My Soul to Save (Soul Keeper) (3 page)

“Screw you Hale!” Ari
blasts.

“Can it Ari.”

I ignore all of the whining and finally get them out the door, miraculously. The same black and tan, large as a bear, dog assumes his rightful place by my side as we begin our jog through central park. This dog has been stalking me since I arrived in New York.

"
Mutt magnet," Ari huffs out already out of breath. Elena slides a branch under Ari's feet, and the witch goes flying. I cringe at the thud her body makes as it plows into the pavement. I jog over to her and help her up, giving Elena a bemused glance. There's no way she's a real angel.

"Karma's a real bitch hmm?"

Ari examines her scraped knees and elbows and decides she'll skip on the run. We have to wait ten minutes while Mrs. Rycroft returns a battered Ari. I shoot Sam a text.

"Whatcha
wearing?"
My phone buzzes seconds later with a picture. A sleepy shirtless Adonis grins back at me tangled up in his sheets. Good grief, it makes me wish I was the one going back to the hotel. Sam's body should definitely not be alone under those sheets.

Caitlyn glances over at my phone as the screen times out. "Holy hell, your boyfriend has a six pack." Inara glares into her
like she may have well dropped the "f" bomb. Her dark curls spring around her face like a basket full of Slinkies.

"And yet he lives on Doritos and Dr.Pepper, wish I were so lucky."

Mrs. Rycroft finally returns, and our morning jog gets underway. The city disappears from site, swallowed up by the lush trees in minutes. I wish I had half the morning to run out here. These girls will probably wimp out before we reach the next bend.

My thoughts keep drifting back to Elijah and his good-bye. He said they were going to take him. Where?
He may not be himself? I try and fathom the depth of what that means for him. How does someone go from being a wholly good and noble being, an angel, to being a minister for darkness? The only person that I know who has the answer to that is Jesson. I must find out how to help Elijah.

Taylor is the first to turn to jello. Mrs. Rycroft turns us around,
and we head back to the hotel after only fifteen minutes.

"Sorry Brennen, I
'm addicted to my bed," Taylor says holding on to my shoulder for support.

"Slow deep breaths Taylor." She pushes her glasses back up her
sweat cover nose.

The stray dog growls at a man sitting on a park bench and starts barking his head off. I blink into the other realm and confirm he's a demon. They’re everywhere. The guy fluffs out his newspaper as if he has better things to do than torment me. No, I'm sure they will find it far more entertaining to
murder me with the hand of the newly fallen angel they've procured, or my own boyfriend for that matter.

I like this dog
, he's handy. I am going to ask Sam to bring him back home so I can try and find him a home before I leave for college. There's no way I can leave him here after he tried to save my life.

*~*~*

After the festivities are all over with, we return to the hotel to enjoy a few hours of relaxation before we catch our flight home. We're going home with first place honors. Mr. Potter is still beaming from ear to ear.
I tell the girls I’m going to the hotel’s spa for a foot massage.

I knock on Sam's door,
and he snatches me up so quickly I think I have whip lash. He kisses me tenderly.

"Miss me?"

He smells fresh from the shower, and his hair is still damp.

"You know I did." Sam is eager for me to tell him about all of the details of my day, and as we veg out on the bed, I can't help
but feel loved.

"So
, I have a favor to ask you," I say rolling over to my back.

"Why do you sound like your about to ask m
e for my kidney? I mean I'd give it to you in a heartbeat but..." I laugh at his willingness to donate organs so freely.

"Sam, no I just need you to bring something home for me."

"Did you go overboard on the souvenirs?"

"Sort of." I smile.

Sam follows me outside. The barrage of city noise slams into us like a wrecking ball. The dog is sitting right where I left him this morning. I buy him another hot dog, and he inhales it.

"
Geeze dog, chew first."

"You want me to transport that small horse all the way back to Sandbridge?"

"Please, I won't be able to sleep at night if I think about him all alone, and every time I think about calling animal control, he disappears." The dog looks up at Sam with his head tilted to one side, large brown eyes that could beg their way out of a felony if need be, capture his heart.

"Oh,
all right."

"Oh thank
you!" I plant a kiss on Sam's cheek. Inara scratches the dog’s chin. I smile as his eyes roll lazily back in pleasure.

"He said the man with
the blue eyes called him Brutus."

Inara clues me in to the fact that she can apparently speak
fluent dog. I find the fact interesting and weird. I mull the name over in my head. This small horse can have no other name.

"Brutus, that's what we'll call him."

Finally back at home, Sam sets my bag down by the door and kisses me goodbye. He’s already managed to fly home
and
pick me up at the airport on time. I'm so happy to be home I could hug the front door.

“Brutus is in a kennel on the patio with food and water.”

“Thanks again. Call me when you get home.”

“I always do.” I watch the lights of his truck back out of my drive-way, missing him already. I check on Brutus
, and find him sound asleep in his make shift bed. Elena and Inara are already raiding the kitchen, while I slip off to my bedroom with my bag.

