Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (4 page)

Chapter 6

I
wandered around the rest of the mall after dropping Clarisse back off at work.
She gave me a quick hug before dipping back inside. I smiled. I liked the new,
more mellow Clarisse.

One
can wander around the same mall only so many times before it becomes quite
boring. The mall was a lot like high school. You had your cliques. You had your
hangouts. And nothing
ever
changed. I sighed and decided to head home
and take a shower before going to Jessie’s. I almost made it out the door
without anything happening.
Almost.

As
I was walking past Aunt Annie’s, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
I spun expecting an attack. It wasn’t too far from the truth either. A blond
streak caught me in its arms and carried me across the entrance to one of the
alcoves off to the side. I raised my arms to defend myself when I felt a set of
very soft lips press themselves against mine. Arms wrapped around my back,
pulling me in closer. My eyes closed involuntarily as I found myself being
drawn into the kiss.

Clarisse
had kissed me before. A couple of times actually. I couldn’t believe she was
doing it again. In the middle of the mall. In front of everybody. If Jessie
found out…
Jessie!

I
mustered all the willpower I had and slowly pushed Clarisse off of me as she
continued her assault on my mouth. I leaned in for one last peck, opened my
eyes and said, “Clari– Shannon?”

Still
in her uniform and smelling of warm pretzels, she stood there, still leaning
toward me with her eyes closed. “Wow. Yeah. I’ve got to get back to work
now. Thanks, Connor.”

She
opened her eyes and gave me a smile that belonged on a demon, not an angel. She
turned and left while I stood there, watching her walk the whole way back to
Annie’s. I tried to tell myself it was to make sure I wouldn’t get attacked
again, but deep down I wasn’t so sure. Not even a little bit.

*
* *

I
sniffed my pits one last time to make sure I put deodorant on and rang Jessie’s
doorbell. I waited the allotted thirty seconds it usually took for Mr. James to
get to the front door, open it, and insult me.

“Evening,
Conrad.”

“Evening,
Mr. James.”

“Come
on in. We’re having ribs tonight. Jessie’s favorite. Do you like?”

“It’s
probably my favorite, too. That and steak.”

“Steak
next time then. Want a beer?”

“Um…
No thank you?”

“Good
answer. Jessie’s
watching
TV in the living room.” I’m usually
pretty dense, but even I could hear the happiness in his voice when he said
that. I smiled, too.

“It’s
going to be weird on Monday.”

“What
is?”

“Jessie,
going to school and being able to see. I’ve gotten so used to helping her to
every class… It’s going to be different. I’m looking forward to seeing what she
thinks of school now that she’ll be able to see it.”

“Don’t
worry, Conrad. She’ll still need you.”

“Mr.
James, she’s so amazing I don’t think she ever needed me to begin with.”

That
earned me a smile. “There is something I do want to talk to you about
before dinner.” He paused and looked down the hall to make sure Jessie was
still in the living room. Motioning me to move over to the fridge, he opened
the door and started pulling out salads and sides. “The ribs are in the
oven to keep warm. There are mitts next to the stove. Grab those for me, would
you?”

“Sure.”

He
continued talking while I put the oven gloves on. “I need you to keep an
eye on her for me while she is at school. You know how being one of the Cursed
works. She should have started transforming right away, yet she still appears
to be human. If you see her changing…get her away from everyone else and call
me. You can tell her whatever you need to. I don’t care. Keep her calm and let
her know what’s happening. Can you do that for me?”

“Of
course. You’re not going to warn her in advance?”

He
sighed and sat down on one of the barstools on the other side of the kitchen
island. “Trust me, I thought about it. I wanted to. But… She is my little
girl. I want her to have a normal life as long as possible. Now that she can
see, she might even start enjoying it a bit more. Since we moved back to Cedar
Hills, you’ve been the highlight of her existence.”

“That’s
sad,” slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

“Conrad.
Don’t sell yourself short. For a Fallen, you’re a pretty impressive kid.”

“Yeah,
well I’m still learning and screwing things up.”

“Excuse
me?”

And
then it dawned on me. Shannon and the other Chosen at the school knew I wasn’t
really a Fallen. That I had been born human. Mr. James didn’t. I didn’t know
whether to tell him or not. I was saved by Jessie coming into the kitchen.

