Unnatural Souls (13 page)

I could also think of one
or two other spots he might go to be alone. Maybe he and I had the
same thought about ending this torturous experience where it
started, and he was in the clearing where he’d made the deal. It
was the first place
I
would go, if I wasn’t coming home. It made the most sense to
me.

“
If he’s in danger,
protect him until I get there.”

Hell, she could kill the demon if
that’s what it took. She was capable. But I’d still need to get Ash
the talisman, because without it, according to Michael, he was
doomed. Even if we killed the demon, the charm in my hand was the
only thing that would keep him safe for the rest of his life—and
guarantee him entry into Heaven when he died. Unless I got this
around his neck, another demon might come to claim him.

“
Wait for me before you do
anything to the other demon,” I snapped, my mind moving quickly
through the possibilities.

“
Okay,” Kali replied. A
second later, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

I scoffed. It was such a Kali trick,
and I hadn’t learned how to do it. But I didn’t have time to worry
about that right now. I glanced at my watch again, my heart
hammering. One hour exactly.

I didn’t waste any time reaching
quickly down to the source of my power, and focusing on a place in
my head as I gathered it. Then, without a second thought, I jumped
to the first location on my list—the forest where I had met Michael
only minutes earlier. I prayed that Ash would be there. If I was
lucky, he’d arrived after I left, and was there, waiting for his
fate.

If I was lucky. I never had been
before, but there was a first time for everything, right? I just
had to pray that today was the day when luck finally found
me.

I CAME OUT
of the jump screaming.

“
Ash!” I shouted at the
top of my lungs. Birds flew out of the trees around me, scared by
the noise I was making, and I spun in a circle. The dense forest
surrounded me on all sides. The clearing was nothing more than a
large spot of weeds and wildflowers, but there were two trails—one
to the north, which headed to a road near the hospital, and one
that led deeper into the woods.

It was quiet, aside from the
intermittent sounds of wildlife. A few calls from birds, movement
of a small animal in the bushes somewhere in the distance. The
sound of the breeze drifting through the forest, making the leaves
rustle.

But no response to my
calls.

I glanced at my
watch.
Think, Grace, think!
Where was Ash? I could name only three spots that
made sense. I was certain he would go somewhere deserted, but
surely he would go to a place where he felt a connection. These
were his last few minutes on Earth, after all. But where would it
be? Here, the place it all started? The school, where he spent most
of his time? Or the cove, where we’d spent many days and nights
during the summer? He loved it there, and the beach stretched for
miles. Plenty of spots where he could be alone.

Kali had the school covered, which
meant I would have to split my time searching the other
two.

Oh God, I realized
suddenly; I was right near the lake, too. That was where that
second path went. And he could also be
there
. We’d gone there for hikes all
the time as kids, and it was always deserted. I renumbered my list,
thinking quickly through the locations—the road at the end of one
path, the lake at the end of the other. The clearing, where I
already stood. And then the beaches of the cove on the other side
of town. I could teleport there easily, but that was a lot of
ground to cover, and I didn’t have any time to waste.

I had about an hour left. I’d give
myself half an hour to search the paths and the lake, and then I’d
have to teleport to the beaches of the cove—or pray Kali had found
him.

I started down the path
that led to the parking lot first, hoping he was closer to the
road. Braches hit me in the face, legs, arms, everywhere as I ran,
and stung like hell, but I didn’t slow down. He had to be here.
He
had
to be.
Suddenly, though, I wondered if he’d picked some random spot in the
forest that surrounded our town. After all, theoretically speaking,
the demon would find
him
, right?

I wouldn’t, though. I needed him to be
in a place I could easily locate.

Then I skidded to a halt. What if he’d
left town completely, hoping to outrun his fate?

It would never work. I
knew that much—but I didn’t know if
he
did. After all, the only demon
he’d ever met was the one he’d sold his soul to, and he had only
seen him the one time, as far as I knew. He’d have no idea that a
demon could track him wherever he went—even if he left the area
where he and the demon had made their deal.

And if he’d skipped town, I had no
prayer of finding him in the next hour.

I tore down the path again, hoping
desperately that he hadn’t done anything so stupid. When I finally
made it to the street I glanced around, but saw no sign of him or
his car. We were still close enough to the school and house that he
could have walked, though, so I quickly pulled at my powers and
teleported back to the clearing.

Fifty-eight minutes. I’d check the
lake, and after that I would have to go to the cove.

Damn it. Why hadn’t he just told me
the truth? Why hadn’t he just gone home? Why had I taken so long to
master my power? What if Michael hadn’t taken so freaking long to
get to me?

I turned and sprinted along the second
path—the one that led deeper into the forest, to the lake. It took
me only two minutes, and surviving the numerous scratches from the
overgrowth biting into my skin as I ran. Then the dense trees
thinned, and the serene pool of water appeared before me. I glanced
around the edges of the lake, searching every shadow and crevice,
but he wasn’t there either. Damn it.

