The Soulkeepers (32 page)

"Why is she like this?" he demanded.

"People don't end up in Nod unless they've
done something to invite evil into their lives. In the beginning,
it was Eve's pride that invited the snake to the garden. It was the
blood of Abel that brought the Watchers to the sons and daughters
of Cain. And it was your dishonesty, your lie to me and your
treatment of Malini that brought you here." Dr. Silva's eyes cut
through him and Jacob stared at the floor. He knew exactly what she
spoke of, and he wasn't proud of it.

"Your mother, too, invited evil. When people
come here, at first they fight, but after awhile the illusion of
this place overruns their soul. They begin to believe that they are
no better than their worst sin. Their guilt makes them believe they
belong here, and so they give up. Your mom has given up. She is
empty because she has no hope."

"How do we bring her back?"

"It is not within our power to do so. Only
she can decide to forgive herself. As we get her away from here,
her thoughts will become clearer. After that, it's up to her."

The conversation ended as the train came to
an abrupt and unexpected halt. Malini quickly covered Lilly with
her wing and turned her body sideways. In this position she
appeared to be drunk or sleeping, holding her stomach. Jacob,
however, was hopelessly exposed and met Dr. Silva's eyes with
trepidation. Thinking fast, he fell to his knees in front of her
and began polishing her shoe with the hem of his rag.

His back exploded with pain as the last to
board, a huge Watcher in the image of the African man with bright
purple wings, kicked him squarely in the back.

"Use your tongue maggot," the Watcher
screamed at the back of his head, "and when you're done there, you
can start on mine."

Thankfully, the Watchers walked toward the
large group at the center of the train and didn't stay to watch
him. He'd lowered his mouth toward Dr. Silva's shoe out of sheer
terror. As soon as the other passengers were distracted, she
reached down and stopped him. Standing up, she grabbed a pole at
the center of the train and Jacob slid beneath her wing.

The train screeched to a stop in the city
and its doors opened to reveal the bustling streets of Nod.

"Where is that little maggot?" the Watcher
screamed into Dr. Silva's face as he moved toward the door.

She didn't answer, just shrugged her
shoulders and looked down her nose. He left the train disgruntled,
looking up and down the street for another human to do his bidding.
They exited near the back of the crowd trying their best to blend
in.

Crossing town to reach the gate proved to be
more difficult than they'd anticipated. The streets were packed
with Watchers, each going their own way with no semblance of order.
They were halfway to the gate and beyond the most congested part of
the city when Jacob noticed the feathers dropping from Malini's
wings. As he watched, her body began to contract, to shorten like
gravity had quadrupled and was pulling her to the ground accordion
style.

"Malini, your hour is up," Dr. Silva said.
"Run!"

Dr. Silva yanked Jacob into her arms and
flew for the gate. Malini's wings disappeared completely and just
yards from the gate her arms could no longer support Lilly. Jacob
yelled as her body collapsed to the sand. The sound did nothing but
call more attention to their plight. Every eye in Nod turned in
their direction. She tossed him through the gate where he hit the
sand and rolled toward the thorny brush beyond. She returned,
sweeping Lilly into one arm and Malini into the other. With one
powerful thrust of her wings, she carried them outside of Nod.

Watchers pointed at them through the gates
and then Jacob's worst nightmare came true. Mordechai emerged from
the office building, his jet-black wings stretching in anger. He
blazed toward them, his model perfect face contorted with fury, his
black eyes burning.

"Mordechai!" Jacob screamed, pushing at the
gate, but it would not budge.

"It will only move for a Watcher, Jacob,"
Dr. Silva said. With a flick of her wrist the gate slammed shut. A
ring of blue energy flew from her hand and sealed the gate.

Jacob watched Dr. Silva transform into the
platinum blonde version of herself. She did not bother to tuck her
wings away.

"So that's what you are. You're one of
them?" he said, unable to disguise the note of disgust in his
voice.

Dr. Silva ignored him. "It will not hold,"
she said to no one. "Gideon, where are you?"