I pull out a slinky silk camisole
, and flannel shorts to change into.
I missed you my pillow, perfectly soft and plump, I should have brought you with me
. I lay there for what feels like hours but in reality it's only been twenty minutes, but I can't fall asleep. I switch the lamp on and fumble for Elijah’s diary. I’d begun to read it on the short plane ride and now I can't seem to put it down. I find the entry from my sixteenth birthday where I left off.

Journal of E.M             
January
1st, 2011

I can't get over how
beautiful
you're growing up to be. Your friends in Japan are taking you out to celebrate. They want you to give sushi a try, you think eating raw fish will be extraordinarily repulsive, but you're too kind to suggest something else. You pinch your nose and gobble down your first bite.

 
I laugh because you find that you love it. You want to try something else now. They sneak you a shot of Sake, now two, and I begin to worry. Before long, you're dancing with them. A man in the corner is watching you. He has a fascination with young American girls and I sense something bad about him. I'm rarely wrong.

I whisper in your ear, "It's time to go home." I hope you can hear me. You keep dancing. Your long waves of hair
move
like kelp in the sea, brushing over your hips in ways that that make me wish I was dancing with you. Well, why not? You can't see me. I move next to you, placing my arms around your waist and we move to the beat. I can almost feel the heat from your skin touching mine.

The man moves from his seat and thinks he's going to join the dance party. He's drunk, so I trip him and he bangs his head on a nearby table. The bus boys drag him out to the street and tell him to go home. But he doesn't, he waits outside for you.

You and the girls go to
leave
and he emerges from behind a parked car. He slurs, happy birthday to you in Japanese, and you walk around him and smile.

I'm right next to you, ready to
end this creep. He goes to grab your rear end as you pass him, but I seize him by the hair and wal
k him straight into the street lamp. His head rings on the metal like a gong. You and the girls giggle at the sight of it. I love to hear you laugh. ~

I remember that, my dad pulled up a second later on his motorcycle and took me home. He left the next day for his mission and I never saw him alive again. I remember how my arms wrapped
around his waist and held on for the ride. I was always so grateful that we got that last night together. He gave me a short tour of the city and treated me to coffee and cake at a local bakery. I'm pretty sure he knew I'd been drinking, but he never said a word. He liked to give me the benefit of the doubt. He would say, “Baby girl, mistakes are yours to make in life, and my job is to make sure they’re few and far between. So there ya go.”

I drift off to sleep remembering
the warmth of his back as I lay my cheek against it, and the clean scent of his Hugo Boss cologne. I miss him so much. As I flip the journal shut, a photo falls out. I reach down under my bed for it, momentarily creeped out by childish fears of monsters lurking beneath my mattress. 

I snatch my hand back up before the murderer / monster / demon – can hatchet it off. The picture is of Sam and me at homecoming, along with Elijah and Ari? Wait what? Whoa!

Proof positive that my past was scooped out like a litter box, only bits and pieces are real, the rest has been left to swim around my brain as imposters.  

*~*~*

The next day
, Emily and I go shopping for prom dresses in Newport. She pulls in front of a dress store that boasts promises of sequins and rhinestones. The pressure is on to find the perfect dress. It has to be classy and elegant, timeless really. Now that I know what the future has in store for me, pictures from this night will likely get leaked and if I don't look every bit the part of future president, I'll be bashed by Joan Rivers on down to Carsen Kressley or versions of them in twenty years.

An older woman approaches us like a vulture circling over a carcass. Her lips are outlined in red, way past their natural borders, and thick black liner rings her eyes several times over. "How may I help you ladies today?"

Emily goes to tell the lady just what we’re looking for, but I interrupt. "We're just browsing, thank you." The woman’s artificial brow raises so high I think it may be touching her scalp. She waves her palm over the store like she had the magical power to display only the most hideous of dresses for our shopping pleasure. The first store is a bust. We don't even try anything on.

"We waited too long, everything descent has been picked clean," Emily says.

"Come on, I think there's a Neiman's about ten minutes from here."

"I can't afford that store Bren."

"Don't worry I have a coupon you can use."

"You mean your Discover card Bren? No."
 

"We'll try a couple more places first. But if it’s anything like this one, you are going to
Niemen’s. My grandmother left me with an obscene amount of money, and if I can’t treat my best friend to her one and only prom dress then what good is it?" Emily nods her head and rattles my shoulders in the process.

We hit a few more places. The last shop in the city has a few things we try on. I find a pretty pink dress that looks flattering, but I didn't really want to be in pink. I want something that will make Sam drool in his socks.

We both emerge from the dressing room. Emily is unrecognizable in a red satin dress that hugs her curves. Jesson will go berserk over her in that dress.

"Oh, Bren that dress looks beautiful on you."

"I don't really like it. I don't think I can commit to it just yet. You however, look like a knockout,” I say.

"You think?" Emily has lost more weight and although she was beautiful before, I think now she’s fully accepted her new body and can't wait to show it off. Even when she was full figured she would have worn a form fitting dress and flaunted what God gave her. That’s what I liked about Emily. She was confident in who she was inside and out.

"Em's, your stunning." Her eyes flutter up as she tries to stave off tears.

"Thanks, you don't think it's over the top?"

"Hon, I'm from Texas. It’s go big or go home!"

