Soul Eater (8 page)

What exactly did happen?

Mentally and physically exhausted, she sank into her father's leather desk chair. She was caught off guard by the sound of crinkling paper. Jenna quickly got up and pushed down on the seat cushion with her hand. She could feel nothing. Getting on her hands and knees she looked beneath the chair. Sure enough, there was a large manila envelope taped to the bottom of the chair.

Carefully she peeled the tape away until the envelope was free. Inside was what appeared to be some type of forensic sample, some pictures along with the negatives. There was also a receipt from Taylor's One Hour Photo.

The drifter's pictures! Hadn't old man Hessler said the man had been snapping pictures? Jenna scanned over the photographs. At first they were just photos of trees, waterfalls, and such. Then she came across a picture of what she first took to be black smoke but on closer scrutiny she could make out a face. It was Gordon Findley's face.

Had Gordon been possessed by that demon? Had all the people in this town been touched by its evil in one-way or another?

Startled by a sudden crash from the back of the house, Jenna stifled a scream. With one hand resting on the butt of the pistol inside her jacket, she crept to the window and parted the curtains just enough to see into the backyard. Jenna was relieved when she saw that it was only the wind sending the unlatched screen door back and forth.

A flash of movement caught her eye and she peered deeper into the darkness. Tina stood in the backyard, bathed in a bluish, ethereal light. Her pink pajamas billowed in the wind and her blond hair hung like strings from her head.

A bluish tint touched her lips and the image brought to mind some of those old movies about zombies. In the time it took Jenna to blink her eyes, the specter had moved ten feet closer.

Just to Tina's right was Banks. He stood still, staring at her with soulless eyes. Jenna backed away from the curtains, her breath froze in her throat. Jenna's screams ripped though the house when the phone on her father's desk began to ring.

There was no phone service to the house!

Her hand trembled as she slowly reached for the phone and snatched it up. She put her ear to the phone but said nothing. On the other end, there was only static, and then a faint voice.

"Don't you always make sure your drawers are shut Jenna?” She had to struggle to make out the words beneath the static. “I love you, baby doll!” This time the voice was unmistakably Brody's.

"No!” Jenna screamed, dropping the phone from her hand. At that moment her pain was so intense that she felt her heart ripping apart. It wasn't enough it had taken her family.

Jenna ran back to the window. They were closer now, only a few feet from the house. Now there were more of them.

"You're not fooling me!” she screamed. “Those things are not the people I knew!"

Leaving the window, Jenna went straight to her room where she'd noticed the open drawer. She pulled it open with such force that the whole thing came out onto the floor. The one thing she noticed was the stopwatch she'd given her dad for his birthday. It was still ticking loud and strong.

There was only one problem, it was moving backwards.

"Go back,” an inner voice whispered.

From outside she heard a loud commotion and shattering glass. Jenna let her mind meld with the watch. The room filled with a piercing white light and she felt as if she was falling.

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Blinking rapidly, Jenna stared around the room. The sun was just coming up, straining to chase away the darkness. She sat at her dressing table, the watch still in her hands. Now the time was moving forward normally.

Looking down at her feet, she noticed that she was wearing slippers, the same ones she had worn when she was a teen. Down the hall she could hear the shower running and her dad, whistling like he always did while showering. Hadn't he come home to shower that morning after being call into work in the middle of the night?

She caught the sound of cupboard doors opening and shutting in the kitchen. Reaching down, she picked up the drawer and put it back on its track. She then placed the watch inside and shoved it closed. Getting to her feet, she stepped slowly to her bedroom door. Looking back at her dressing table, she noticed that she hadn't closed the drawer completely.

"Jenna, are you coming to eat?” Sharon Claremont called to her.

This couldn't be real. It couldn't be happening.
Her head felt as if it would explode. Stepping into the kitchen, she stared wide-eyed at her mother.

"Good Lord girl, you look as if you've seen a ghost."

"Where's Tina?” Jenna asked.

"She left early, she...."

"Had an exam at school,” Jenna finished for her.

"Are you feeling okay?” Sharon reached over to feel her forehead for fever.

"What is today?"

"Well it's Friday."

"No, the date."

"June 8th, you know that. Your birthday was just a few days ago.” Her mother's forehead wrinkled, expressing her confusion.

Jenna's thoughts were in a whirlwind. Somehow, someway she'd been sent back to a time before her nightmare began. Or was any of that ever real?

Her father would come out of the bathroom any moment now, and then the phone would ring. Just like a movie she'd watched a dozen times, the scene unfolded just like she knew it would.

How long did she have to change it, twelve, maybe fourteen hours? Jenna ran back to her room.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?” Sharon asked as she was leaving the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry,” she called over her shoulder.

Stalling for time until she knew her parents were gone, she got into the shower and dressed. Jenna stayed in her room until she heard her mother's car pull out of the driveway. She then raced into her sister's room, hoping against all odds that she would have Brody's number in there somewhere.

After going through all of Tina's drawers, she was just thinking she might have to come up with another plan when she spied her sister's purse sitting on her nightstand.

That was right. Tina had come home that day complaining that she'd been in such a hurry she'd forgotten her purse. Inside was Tina's little address book. Jenna quickly found Brody's number and wrote it on her hand.

Making a beeline for the phone in the living room, she stopped short of dialing the number. It dawned on her that in the current time he doesn't really know her. What could she say to him?

Shaking, she dialed the number. It rang several times and she was almost surprised when she heard his voice come on the line.

"Hello,"

"Is this Brody Silver Wolf?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"This is Jenna Claremont. I have to talk to you about the Soul Eater,” she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

There was a long silence and when he spoke, she could detect the caution in his voice. “How do you know about that?"

