Soul Thief (10 page)

THE FLOOR APPEARED AGAIN,
but this time the dark brown tiles of classroom 217 were replaced by greyish, checkered tiles. Bile rose up in my throat. “Am I ever going to get used to this?” I asked, between deep, sharp breaths.

“Eventually,” Leander replied. He nodded at the scene in front of us.

An old man was lying in a hospital bed, his chest connected to a dozen different machines. He looked exhausted, his face pale as a corpse, with dark circles under his eyes making him look like a raccoon.

“Can he hear us?”

Leander shook his head. “We're invisible and we can't be heard either. We're here, but we're not really here. We're on a different plane. Once his soul escapes from his body he'll be able to see us.”

“How much longer is that going to take?” The man's chest moved up and down slowly, and he peeped and squeaked as if every breath took him a Herculean effort.

“Not much longer, I reckon. Some people keep on fighting for a long time though, and then we play the waiting game. But this one won't last for another fifteen minutes.”

“Poor guy. He looks like he's in real pain.”

“He is. They've got him on numerous sedatives.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“I studied medicine in the 1980s… and it's on his file here,” Leander said, pointing at a piece of paper hanging on the front of the bed.

“Why isn't anyone else here? They must know he's dying.”

“He doesn't have any family left.”

Now I felt even sorrier for the guy. He looked as old as time itself and his entire face was distorted from pain.

I was about to ask Leander if we couldn't do something for him when the old man groaned loudly. He opened up his eyes, stared right at me, and then fell down again, eyes closed forever. I didn't need to be an Angel of Death to know he died. The beeping signal of one of the machines was proof enough.

Seconds later, an army of doctors and nurses marched into the room. Leander pulled me to the side but they ignored us, which I guess was normal since we were invisible.

“Can they hear us?” I whispered.

“No.”

“What if they bump into us?”

“They'll walk right through us,” Leander replied. “But you'll feel drained, cold to the bone. Colder than you've ever felt before. So best we don't let that happen.”

“Agreed.”

We gazed at the deceased man, whose soul, a spectral, see-through replica of himself, lingered in front of his body. He frowned and shook his head as if he could barely believe what was happening. Then he noticed us. He vanished and reappeared in front of my nose in a matter of seconds.

I cried out and rushed backward. Leander stepped forward instead, taking the lead.

“We're here to take you to the afterlife.”

“Light…” the man mumbled. “There's light all around you. Are you angels?”

“We are,” Leander said. “Take my hand. We'll go to a better place.”

For the first time, the man smiled. He looked years younger. “I don't feel any pain.”

“This is dead. There is no pain here,” Leander said.

“What waits for me in the afterlife?”

“Only you can know that. The people you love will be waiting there for you, that's for sure.”

“My wife?” The man's face lit up like a candle. “My son?”

“Everyone who passed away will be there.”

“Take me!” he yelled out. “Sorry, guess that was a little overexcited.” He took my hand and Leander's. Leander held out his other hand for me to take so we formed a full circle.

Nerves tickled my stomach. We teleported again, but I managed to keep the nausea down this time by sheer willpower.

We arrived in a place I'd never been before. The place was bathed in light. Clouds appeared under our feet, and in front of us stood a tall, wrought-iron, golden gate.

“There is your afterlife,” Leander said to the old man, “through that gate.”

“You're not coming?” the man asked.

“Here is where the journey ends for us.”

“Well, thanks,” the old man said. “Oh, dear Lord, that's my wife, Ingrid…” He rushed forward, and with each step he took he became faster and younger, as if the years vanished the closer he got to that gate.

He opened up the gate, stepped through and waved at us one last time before leaving in a bright, golden light that almost blinded me.

I turned away from the light, my eyes prickling. When I touched my face, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks.

“It was so beautiful,” I whispered. “Is it always like this?”

“Yes. Sometimes they need a bit more convincing though. But afterlife is different for everyone. We all get to see our family again, but based on which religion someone has it can look a little different. We each get the afterlife we believe in.”

“So if you believe in reincarnation, you're reincarnated?”

