Rise of the Fallen 1 - My Soul to Keep (21 page)

I nearly stumbled. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Don’t tell me you’ve gone to tons. I’ll call you a liar,
Connor Sullivan!”

“Well, no. This is my first one, too.” I said it both to make her feel
better and to make her smile. I don’t think she did either of them. She did lean
in, wrap her arms around me and begin to sway as the DJ switched to a slower song.
She sighed against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I
could feel her start to relax.

“Your heartbeat is slow, but it’s almost making my head bounce back
and forth. I always knew you had a big heart.”

“It’s not mine. It’s yours.”

“No, my heartbeat has always been fast. I mean your heart. I’m listening
to it.”

“I know what you meant, Jess. I’m saying the heart beating in my chest
isn’t mine. It’s yours. I gave it to you.”

A flash of lighting and a loud thunderclap outside shook the gym. Several
girls around us gave out a yelp of surprise. I looked down at Jess and she stared
up at me. I couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses.

“What did you say?”

“I said I gave you my heart. It’s not mine anymore.”

She reached up and pulled the glasses off her face. She stared at me
with milky green eyes. I could see tears glistening in the corners of them. She
tucked her glasses in the front of my pants. I'd been trying to be sweet, not make
her cry.

Either way, I won. She ran her hands up my chest and cupped my face
to pull me down until my lips met hers. I felt the power of her kiss from the top
of my head to the tips of my toes.

“Sullivan!” I heard Coach Cobb’s voice from across the gym, even over
the music.

I pretended not to hear. Jess started laughing at all the
ooh’s
and
ahh’s
around us. I ignored them, too.

“Connor, will you take my heart in exchange for yours?”

“It would be my honor,” I said and another clap of thunder shook the
walls around us. There were a few more cries of surprise, but I ignored them again.
For the first time in my life I danced with the music. I held Jess close and didn’t
care how I looked while I was doing it.

The song ended and we kept dancing. When the DJ started pumping electronica,
I looked up and saw Clarisse standing there holding three glasses of punch and wearing
the saddest smile I'd ever seen.

* * *

My feet hurt.

The thought kind of surprised me. I'd battled Clarisse using trees
as weapons, walked miles and miles my whole life, and could leap twenty feet into
the air. I couldn’t believe dancing for a couple of hours caused my feet to scream
in agony.

“You want to take a break? I’m getting tired,” Jess said with her face
against my chest.

“I’d love to, but only if you’re tired.”

“Ha! I can feel you slowing down, too, Mr. Macho.”

I laughed and led her over to where Clarisse sat. “How come you’re
sitting down? I thought you had a date tonight?” I looked around for Matt Briarson,
but I didn’t see him anywhere.

“He never showed up. Oh, well. He’s kind of an asshat. I don’t feel
like dancing anyway.”

I heard Jess give a little gasp next to me. “Bull crap. Come on, Claire.
Come dance with me.” She reached down and grabbed Clarisse’s hand and pulled her
to her feet.

Clarisse laughed and said, “Okay, but I’m leading.”

Jess started laughing uncontrollably as the two of them headed out
to the dance floor.
Oh, sure. Clarisse can make blind jokes, but I can’t.

“Ha! Connor’s girlfriend left him for another girl!” I could tell it
was Brian Anderson’s voice behind me. I didn’t care. I was good at ignoring assholes.

Clarisse must have heard him, too. I saw a flash of red in her eyes.
She'd been holding Jess’ hands in both of hers as they danced. She dropped one of
them and held it out to me from across the dance floor. Jess tilted her head, a
frown on her face. She must have heard, too. They both motioned me to come join
them. I didn’t need to be asked twice. I shot Brian a cocky grin over my shoulder
and went to join the two women in my life. One my girlfriend, and the other my best
friend. The thought of that made me stop in my tracks. Even with as much crap as
she gave me on a daily basis, Clarisse really
was
my best friend.

I smiled when I heard the cries of dismay from the group of jock-straps
hanging around Brian.

The three of us danced and laughed. I spotted my sister entering the
gym dressed as a fairy princess. She stuck her tongue out at me and walked to where
the cheerleaders congregated to make fun of everybody’s dresses. I ignored her and
concentrated on having fun.

Which we did.

The distinct
bang
of the gymnasium doors being kicked open rang
over the loud music. A hundred pairs of eyes shifted their focus to the source of
the noise. Because of the crowd, I couldn’t see much, but I spotted Jeremy's floppy
mop of hair. I'd recognize
that
anywhere. The kids closest to him gasped
and backed up, giving me a little better view. He was pale white and had streaks
of red all over his face.
That must be one hell of a coustume.

I gave a smile and walked toward him to get a better view. That's when
the screaming started.

The others around him ran, screamed, or doubled over losing the contents
of their stomachs onto the hardwood floor. My smile faded as I started running instead
of walking. I dodged the crowd and stopped in my tracks. Confusion was replaced
with horror.

From the neck down he was completely covered in blood. In his arms
he held the limp body of Kelly Richards. Her neck had a gaping wound in it and the
front of her chest looked like she'd lost a fight with a bear. Blood and bone glistened
grotesquely under the dimly lit stage lights set up for the dance.

Jeremy tore his eyes from Kelly's gaping wound, looked up at me and
started crying. “In…in…the park…parking lot. We were…attacked,” he said and fainted.

The teachers rushed forward and pushed the students back. One of them
pulled out a cell phone and frantically started dialing 911. I looked back at Jess
and Clarisse. I nodded at Jess, but didn't take my eyes off Clarisse.

She knew what I meant.
Take care of her.
She nodded back and
held Jess’ shoulders as she strained to hear what was going on.

