure she’s not on the warpath?”

“You know Camille, love. She
was concerned at first, but now that she actually has to do some
work, the novelty has worn off. I had to stop her from calling you
a few minutes ago to see if you were able to come in yet. Don’t you
worry about her though, just get yourself right.”

I thanked Arthur and hung up. I
was bewildered as to how Dan knew where I worked. He really had
taken care of everything. As I thought about him, I heaved a sigh.
I needed to occupy my mind, or I was going to wallow in self-pity
again.

I fought hard to motivate
myself to tackle the housework instead. I pulled the sheets off my
bed, and chucked them in the washing machine. I pressed the ‘on’
button and it felt good to achieve something. My mood lifted a tiny
bit.

I wandered into the bathroom,
and started to pull on my marigolds, ready to tackle the lovely job
of toilet cleaning. But as I grabbed the brush and bent over the
cistern, I felt wobbly and light-headed again. Wiped out after one
small job, it was pathetic. I snapped off my gloves in disgust, and
flopped back down on the sofa, exhausted.

As soon as I was idle, thoughts
of Dan popped back into my head. It was hard to explain why I’d
felt such a strong bond to him and I was gutted at the thought of
never seeing him again.

Instead I forced myself to
think of Mike. And looking at him with fresh eyes, he didn’t look
so good. In fact, for the first time I saw him for the complete
jerk he really was. Compared to Dan, he seemed immature and
pathetic and I couldn’t believe I’d wasted the last three months
moping around and missing him.

It was a shame I couldn’t enjoy
the feeling. I might have realised I was finally over Mike, but all
I could focus on was that fact I’d let Dan slip through my fingers.
I closed my eyes and thankfully drifted into slumber yet again.

~

The ringtone of my mobile
interrupted the dream I’d been having. Actually it was more like a
nightmare. It involved me standing with a group of people, all
side-by side to form a circle. We were facing outwards to another
group of people standing around us in a slightly larger circle.

Some strange folk song struck
up in the background, and we had to dance with our partner in the
opposite circle by linking our left arm through their left arm, and
then spin each other round before linking arms with the next person
in the smaller circle, and so on.

As mysterious hands grabbed me
to spin me round, I kept finding myself switched into their body.
I’d glance around frantically looking for my own body to switch
back into, but ‘Gracie’ was getting further and further away, lost
in the crowds of dancing people. All of the spinning was making me
feel dizzy. Fighting panic, I’d manage to steady myself and spot
‘Gracie’ again, but before I could make my way over, someone else
would grab my arm, and I’d switch again.

My eyes flickered open and I
checked my watch. Six-thirty. I’d been asleep for hours. I seemed
to be doing a lot of unplanned snoozing since I’d discovered
body-switching.

Feeling groggy, I picked up my
phone and pressed ‘answer.’

“Hello,” I croaked.

“Hi, it’s me, Kerry. Sorry hun,
I’ve woken you up haven’t I?”

I could hardly hear her against
the loud music playing in her salon.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t be
snoozing anyway.”

“I just wanted to check you’re
alright.” She shouted down the phone.

“Well, I…”

“I phoned you at work earlier
and Arthur answered. He said you were off sick.”

“Yeah, I…”

“He said you sounded really
rough, and you’ve had a high temperature. Apparently...”

“Kerry...”

“Yes?”

“…can you at least let me get
more than two words in?”

“Oops, sorry, yes you tell
me.”

“I just…,” I struggled in my
mind to grasp the right words, but what could I say? I didn’t want
to lie, but I could hardly tell her what had really happened.
“Well, it sounds like Arthur already said it all. I’m feeling
better now though,” I finished hastily.

“Oh, that’s good
.
By the
way, Arthur mentioned it was a
man
who called in for you
this morning.”

This time she left a pause and
when I didn’t fill it, she urged me on.

“So come on, Gracie, who was
it, you dark horse?”