"We need to talk. It's a matter of life and death. Can you meet me somewhere?"

He cleared his throat before answering. “Sure, where?"

"The mine on Eerie Mountain,” she told him, not wanting to waste any time.

"That's too dangerous."

"Bring your gun. You're a police officer aren't you?"

"How did you know that?"

"You know how I know. You also know that your little brother will be in grave danger very soon. My family is, as well, so let's not waste anymore time, please."

"I'll pick you up in front of your house in a half hour,” he told her before hanging up.

Time passed agonizingly slow and Jenna could do nothing but nervously pace the floor. Finally she heard the sound of a motorbike and he pulled up in front of the house on a motorcycle. She wasted no time jumping on the back of the bike.

"Do you know what you're going to do when you get up there?” he asked, twisting his head to look at her.

"We'll need some explosives."

"I see you've done your homework on the local Indian lore.” He laughed. “But where do you suppose we are going to get explosives?"

"It's a mine, isn't it? Don't they use explosives?"

Brody looked doubtful, but he said no more. The road was smoother than she remembered it, so it took them little time to reach the mine. As soon as the bike came to a stop Jenna jumped off. Brody wasn't far behind her.

"Don't you think you should tell me what's going on?” he asked her.

"We have to seal the entrance, remember?"

"That's what legend says, but I'm a police officer and just can't go around blowing things up."

Jenna glared at him. “Well I promise you in a few hours you will have no doubt about this, so please help me. Go see if there's any dynamite in one of those buildings."

She pointed to several small wooden structures that resembled shacks. While he was gone, Jenna stood at the entrance to the cave, focusing her energy on the darkness within. A few moments later he returned with exactly what they needed.

"Is that enough to seal up the cave?” she asked.

"It might be. I'm not sure since I am not an explosives expert,” he said with a wink.

Jenna was amazed and somewhat disappointed in herself that even in the midst of such danger, he could still send her heart racing. “Does this thing only come out at night?"

"So legend says, but you must remember they're only legends."

"You must have belief in it or you wouldn't be here. So what does it say, exactly?” she asked.

"It is an evil spirit or demon if you will. It has no real physical form, but can manifest from its environment or through the souls that it devours. It cannot come out into the sunlight, but it can work through those who it has possessed during daylight hours."

"In that case we better get busy before we get caught by the Sinister Police."

He gave her a funny look but said nothing. He walked to the entrance. “Is anyone in there?” he called out loudly.

At first there was only an echo of his voice, but deep in the cave there was a sound. A low rumbling growl that grew louder.

"It knows we're here,” he said as he was busy placing the explosives along the interior wall of the cave.

Jenna continued to focus her energy on the cave, imagining a pure white light that would keep the evil at bay. She could feel it pulling at her mind, scratching the surface to enter. The growling grew louder and the inky darkness of the cave swirled with an even darker shadow.

"Hurry,” she whispered.

"I'm trying,” he said as he lit the fuse.

He ran. Grabbing her hand, they scurried a good distance from the entrance. Sliding to the ground, he shielded her body with his.

When it blew, several boulders rolled down the face of the mountain. Jenna just closed her eyes and prayed that they wouldn't be in their path. The rumbling and shaking of the earth seemed to go on and on, but she knew it really only lasted seconds.

All was silent. The two of them lifted their heads to peek at the cave's entrance. It was completely blocked off with mounds of stone and earth. Only then did Jenna let herself breathe a sigh of relief.

Twisting around, she looked into Brody's eyes. She couldn't resist leaning over to place a kiss on his lips. He needed no encouragement. He pulled her close to him, delivering to her mouth, a slow sensuous kiss.

"I love you,” she whispered.

Brody pulled back, startled by her words. Jenna just smiled secretively.

He stood and pulled Jenna to her feet. “Let's get out of here."

As they were walking Jenna felt her world go black and then there was the sense of falling. When she was once again able to focus, she was sitting at a dressing table, in Brody's bedroom.

No, it wasn't just his bedroom, but
their
bedroom. For the expanse of a moment, she was unsure of what was real and what was illusion.

What had just happened? Had the horror she'd just lived through been a dream? And if it wasn't a dream had she just lost ten years of her life? But no, she remembered every detail of her life for the past ten years.

That night she'd gone home and told her father that she was going to marry Brody Silver Wolf. He had yelled and hollered that he'd be damned if he'd see his daughter married to Brody. Her father had settled down a bit when he had discovered that Brody was an officer of the law. Less than a year later her dad walked her down the aisle.

She could clearly recall how proud her father and Brody had been when she graduated from the police academy and the day she'd given birth to their first child. Her mother had been on one side of the bed while Brody was on the other side. They each held a hand as she brought her precious son into the world.

Brody walked into the room, looking as devastatingly handsome as he ever had. He immediately saw the tears streaming down her face. Pulling her out of the chair he took her into his arms. “What's wrong, baby doll?"

"Do you know what today is?” she asked him.

Pulling back slightly, Brody lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. “Yes, I do. Ten years ago today I found my life when you told me that you loved me."

Jenna didn't want to tell him that they had all just narrowly escaped with their souls. “Make love to me,” she pleaded.

Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. She watched his clothes come off and was in awe at how his body could still take her breath away. Leaning over her, he kissed her as he was pulling off her panties.

His arousal brushed up against her stomach and between her legs she felt a flood of sizzling desire. The past no longer mattered, only the moment. She reached out to touch him. Wrapping her hand around his cock, she could sense his throbbing need. Spreading her legs to him, she helped guide him into her wet and waiting pussy.

No matter how many times she felt him enter her, she could never get enough of that sensation when he first filled her flesh with his stiff desire. Their lovemaking was gentle and slow, building in intensity until they reached that peak of sexual excitement together.