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Cooper appeared next to us. “What’s happening?”
“It’s here,” I choked through the pain. “I feel her True Soul.”
Chapter Five
The only time I’d experienced a True Soul go through that much agony was when Aaron had waited too long to reunite the True Soul with the human body. I’d never wanted to feel that again yet here I was. Surges of unyielding emotions ripped through me. Ally’s True Soul was calling to me. It wasn’t ready to be reunited with her soul, but it knew she was nearby and yearned to keep its distance.
“She can’t be here,” I said to Cooper. “If it gets too close to her, her soul could be removed from her body.” Why anyone would want to do that was beyond me, and I didn’t dare think of the consequences.
Cooper fixed his gaze on Calliope, his voice commanding. “Callie, I’m going to her. You two, find it!” He disappeared.
I dodged through the crowd of mall patrons, cringing each time one of them came close or brushed past me, but I kept pushing. We finished searching the top floor and made our way down to the one below.
The True Soul continued to call to me though it didn’t give away its position but I knew I was getting closer when a tugging sensation pulled me toward a railing overlooking the food court.
Where the rest of the mall had scattered patrons, the food court area packed in enough humans to be well over capacity. They swarmed the food stands and milled about, looking for places to sit.
I shivered. I didn’t want to go down there unless absolutely necessary.
Scanning the area I saw kids attached to their mothers by short ropes, elderly groups moving slowly with their trays, and a considerable amount of teenage girls, but none of them stuck out to me as a threat.
“Oh my God! Are you serious?” Ally’s laughter rang out.
I turned to see Ally and her friends step away from a coffee cart, each holding a steaming cup. Cooper and the rest of the Guard were in a tight formation around the girls as they made their way to a descending escalator.
“It’s down there!” I yelled to Cooper.
He shouted orders to his Guard and a few of them appeared in the food court; they spread out among the crowd. At least they had it covered.
“Where?” Calliope asked her eyes darting around the food court.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure exactly. It’s down there but whoever has it is concealed pretty well.”
Then Ally’s high-pitched scream ripped through the air.
We all watched helplessly as her body soared over the moving escalator stairs. Her coffee sailed over the railing, splattering the people below. The now wet targets shouted up at her, but when they saw the falling girl, their shouts were silenced.
Ally’s body slammed into each step. Bones crunched and joints popped with each hit. She tried to stop her fall by grabbing for anything. Her hands rubbing against the glass partition, making her attempt for leverage useless. Heather’s screams matched Ally’s but by the time Ally hit the floor Heather was the only one still screaming.
I bolted down the escalator after Ally, not caring that I’d just passed through Heather and Krystal’s bodies. I knelt beside Ally and leaned down close to her body. Her breaths were shallow, but present.
She was alive! But for how long?
A crowd had gathered around us and I couldn’t see around them so I stood up. None of the Guard were in sight.
Where had they gone?
“Hey! She’s still alive!” I shouted, twisting around, desperately trying to see over the concerned patrons. Why was no one helping her?
Then I saw them. Cooper, Calliope and the other Guard were on the second floor. They stood in a line, side by side, their backs facing me with their swords raised. A chill ran through me.
Cooper didn’t look over the side but I heard him clearly. “Maggie, protect her!” Then his body disappeared from view as he ran toward the unseen threat.
The patrons were oblivious to the battle that raged above; they focused on what they could see – the twisted body of the pale, yet still beautiful girl crumpled on the floor. I looked over at Heather and Krystal, who were carefully making their way down the escalator, both on their cell phones.
I knelt down again next to Ally and reached out to touch her skin. Even though the sensation was unpleasant, I could feel her pulse as it rapidly declined.
“No,” I moaned. I looked up again to see if any of the Guard could help, but no one was around.
I looked back down at Ally. Her face was paling by the second. My soul started to tingle. I leaned closer to her body, reaching my hand out to touch her face again, when her arm moved toward mine.
I jumped back.
Heather pushed through the crowd. “Did she just move? Did I see her move?” Streaks of black mascara ran down her cheeks.
A ringing sensation tickled my ear and I tuned in to the True Soul’s presence. I looked at each human. The True Soul was close, but who had it? They all seemed equally shocked at the tragedy.
An uncomfortable pressure in my chest drew me closer to her body. My soul slanted toward hers until I was practically on top of her. I helplessly watched my hand morph and stretch toward her body.
“What the—?” I tried to pull back but the strength of whatever was happening had other ideas. My hand disappeared first, then my arm, then my torso.
But before I could call for help, my world went dark.
A suffocating heat pressed all points of my soul. Even though I hadn’t breathed in a hundred years, I felt the need to inhale, yet I couldn’t. A fire burned in my chest.
I attempted to open my eyes, to move one finger, a toe maybe, but the pressure immobilized my body. The burning sensation tore through me over and over until I had just about given up the fight.
But, just as quickly as the pressure came, it lifted, bringing a seemingly endless barrage of images. I was experiencing someone else’s memories, as if I took a back seat in her mind and watched her life flash before our eyes. I caught her image in a mirror, a small golden-haired girl.
Ally?
I tried to slow the images or possibly make sense of them but, just as I grabbed a hold on one of them, it slipped through my fingers and moved onto the next. I followed this girl through all the moments of her life as her memories flashed before my eyes.
Darker emotions overlapped the girl’s happy memories. I saw a young red-haired girl in an old-fashioned dress; her demure eyes looked back at me. Jealousy flared through me. My heart squeezed, watching this girl who was not part of Ally’s memories. A rush of energy pumped through my body; the power touched every fiber of my soul. Then the vision dissolved and I was forced back to experiencing Ally.