“I
thought I heard your voice. You’d rather hang out with my dad than me, huh? I
see how it is.”

Her
joke, while it couldn’t be farther from the truth, made me smile.

“I
roped him into helping me with dinner. Plus, I wanted to thank him once again.
I offered to buy him a car, but he refused.”

“Daddy!”

He
chuckled and started putting dishes on the table. I used his momentary lapse in
observation to sneak in a Jessie hug. She took it one step further and kissed
my neck.

“Knock
it off, you two, and come and eat.”

“Don’t
have to tell me twice. Ribs!” Jessie squealed like a little girl and ran
to the table, leaving me with a Jessie-shaped hole in my arms.

I
joined them and sat next to my girlfriend, keeping her between me and her
father. He had mellowed, but I was still dating his daughter. He could turn on
me at any moment.

We
ate, mostly in silence. There was the occasional question from Mr. James that
was responded to either by Jessie or myself. It came out as mostly grunts since
both of us usually had mouthfuls of rib meat. We talked about school, homework,
and anything else he could think of to keep the conversation going. I was happy
just sitting with Jessie. Occasionally, I would make sure my fingers were free
of barbeque sauce, and reach over to touch her leg or her arm. Every time I did
it, I was given a small smile and blush.

When
we finished, I offered to help with the dishes and ushered Jessie back to the
living room. I really wanted her to take it easy. Mostly, I wanted to see if
Mr. James wanted to ask me anything else.

He
didn’t wait long. “What did you mean that you were pretty new at being a
Fallen?”

“Up
until a few weeks ago, I was human.”

“Excuse
me?”

“I’m
sorry, sir. I thought you knew. The Chosen at my school knew, so I assumed you
did, too.”

“Know
what?”

“Clarisse.”

“I’m
confused. What about her?”

“I
was doing my algebra homework and cut myself, when all of a sudden I got this
crazy
notion to make a promise in my own blood…”

“You
wished to be a Fallen?” I could see the disgust on his face.

“Not
my crowning achievement, but yes. When Clarisse showed up to grant my wish, I
panicked. I didn’t want
anybody
to have my soul when I was done with it.
I thought I outsmarted them by wishing to become one of them… Now I’m not so
sure.”

“You
dove headfirst into a world you knew nothing about. While you are correct it
was not your crowning achievement, it was
very
brave.”

“That’s
me. Stupid but brave.”

“I’m
not entirely convinced it was stupid either. You could have chosen worse. You
could have ended up one of those sparkly creatures.”

I
laughed at his joke.

“Are
you two done in there yet?” Jessie’s voice could be very loud when she
wanted it to be.

“Go
watch TV with Jess. I’ll finish up in here.”

“Thank
you, sir.”

I
made my way into the living room and sat down on the big brown-leather sofa
next to Jess. She turned sideways, put her head in my lap, and stretched out
across the rest of the couch. “What if your dad comes in?”

“He
won’t. I warned him that I was in
desperate
need of boyfriend snuggles. I
also promised to behave, so don’t get any ideas,” she said with a wink.

I
sighed happily and sank back into the sofa, enjoying the closeness. I began
lazily stroking her hair and then her shoulder. I could tell she was getting
sleepy just as I could tell she was fighting it. “Are you tired?”

“No.”

“Good.
Because I missed you.”

“I
missed you, too. What are we doing tomorrow?”

“I
promised Claire we’d do a movie, but I’m yours the rest of the day.” I
felt her stiffen a little upon mentioning the movie. Jessie still had Claire
slash Clarisse issues. I didn’t like her being jealous. Not when she was my
entire world. “Would you like to have dinner with me and my family
tomorrow?”

She
relaxed a bit. “If Daddy will let me out of the house.” She sat up
for a moment. “Dad! Can I have dinner at Connor’s tomorrow?” Her
voice was still reverberating through my head when he said okay.
“Yes,” she said simply and lay back down. I resumed my shoulder
strokes.

“Jess?”

“Mmmm.
Yeah?”

