Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen)

by Hayden, Sean

  “What repercussions?”

  “The end of the peace. You would start the war anew.”

  Chapter 29

  I landed at the mall, without a plan, without a hope.

  What am I going to do? What am I going to do?

  The words kept repeating themselves over and over in my mind and had been since I left the James’. The image of the hurt on Jess’ face when I said she couldn’t come with me didn’t help either. The truth was, I didn’t trust Shannon. I wanted Jess safe.

  The door was locked. I held my hand against the glass, pushed with a little power, and melted it. I stepped through the gaping hole I made into the quiet. It was weird being in the mall without music playing softly over the speakers. You never really noticed it while you were shopping, but the mall seemed even emptier without it.

  I walked past the pretzel shop where this whole mess started and sighed. The weight of what was to come still rested heavily in my chest. It took only a few moments to reach the central raised platform of the Cedar Hills Mall. It was decorated with white flocked trees, Christmas lights, Santa’s village, and every other commercial representation of Christmas you could imagine. Sitting atop Santa’s throne was Shannon. At her feet were the unconscious forms of my sister, Clarisse, and Elizabeth.

  I walked up the green carpeted ramp and stood before her. “I’m here. As promised.”

  “So I see. I almost doubted you would show up. I’m glad I don’t have to kill these three, although one of them would bring me pleasure.”

  “You couldn’t kill Clarisse even if you wanted to. Unless you want to restart the war.”

  “I was talking about the vampire,” she said and nudged Liz with her toe. “They are the creations of your warped promises. They disgust me.”

  “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I’m here. Let them go.”

  She stood and raised her hands. Her eyes glowed softly blue and the three of them woke from their slumber. “Leave now, before I change my mind.”

  The three of them shook their heads. Cae gave me a look and I motioned for her to take Liz and get the hell out of there. Clarisse, however, stood and walked to my side. She made no motion of leaving.

  “Go,” I whispered softly.

  “I can’t. You wouldn’t leave me, so I’m staying.”

  “I apparently made a contract with this psycho. Me for you. Go.”

  “No. We’ll figure this out. I am sooo not leaving you here with her. Alone.”

  “But I’m not alone.”

  We both looked up at her. “You mean you actually found someone dumb enough to go along with your little schemes?”

  She nodded and then looked confused. “Yes.”

  Charles stepped out from Santa’s Workshop. “You said you had nothing to do with this!”

  He looked down at me rather smug. “I didn’t. My sister did.”

  Well shit.

  “This bitch is your sister?”

  “You didn’t know?” Clarisse sounded confused.

  “No. And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “Sorry. Forgot you wouldn’t know.”

  I turned toward them. “So let me get this straight. Are you actually here on behalf of the Council or did you make that up, too?”

  “That was true as well. My sister called and told me Lady Jessica had come into her power. When I told the Council they were ecstatic, hoping she would take her father’s place. She did keep from me the fact that she was in love with a Fallen.” He couldn’t keep the distaste from his voice when he spoke the word Fallen. “Then I find out my sister is in love with the exact same beast. I guess it’s to be expected since you’re new. The taint hasn’t reached your skin yet. I’m sure they both will tire of you after a few millennia. Or at least my sister will. And now Lady Jessica is free to take her place on the Council.”

  This just kept getting better and better. They both were bat-shit crazy. “What do we do?” I whispered my question to Clarisse.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You leave and Connor comes with me.”

  “I can’t let him do that,” Clarisse said forcefully.

  “You don’t have a choice. He made the contract.”

  “He could kill you. He could kill the both of you,” Clarisse said deadpan, seemingly thinking about the consequences.

  “And start a war? I think not,” Chuck answered.

  Clarisse paled. She turned to me. “Whatever you choose, I will follow. I cannot stand to think of you trapped with her for eternity. If you fight, I will fight with you.”

  “You’d rather start a war than see me trapped with her?”

  “Yes.”

  I gulped. I think I needed to start accepting the fact that Clarisse wasn’t just a friend. There’s not too many of those that would start a heavenly war with you. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I reached out and wiped the start of one away with my thumb.

  “Don’t touch her!” Shannon’s screech echoed through the mall like the scream of a banshee.

  Inspiration struck. “What? You mean like this?” I leaned in and ran my hand down Clarisse’s cheek. I continued on down over her shoulder and over her back. I turned as I pulled her into my arms, so Shannon could see the look of false ecstasy on my face as I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her neck. Mostly false.

  I felt Clarisse shudder in my arms and the look of fury that crossed Shannon’s face seemed to suck the warmth from the room.

  “Get away from that bitch!”

  “Sister, he goads you. Do not start what you cannot finish.” Chuck put his hand over Shannon’s arm, visibly calming her.

  Well, damn. Guess I got to up my game.

  “Is this alright?” I whispered so softly into Clarisse’s ear, I doubted that Shannon or her brother could hear even with their super-hearing.

