Redemption (15 page)

“Again?”  The
wolf-mask seemed to leer.  Joker girl tripped over to lean against the counter
and watch the stand-off.

Isaac glowered. 
“I don’t have anything else to give you.”

Wolf-mask
whistled.  “Well… I guess that’s too bad then, isn’t it.  Tough luck.  But you
tried, sport.  I’m sure those kids won’t miss their souls.”

Rebecca
started.  “Souls?”

Isaac didn’t
look at her, his attention was focused steadily on the remaining three pins. 
The faces of one small boy and two dark-haired little girls stared back.  “You
didn’t really think this was just a game, did you?” he said quietly.

She had,
actually.  Now she just felt stupid. 

Joker girl piped
up.  “Ah Alphie, don’t be so cold,” she crooned.  “I kinda like the looks of
that girl’s shoes.”

Rebecca had her
sneakers off in the blink of an eye.  “Here.”

Isaac took the
balls and turned grimly back to the pins.  Rebecca didn’t offer to try for
him.  Even if she were allowed, she thought this was something he had to do
himself. 

He managed to
hit two this time.  But the pin with the little boy still stood.

“Again,” he said
desperately.  “I’ll give you anything.  My clothes?”

The burly man
laughed.  “Now what would I want with a bunch of stuff that doesn’t fit?”

Isaac glanced at
Rebecca apologetically.  “Hers then?  I’m sure the shirt will fit you at
least,” he said to the joker girl.

She just
laughed.  “Me?  I wouldn’t be caught dead in a get-up like that.”  She flounced
her skirt in illustration.  Rebecca fingered her ring hopefully, but the
joker-girl shook her head.

Isaac groaned in
irritation.  “Then trade,” he said seriously.  “Set his soul free and take
mine.”

Wolf-mask
chuckled, but his voice sounded more interested this time.  “No bargain sonny,”
he leaned across the counter.  “Why would I trade this little soul- the one you
want so badly- for a beat-up discarded thing like yours?  If you don’t even
want it, what would
I
do with it?”

Isaac clenched
his hands.  There was a moment’s pause while he struggled to come up with
something.  Then wolf-mask’s attention slid to Rebecca.  “Now her soul,” he
said cheerily.  “Hers I’d trade for.”

Rebecca
swallowed and stared back at him, wide-eyed.  Isaac instantly shot back, “No. 
No way.  Not an option.  Think of something more reasonable.”

But the masked
man knew he had struck gold.  “I want something valuable in return.  And I
reckon you don’t have much you value more than her soul.  Except maybe that
one,” he nodded over his shoulder at the remaining bowling pin.

Isaac shook his
head, drawing breath to argue.  The sun was sinking closer to the horizon. 
Time was wasting away while they argued.  Rebecca strode forward and slapped
her hands down on the counter.  “Fine.  Trade.”

“No!  Rebecca,
no.  I’m not doing this.”  Isaac was at her side in an instant.  Rebecca shook
off his big hands and stared up at him.  “If this is real, I’m not saving
myself at the cost of your little brother.”  She tried for a smile.  “And if
it’s not real, then it doesn’t really matter, right?”

Isaac shook his
head.  “No.  I won’t let you take a chance like that.  You only think that way
because of the picture.  Jesse’s an adult now.  He’s not a little boy…”

Rebecca shook
her head.  “It doesn’t matter.  He’s your little brother.”  She held out her
hand to the wolf-masked man, but Isaac knocked it aside and confronted the
man. 

“Give me a
chance to win her back,” he demanded.  “At least let me try to hit the pin once
more and if I hit it, I’ll take all.”  He swallowed convulsively.  “If I miss
you get them both.”

The masked man
shook his head.  “No dice, sonny.  Why in the world would I risk losing both
souls when I could be sure of keeping one?  Not sound business, that.”  He
shoved Isaac aside and reached out a hand to Rebecca.  “This might hurt a bit
girly.” 