“You
know–”

“If
you mention Claire and how she’s only a friend, I’ll punch you. I know. It
doesn’t mean it doesn’t get my panties in a bunch, but I know. I should
probably rest up before going over to your house anyway.”

Chapter 7

“Connor!
Claire is here!”

Mom’s
voice echoed up the stairs and into my room. I glanced over at the clock next
to my bed. It wasn’t even noon yet. The movie didn’t start until one. She was
way early. “Coming!”

I
jumped off my bed, shut off my Playstation, and dug through my dresser for a
clean shirt to put on. Luckily I hadn’t spilled any barbeque sauce on the jeans
I wore last night. I had slept in them, too. At least I was partially dressed.
I turned to head into the bedroom when Clarisse walked into my room. I let out
a little
eep
, which she found highly amusing.

“Your
mom said you’ve been up forever and were dressed.”

“Yeah,
well Mom was wrong.”

“So
get ready.”

I
sighed and opened up my shirt to put my arms through it when Clarisse gave a
little hiss.

“What
is it?”

“You’re
not going to be able to pass for a sophomore for much longer.”

“What
are you talking about? I am a sophomore.”

“Have
you looked at yourself lately?”

“Huh?”

“Bathroom,”
was all she cryptically said.

I
headed there with her right behind me. I flipped on the switch, looked at
myself in the mirror, and then at her like she had gone completely loony.
“What?”

“Connor.
Look
at yourself. I turned and did it again. It was just me. Sure my
hair was a little longer than usual, and a little lighter in color… “Oh,
shit.”

The
change had been so gradual, I hadn’t even noticed it. When you see yourself
every day, you don’t notice changes. Even drastic ones. My hair was a
lot
longer than it was only a few weeks ago. That wasn’t the worst part. I thought
it was getting lighter, but it was actually losing its color, bleaching itself
almost white. I lowered my gaze to my shirtless chest. Gone was the little boy
bird chest. I actually had pectoral muscles. My skin, while pale, was nearly
flawless. The only thing that was
somewhat
normal, was the utter lack of
chest hair. It made me look a little younger. Maybe the Fallen didn’t grow
chest hair. That would be nice since my father looked like he was wearing a
bear pelt when he took his shirt off. He even had back hair. Back hair I said.
Shudder.

“Holy
shit,” I said again.

“Exactly,”
Clarisse said and ran her finger over my left pectoral.

“Stop
it!” I slapped her hand away and she giggled.

“Don’t
blame me. My little Fallen is growing up. Do you have hair in funny places
yet?”

“Oh,
my God. Would you please stop?” My face felt like it was on fire. She was
enjoying this a little too much. “What the hell am I going to do? I can’t
believe nobody has noticed yet.”

“Maybe
they have and are just chalking it up to puberty.”

My
face went from “on fire” to “blazing inferno.”

“No.”

“No
what?”

“No.
Not ever. You don’t get to use that word. Never.”

She
laughed and left the bathroom. “Put your shirt on and let’s go. I’m
hungry.

“You’re
always hungry.”

“Being
evil takes a lot of energy.”

I
laughed and put my shirt on, following her back downstairs. “Bye,
Mom,” I called out to the kitchen as we left through the front door.

Clarisse’s
pink Beetle was in the driveway, still running. We got in and she backed out,
pointing us toward the mall. We drove in mostly silence until we pulled into
the parking lot.

“How
was dinner last night?”

“Nice.
We had ribs.”

“Nummy.
Anything interesting happen?”

“Mr.
James was uncharacteristically nice. That and he asked me to keep an eye on
Jessie at school. So far nothing, but he’s not convinced she won’t suddenly
sprout wings and a halo.”

“Most
fathers feel that way about their daughters.”

“No.
He thinks she might turn into a Chosen anytime now.”

“I
know, dork. I was making a joke.”

“Sorry.
Not used to that.”

That
earned me a punch in the arm as she pulled into a parking spot and killed the
engine. We exited and started walking toward the food court entrance.
“Anything else?”

“No.
Not really. Jessie asked me to do something today and got a little jealous when
I told her I was going to the movies with you.”

She
stopped a little short. “She’s still worried about us, huh?”