  I felt her nod almost imperceptibly. I ran my hands down her back and over her butt. I winked at Shannon as I squeezed. I admit, I felt guilty using Clarisse like that, but then again I also liked the feel of her butt. I tried not to throw up as an image of Jess popped into my head. Barfing would just ruin the whole effect and foil my evil plan.

  Shannon literally shook with rage. Her brother moved both hands to her shoulders, keeping his sister from attacking and killing either or both of us.

  Clarisse pulled back, looked me dead in the eye, and leaned in for a kiss. I almost panicked until I saw her wink at me as her lips touched mine. She had caught onto the game and was working with me. I hoped.

  Her lips parted and I felt her tongue part mine. The kiss turned into more than just a kiss. Her arms wrapped around me and crushed me against her. For a moment I forgot about the mall, the bad guys, the problems we faced, life in general, any thoughts of survival, and pretty much everything else that ran through my brain on a daily basis. My hands squeezed the flesh of her behind as her tongue assaulted mine.

  Until Shanria screamed.

  I looked up just as she shattered her human seeming and swelled upward into her true Chosen form. I had seen it once. Months ago, we had fought to first blood in the streets outside the school. She stood nearly eight feet tall and had been the epitome of beauty. It was no wonder that mortals who had seen us in our true form had thought us gods. Among the most beautiful, Shanria had stood out beyond them.

  That was not the creature that stood before us now.

  Still eight feet tall, she towered above the rest of us, but gone were her wings of silver white feathers. Gone was her snow white hair and perfect skin. Gone were her robes of gossamer silver. Tattered leathery wings of black sprouted from her back. She looked almost like one of the Fallen, but even in their supposedly cursed forms they were beautiful. Clarisse had scales that looked almost like enameled plates in beautiful hues. Her leathery wings were whole and majestic. Shannon looked nothing like us.

  Her skin was bloated and pocked with scars and wounds. Hole
s were torn in her wings. Twisted, gnarled horns sprouted from her head. Her mouth had become a twisted nest of broken fangs. She was hideous and more than a little scary. Even her brother let out gasp and separated himself from her.

  “Sister!” His words fell on misshapen deaf ears as she screeched again and attacked. Her once beautiful flaming sword appeared, rusted in her gross-looking claws.

  I stood dumbfounded, not believing what I was seeing. As she swung her sword, Clarisse’s stopped it inches from my head.

  “Connor! Snap out of it.”

  I shook my head and called my blades. Shannon’s attention had been taken by Clarisse. She snarled and turned to fight her new opponent. The one who had stolen the object of her misguided affection.

  You could feel the hatred flowing off of her in waves. She punched at Clarisse’s blocks with short jabs of her wicked looking blade as her brother stood by and looked revolted.

  I swung my blade at the exposed flesh between her wings, all thoughts of contracts and wars forgotten. My blade banished itself before it ever struck her. I stared at my empty hand in further disbelief.

  Tired of the games, Shanria smacked aside Clarisse’s blade, brought her arm back, and struck at Clarisse’s chest. I leapt and brought my sword down in a sweeping arc, meaning to drive her blade aside. My sword and her sword passed through each other like optical illusions. Shanria’s blade however pierced Clarisse’s chest and came out her back.

  I screamed. Everything stopped. Clarisse looked up at me with sad eyes and whispered, “You broke bread with her. You cannot harm her.” Her eyes closed and she dropped like a sack of flour, pulling herself from Shanria’s blade with a wet plop. She collapsed to the ground.

  I found myself screaming a second time in a matter of moments. I dropped to my knees, not believing my friend was gone. The blade had gone through her heart.

  Tears streamed down my face. Shannon began chuckling evilly as she wiped the blood of my friend against her tattered clothes. I looked at her brother at a loss. He couldn’t take his hatred filled eyes from that of his sister. I could see he no longer considered her family. He turned and began to walk away, leaving me alone with the monster she had become.

  I let the hatred consume every thought I had. It started deep within me and filled me completely. Finally it threatened to overflow human form.

  The burst of magic stopped Cabriel in his tracks and he turned to look at me. His eyes opened in surprise. I didn’t have scales, but my skin was tinged blue. My hair flowed white from my head and hung nearly to my waist. My eyes would not only be glowing red, they would be like rubies embedded within my face, leaving no whites showing. I could see the smaller blue-spiraled horns protruding from my head.

  I stood up from the ground, casting one quick glance at my friend. I held out my hands to my side and channeled my fury, causing them to erupt into flames which coalesced into balls of torrential fire. With one last scream, I hurled them at Shanria.

  The explosion that followed rocked the foundation of the mall. Flames engulfed all of us. Smoke filled the Winter Wonderland and the overhead sprinkler system came on, dousing the flames and clearing the air.

