The 13th: Destiny Awaits (10 page)

“Kate, aren't you forgetting something?”

She looked over her shoulder. Oh, the scarf. She started to pull it off her neck.

“I didn’t mean that. I meant this.” From the inside pocket of his jacket, he pulled out an object and offered it to her. It was a small brown leather-bound book. “The handbook.”

She took the book, glancing at the golden tree with ‘The 13th' printed under it on the front and the golden clasp that held the book closed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Another one of his brilliant smiles played on his face, making her breathing shallow and fast again. “You can keep the scarf, you know. I have more of them at home.”

“Okay then.” It was dangerous, his smile. And here she’d been thinking that she’d be okay as long as she didn’t look directly into his eyes, Kate thought as she climbed out of the car and shut the door. She strolled through the front door and into the dark, quiet house without a second glance, knowing when he drove off by the sound of the car's roar.

She leaned on the door, clenching the book in her hands, but her mind was on his icy blue eyes; she couldn't shake off the image even when she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She would have to do something to stop this feeling of...whatever this was.

Kate stared at the lines of writing, not really seeing them. She pushed the book away, lay on her back on the soft mattress, and spread her arms while she stared through the window at the patch of sky that was visible from her bed. She sighed and glanced at the handbook,
The 13th Guidebook
, as it was titled, but the only thing that it contained was a short description of ‘the 13th’ and the legend of how the Soul Reapers and Keepers had come to be. How, after the appearance of copies of the original world, some of the souls couldn't find their way to the Pool of Recollection and the Entity sent its spark to guide them. The first spark collided with a boy and gave him the power of reaping, so the Entity sent a second spark that crashed into a ghost and gave it the ability to move between dimensions. Then, when the Entity sent the third spark, that one made it to the lost souls and guided them into what later became the 13th.

The 13th was, according to the pictures in the book, an island with a small city with towers in the middle of it. Pools connected with something that looked like waterfalls floated above the city, a large tree like a king overseeing them all.
The Tree of Souls
, the book said. The 13th was a place where everything started, where souls were born, and where everything ended, since it was the home to which souls returned when their body died. Kate assumed the 13th was akin to what people called Heaven.

And that was all that the handbook contained. That certain somebody, whose eyes and smile she could see whenever she closed her eyes, had not only messed with her head, but had given her the wrong book, too, the jerk.

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. His face appeared before them; she could see him so clearly and so close.

She shouldn't have agreed to that date.

Her phone started to ring and she knew who was on the other end of the line. Not because of a sixth sense, but because he had just called a minute ago. Of course, she ignored it. She turned her head and reached for the phone laying on the night-stand. She tilted the phone and looked at it. Yes, she was correct: it was Ethan. She set the phone back down, waiting for its ringing to stop. It did, but only for a few seconds, like it was taking a deep breath before resuming.

He won’t give up, will he?
She grabbed it and answered, “What?”

“Good morning to you, too.” Ethan's voice travelled over the line, sounding annoyed.

“It's already afternoon.”

“It's not my fault that you are such late riser.”

“I wasn't sleeping.”

“Oh, so you were just avoiding me.”

“You can't avoid somebody over the phone.”

“You can, by not picking up.”

“What do you want?”

“You really aren't a morning person, are you?”

“It’s not morning anymore,” Kate half-groaned. “Just tell me what you want already.”

“You, two-thirty, my place.”

A wrinkle cut into her forehead. “And why would I do that?”

“Have you read the handbook?”

“You gave me the wrong book,” she accused him.

“I gave you the right book, you just don't know how to read it.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Two-thirty, and I'll show you how to use it.”

“Well, maybe I don't care that I can't use it.”

“Have you found another job yet?”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Have you?”

“No.”

“Then I'll hire you.”

“To do what?”

“To be my student.”

She knew he could pay her, he had enough money, but... “Why would you do that?”

“I'll tell you when you get here.”