"Speaking of, are you seriously gonna let Sam move down there all by himself?" I cringe as if hearing it from her lips, cemented my future of isolation and abandonment into the bedrock.
 

I shrug. "He won't have it any other way."

She pays for her dress and then we make our way to Neiman's, still on the hunt for my dress.

"I'm just saying, I find it hard to believe that Sam is going to Baylor just because it's some big family tradition. Maybe you should talk to his dad."

"I don't know, Em's I think Baylor is the best spot for Sam to be so that he can be an Oncologist. He wants to intern one day at MD. Anderson."

"He can still go to med school there, I'm just saying, what's his excuse for going there for undergrad?"

"I don't know." That's a dang good question. I don’t know the reasoning that’s in his head. All I know is the Keepers can’t wait to pack him up and ship him off, and get him as far away from me as they can. It’s why they denied him acceptance into Harvard, and why they made his dad go broke overnight practically, so that they would have no other choice.

I inhale the scent of money as we walk into the brightly lit store. I would normally never shop anywhere so extravagant, but my two sidekicks here keep telling me this is where I need to shop to find the perfect dress for the occasion.

I feel like I'm already dressing for the part of my unfathomable destiny. They help me pick out several to try on. "Plum will make your eyes pop." "No, gold will." They argue in my ear about the details for several minutes. They've sucked all the fun out of day and now I just want to buy the next dress that fits.

Ugh, none of these are right either. I should have shopped online months ago. God help me when I do get married, I am going to turn into bride-zilla for sure. I make my way to the counter with the least hideous dress. It’s a teal peacock themed little number. At least I feel sassy in it.

"You must be her," the young woman at the register sighs out.

"Excuse me?"
 I ask ready to be back home ten minutes ago.

"What's your name?" the sales clerk asks. I look to my guardians, they shrug as if they don't have a clue.

"Brennen Hale"

"I knew it had to be you
. He said your eyes would put the stars to shame." I glance around the store and wonder what kind of prank someone is playing on me now.

"Who?"

"I don't know his name, but he left a gift for you, said you'd be by to get it today. He was tall. His own eyes were something altogether... Well anyway, he was unbelievably gorgeous. You’re a lucky girl to have someone like that." From under the counter she produces a large white box with a red bow.

My first thought is,
it's a bomb
. I mean that is the kind of luck I have right?  It wouldn't be the first time the evil ones have taken to fire to try and extinguish me once and for all. Of course, such a unique death would come with a bright red bow attached, because that’s just how they roll.

Elena leans over it and listens. Ha, see! I'm not the only one who thinks the worst. She must take a short trip to the future. I watch closely as she blurs in and out of sight, like some stellar strobe light. Her head bounces back up and she nods for me to cautiously proceed.

"Did Sam arrange all this?" Emily wonders. Nope, not Sam. I shrug knowing full well Elijah is the culprit here.

I pull apart the silky ribbon and lift the lid. Piles of tissue are folded over it. I finally find the prize. Layers and layers of snow white organza feel like heaven on a stick, in my hands. It has a low cut neckline and a gold beaded belt. It’s simple really, but somehow extraordinary.

"Oh Bren, it's a work of art," Emily cries out. She and the sales woman herd me into the dressing room to change. I'm surprised they haven't stripped me down right next to the half-naked mannequin already.  The dress has a barely noticeable print of gold feathers falling all around it, as if the angels above were having a pillow fight.

"It's perfect. The dress makes me look like some mythological Greek goddess."

"Well, who sent it? Is there a card? Oh it had to be Sam. He's so romantic. I wonder how he knew you'd shop here." Great, how am I going to explain this one away? I look to Elena for help. A smirk sits on her face as if it's a permanent fixture to her perfectly formed lips.

"No card. If Sam didn't send it
, I don't know who on earth did." Hell's not on earth technically, right?  

"Well we'd better get back to your house, they'll be there soon. Oh, but we need shoes and jewelry still. We need to hurry." The guys want to meet up and hash out prom details with us since we're all going together. I nod, I can't wait to see Sam, and I nee
d to pick Jesson's brain for a way to help Elijah.

“I’ll just text Sam that we need a couple more hours.”

“Guys have it easy. They show up to Rent-a-Tux and leave five minutes later, complete.”

“Yep but they do it all for us. You know it’s the worst five minutes of their life.” I retort and Emily giggles.

“I wish I could tell if Jesson asked me because he’s interested romantically. He gives off no vibes either way.”

“I would take it solely as a friendship thing until he makes it as clear as day.” She nods like that is the last thing she will do but she'll never tell me that. I hope he doesn’t wind up hurting her. I may have to talk to him tonight.

I fall in love with a pair of white strappy heels that have rhinestones studded in gold. They’ll look perfect with the dress.

“How about these drop earrings.” Emily holds up gold feather ear rings.

“They’re pretty.”

I pick out a pair of Swarovski smoke colored earrings for Emily and she fawns over them. All in all we ended up having a fun time being absolutely girly and spending ridiculous amounts of cash. I worry the entire way home about what I will tell Sam when Emily eventually blurts out the day's highlight.