  When we could see again, Shannon lay on the floor of the burned village. White snow turned to ash as she huddled in her crumpled human form, two holes burned clean through her chest. I took a few paces to close the distance between us and tried to roll her over with my foot. She crumpled to ash.

  It was over.

  Or so I thought. A clap of thunder boomed throughout the mall as several Chosen appeared, as well as several Fallen. I recognized Agravius of the Sages and Jun of the Warriors, as well as Darius and Mr. James.

  “What have you done?” Darius was the first to speak as he eyed the remains of the Chosen. His eyes then settled on Clarisse and he rushed to her side. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had gotten his daughter killed.

  The Chosen gathered all called their weapons forth. Surprisingly enough, Cabriel held up his hand, staying their weapons. “He did not do this. Shanria had lost her senses. He merely defended himself. Read his memories if you must.”

  I stared at him like he was as crazy as his sister.

  “Is this true, young one?” Agravius strode forward and looked me in the eyes.

  I opened my mind and let him see exactly what had transpired. He nodded in understanding.

  “Cabriel is correct. Judge for yourselves.”

  So I stood as Mr. James strode forth, and then the Chosen followed. They all dug through my mind and got the answers they wanted or needed.

  “Let us depart,” one of the Chosen spoke. “No laws were broken by the youngling. No Chosen died.”

  Then I understood. Shannon had changed. She had not become one of the Fallen, she had become something much, much worse. Her people had abandoned her imperfection and did not consider her death as a slight against them. To my dying day, I would never understand the thought processes of the Chosen. At least we had averted the war. At the cost of my friend.

  The tears began falling as I turned and kneeled next to Darius. He held his hand over the gaping wound in Clarisse’s chest.

  Her eyes fluttered, she coughed and groaned, and sat up.

  “What happened?”

  “You freaking scared the shit out of me, that’s what happened,” I said and began sobbing. She laughed and hugged me close.

  Epilogue

  I stood next to Jess in my backyard. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my shoulder, where she rested her head and gave me a content smile. I gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and looked at my sister.

  My parents had gone out for an impromptu dinner. Or so they thought. The truth is, I had given them a fifty-dollar gift certificate to Red Lobster and a pair of movie tickets and told them to get the hell out of the house with a bit of mind magic. Now a smart teenage boy would have done all this to have the party of the century at his house. Not me. I did it to make my sister happy.

  She wanted nothing more in the world than to be human again. The only way to do it would be to sell her soul to the Fallen to get what she wanted. I thought the price was too steep. She didn’t agree. She won the argument though and here we were.

  Elizabeth and Cae sat at the ancient wrought-iron table on our back patio. Liz held Cae’s hand while she scribbled a note in her own blood on a piece of notebook paper. I knew what the words said. I could feel each one in my bones as she wrote them. They were the same ones I had written a short time ago in my blood. They were the words that changed my world.

  I gave Jess another kiss while we waited for her to finish. Clarisse stood above her and supervised, whispering each word to her softly before she wrote them.

  By the time she was finished, the sun was setting. I reached into my hoodie pocket and pulled out my black candle. I didn’t know why I kept it, but I did. I was actually a little glad. They were a complete bitch to find and it was my little contribution to this endeavor, since there wasn’t any way in hell they would let me perform the magic. I’d probably turn her into an ultra-human or something. I’ll admit it, too. The thought of having my normal human bratty sister back made me smile. Plus it would make her happy.

  I gently let go of Jess and walked over to the table, setting the candle down in front of my sister. Clarisse handed her a lighter. Cae took it, lit the wick and the air around us stilled. It was like time stopped. The wick caught and the candle burned merrily. Cae began reciting the words she had written in her blood from memory and touched the paper to the flame. It went up in a puff of smoke. The candle went out and my sister stood and faced Clarisse.

  “Are you ready?”

  Cae nodded.

  “Okay, wormette. What is it you wish for more than anything else in the world?”

  “I wish to be one of the Fallen…”

  There was a clap of thunder and the winds picked up.

  Little sisters suck.

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  If someone offers to grant you your fondest wish, wish for something you really, truly want. Wish for something that will make the world a better place or you a better person. Never ever wish to be a monster.

  About the Author

  Born the son of a fire chief, Sean naturally developed a love of playing with fire. His family and friends quickly found other outlets for his destructive creativity. Writing is his latest endeavor.

  Always a fan of the macabre, mythical, and magical, Sean found a love of urban fantasy and horror. After writing several novels in this genre, he found, fell in love with, and immersed himself in steampunk. He has always wanted to rewrite history and steampunk gave him that opportunity.

  Sean currently lives in Florida as a fiber‐optic engineer as well as an author. He was blessed with the two most amazing children he could ever hope for, has met the absolute love of his life, who coincidentally is his partner in everything. His hobbies include grand designs on world domination as well as a starring role in his own television sitcom.

  www.seanhayden.org