I only had one location left on my
list. The cove. It was the most popular beach in town. Plenty of
places to be alone, but what if I was wrong about that spot as
well? I wouldn’t have a lot of time to go anywhere else—not if it
wasn’t a guarantee, because I couldn’t afford any more failures.
I’d be done… But it was still the best shot I had, and the only
other place I could think of. I didn’t like that I was guessing,
but I didn’t know what else to do.

I closed my eyes and
reached down for my power, trying to control my breathing and
thoughts at the same time.
Be still,
Grace. Breathe. Concentrate.
I bit my lip,
scrunched my face up, and thought of the cove, sending out a prayer
as I got ready to jump.

That was when my phone
rang.

I fished it out of my pocket with
great effort, my hands shaking so badly that I almost dropped it.
My heart swelled when I saw the name.

“
Kali?’ I almost screamed
into the phone. My knees felt weak, and I was a little dizzy from
the running and the constant state of fear I’d been in, but if Kali
had found him... “Do you have him?”

“
He’s at the school,” she
replied sounding bored. “Just him.”

“
Thank you,” I breathed
out, feeling the relief coursing through me. I still had a little
over fifty minutes, but that was plenty, thanks to my power. Just
had to get there, throw this stupid necklace over his head, and
hope he kept it on long enough for it to do its work.

“
Keep your eye on him
until I get there. Please.”

I hung up, breathed out, and closed my
eyes.

MY HEART WAS
speeding like a hummingbird when I stumbled back
to my feet in the school parking lot. An off-yellow streetlight was
flickering, and trash and leaves blew across the near-empty space
as the wind around me increased. My heart skipped in my chest when
I saw that there were two cars left … and one was Ash’s beat-up
Chevy. Kali
had
found him. Thank goodness.

I glanced at my watch; it was 5:22.
Only fifty-six minutes until my official time of death—and the
moment the demon would show up to take Ash’s soul.

Suddenly I saw a shadow moving rapidly
along the outside of the building. It couldn’t be human, it
traveled far too quickly. It wasn’t the right shape, either, and
seemed to be constantly changing form, warping from the figure of a
person one second into a shapeless blob moving in and out of the
darkness the next.

It had to be a demon. And it wasn’t
Kali. She was with Ash.

Fear spiked in my heart, and before I
knew what I was doing, I was running after the shadow. Ahead of me,
the outside door to the gym entrance opened and the darkened figure
slipping through the doorway. I sprinted after him, ripped the door
open once I reached it … and then froze. The door closed behind me
with a thud … but I could see well enough to know there was no
movement inside the gym. It was empty. Still, I was chasing a
shadow—a shadow that could easily hide in the dark corners of the
dimly lit area.

It could still be here.

I quieted my breathing and listened,
but it was silent. Holding my breath, I slowly made my way through
the gym … and cringed when my shoes started squeaking on the floor.
Keeping my eyes wide open, though, I searching every corner. The
dark creature could be anywhere. If it was the demon after my
brother, I didn’t want to lose him—or let him beat me to
Ash.

When I got to the other side of the
gym, I pushed through the double doors that led out into the
largest hallway, which stretched the entire length of the school.
Four smaller corridors broke off from this one, two on each side of
the gym. The problem was, I didn’t know which direction the shadow
man had gone … or where exactly Ash was.

I took a step into the main hall,
glanced left toward the cafeteria, arts wing, and science halls,
and stared hard for a moment, looking for any movements in the
shadows. Then I turned to the right, in the direction of the locker
rooms, auditorium, and junior lockers. Where was he? Where was Ash?
Kali hadn’t told me—she’d just said he was at the school—and now I
realized that I should have asked for details.

This place was enormous. How was I
going to find them in time?

That was when I spotted Kali on the
second-story balcony that looked down onto the first floor. She was
partly obscured by the shadows, but I could tell she was staring
over the ledge, her head tilted downwards. The low lighting made
her difficult to see, however her figure and posture were
unmistakable, and I quickly followed her line of sight. The windows
along the halls let in the slowly disappearing sunlight, making it
just bright enough for me to see what she was looking at. Or
rather, what she was directly above.

IT WAS
ASH
. He was standing in front of his
locker, and he was safe—for the moment. Kali was watching him—just
like I’d asked. Seeing him safe, and alive, made me want to burst
into tears, but I blinked them away.

Now that I was here, I could see what
he was doing. He was putting all his things in his locker, and I
watched him pull an envelope from his pocket, hesitate for a
moment, and then place that in the opening as well. He set his car
keys in there, too, and it didn’t take a genius to realize that he
knew he wasn’t going home again. He was cleaning up, putting all
his stuff in a place where we’d be able to find it.

I had never thought about what his
actual death would be like if the demon succeeded. Would the
monster make it look like an accident? Would it seem like his heart
had just stopped? Or would it appear that he’d been murdered? He
was leaving what would surely look to everyone else like a suicide
box of some sort. All of his belongings in one spot, probably a
letter to us. That would give my parents some form a closure—last
words, so to speak. And my heart broke into pieces at the thought
of him writing a note like that, knowing he’d never see us again.
What would it say? How would he have explained it?