The Soul Seekers (24 page)

“Guess again,” he teased, pushing slightly so that the door opened a tiny crack. I ran over to his side, shocked at our sudden luck.

“But—why? Why would they leave it open, after all that?”

“Because they’re idiots. Don’t be too happy though, what they lack in brains they make up for in cruelty.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and held me tight. “I want you to promise that if anything happens, you’ll keep running and find a way out of here alive.”

“I promise,” I lied.

“Okay. Come on.”

I made a step forward, but found myself tripping over something on the floor. I bent over to pick it up. Someone had left two hooded jackets with matching pants and little masks placed on top.

“Jesse,” I whispered, handing William his portion of the cache. I ordered myself not to think. I would do that later, but not now.

In silence, we dropped our robes and slipped on the clothes.

With care, William pushed the door open, grabbing my hand to pull me into the shadowy corridor. A form in black stood at the end of the passage; we waited a moment before sneaking behind his back into a dark cove. That’s when Marcus came sprinting around the corner, face pushed into lines of anger and distress.

“He knows,” William muttered, pulling me close.
Listen, Emma, we’re gonna have to make a run for it. There’s an alternate tunnel just to our right.

But what if he sees us?

We didn’t get through this to give up at the end, right? We’ve got to try. We’re merely Seekers who got lost in the caves. Is your mask on straight?

Sure is.

Then let’s get the hell out of here.

With a yank, he pulled me into the passage, only to make a sharp right into another tunnel. William urged me to run, and I matched his quick steps with my own.

“You okay?” he asked, still running.

“Yeah.” It was dark and freezing, the rocks sharp, and I could barely keep from falling down. But I was with him and that made everything fine.

For miles we traveled through tunnels on an upward slant; through the dark shapes and haunting figures of stone-like statues covered in perpetual darkness. Water trickled, echoed from unseen places, mice scurried at our feet, and placid pools lay like glass. Above, stone arched up like a cathedral ceiling, going on forever, taking our breaths and whispers like they were confessions to be saved for all eternity.

After what seemed like hours, we saw a light seeping through the dark—a silvery glow stretching across the uneven walls in long ribbons. It was the moon, and it told us we were close.

“Wait,” William warned, listening to the sound of voices around the next curve. We had reached the end, and were mere feet away from the wide mouth of the cave opening. He gave my appearance a long appraisal, adjusting my mask like a worried parent. I looked at him and saw brilliant blue behind the ebony mask, and smiled.

William squeezed my hand, then let go of it and walked into the cave opening, right in front of the crowd. I followed. They were talking about the eclipse, and I had to hold my tongue to keep from saying how much I despised them all. Our feet moved fast, and we were almost out. Until I saw Mom.

I knew it was her, even with the mask covering most of her face. The way she stood was her betrayal. I could see by the way her mouth pursed that she was caught in some sort of internal struggle. Still, she didn’t look the way I would have if my daughter had just been sucked dry.

I paused, breaking away from William’s steady progress, and I turned to her, giving one final stare before moving on. She looked up at me and blinked hard. Her mouth opened to speak—she knew it was me—but said nothing. With all the pain of an arrow piercing my heart I watched as her eyes narrowed and looked away. I felt the breath leave my chest, and I stumbled for a moment before I felt a hand reach out to grab mine, forcing me to walk toward the opening.

“Later, Emma,” he whispered in my ear.

He held me close and rushed ahead, making that last, crucial exit. When we were out, he relentlessly pulled me up the jagged cliffs, over the crumbling ground that was all loose rocks, and then up to a grassier area that curved around the dome of the caves.

When we reached a bluff that was too tall to climb, he stood in silent thought, undefeated, but stuck in a plan.

“She knew it was me,” I muttered in agony.

“I know.”

“Her own flesh and blood. I don’t understand, William.”

“She’s not herself, she didn’t mean it. She loves you.”

He pulled me close and slipped a gentle hand inside my hood; his fingers were soft inside my hair. “Someday things will be right again. This can’t go on forever.” He kissed my forehead. “But I need to keep you safe, and right now we need to figure out how to get up the next bluff.”

Nodding, I looked above and surveyed for a moment. “Bend over,” I suggested, “so I can get on your shoulders, and when I reach the top, I’ll pull you up.”

He bent down and let me climb up onto his shoulders. With a shove from below I grasped onto the bluff, grabbing whatever rocks or vines I could to pull me up the rest of the way. When I made it I laid down flat to get good grounding and reached out for his hands. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” The voice came from beside me.

“What?” I looked up to see William standing there, a big smile on his face. “But how?”

“There was a rope, just hanging there. I swung up the second you made it to the bluff. Believe me, I had a great view.”

“You!”

I stopped with a gasp. Jesse’s car was just a few feet away.

