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“Thanks Calliope,” he said to her as I neared.
Her eyes flicked to mine. “You’re the Soul Collector?”
“Yeah, I’m Maggie.”
“Cool,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” She turned back to Cooper. “I’ll be by the car until you need me.” She placed her hands on his shoulders, bringing their faces close together, forehead to forehead. “It’s going to be fine.”
I turned away, feeling like I was intruding on a personal moment between them and looked around the room at the students. A persistent pulsing flowed through me as I walked down the aisle growing stronger as I neared the front of the room.
I stopped next to a bench where two girls sat. One of them, a dark-haired girl, played with a phone in her lap. I had Collected a few souls who were playing with those while driving. But it wasn’t her that called to me. The golden-haired girl next to her radiated a glow I’d only seen from a Caeleste. She looked up at the board and I couldn’t hide the gasp whispering across my lips. She even favored the looks of the Caelestium, with smooth, unblemished skin and an unmistakable otherworldliness to her. Her green eyes sparkled with the very essence of life.
“That’s Allegra, but she prefers Ally,” Cooper said, suddenly standing next to me.
“What is she?”
“What do you think?” he answered reverently.
I leaned closer to the girl. “I thought the Caeleste couldn’t cross over?”
“The Prognatum are descended from the few Caeleste who mated with humans centuries ago. This practice has since been forbidden but there are a few genetic lines left. It’s another job that the Guard take very seriously. We are sworn to protect these humans from birth until their transformation at eighteen.”
I tore my gaze away from her as she added more chemicals to her beaker. “Transformation?”
“At eighteen they join the Guard as special operatives for the Caelestium.”
I flinched. “So they are born to be a part of the Guard?”
“Yes.”
Jealousy surged through me. Imbecile Collectors and unsuspecting humans can get the job but I can’t?
“Why do you need me?”
“As a Collector you can sense the True Soul. Even if we were able to find it, we couldn’t touch it. The Caeleste spread the power around so no one soul can have complete control.”
“I know all of that, but apparently someone did,” I pointed out.
A shrill bell rang and none of the teens moved.
“Aren’t they supposed to leave now?” I asked.
Cooper chuckled. “Her chemistry class is two periods long. She’ll be here for another forty-five minutes.”
“Why would someone do this? What do they want her soul for?” I asked, moving away from Ally. I could see why someone would want even a small piece of the girl, but to what end?
He stiffened. “That’s classified information,” he said. “Guards only.”
I frowned.
“Not my rules.” He held up his hands. “But just know that she is extremely important to the Caeleste.”
“How did someone take her True Soul?”
Cooper shook his head slowly, not meeting my gaze. “I have no idea. And the fact that Felix doesn’t either scares me a lot.”
Chapter Four (#ulink_24239707-37c8-5b05-9aab-8f5e7c0b267d)
For the rest of the day Cooper and I followed Ally through her school routine. I attempted to gain more information from him but was denied each time due to “protocol” and “Guard only” excuses. Fed up of butting up against an impenetrable wall, I turned my attention to Ally.
With just the smallest look Ally commanded the respect of her peers. It was as if they sensed she was unlike them. In between classes, the other kids allowed her to pass with a wide berth.
When we arrived at the cafeteria a herd of students burst from a nearby hallway and I moved desperately away, plastering my soul against the window, not daring to touch any of the hungry teens.
Cooper waved to me from across the room. I held up a finger. When there was a break in the mob, I sprinted across the room, pressing my body against the far window, nearest to Cooper.
“Sorry,” he said. “I forgot you can’t transport in this Realm.”
I looked around the room full of students. “I’m safe back here, right?”
He smiled. “Yes, you will be fine.”
The same prickling sensation I’d experienced in the cemetery settled at the base of my spine. I looked outside and saw the same young man standing in the courtyard outside of the cafeteria. He was younger than I’d thought, his dark hair lifting and falling as the breeze swept through it. He wore dark jeans, hugging his long legs, and his long-sleeved black shirt was almost like a second skin. His gaze met mine and he pressed a finger to his lips. Something deep inside pulled me towards him… I shivered.
“Cooper,” I said.
But before Cooper turned around the man had disappeared.
“Do you sense it?” Cooper asked, his eyes darting across the courtyard.
I shook my head at the sense I was missing something important. “No, I just thought I saw something.”
“There are plenty of Guard around,” he said, turning back to Ally. “Just focus on finding the True Soul.”
I took one more look into the courtyard and then turned back too. We watched her pick at the salad bar for a few minutes, separating her food into groups on her plate. The dark-haired girl from Ally’s chemistry class stood next to her, her fingers flying over the screen of her cell phone.
Ally play-slapped at her friend’s phone and nudged the girl to move up in line. The girl giggled and shook her head as if she forgot where she was. They paid for their food and made their way to the empty table in front of us.
A girl at the next table leaned closer to her friend. “God, I wish I had her legs.”
“No,” her friend said. “Definitely her hair.”
Most of the kids looked up from their conversations and lunches to get a peek at Ally. Even though she ignored them, they only had eyes for her.
I moved closer to the table, avoiding the touch of the young humans.
At another table all the kids were dressed in black with numerous piercings; their comments weren’t as complimentary, but I sensed their jealousy and envy more than hatred. One of them supplied a particularly nasty comment and I wished for the ability to become corporeal so I could defend Ally.