“Everyone has a chance to get reincarnated. This isn't the first time I've seen that guy either. But it's a choice everyone has to make for themselves. Live happily forever after in your afterlife or go back and give life another chance.”

“So Buddhist Heaven looks different from Christian Heaven?” I asked.

“Everyone's personal Heaven looks different. It's not just a matter of general religion, but of what you're longing for.”

“Have you ever been behind the gate?”

“No. There's only one way to go through that gate, Riley, and that's when you're dead.”

But in a place like this, filled with so much light and joy, even the promise of dead didn't sound threatening.

A feverish feeling crawled into my bones and I yawned. It seemed like days since I'd last slept.

“Come on, I'll take you back.”

“Okay.” I was kind of sad to leave but at the same time, the more time I spent here the more tired I felt.

Leander took me back to his house and I collapsed onto the couch. “I need to get a quick nap,” I said, curling up my legs.

“I shouldn't have taken you there.” Leander sounded mad.

I pinched open one eye. “Why?”

“Because it drained you. After setting up the mental wall and now this, you're so drained you could get sick. And it gets messed up when angels get sick.”

“You said we never get sick.”

“Not unless our powers are drained. Every teleportation trip takes a bit of your powers. Every time we worked on your mental barrier it took some power. I just forgot that you're only a Halfling. You get drained faster than the rest of us.”

“The old man seemed fine.” I yawned again and twisted my arms until they formed a pillow. “I just need to get a quick nap and I'll be up and kicking.”

”It's not that draining for them. They're just going along for the ride — we're the ones using our energy to bring them to the Gate.” He paused and sighed. “I should've waited until tomorrow. Riley, I'm sorry.”

I waved his concern away. “Don't be. Could you get me a blanket?”

“You can't go to sleep right now. You'll stay asleep for hours. We need to get you home.”

“Pft,” I groaned. Then I closed my eyes and took a trip to dreamland.

* * *

I woke up in complete darkness, and more importantly, in my own bed. I groaned and propped myself up on my elbows. My muscles hurt as if I'd run a marathon. My stomach groaned from hunger.

I reached for the nightlight and almost screamed when it revealed a figure lingering in the corner.

“What the hell, Leander?” I whispered. “Didn't I talk to you about this whole privacy thing before?”

He breathed out. “I was scared you wouldn't wake up again. You've been out for eight hours already.”

“It's called sleep.” I grunted and ruffled a hand through my hair. “What are you doing here?”

“How much do you remember?”

I frowned. “We went to the afterlife gate with that old man… then I collapsed on your couch. And now I'm here. And I'm wearing pajamas.”

A sickening thought crawled into my stomach. “Did you… did you…”

“No,” Leander reassured me. “All I did was bring you home.”

“Right, I find that almost impossible to believe,” I snapped.

“I told your parents you had a nervous breakdown in therapy and that you were given some sedatives.” He grimaced. “You'll probably get a cuddle treatment tomorrow morning.”

“All right, I'll bite. But why are you still here?”

“Because I wasn't sure you'd wake up. I messed up. I had no idea your powers would be drained that quickly, and to be drained completely is dangerous for regular Angels of Death, and about ten times as dangerous for Halflings. I'm so sorry.”

“Don't be. I'm all right. I'm more worried about you being here than anything else. What if my parents come in?”

“I can vanish in the blink of an eye.”

“They'll think I'm talking to myself.” I rolled my eyes. “Guess that just goes with what they already believe about me.”

“There's one good thing about this too, you know. At least now you've seen how soul collecting works. Not as bad as it sounds, eh?” He sat down on the edge of my bed and I became terribly aware of the flimsy pajamas I was wearing and the short distance between us.

“No. Can you please go now? I'm not comfortable with you here.”

“Oh, sorry, I…”

I grabbed his arm. “No, I'm sorry. I'm acting like a bitch. You were just worried, but it's just… I've never had a guy in my room before and it feels weird.”

“I see.” He stayed quiet for a minute. “I'm glad you're all right. The longer you were out, the more I began to worry you might never wake up. You wouldn't be the only Angel who died that way.”

“If my powers are drained by doing so little, doesn't that mean I'm like the worst Angel ever?” I asked.