“What is it, Emma?” William made it to my side and followed my eyes to the abandoned Camaro. He let out a low whistle. “Cool car.”

“It’s Jesse’s. I guess he hasn’t left yet,” I said, puzzled. Jesse would never have abandoned his Camaro.

That’s when it all came together. Everything he said the last few days, the men talking about Jesse and his step-dad after the eclipse—the abandoned car. I forced myself to cross the distance, reaching for the driver’s side door handle. It was unlocked.

I knew why we had made it through. Somewhere along the line Jesse had switched coins. All those hints, his changed attitude. “You won’t be the one dying.”

I opened the door and slid into the seat, meeting a wad of fabric. It was his jacket and it still smelled of him. Inside the pocket were his keychain and a folded piece of paper. I opened it with shaking hands and read it to myself first before handing it to William. He read it aloud:

“Here is my last gift to you, my friend. A free car, an apartment (one month paid rent), little Mimi, and oh, don’t forget to look under the driver’s seat. I did it because you showed me what real love is. Smile, Emma. Jesse.”

I sat back in the seat, feeling sick. It wasn’t fair! No one should have to sacrifice themselves in such a way. Someday, I would go back and get revenge on those monsters. What they did. It was inhuman and shouldn’t be allowed. I got out of the car and headed for the cliff we had just scaled. About to swing down, I felt a set of strong hands stopping me, holding me with force.

“No, Emma. There’s nothing you can do without sacrificing your own life.”

“But it’s not right! He was supposed to go to New York and sing and
I
was supposed to die, not him!”

“He made the choice, Emma. It’s over. If only we’d known sooner, we might have. . . .”

He was right. Jesse had made the choice and William was here with me, the one I’d wanted. Somehow I’d known there would be a debt to pay, though I always thought I’d be the one to pay it.

William reached under the driver’s seat, watching me carefully. “You okay?”

“No, but show me what it is anyway.”

Slowly, he pulled out a sack, revealing multitudes of one-hundred dollar bills.

“His payment for turning us in,” William whispered.

“It was his New York money.” I wanted to throw it over the bluff. How could I think of keeping what was Jesse’s lost dreams?

“We’ll need it to get out of town, Emma. It’s too dangerous to stay.” He glanced back toward the cliff’s edge, looking worried. “Shall we?”

I nodded, slipping my legs into the car. “I want to drive, though.”

William silently got into the passenger seat. I revved the engine, backing us up the ravine, turning onto a gravel path with vicious speed.

“Uh, Emma.”

“What?”

“Can you slow down? You just got over being in an accident.”

“Oh, yeah.” I raised my foot off the gas pedal, shutting us down to an acceptable speed for such treacherous terrain. “Sorry.”

It was nighttime and William was as solid as daytime; a completely alive Superman. He wasn’t any older than his pre-Seeker days, although I wouldn’t have cared. He was perfect.

“How does it feel to be alive again?” I asked, reaching out to touch his hand. He gave it a squeeze, kissed it and locked his eyes with mine.

“It feels
great.
”

¤ ¤ ¤

We stayed at Jesse’s apartment for only a few nights. It was too dangerous to remain in the area.

That first night we lay in each other’s arms, excited and happy. We talked about everything, planning out our future. We would move out of town, maybe go to college, him for writing and me for art; but first he needed some paperwork.

After a little searching we found a guy who could produce fake birth certificates for a reasonable fee. We watched as William became a documented human again, his birth date: September 28, 1961—the same year as mine. He had a driver’s license made with the most beautiful picture on it.

“That’s not fair,” I said later, about to show him mine as an example of the typical bad one, but then changed my mind.

“Let me see.” William pinned me down and grabbed it out of my hand. He examined it for one long, embarrassing moment. “Looks good to me.”

I took it from him and shoved it into my back pocket. “You know, since you came back to life, you’ve been very physical.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You’ve been using all that extra strength to manhandle me.”

“Not all of it,” he teased.

“True.”

We had decided to wait for that part of our relationship. He said would wait for me forever. Though it was difficult to be patient, especially with him sleeping next to me those nights.

“We could elope,” he suggested, gliding one hand up my arm in a way that drove me crazy. “Leave tonight; make a vacation out of it. Get married in the morning.”

“And have the entire night to ourselves,” I finished, twirling one finger playfully in a curly lock of his hair.

“Emma!” William grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes!” I bent over to capture his lips in mine, murmuring against them. “But you are now in a world of Women’s Lib, I’m afraid. I get to call the shots from now on.”

“Okay,” he answered with a wicked smile. “I’ll always be yours, no complaints.”

Falling into his arms and laying my head against his chest, I thought about what it would be like to love William for the rest of my life, with no fears and no limitations.

I leaned toward those lips for another kiss.