The large red cat leapt from the thorny
darkness. Dr. Silva handed his leash to Jacob and placed Malini's
hand into his. Then she lifted Lilly into her arms.

"Gideon, move!" she said, as the pounding
against the gate became more urgent. "I can't hold them for long."
Gideon took off down the thorny path. Malini and Jacob
followed.

The absolute darkness swallowed them
all.

Showdown

Jacob tried to run in the dark behind Gideon
but the narrow path was bordered with thorn bushes. In the blinding
darkness, the barbs tore his skin and more than once the front of
his foot stepped on the back of Gideon's. He could hear the
brushing of wings and the stomping of feet in the distance behind
them. Malini's hand was cold and clammy in his.

"Gideon, we won't make it to the garden. We
need a place to do battle," Dr. Silva whispered, panic evident in
her voice. The cat jerked to the left and Jacob followed, pulling
Malini along with him. Abruptly, Gideon stopped, causing his feet
to plow into the cat and Malini to slam into his back.

"Jacob, reach in front of you at waist level
and push," Dr. Silva said from behind him.

Jacob did what she asked, finding a
doorknob. The door was extremely heavy and he had to throw his
shoulder into it to get it open. Once he did, Gideon pulled them
inside.

Dr. Silva set Lilly down on something and
rummaged through her backpack. Then, the hiss and dim light of an
igniting match broke the darkness. She lowered the flame down to a
candle. He could see the wick catch and then a pale light washed
over them.

"Hold this." She handed the candle to Jacob
and returned to digging in her bag.

They were in some kind of a church. At
least, it was shaped like a church with pews, stained glass and an
altar, but Jacob noticed that the similarities ended there. Unlike
the one the Laudners' attended, no crosses or statues of saints
filled this church. The pictures in the stained glass were of
Watchers. Instead of a crucifix, a statue of a Watcher stretched
its wings above the altar. A day ago, none of this would have meant
anything to him. But after experiencing Nod, Mordechai, and the
zoo, Jacob realized the evil of this place. This was not like a
human church, where people came to think about how they could be
better people, tried to live up to a higher standard, or tried to
help each other. In this place, the Watchers worshiped themselves.
It was, sadly, a testament to their egos. This was a world were the
only priority was the desire of each individual at any particular
moment. There was no law, no rules and absolutely no guilt about
anything because the only thing that mattered was obtaining more of
what each Watcher desired.

"Ah, here it is. Malini, you and Jacob push
all of these pews to the side. Quickly! Clear as large a space in
the middle of the room as possible," Dr. Silva said. She held a
container of salt in one hand and pushed pews aside with the other.
Jacob continued to hold the candle but pushed with his hip and free
hand as well.

Lilly sat on a pew near the front, still
motionless but looking more awake than before. There was a hint of
awareness in her eyes.

When they'd cleared a large circle in the
middle of the building, Dr. Silva set to work drawing lines of salt
on the altar. Jacob watched as she drew a giant triangle and then
another inverted atop the first. When she was done she had formed a
large six-pointed star inside of a giant circle.

"The star of David," Malini whispered next
to him.

"Gideon, I'm going to need your help,
darling," Dr. Silva said to her cat.

In response, Gideon moved into the space at
the center of the room. Front feet forward, he stretched his
hindquarters into the air. His waist seemed to grow longer as he
did this and his red fur tightened on his body. A pillar of flesh
erupted from the cat's mouth toward the floor. The flesh split into
a pair of legs and the cat turned itself inside out, moving its fur
up the legs and then the body of a man. When the process was
finished, nothing was left of the cat but green eyes and wild
auburn hair.

Gideon was easily seven feet tall, with
long, lean muscles and a twenty-foot wingspan. The pearly white
wings were similar to Dr. Silva's, but Jacob couldn't say he was a
Watcher. What set him apart from everyone in the room was not his
height, or his frame, or his wings, but his glow. Looking directly
at Gideon was like looking into the sun. It filled the room. In
fact, with Gideon's light flooding the room, he wondered if he
should blow out the candle.

"He's an Angel—a real one," Malini said into
his ear. "He has to be."