She didn't want to, but in the end he managed to persuade her, and she did need a new job. She might as well 'work' for Ethan. But why was he so adamant about it? She repeated her question after she found herself in his room. In his large room with a king-size bed, three low cabinets, shelves stocked with books, DVDs and CDs, and a large desk that could have stood in some executive's office. Everything was in brown-red tones, except a white padded armchair in the corner by the door.

“Because then maybe you will finally start to listen to me. You have been fighting with me all the way; every time I propose something you have a problem with it. Sometimes I think you don't like me.” His eyes scrutinised her for a moment, frightening her that he might have found out what kind of influence he had on her, the reason for her insistence on distance between them. “But that's not possible. I'm like sunshine: my mere presence lights people's lives.” He leaned back in the swivel chair before the desk, with his hands clasped behind his head.

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. “Yes, you are like sunshine. Your light is blinding. Maybe that's the problem.”

“We can easily fix that.” He flashed a white row of teeth. “I'll lend you sunglasses.”

She bent her head, hiding her smile, then asked him, “So, you have me here now, what did you want me for?”

“Many things.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Was he flirting with her? She sighed. “Should I go home?”

“I'm taking you to the dojo today. Your first lesson, you should be excited.”

“Why couldn't we meet there?”

“Well, because I'm so nice I wanted to feed you first. I already told Mother we’re having a guest for lunch.”

“You didn’t tell me anything about it. What if I had already eaten?”

“You don't cook.”

“Actually, I do cook. And very well, too. Besides, I usually eat at Tyler’s.” She sat in the white armchair, checking out the books set on the cabinet beside it: Edgar Wallace, Wu Cengen, Umberto Eco, Lisa Kleypas and some comic strips. Interesting choices. And there, at the far end of the cabinet but close enough to be within reach, were a grey e-reader, wireless headphones and a remote control.

“Next time we'll meet at your place then,” Ethan said.

She had no intention of inviting him over -- he invited himself far too easily as it was -- let alone for a meal. She touched the romance book. It had to be Mandy's. “What about Mandy?”

“She can come too, I don't mind.”

“Yesterday, she covered for us... does she know? About reaping and special powers?”

He rotated his chair, left and right. “Bits of it. She knows about the spirits. She can see them, too, but not like us though; just here and there, and they mostly ignore her. She doesn't know about soul reaping or that you are the Soul Reaper.”

“Will you tell her?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

What was that supposed to mean? Kate scowled at him.

A knock and then a blonde head peeked inside the door. A wide smile bloomed on Mandy’s face as she stepped into the room. “Hey.”

“Hey, Mandy,” Kate greeted back, feeling embarrassed because whenever Mandy had invited her to visit, she had refused.

“Mother said you’re going to join us.”

“Apparently.” Kate narrowed her eyes at Ethan before she graced Mandy with a smile. “Your brother only told me after I arrived.”

“That's Ethan, stingy with the details,” Mandy said. “How did you manage to force her to come?”

“You were much more polite before you started hanging out with Kate. You are a bad influence, Kate.”

“Come on.” Mandy grabbed Kate's hand and tugged on it. “I'll introduce you to my parents and give you a tour of the house. And maybe later, after lunch, we can play a game or something.”

Kate stood up.

“She's my guest,” Ethan said. “And we are going to the dojo after lunch.”

“Since you are not being a very hospitable host, I'm taking over.”

“Fine. Just return her to me on time.”

Mandy grimaced at Ethan and pulled Kate out the door. “Come on, Kate.”

“There's not much to see here.” Mandy guided her across the hallway, pointing out the doors. “My room, the bathroom I share with Ethan, guest bedroom, master bedroom.”

They descended the stairs. On the ground floor, Mandy first took her to the spacious living room, furnished with two plush, green L-shaped couches with a glass coffee table between them, and a large entertainment centre. One of two doors in the room was the one they’d come through and the other one that led into the dining room. They passed a table with six chairs and some glass cabinets against the walls and went into the kitchen.

