Soul Control

by C. Elizabeth

  Saydi, I have to cancel our date, he mind talked to me. My heart fell.

  I’m sorry, but another well blew. I’m on my way to the airport and I probably won’t be back for some time.

  Define sometime, I answered.

  But he was gone. It was the normal course for him to hide his emotions from me because his brothers could feel him, but when he signed off that time it felt final. Done. Our hearts separated.

  There was no need to sprint home, so my pace slowed in reflection of my mood.

  When I got there, everyone was where they were supposed to be, talking strategy. It amazed me how they could talk strategy when they didn’t even know where the battle was going to be.

  “What exactly is the strategy?” I asked no one in particular.

  Dad answered, “We’ve all agreed the Pyre must be weakened before the catacomb can be revealed. We will fight until they are too weak and are unable to resist us.”

  Pearle piped up. “It’s the only way. The Pyre cannot be strong when the catacomb is revealed. As much as we believe in you, we have to be prepared for everything. And Saydi, you may not be strong enough to destroy it. We can’t risk having them complete it.”

  “My girl will destroy it.” Mom smiled at me.

  “Yeah, see, Mom believes in me.” I stuck my tongue out.

  They laughed and continued on with their conversation.

  “Saydi, honey, I thought you were training with Nathanael at the swimming hole today?” Mom asked.

  Back to my sour mood, I trudged through the living room. “No, he got called away and he doesn’t know when he’ll be back.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dad called back. “But that’s kind of good news for me.”

  Without looking at him I asked, “How’s that?”

  “We get to work together. Nathanael took my job of teaching water.”

  When I glanced at him, he had a huge smile on his face which immediately lightened my mood. “Okay,” I agreed.

  He smacked his hands together. “This is great! I’m sure I won’t be as good as Nathanael, but now you can show me how far you’ve come.”

  You got that right, nothing like Nathanael.

  Dad was impressed with my ability to bring the water as high as twenty feet up and still maneuver it gracefully through the air, but he had a few tricks up his sleeves Nathanael didn’t. He showed me how to split the water into six different groups and how to command all six. He also showed me how Nathanael had done the fire thing that first time we worked with water. I learned how to put the flame in the middle without dousing it out, by encasing it in a glass, per se. It was fun and it kept my mind off Nathanael.

  ~ * ~

  ...”Capture it, Saydi.” Dad mind-talked across the ocean floor.

  My mind choked. “Capture what?”

  The crystal necklace floated past me, and struggling, I reached for it. But my hands made the water dance, taking it farther away.

  “Capture it.” Dad’s voice was disappearing.

  The sun broke through the waves above and a ray caught in my necklace, creating a blinding light that lit the ocean floor. A cave came into view, and as I walked toward it, the light followed my every step.

  The light stayed behind as I entered the cave. It was dark at first, but as I moved forward, another light could be seen in the distance...things reached out of the darkness grabbing my arms and legs, tugging me back, pulling me away from the light.

  “It’s not there,” the waves cried.

  With all my power, I pushed forward, tearing away from each thing that tried to hold me back. The light was near and with one huge push, I burst out into it.

  The circle of three stood in front of me, Nathanael at the lead. They all smiled crookedly. Nathanael walked toward me and reached behind, bringing my necklace forward. He looked at it, then me.

  “Thank you. We don’t need your Spirit Light now.” With that, he lunged for my throat.

  ~ * ~

  My body snapped up and I screamed and screamed. My light flicked on.

  “Saydi!” Dad called.

  I threw myself around him and he held me tight.

  “It was...bad.” My breath couldn’t catch and my chest was pounding from the pain.

  “Calm down, deep breaths,” he consoled.

  “Is she okay?” I heard Mom ask.

  “Another nightmare,” he told her.

  “I thought those went away?” she questioned.

  “They did. Saydi honey, breathe, slowly breathe.”

  It took a good half hour before I could talk, and when I did, the words tumbled out so fast Dad had to strain to catch it all.

  He soothed softly, “Okay, okay, lie down.” Then he covered me up. “I’m going to sit with her until she falls asleep,” he told Mom.

  “Okay. Goodnight honey.”

  Curling up, I said, “Night, Mom.”

  The dream wouldn’t let go, hanging onto every fiber in me, tormenting me at every turn I took in my mind. It also didn’t help that it continuously reminded me that, even though Nathanael could feel my emotions, he didn’t ask me how I was. Something inside me felt wrong, horribly wrong.