Rebecca took a
breath and clasped his beefy hand, not giving herself time to think about what
she was doing.  Pain washed over her, and there was a
ripping
feeling
somewhere deep inside her as he tore off her soul.

~~~~~

Isaac shifted
Rebecca’s soft, limp body in his arms and stood.  Her chest continued to rise
and fall as if she were sleeping.  He jiggled her in his arms to get a
comfortable hold while his eyes darted around in search of the quickest way out
of this madhouse of leering masks.  He strode past the tent where he had seen
the picture of his family, gravel crunching beneath his sock-clad feet.  As he
passed the tent, a sharp movement caught his eye.  A big guilt mirror stood by
the racks of clothing near the entrance.  The blackness in the mirror swirled
and coalesced into the hooded man.  It hissed at him from behind it’s wooden
mask and reached out a clawed white hand toward him. 

“Idiot boy!” 
The rasping voice filled his head, drowning out the faceless crowd that milled
around him. 

He tightened his
grip on Rebecca.  “Leave us alone.”  He started to move on, but the hooded
figure’s words drew him up short. 

“What have you
done?”

There was a fist
around Isaac’s heart, and it clenched at those words.  “Fuck off!”

The masked
reaper paced a few short steps within the confines of the mirror, his motions
sharp and agitated.  “It was just your worthless soul that was in danger,
because it might not have anywhere to go, but now you’ve endangered her soul as
well.”  The figure paused to stab a finger at Isaac and he took a step
backward.  “If you don’t find the key, her soul will be trapped here as well.”

Isaac’s arms
trembled.  He squeezed his burden tighter and she let out a little sigh.  “What
are you talking about?  It’s just a game right?  Just a dream.  We’ll wake up
at the end and-”

The hooded one
cackled bitterly.  “Game?  You think this is a game?”  Death stopped pacing and
stood motionless, staring at Isaac through the black glittering slits in the
ancient mask.  “This game may send you straight to hell.  And now you’ll take
her with you!”

The blood
pounded in Isaac’s head.  “Why are you yelling at
me?
 This is your
dream world.  You’re the one who put us in danger in the first place.”

That wheezy,
sarcastic laugh again.  “Not quite, sonny.  You only think you’re dreaming. 
How many times do you need to hear it before it sinks into that shallow, empty
excuse for a thinking device that sits on your shoulders?”

Clouds obscured
the sun.  Isaac glanced back the way he had come.  The guy in the wolf mask was
watching the exchange.  The mouth below the mask turned up in a wicked grin,
revealing row upon row of long, needle-like teeth. 

“Now you finally
get it,” the deep, raspy whisper grated over his entire being.  Death was
pissed.  “No dream world.  This is purgatory you halfwit.  I can shape what you
see, but there are some things even I can’t keep out.  Things that live in the
space between life and death.”

 A cold
sensation had lodged in Isaac’s gut. 

“You’ve sold her
soul to that thing unless you get her out of here.  And I think we both know
your chances of doing anything that worthwhile are close to zilch.”

Isaac swallowed
convulsively.  “Why do you care?  Why are you so interested in her?”

The mirror went
black.  The hooded bastard had just blinked out of existence.

“Coward,” Isaac
muttered to himself. 

He hefted his
burden in his arms.  “I’ll get you out of here if it kills me,” he muttered
into her wildly tangled hair.

~~~~~

Rebecca came to,
gasping and reeling, against Isaac’s broad chest.  His long arms were wrapped
around her as she sobbed into his shirt.  She wasn’t sure which one of them was
shaking worse.  She realized, dimly, that she could no longer hear the
overwhelming sounds of crowds and music.  There was only the soft sound of wind
in thorough trees, and Isaac’s soft breathing.  She could hear his heart
beating loudly in her ear.  The rhythm was comforting, and she thought she
could stay right there forever, tired as she was.  But there was a quest that
needed finishing, and she had sworn she would get Isaac out of here, even if it
killed her.

She lifted her
head.  Everything felt harder, as if she was moving through molasses.  Other
than that, she felt pretty normal.  She pushed herself up and Isaac let her go,
but left a steadying hand on her shoulder.  “How do you feel?”