Jacob opened his mouth but nothing came out.
He was awestruck.

"It really is you," Lilly said as the light
from Gideon washed over her. She was not looking at Gideon but at
Jacob. It was like the light from Gideon had opened her eyes for
the first time since he'd rescued her. "Jacob, how did you…? You
shouldn't have come here."

He ran to her and threw his arms around her
neck. She hugged him back.

"Mom, whatever happened, however you got
here, I forgive you. Please stay with us. We need your help."

She looked around, at Gideon, and then at
Dr. Silva. Jacob thought he would have to explain, but before he
had a chance she was on her feet, stronger and more determined than
he'd ever seen her.

"How long?" she demanded of Gideon.

"Minutes." Gideon's voice reverberated off
the walls. It was deep and hollow, like a cross between a harp and
a baritone.

"I need weapons." She looked at Dr. Silva,
Gideon and then Jacob.

"What?" Jacob asked, but she looked away
from him. She spoke directly to Gideon.

"My name is Lillian Lau. I am a Horseman,"
she said. "I was captured in battle." She stood to her full height.
"My gift is weapons. Help me find something to use before it's too
late."

"Mom. How long have you known?" he
asked.

"I'll explain everything later Jacob. This
must be very confusing for you but trust me."

Gideon flew up to the rafters and stripped a
steel girder from its place. He rolled it in his palms, which must
have been hot because the metal took on a bright red glow. He
thrust his heel down on the last foot of metal, flattening it
pancake thin. Then he jumped on the other end in the same way. When
he was finished he threw Jacob's mom a bladed staff. She caught it
and twirled it around her body as if she had been born with it in
her hands.

"The candle," Dr. Silva said to Jacob. The
thick white wax in his hands had a name and date carved into the
side in gold. He moved to hand it to her but she shook her head.
"It's my baptism candle. When you step inside the star and place
this candle within it, I must warn you not to be afraid of what you
see. The star will reveal truth within itself. It dispels
illusions. You may see things that you find disturbing. I beg you,
stay within the circle. Your skills are not ready for battle." She
handed him three bottles of water from her pack. "Just in
case."

"Just in case? Who are you? How do you know
my son?" Lilly was in fighting stance, looking suspiciously at Dr.
Silva.

"Lillian, water is Jacob's gift. I'm his
Helper," she said, as if she were talking to a two-year-old.

"Oh. Wow. Jacob! I didn't know." His mom
beamed.

"He's not ready," Dr. Silva repeated.

The sound of flapping wings outside of the
church made everyone's head turn toward the door.

"They're coming! Jacob, Malini, into the
circle!"

Dr. Silva, Gideon, and Lilly positioned
themselves at the center of the clearing. Jacob grabbed Malini's
wrist and pulled her into the star. Placing the candle inside the
triangle at the front, he watched the salt around the outside of
the circle ignite and the star burn an eerie, purple flame.

Gideon and Lilly looked exactly the same
through the purple glow, but Dr. Silva changed. Her already tall
frame extended another foot and her muscles pulled against her
clothes. Her skin became scaly black like a serpent and her wings,
leathery like a bat. Her blue eyes turned yellow with black
vertical slits like a cat. Jacob understood now why the devil was
often portrayed as a snake. Watchers, in their natural form, looked
like serpents.

With a deafening crash, the window shattered
above them and Jacob pulled Malini into his chest. He turned his
back toward the storm of falling glass but nothing reached them.
The purple flames licked upwards and swallowed the pieces as they
fell.

Auriel stood in the broken frame of the
window. From within the star, she looked like a snake, although
slightly smaller than Dr. Silva. But Jacob could tell who she was
from the murderous expression on her face, the same one she'd had
when she attacked Dane. He fought back the memory of maggots on his
tongue.

"Mordechai, they are here!" she yelled and
then turned seething toward Dr. Silva. "You have something of mine,
Abigail." Her eyes darted toward Jacob.

"He's not yours, Auriel. He's just a boy. He
did not choose this place."

"He's a sinner, a cheat, and a liar. He has
plenty of anger too. I had every right to take him."