I sucked in a deep breath. I
had no idea how to answer her. I was bursting to tell her about Dan
- I knew if I did, I would probably feel better about everything.
But where would I start? The switch with Lydia, the kidnap, nearly
dying when I switched back? It was all off-limits.

“Well, are you going to tell
me, or am I going to have to drag it out of you?” she persisted.
She sounded like she was going to spontaneously combust if I didn’t
tell her something in the next five seconds.

“Erm, it must have been Mum’s
boyfriend, Terry,” I bluffed. “Mum was going to ring in for me, so
she must have asked him to do it instead.” I had my fingers firmly
crossed behind my back.

“Oh, Terry, right. I didn’t
think about him.” I could hear the enthusiasm dying from her voice,
“I just thought… well, you know what I thought. Listen, I’ve got to
go, Mrs Atkins’ dye needs rinsing out. You know where I am if you
need me though. You take care, okay?”

“I will. Thanks, Kerry.” I
sighed. I’d never kept secrets from her before. Even the details of
my early childhood had been picked over and dissected between us.
We told each other everything and now I needed her more than
ever.

“No problem, I’ll be in touch
soon,” she said.

With a heavy heart, I ended the
call and plugged my phone in to charge. Then I plodded through to
the living room, flopped down on the sofa and hung my legs over the
arm. This Soul Protector business was complicated. It was such a
huge, life-changing thing.

I was relieved to find out I
wasn’t going mad, and that there were others like me, but after
explaining the basics, I couldn’t believe Dan had just gone and
left me dangling. This was the wildest thing to ever happen to me
and I had nobody in the world I could discuss it with. And because
the whole stupid thing was steeped in secrecy, I’d upset Lydia, and
now I’d lied to Kerry. They were my two best friends and I wasn’t
happy about shutting them out.

I sighed and shifted my
position on the sofa, trying to get more comfortable. My head felt
fine now, I just had no energy. I closed my eyes and tried to
relax.

It was a struggle to push the
guilty feelings out of my mind. I’d known Kerry and Lydia since
Miss Ashcroft’s class in year four when I’d had to join Brinton
Primary halfway through the winter term. I’d been a shy and nervous
nine-year old, reeling from the trauma of recent events.

I can still picture that first
day, standing at the front of the class like a rabbit caught in the
headlights as Miss Ashcroft introduced me to everyone. I’d cringed
inside as she’d asked who would like to be my friend and I’d hardly
dared to look up, as I prayed someone,
anyone
, would
volunteer. I was relieved to see several girls holding their arm up
and was immediately drawn to Kerry.

She had long dark curly hair
pulled into bunches, and dimples in her cheeks which were growing
deeper as she smiled. Fingers flapping, her hand was raised as high
as she could stretch it. She was practically standing up to gain
inches on her classmates. I smiled shyly at her as Miss Ashcroft
ushered me over to sit at her table. From that day on she acted as
my chaperone. She was very protective of me and in the early days I
was grateful, and although I was big enough to fight my own battles
now, I knew I could still count on her. I could never see a time
when Kerry and I wouldn’t be friends.

It had been Kerry who
introduced me to Lydia. She was a completely different kettle of
fish. The coolest girl in school, everyone wanted to be like her.
Tall and beautiful, she seemed to wander through life effortlessly,
taking for granted the hero worship she got from most of the other
pupils.

The intercom buzzed and
interrupted my trip down memory lane. I did a lazy stretch, stood
up and made my way over. I couldn’t help feeling irritated that
someone was disturbing me when I just wanted to be left alone to
wallow in self pity.

I pressed the switch down. “Hi,
who is it?” I asked, my voice a drab monotone

“Hi, Gracie, it’s Dan. Is it
convenient to come up?”

Oh. My. God.

“Dan, hi,” I said, forcing my
voice to sound natural. “Erm, yes, come on up.”