Ally sat down at the table. She and the dark-haired girl, who I learned was called Heather, were joined by another girl, her mocha skin flawless against the curtain of her long black hair.
“Where were you first period, Krystal?” Heather asked the newcomer.
“I overslept,” she said, shrugging off the comment. She pulled a bag of apple slices from her purse and munched on one.
“That’s all you’re having?” Ally asked, crunching into a grape tomato.
“I’m not hungry,” Krystal said.
“Since when are you not hungry?” Heather accused.
“Since when is this pick on Krystal day?” Krystal snapped back glaring at Ally.
Ally matched the glare, her perfectly plucked eyebrows raised in high arches. “PMSing, are we?”
Heather stifled a laugh.
“Whatever,” Krystal said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it.
Ally rolled her eyes at Heather and continued to eat her salad.
“Can you believe it’s only a week until our last Spring Dance? I’m so bummed we are leaving school, like, forever,” Heather whined.
“I’m not,” Ally said flippantly. “I’m done with this place and these people.”
Heather gasped making Ally grin. “Obviously not you guys.”
“Or Seth,” Heather said in a sing-song voice. “Speak of the devil.”
I followed their gaze to a group of boys entering the cafeteria. Their voices rang over the already loud conversations of the room.
A blond boy caught my attention. His hair was shaved close to his head and his green eyes lit up as if his entire world existed for the girl at this table. The flurry of conversations that had focused on Ally earlier turned to this boy.
He sauntered over to the table, while his friends headed for the food, and placed a tender kiss on Ally’s lips. “Hey babe. Sorry I couldn’t bring you to school this morning. Dad sent me out on a delivery.”
“It’s fine,” she said, feeding him a cucumber from her plate.
Krystal crumpled up her now empty plastic bag and pushed out her chair, scraping it against the linoleum.
“Where are you going?” Ally said.
Heather and Seth looked at Krystal.
“I forgot my Algebra book,” she snapped. “Why do you care?”
“I have mine,” Seth said, lifting his backpack. “We can share.”
“My homework is in the book,” she said, standing up and stomping toward the door.
“Drama,” Ally whispered to Heather.
Seth’s friends squeezed in at the table and I jumped out of the way before any of them touched me.
Moving back to the window next to Cooper I said, “So you just sit here all day and watch her?”
“Pretty much.”
Maybe this Guard job wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. “I guess it’s entertaining, though. I feel like I’m watching a soap opera.”
Cooper laughed. “Don’t be fooled. She’s a lot smarter than she gives herself credit for.”
I’d believe that when I saw it.
I meandered to the back window, staring out at the football field. I snuck a look in the courtyard but didn’t see that guy again. Maybe my eyes had been playing tricks on me. Or maybe a Guard was messing with me. No doubt Aaron had put him up to it. A man on a riding lawn mower rode across the field several times.
That was one reason I didn’t want to be Recycled. I looked at all the students in the room, with their insecurities and bleak futures ahead of them. There were probably a few that would make their lives into something but the rest might as well be the groundskeeper spending each day doing the same boring work.
Definitely not for me.
By Ally’s sixth class, I was itching to get out of there. I assured Cooper I didn’t feel the True Soul around.
“Are you sure?” he asked for the third time.
“Yes,” I said calmly.
He remained skeptical but I left the room before he could ask me again to wander down the hallway, getting a better look inside the classrooms. After eating, the kids were like zombies, barely awake as their teachers droned on about things they’d probably never use after high school. Reason number two not to be Recycled.
Further down the hall, music poured from one of the classrooms. I peeked inside to discover an art studio where six students stood in front of easels, painting. The teacher was in a flowing purple and green dress, her long scraggly blonde hair wild across her back. She swayed to the music and stopped at each student, offering encouragement. The atmosphere was lighter in this room, unlike the other classroom. I followed the teacher’s path, examining each student’s work. Overall, their talent surpassed my expectations for a high school art class. Brightly colored paint strokes depicted the fruit bowl at the center of the room.
I looked around for the teacher; she stood next to a girl separated from the group. What made her so special? I deviated to her spot. White cords hung down from her ears and into her pocket. Her long brunette hair was tied at the nape of her neck and bobbed as she mixed her paint. She popped one out and listened to her teacher.
“So creative,” the teacher said in her breathy voice. “Is this another one of your dreams?”
The girl nodded.
“Keep it up; I think this is the piece we should enter into the showcase,” the teacher said, flouncing away.
I stepped as close as I could to the girl without touching her. Her painting depicted a classroom, not unlike any of the other ones in the school. The brush strokes were precise but the classroom looked out of focus, blurry even. But those desks and chairs weren’t the focal point; it was the person standing at the back of the room. I moved closer to get a better look. He was dressed in head-to-toe black, his face hadn’t been painted in yet, but his sandy blond hair looked familiar.
This girl, somehow, had seen and by memory painted Cooper.
The bell rang and, unlike the rest of the classrooms, none of these kids moved. I knew Cooper would be looking for me, so I tore my eyes away from the painting and into the hallway.
Maybe he had appeared corporeal at some point? But he would never have done it inside the school, at least not dressed for regulation Guard duty. I’d mention it to him later.
I found Cooper and another Guard following Ally down a hallway on the third floor.
Cooper raised his eyebrows.
“Still nothing!” I said. Half the kids in the hallway were taller than me. What did they eat for breakfast? Growth hormones?