“Yeah.
She knows deep down in her heart that we’re just friends, but she still gets a
little growly when we’re together. I’ve told her a million times I don’t feel
that way about you.”

She
gave me a strange look and started walking again. “Yeah. Like I could ever
be into worms.”

“I
think I told her that, too. Although I said it a little

differently.”

“Ha.
I’m sure you did. How did you say it?”

I
pulled open the door and held it open for Clarisse, letting the warmer mall-air
wash over us. “I think I said that you were way out of my league.”

She
stopped midstride. “Don’t ever think that, Connor. You’re a pretty amazing
person.” Shaking off the warm and fuzzy moment, she walked through the
door.

“Thanks,”
I said and followed her inside.

“I’m
sick of salad. What do you want to eat?”

“Anything
but a pretzel. How about burgers?”

“Sounds
good to me. What’s with the sudden aversion to pretzels? I thought they were
the main staple of your diet.”

“They
were until Shannon started working there…”

“Shanria
Shannon?”

I
nodded. “Yeah. She freaked me out yesterday.”

Clarisse
spun on me and looked angrier than I had seen her in a long time. “Did she
hurt you? If she did, I swear I will send her back to her own plane with my sword!”

The
other patrons of the food court stopped, glanced at angry Clarisse, and sidled
away, seeking other restaurants to dine at. “Er… No. She didn’t attack
me. With a weapon. More like with her lips.”

“What?”

“Yeah.
As I said, it was weird. One minute she’s giving me free food, warm ones right
out of the oven even, and then as I’m leaving, she comes flying across the
mall, carries me to one of the alcoves by the exit, and locks lips with me. I
thought she hated the Fallen and me in particular.”

“So
did I. That is…most unsettling. Stay away from her.”

“Planning
on it.”

“Good.
Make sure you do.”

“I
will.”

“Then
I’ll let you live.” She turned and walked up to the register. The girl
behind the counter looked like she wanted to run away. I didn’t blame her. I
did, too. “Double hamburger with pickles and mayo, large fries, make that
two large fries, and a coke. And whatever Mr. Casanova Rico Suave wants. Girls
like to give him free food.” She moved to the side and gestured for me to
order.

I
tried very hard not to
look
embarrassed which was a far cry from how I
was feeling at that exact moment. I kind of wanted to crawl into a hole and
die. “Yes, I’ll have the double embarrassment burger with no cheese, a
large my-friend-is-a-psycho fries, and a medium Coke.”

The
girl lost it. She started laughing as she punched in my order, took one look at
Clarisse’s face, paled, and said, “That will be $17.93.”

Clarisse
handed the girl a twenty and walked off to find a table, leaving me to wait for
the food. The girl handed me the change and gave me a small smile.

“Thanks,”
I said.

“Jealous
girlfriend, huh?”

“How
did you know?” I was a little perplexed.

“You
can see it in her face. She’s not too happy with you at the moment,” she
said as she nodded toward Clarisse.

“Oh.
No. The jealous girlfriend is at home. She’s just my friend who got angry
because another girl kissed me yesterday.”

I
suddenly realized I probably said too much. The girl gave me a disgusted look
and turned to get our food. I just hoped she didn’t spit in it. “Here you
go, Rico.” She set the tray down and walked away.

Her
attitude made me realize two things. One, I felt like shit because I understood
how Jessie felt. Yes, Clarisse and I were friends, but if Jessie went to the
movies with anybody else who just happened to have a penis, I would probably be
grumbly, too. I owed her a big apology tonight and maybe more of an
explanation. The second thing I realized was that the universe sucked. It
totally wasn’t my fault that Shannon kissed me and yet I still felt bad because
it happened.

I
picked up our food and wandered over to the table. I set Clarisse’s food in
front of her and kept mine on the tray. I sat down with a sigh.

“What’s
the matter with you?”

“Just
thinking how unfair life is sometimes. I mean here I was, just trying to leave
the mall, and a girl runs up to me and kisses me. Now you’re mad at me, the
girl that works at the Burger Shack is pissed at me, and if Jessie ever found
out I wouldn’t give you a nickel on my chances of survival. Hell, the bigger bet
would be on who would kill me first, her or her father.”

“Connor,
I’m sorry. I had no reason to get upset with you. I apologize.”