Was I dreaming?
Souls didn’t dream. I told myself firmly.
The visions started to slow and I was able to focus on one.
I had to tell them, even though Dad said I couldn’t. But in a week I wouldn’t be the same girl. Or would I? I still wasn’t clear on everything. Becoming a Guard: it was my life’s mission, he had said. A life that was no longer my own. Would it be easier to let this life slip away? I would regret each day if I didn’t. Maybe I would start with Seth. Sweet Seth. He’d be crushed, but someone would take my place. Dad had said something about people—humans—was I not human? Humans were drawn to those like me. Maybe Seth only liked me because I was different, unexplainably different.
I ripped the paper off the coffee sleeve. It was now or never.
“Hey guys,” I started, trying to find the words. Heather looked at me expectantly.
Something hard stabbed into the skin of my calf. My knee popped and I fell over, far over. Nothing held back my swift descent down the escalator.
My crushed bones offered no strength or grip. My teeth chattered against each other with each hit. I landed on the floor, my elbow close to my face.
That didn’t seem right.
Dozens of pairs of shoes filled my view. The squished gum stains on the floor would normally have been a deal-breaker but I lacked the ability to raise myself off the floor. A pretty girl knelt beside me, her almost clear blue eyes looked straight into mine, and I knew I would be safe.
My vision fogged up as tears blurred my vision, but they never fell. I watched a gray mist billow up behind the girl as she leaned over me. I tried to tell her about the mist that lifted and swirled over her head. But my eyelids were so heavy. Maybe I’d just rest for a minute…
I drew in my first conscious breath of air and gulped a few times. I sat up, opened my eyes and immediately closed them.
“She’s awake,” Calliope’s voice said. “Get Cooper.”
I lay back down on the bed and draped an arm over my eyes against the harsh glare.
“Bright,” I croaked.
I tried to open my eyes again but they burned.
I heard the light switch click, and the brightness behind my eyelids subsided.
I opened them again, one at a time. A sliver of sunlight peeked through the thin window shade, offering a less invasive light. The outline of flowers packed the shelf by the window.
Inhaling, I took in the beautiful scent of them, the mix tickling my nose in the best possible way.
I lifted my arm again and stopped. “This isn’t—” I inspected the manicured fingernails attached to the hand and arm that definitely was not mine.
“Turn on the lights, please,” I said, attempting to maintain calm. I tried to sit up but something hard rubbed against my leg, keeping me in place.
“Maggie, I—”
“Now Calliope!” I shrieked.
She flipped the lights on, blinding me for a second but the arm still wasn’t mine.
“Maggie, listen; don’t freak out. Her Caeleste blood is helping her heal but to do that her body needs to rest a little while longer.” Calliope was speaking from the side of the bed I was in.
I glanced around the room, which looked exactly like every hospital room I’d ever been in, except this one only had one bed, and actual furniture, including a leather couch.
Throwing the covers off I stared at the body that was very much corporeal and not mine. I inspected the arm I’d covered my face with. Tiny blonde hairs stood up on end at the sudden change in temperature. I grabbed a chunk of the golden hair attached to my head and pulled.
“Ow!”
Heat crept up my—no, not my, Ally’s body. Splotches of red mixed with the blue and purple bruises that peppered her skin. A rapid thumping throbbed inside of me.
A heartbeat!
I squeezed my eyes shut. This had to be a dream, or some sort of not-so-hilarious prank. I channeled the power I used to transition everywhere to transition out of the body. Opened my eyes and saw Calliope still in the same spot.
I slapped a hand on the bed. “Argh!”
Cooper appeared at Calliope’s side. “Shit,” he said in disbelief.
I stared at him. “No kidding! What happened?”
“Can you get out?” Cooper asked.
“Oh wow Cooper, I didn’t even think of that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.” Ally’s husky voice sounded strange in my head.
“It’s a valid question, Maggie,” Calliope snapped at me.
I crossed Ally’s arms. “I tried to transition out but I can’t.”
Cooper started pacing the small room. “Did you see what happened?” he asked.
I sucked on Ally’s lip. “There were a lot of people there. It could have been anyone.”
Calliope leaned forward. “Do you remember anything else?”
I lifted Ally’s arms, that were riddled with small bumps, and shivered. “Something pulled me inside of her. It was weird, almost as if her body, like, sucked me inside of it.” I stopped talking and moved Ally’s arm closer to her face.
“We know,” Cooper said unhelpfully.
Ignoring Cooper I twisted Ally’s arm in front of my eyes and saw the outline of my soul moving inside it.
“I can see me—” I swallowed. “In her? Is this normal?”
Cooper snorted. “Nothing about this is normal, but, yes, we can see you too.” He waved his hands, encompassing me. “Inside of her. You know most souls match the body they belong to so usually there isn’t a difference but I can see your soul… and her body.”
I stuffed her arm under the covers, hiding the fact that my soul was inside a human body.
Creepy.
“If I’m in here,” I stuttered, “where is she?”
They looked at each other.
“What did Felix say?” Calliope asked Cooper, changing the subject.
“Felix knows about this?” I shrieked. “Did he tell you how I can get out?”
“He said that if you couldn’t get out on your own then it might be something else,” Cooper said, moving toward the window avoiding my eyes.
“Like what?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“A Possession,” Cooper said.
Chapter Six
“Excuse me?” I said affronted. “I did not possess her body. Her body possessed me!”