A blond man sat behind a kitchen island big enough to serve as a breakfast corner. He was discussing something with a woman as tall as Mandy, who had her back turned to them.

“
Haha, Chichi
,” Mandy said. “This is Kate. And Kate, these are my parents.”

Kate nodded in greeting and shook hands with them and made small talk. They seemed like pleasant people. After Mandy's mother warned that lunch would be served in half an hour, Mandy took Kate up to her room.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Kate said when they reached the hallway.

“That door.” Mandy pointed at the third door on the left. “Then just use the right door and you'll fall straight into my room.”

Kate nodded and stepped into a blue-tiled bathroom with two sinks. She did what she came up to do and then, frowning, contemplated the left door. Mandy said that right door led to her room, which meant the left led into Ethan's room. She wondered what he was doing. She tiptoed to it and, painfully slowly, opened it a crack.

She could see Ethan's back as he was focusing on something on his desk, and something glittering, semi-transparent, with a lemon-green glow sat on the desk near him. It was a ghost. A girl. But why would Ethan have a ghost in his room?

Well, everyone had their secrets, and it seemed fraternising with a dead girl was Ethan's. Despite her curiosity, Kate quietly closed the door.

#

Soul Eaters, Kate silently repeated as she stared at
The 13th Guidebook
’s blank table of contents. Under her gaze, the words wrote themselves with golden capital letters. A second later a number appeared beside the words.

She pouted as she skimmed through the book to the page that was now titled: Soul Eaters. She resented the handbook's search feature, because one had to know what to search for.

She read the paragraphs that told about the Soul Eaters' appearance, possible reasons for their transformation from spirits, why they were dangerous, and how to fight against them: the same way she reaped souls.

They also had another name: Shadow People. She also learned that they didn't feed only on ghosts, but also on people rich with spiritual energy, people like Ethan and her. But since an abundance of spiritual energy also spoke of strength, and strength of danger, Soul Eaters tended to stick to ghosts.

She closed the book, stood up from the chair and stretched, her gaze on the clock flashing from the microwave's display. It was already eleven o'clock in the evening. She should go to sleep. She doubted that she could, but she could take a sleeping pill. She still had plenty of them left.

She sighed and pressed her fingers against her forehead. She liked to sleep, to lose herself in the darkness, preferably one without dreams, but she hated the time before sleep claimed her, when she lay in bed awake and the thoughts suppressed by daily activities rose up and started to haunt her, to plague her and to torment her.

She rested her arms on the counter and her cheek on her arms, her gaze lost in the distance. How long would she be able to pretend that everything was okay? That she was well? How long before she broke down?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Since the incident with her mother, she had been losing herself in books, occupying herself with school and part-time work. Just being, trying not to think about it, and trying not to remember it, but it came anyway, the memory, every time she closed her eyes.

She wanted to cry, but there were no more tears. They had dried out long ago. And the hope that she held so tightly against her heart, that a miracle would happen and that everything would go back to the way it was before, had slowly diminished with every visit to the sanatorium until the Friday visit had showed her that --

Her mother was never going to get better, was she?

She was never going to allow herself to see how beautiful the spirits could be. And she would never get out of there, no matter how much Kate wished for it; but why? Why, when she only had to open her eyes and see their beauty?

Kate rubbed her eyes. She would just have to get over it or come to terms with it or ignore it and try again. And if she failed, try again. And again. They said that hope is the last thing to die, didn't they?

If she could only talk to somebody. About her abilities. About her mother. About what had happened.

She stretched out her right hand, thought about the sickle, and when the handle weighed down her hand, curled her fingers around it.

She couldn't show this to her dad. If he was even able to see it. Like he probably would never notice the light of the colours that were even now gathering before the window. She ignored them. Ethan had performed some sort of ritual on the house that prevented spirits from entering it, but it didn't suppress her powers like the charms did.