“Well, they certainly drained rather fast. But the more powerful you become, the less power it'll take to do that and the larger your reserves will be.”

“Let's just keep it to one lesson per day in the future, okay?”

“Sure thing.” Leander smiled at me. He took a strand of my hair and tucked it behind my ear.

“Oh, damn,” I cursed. “I have a Spanish test tomorrow. An F is just what I need.”

“You won't get an F. Just this once, we're going to cheat a little. How about during the test, you mentally ask me all the questions and I'll give you the responses?”

“I didn't think Angels were allowed to cheat.”

“We're Angels, not saints,” Leander joked. “Besides, you deserve a break after all this.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him. “You're a great friend.”

“I'm the best. You'll learn that in time. I'll get going now.” He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on my forehead. “Goodnight, Riley.”

THE NEXT MORNING,
my
parents acted like I was a basket case. Mom had made my favorite breakfast, pancakes. They acted all chipper toward me but shot each other worried glances behind my back, probably thinking I was so out of it that I wouldn't notice.

“I'm fine,” I said as I sat down at the table. “Yesterday, I finally remembered everything that happened at the accident and it shook me up. I watched something terrible happen to a little boy.” I let what happened linger in the middle as I looked at my parents, not wanting to say it out loud in front of Cass. “It was too much to take in all at once, so my therapist gave me some pills to relax. I'm fine now, I can handle it, but it was just too much all at once.”

At least there was a core of truth in there. I still felt bad lying to my parents.

“How long have you been seeing a therapist?” Mom asked. “We didn't know.”

“The school suggested it. It's been helpful though.”

“That's all that matters, honey,” Dad said. He put his hand on mine and squeezed it. “You could've told us though.”

“I didn't want to worry you.”

“We always worry, that's our job,” Mom said. “But I'm glad you're feeling better.” She looked at Dad when she spoke, and even though her eyes still looked worried, she managed to smile at me.

I ate three times my regular portion of pancakes as if I hadn't eaten in weeks. Even then, my stomach still grumbled and insisted I eat more.

Dad started reading the newspaper. He browsed through the pages, occasionally reading headlines out loud or commenting on an article, as he always did, saying things like, “The weatherman was wrong again,” or, “A car bumped into another car at the mall parking lot,” or “Who writes this stuff?” Right after another one of those comments, he paused, frowned and read in silence.

Mom dumped another load of pancakes in front of me. “What's wrong?” she asked Dad.

“Another girl died in town. Emily Green. Do you know her? The name means nothing to me. Does she go to your school, Riley?”

“Nope,” I shook my head, secretly glad I didn't know her. Poor girl.

“She already had some heart problems though. She had several surgeries before, but they thought she was fine.”

“That poor girl,” Mom said. “Maybe we should send them a card with our condolences even though we don't know her parents. If they're from town…”

“Riles,” Cass interrupted the conversation by pulling my sleeve. “Will you go with me to Gran's tonight? We're making Halloween stuff.”

“Did Gran put you up to this?” I asked.

She pursed her lips. “Don't you want to see Gran Herbie?”

“Fine.” I sighed. “I'll come along, but I have tons of homework so we're not staying long.”

Cass smiled and threw her tiny arms around my neck. “I love you, Riles,” she said.

* * *

At lunch, I ate like a pig again until I felt like I could explode, which was not a great idea since we had gym class afterward. I wasn't too fond of gym, but I didn't hate it like Michelle did. As we walked to gym class, Katie was thrilled that school would be over soon because she had another date with the mystery guy that night, and Michelle nagged like an eighty-year-old because she didn't want to work out.

“You wouldn't complain that much if you worked out a little,” Katie told Michelle. “Why don't you join Craig and me on our runs?”

“Since when do you two run?” I asked them. “And why didn't you invite me?”

“No offense, Riles, but you're as thin as a stick. We were afraid if you started working out, you'd disappear altogether,” Craig said.

“Very funny.”

“I'd rather go to Hell and back than work out,” Michelle said. “I don't even get why gym class is mandatory.”