She shook her
head, then regretted the movement, as it sent everything spinning for a
second.  “Like I have a really bad hangover,” she said holding her head.

Isaac’s pretty
blue eyes were pinched with worry, and red, as if he’d been crying.  “What did
I do to you?” he said, his deep voice anguished.

Rebecca shook
her head, cautiously this time, lest it fall off.  “You didn’t do anything to
me.  I made the decision myself.”  She glanced around, then pushed herself to
her feet. 

Isaac scrambled
up to help her, and she batted his hand away, then swayed a little where she
stood.  She didn’t feel sick, really, just off balance, like everything needed
to be recalibrated.  “So,” she said, making an attempt at bravery she didn’t
feel.  “I don’t feel like I’m a soulless body.”

 Isaac winced
and she relented.  “I feel fine, really.  I don’t think he really did anything
to my soul.  If he did, it doesn’t seem like I’d be me anymore, would I?”

He sighed
bitterly.  “He said he took most of it.  Said he was feeling generous.  You
should be okay for now, if you take it easy.”  He gave her an earnest, helpless
look.  “I have a feeling you keeping that chunk is contingent on us getting the
hell out of here before our time’s up.”

Rebecca took a
moment to process that.  “Then let’s go.”  She headed off down the path, her
steps growing steadier as she went.  She wanted nothing more than to take
Isaac’s proffered arm and lean on it for all she was worth, but she wouldn’t
let herself show weakness.  Isaac would only keep blaming himself, and she
wouldn’t have it.  This had been her decision.

“So...did…” she
cleared her throat. 

Isaac didn’t
wait for her to finish.  “Yeah.  He released Jessie.  They’re all safe.”  His
smile was sad, but full of gratefulness.  The warmth of it made everything
worth it.  “Thank you.”

They didn’t
doubt that the threat of stolen souls was real.  It had been some time since
this world had ceased to be make-believe. 

“I wonder,”
Rebecca mused as they walked along.  “Your sisters and brother are all grown up
now, right?”

Isaac nodded
affirmative and Rebecca continued.  “Then why did they appear to you as
children?”

Isaac stuffed
his hands in his pockets as he walked, his eyes downcast.  “I was thinking
about that,” he glanced at her and away again.  “You know, while you were
sleeping.”  He shrugged.  “That was the worst time of my life, so why would I
dream up images from that time?”

“All I can think
of,” he said, looking off down the path, anywhere but at Rebecca.  “Is that,
well, back then we were all still together.  They still needed their big brother. 
I had a purpose.”

 Rebecca thought
of the images of her parents and all the other people she’d left behind.  “I’m
sure they still need you,” she said softly.  “They’ll always need you just as
much as you need them.”

~~~~~

The
river stretched out on either side of the valley.  It was no narrow
stream, but a huge, dark thing, with rushing currents, and little outcroppings
of jagged rock that poked up here and there from the depths.  Rebecca
glanced at Isaac, and then at the sun, hanging low in the sky. 
Another day was almost gone, and now they were about to lose time figuring out
a way across the river. 
 Something
always stood in their way.

Isaac
ran a hand through his silky hair, setting it into feathery disarray as he
glanced around the landscape.  "Even if we had the time and skill to
build something that would float, it would be a waste."

Rebecca
nodded as she watched a small branch float by on the current.  It was
moving fast.  They'd be dashed against one of those little rock
outcroppings within seconds.  She wasn't sure what would happen if they
drowned in the dream, but she wasn't willing to test it and see.  Especially
since they now knew that their souls were wrapped up in it all.

As
she stared at the rapid water rushing by, there was a burst of movement. 
A big fin broke the surface, there and gone in a flash.  "Did you see
that?"  Rebecca breathed.

Isaac
had been perusing the shore, and his attention jerked to the water. 
"What?"  Anxiety hovered in his voice.  He was undoubtedly
thinking about the hydra.  Rebecca shuddered.  She didn't know if she
had it in her to face another nightmare of that ilk.

"It
was just a fish," she said, more to convince herself than anything. 
"A really big fish.  That's all."