“I’ll be back,” I said, knowing Claire would be able to hear me even
over the screaming and yelling.

“Be careful,” I heard as I ran through the double doors.

I stopped as I emerged from under the covered entrance and into the
parking lot. The moon was full overhead and filled the lot with brilliant light.
Unfortunately, moonlight casts shadows. The area between the parked cars was completely
black. I focused my eyes and everything became clearer.

Over by Jeremy’s beat up pickup truck I could see a pool of blood by
the passenger’s side door. I ran over and bent down to get a closer view. I could
see it already drying in the night air, but no bloody footprints could be seen anywhere.
I sighed.
The problem with movies and television is they make everything seem
so easy.

There was no trail of blood, the killer didn’t leave a card to taunt
the authorities, and I didn’t have a magic ring that would lead me to his secret
lair. I was screwed.

Or at least so I thought, until the clawed hand raked across my face.
Blood filled my eyes and I couldn’t see. I heard laughter fill the night air around
me. Last time I checked, bears didn’t laugh.
There goes that theory.

I spun in circles trying to figure out where the laughter came from.
As far as I could tell, the killer was running around me in circles. Very fast circles.
At least I knew it was a he.

“Silly demon. You can’t hurt me! You shouldn’t have come out here,”
he said in a sing song voice. He struck me again, this time in the back, right along
my wing joint.

I hissed in pain. I'd never felt anything like it. I’ll admit it, I
wanted to cry.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your worst nightmare,” he replied in a very, very bad Stallone
impersonation. Very bad.

I heard him behind me again and I spun, swinging my fist. He laughed
as he ducked under it to slice open my side. I could feel his talons hitting my
ribs.

I breathed in pain as the sting from the wound took my mind off the
slice on my back and my facial wounds. I wiped the blood off my eyes and tried to
blink the red cloud filling my vision. It didn’t help. He must have caught my eyes
with his talons.
Maybe Jessie and I can start a club.

I immediately felt ashamed for thinking it. At least I wasn’t panicking.
I blinked a few more times and began to see blurry images of dimly lit surfaces.
The cars were coming into view.

The strike to my left leg slightly diminished the joy from my returning
vision. His insane cackling filled my ears.

Personally, I wanted to rip his head off just to get him to shut up.
If I could just get away for a few seconds, maybe my eyes could heal.

Wings. Duh.

Without another thought I jumped into the air. As I brought my wings
down in a powerful stroke, the wound along my joint started screaming. Or maybe
it was me. Either way it hurt like a sumbitch.

“Where you going, little demon?”

Oh, great. He does Russian impersonations, too.

I hovered twenty feet above the parking lot. I figured that would put
enough distance between us for my wing to heal.

What they don’t teach you in Fallen school is that sometimes the bad
guys can
jump.
Really high.

He grabbed my legs in a crushing grip and I struggled to keep both
of us in the air. I probably could have done it until he let go with one arm and
started punching me in the gut. Hard. A lot. The air escaped my lungs as I took
the beating of my life.

I kicked him as hard as I could. With my returning vision, I almost
saw him arc in the night sky and crash into a tree on the outskirts of the parking
lot. Almost. Mostly I just saw a blur I hoped to be him crashing into the tree.

“Very good, demon! Don’t worry, we’ll meet again!”

He took off in a blur. This time I did see him. He was just that fast.
I tried to fly after him, but it wasn’t any use. I was in too much pain. I crashed
into the top of a 1969 blue Mustang.

Brian is going to be pissed.
Blackness overcame everything else, even
the pain.

Chapter 25

I opened my eyes and saw futuristic running lights above my head.
Oh,
good. The mothership came to get me.
I blinked a few times and realized I was
staring at the interior roof of the limousine.
At least it’s not an ambulance.
Hey! I can see!

Clarisse’s face filled my vision. “Are you okay?”

I sat up and realized my head had been in her lap. Jessie sat across
from us and looked like she was sleeping. “I’m fine. Jessie!” I slid across the
limo floor and gently shook her.

“Don’t bother. As soon as we left the dance I told her to go to sleep.
She’ll be fine until we get her home. What the hell happened?”

“I saw him. Well, I didn’t really see him, he clawed my eyes out, but
I heard him. He’s not human. And it’s not a bear.”

“I know. I heard him, too. Just as we were walking outside, you kicked
him off of you. Nice move.”

“Learned from the best. It didn’t stop him from kicking my ass though.”

“I’m sure it would have been a little different if you weren’t blind
when you fought him. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. He’s a problem for
the Reapers. I talked to Darius. He’s well aware of the situation and knows whatever
is attacking and killing people, it isn’t one of ours and we’re the only two Seekers
in the area.”

“How long was I out?”

“Long enough. We’re pulling up to Jessica’s house. I’ll wake her.”

I watched Clarisse close her eyes and focus. A moment later, Jessie’s
eyes fluttered open. She smiled sweetly at me. “Hey, handsome. Did I fall asleep?”

“Yes, you did. You sort of blacked out after Kelly Richards was attacked.
I let you sleep. I hope you don’t mind.”

She sat straight up with a horrific look on her face. “I remember that.
And you running out of the gym to see what had attacked her! Stupid!” She slapped
me in the arm for good measure.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see what it was. Jeremy didn’t see what attacked
her. I wanted to help.”

“Next time just stay with me.”

“I will, I promise.”

That seemed to settle her a little. She hugged me for good measure.
I didn’t want it to stop.

The driver got out of the front and walked around. He opened the passenger
door and stood there. I got out first and helped Jess outside. I looked up at the
driver and saw the blank look on his face. Seriously blank. Like nobody home, blank.
Creepy.