Why hadn’t I put any make-up
on? I released the intercom switch and practically ran to the
bathroom. I fumbled around in my make up bag and found what I was
looking for. I swept a mascara wand across my lashes and hastily
blobbed on some lip gloss, before I heard the knock at the door. I
did one last check in the mirror, flicked my hair forward over my
ears and tried to ignore the fact it was frizzing up and not the
glossy locks I would have tried to create if I’d known he was
coming back.

I strode back across the living
room in record time, and paused by the door forcing myself to take
a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. I plastered on what I
hoped was a casual smile, opened the door and there he was.

As I took a good look at his
face, he literally took my breath away. Of course I hadn’t
forgotten he was a looker, but now that I wasn’t so petrified or
gravely ill, I saw him with fresh clarity. He was easily the most
handsome guy I’d ever laid eyes on.

Being so close to him made me
feel clumsy and awkward. His outfit wasn’t helping either. He was
dressed in black combats and a black t-shirt covered by what looked
like a stab vest, with a small backpack slung over his shoulder. It
was incredibly sexy. I felt like someone had granted my wish and
made all my fantasies come true at once.

“Good, you’re looking much
better,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling as he smiled. He reached
out to put a hand on my forehead, obviously to check my
temperature, and I’m sure he sent it escalating another ten
degrees. I was glad he didn’t have a stethoscope to hand, or he
would have known something was up.

“Will I live doctor?”I asked,
trying to hide my fluster.

“I should think so,” he said,
grinning. “Can I come in?”

“Oh, yes of course.”

I looked up at him and noticed
how his bluey-black hair was forming soft, spiky peaks. It looked
silky to the touch and I imagined running my fingers through it. My
heart was thumping so loud I was sure Dan must be able to hear it
too.

There was a bit of an awkward
moment, as I realised me standing there gawping at him was blocking
the entrance. I snapped out of my stupor and stepped aside so he
could actually come in. He had to duck his head so as not to hit
the doorframe as he entered.

Once he was inside I shut the
door, and the whole flat instantly felt smaller with him in it.

“Listen, I had to come back,”
he said, “I need to sort out a time to take you to the Office and
get you registered.”

“Registered? What office?”

“Soul Protector HQ,” he said in
a dramatic voice, and then chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s just a
formality. If any other SP turns corrupt in this area, it’ll help
to eliminate you from the investigation. I hope you don’t mind,
Gracie.”

I got a small thrill every time
he said my name.

“Err yeah, no problem. I’m not
switching again anyway, so it won’t be me causing trouble.” Right
then I was just so happy to see him again, I would have agreed to
anything.

As Dan listened to my answer, I
was surprised to see his brow creasing. He checked himself and his
face softened again.

“I’m glad you’re okay now. You
had me worried last night. I wanted to stay with you longer, but I
got called on a shout and I knew you were out of danger by
then.”

“A what?”

“A shout, you know a rapid
response job.”

“Ooh, that sounds
exciting.”

I had hoped for more details,
but he just smiled his lovely smile.

“Can I get you a coffee?” I
asked, remembering my manners.

“I’d love one, but I’ll make
it, you go and sit down. You need to rest.”

Blimey, he was chivalrous and
dominant, my favourite combination.

I did as I was told, and sat
down on the sofa while Dan wandered through to the kitchen. He
obviously knew his way round the flat now, not that it was that
difficult to find your way round the four tiny rooms.

I was on such a high I found it
impossible to sit still.
He came back,
I grinned to myself,
listening to him opening and shutting cupboard doors. So much for
needing a rest, all the energy which had left me earlier was back
tenfold.

I heard the kettle boil and a
short while later Dan appeared at my side holding two chipped mugs
of steaming coffee. He had taken off his stab vest, and I could see
his muscles outlined underneath his t-shirt and imagined running my
hands over the material. I blushed at the thought, hoping Dan
couldn’t read my mind. The effect he had on me was unnerving.