“What?”

“I’m
not repeating it, so eat your embarrassment burger and shut up.”

I
laughed. “Thanks. That helped.”

“No.
Seriously. Hurry. The movie starts in twenty.”

*
* *

An
hour into the movie, Clarisse put her hand on my knee. I tried to chalk it up
to us finishing the popcorn and Clarisse needing something to wipe the butter
off of her hand on, but I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t want to cause a scene by
picking up her hand and moving it off my leg, either. It would definitely cause
an all-out battle in the middle of the theater. I did the only thing I could
do; I ignored it.

I
didn’t get to pick the movie. We were in the middle of some supernatural
thriller about demons and angels. Clarisse had laughed through the first half,
but we had gotten to a particularly steamy part of the movie involving the main
character, an ex-priest who had been caught in an affair, and twin demon girls,
whom he had no idea were actually winged succubae. I tried to chalk it up to
the sex scene when Clarisse started rubbing my leg and moving a little closer
to me. Her hand was getting harder to ignore.

“Um,
Clarisse…”

“What?”

“Hand…”

She
looked down and back up at me. “Oops. Sorry,” she said but didn’t
move it, just stopped rubbing. I was half-grateful.

By
the time the movie was over, I was sweaty and so ready to go that I felt sick.
I silently reminded myself never to go to the movies with Clarisse again. Ever.
I swear she enjoyed making me suffer.

“Well,
that was better than I thought it was going to be. The demon twins were pretty
hot.”

I
did a double take. “You think women are attractive?”

“Some
of them.”

“Huh.
Nice to know.”

“Why?
You planning on meeting any succubae?”

“No.
I think I already know one.”

I
fought the urge to do a little dance when I saw Clarisse blush. “You
suck.”

“Just
getting you back for the hand thing.”

“Did
it really bother you?”

“More
than you know.”

“Good.
Don’t kiss other girls. Ever.”

“I
won’t,” I said as we made our way to her car.

“Since
I have your word, you don’t need to tell Jessie about Shannon. Unless you want
to.”

“I
actually thought about it long and hard… I think I’m going to. It wouldn’t be
fair to
not
tell her. While I wouldn’t be lying, it wouldn’t be truthing
either.”

“You’re
growing up, worm. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when she punches you in the face,
though.”

“Wouldn’t
think of it.”

*
* *

“Uh
oh.”

Clarisse
looked over at me from the driver’s seat as we pulled up to my house.
“What?”

“That’s
Jessie’s dad’s car. She’s here already. I told her to come over at four. She’s
early.”

“That’s
a bad thing?”

“I
think it’s more of an ‘I want to inadvertently check on Connor coming home with
his friend’ type of thing.”

“Ahhh.
Gotcha. Want me to come in and pretend like you weren’t all over me at the
movies?”

“What!”

“Relax.
I’m kidding. About the all over me thing any way. If you want, I will come in
and act natural so she can see it’s no big deal when we hang out.”

“Do
you think it would help?”

“Probably.
Most likely. Shit, I don’t know, but it couldn’t hurt.”

“Okay,
then yes. Thank you.”

“Just
don’t be a nervous ass when we get inside. Everything will be fine.”

“Alright.”

She
parked on the road since the driveway was full of SUV. “Gosh, only sixteen
and you’re already having an affair,” she whispered right before we got
out of the car.

“Damn
it, Clarisse,” I hissed under my breath and opened my car door, wondering
at the logic of letting Clarisse within five football fields of my girlfriend.

She
giggled behind my back as we entered the front door. Everyone was seated in the
living room. Jessie and her dad were sitting on our orange and yellow plaid
couch, while Mom and Dad occupied the other two chairs. “Hi, everyone. Hi,
Jess,” I said and smiled at her. It wasn’t forced either. Every time I saw
her I got the goofiest grin on my face. She returned it until she saw Clarisse
enter behind me.

“Hi,
Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan. Hi, Jessica,” Clarisse said.

“Hi,
Claire!” My mom stood and gave her a hug. “Come on in and sit down.”

“I
need to get going anyway. Conrad can have my seat.” Mr. James stood and patted
me on the shoulder as he walked by me.