“It's only two periods. You'll survive,” I told her as I pushed open the door to the girls' locker room.

“See you in five,” Craig said as he walked on. Gym was his favorite class of the week for an entirely different reason — the guys' locker room.

I changed into my ill-fitting gym shorts and t-shirt. “I wish we didn't look so ridiculous wearing this, though.”

“I think we look great,” Katie said as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. “I hope we get to play volleyball.”

We did get volleyball, as it turned out five minutes later. Katie raised her arms in victory and her enthusiasm earned her the title of team captain. She winked at me and I relaxed, knowing that for once, I'd get chosen first. I wasn't that good at sports, but Katie being captain was even better for Michelle, who always got chosen last.

Katie picked me first and in the second round she picked Craig. “Come on, pick Michelle,” I whispered to her.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I was already planning to, no need to nag. But Craig is good and I wanted to pick him before the other team could.”

Michelle walked over to our team after Katie shouted her name. She didn't look any happier than before. “I spontaneously get stomach cramps every time I'm in gym,” she said.

Katie rolled her eyes. After we made two teams, we took our places on the court. I stood in back and Katie in front. We positioned Michelle in the middle.

The game started, and for a while the teams were each other's equal. I was amazed by how easily I flew across the field. I didn't even break a sweat after I ran back and forth a few times. My physical condition had clearly improved since I got my powers.

The other team hit a ball my way and I hit it back as hard as I could. I didn't even think about it, I just slammed the ball.

Time slowed down. The ball shot through the air like a cannonball. It flew across the heads of the other team, straight into the wall on the other side of the large gym. If that wall hadn't been there it would've kept going. The ball collapsed against the wall and fell down with a whooshing sound.

“Damn, girl!” Craig said, “Since when do you hit so hard?”

The gym teacher, Mr. Reilly, ran across the room to get the ball. He lifted up a deflated ball that looked like an elephant had stepped on it. “Looks like Miss Scott ruined our volleyball.” He didn't sound mad though and he went into the practice locker to get another ball right away.

A red flush appeared on my cheeks. Every one of my class members stared at me. “You're not taking any drugs, are you?” Michelle asked me.

“What? Of course not.”

“All right, just asking. That was insane.”

“The ball probably had a leak already,” I said. “No biggie. Can we focus on something else now? The game, for instance?”

The coach reappeared with a new volleyball. He threw it to the other team and we started playing again.

Although I still ran faster than I did a month ago, I was careful not to run too fast or hit too hard. But then the ball came straight at me. Reflexes kicked in, I twisted and then hit the ball back.

“Phew, impressive!” Craig said.

Michelle frowned. She stared at me intently as if she was looking for something, a secret maybe.

I kept my expression neutral. “Lucky shot.”

But my comfort zone had been torn down and I was afraid to move. When the bell rang about fifteen minutes later, relief flooded over me like a tsunami.

We all left the field and headed toward the locker rooms. “Well played,” Craig said, slapping me on the back. “Never thought you had it in you.”

“I'm not a total klutz, you know. But thanks,” I said.

“What are you doing after school?” Katie asked when she joined us. “I was thinking victory drinks at the Shack before I go on my date.”

“I wish I could,” I told her, “but I promised Cassie I'd go with her to Gran's.”

“What's going on with you?” Michelle demanded as she came in a few steps behind Katie. Her forehead glistened with sweat.

“What do you mean?” Katie put her hands on her hips.

“I don't mean you, idiot. I mean her,” Michelle pointed at me. “You're different.”

“Hey, don't be mean,” Katie said, rushing to my defense.

“Will you look at her? She's not even sweating a little. Even you, little Miss Perfect, have sweat dripping down your shirt.”

Katie stared down her shirt and then looked at me.

“I have good deodorant,” I said.

“There.” Katie shrugged. “Good deodorant. Why do you always have to make a fuss about everything, Mich? So not cool.”

Michelle snorted. She walked passed me and took her t-shirt off. “Guess it's all in my mind then.”

“Darn right it is,” Katie said.

I smiled and changed my clothes as well. As I pulled my regular shirt over my head, I wondered how much longer I was going to be able to keep up pretenses.