  For the next few weeks, Nathanael did talk to me, but it was all generic things, nothing intimate at all, only about his day. I let my emotions flow so he would feel them, but never once did he acknowledge them.

  I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling even when Mora tried to reassure me that he was fine. The decisions she saw were solid and his mind was very much on the well situation. None of it felt right, him going away when it was apparent the battle was on the horizon. It wasn’t like him, not to mention that without him, the fear and loneliness took hold, leaving me walking around in a haze.

  The Pyre were getting closer and strong. They were in the town right next to us, where the high school burned down, killing eleven. There were two murders and one rape. I begged my Dad to find Nathanael, because my nerves had me twitching in every direction at every little noise. I feared without Nathanael I’d be captured in a second.

  “Dad, please! You have to go and find him!” I begged again.

  “Saydi, I can’t!” he insisted.

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t leave now. What if the battle begins?”

  “Please, Dad.” It wasn’t working.

  “Saydi, please...”

  I’m home!

  The voice and words had me leaping at Dad and hugging the stuffing out of him. “He’s home!” I squealed.

  Dad pulled back chuckling. “That’s good. I don’t think I would have been able to thwart any more of your pleas.”

  Can you meet me at the swimming hole? I believe I owe you a date. I missed you and I love you.

  I twirled around and sang, “I’m meeting him at the swimming hole.” The second I stepped out, my feet found the wind, taking me to the water’s edge in under a minute.

  Nathanael was standing on the other side wearing his tight jeans and a t-shirt that hugged his muscles. One hand hung in his pocket. Barely able to contain my excitement, I waved. “Hi!”

  Before I could take a step forward, the air in my chest seized, being replaced by a heart that quickened and searched desperately for oxygen. It reflected the panic of fear—a fear that froze me solid to the ground. Joshua, Job, Mr. Braxton, Father Lacombe and others stepped out from the trees behind him.

  At first my mind wouldn’t comprehend what my eyes were transmitting. It couldn’t be! He wouldn’t! Not with everything we did together, how he told us their secrets, everything. Then with one look in his green/blue dead eyes, I abandoned any hope. The tears chafed and burned my skin. The love we had was shattered—shards broke free from the wreck inside me and coursed through my veins, dragging me down with each beat.

  I crumpled under my own weight.

  Forty-six

  Unable to will my limbs to move, I watched in horror as Mr. Braxton stepped forward. “Oh come now.” He elaborately widened his arms. “You knew it w
as coming, all the training you’ve done.” The whites of his eyes were blood red. All of their eyes were.

  The sound of leaves crackled under unknown footsteps from the woods behind and the fearful feeling of strangers approaching washed over me. It was done. I was being surrounded.

  I studied Nathanael’s green/blue eyes, avoiding the blood red that seemed to swirl around within the whites. The shield over them hid any emotions or life they once held. The only thing left to do was pray I would die in battle and not be captured.

  With a clap of his hands, Mr. Braxton sang out, “Ah! Here come some of your troupe. The rest will be here any minute.”

  A small breath of relief escaped, knowing it was my side that came from the rear. Suddenly, I was heaved to my feet. “Saydi?” two Tov strangers said, taking my arms and steadying me.

  I gave them a very weak smile.

  Mr. Braxton kept yakking. “Well, Saydi my dear, you’re probably wondering how this all could happen? How could Nathanael crush such a perfect love?” The grin on his face was gruesome, while he paced back and forth boring into my eyes.

  “You see, my son Job discovered two very important things about himself in the last few months.”

  My eyes darted from him to Nathanael, back to him in search of a sign that maybe everything in my life, including Nathanael, hadn’t been a lie.

  “You look so worried, Saydi.” His words dripped with condescension, patting Job’s shoulder, smiling proudly at him. “He discovered he could talk to you through your mind.”

  The air in my throat choked and gagged, unsure if it was coming or going, forcing me to cough.

  His brow lifted in a false concern. “Are you okay? We certainly don’t want you to choke.” Then he hesitated. “Better?” He didn’t wait for an answer, which was fine by me because he wasn’t going to get one.

  “Good. Now where was I?” Tapping his finger to his chin, he turned quickly and pointed. “Oh yes. It was the night of the Christmas party when he discovered his new talent, and...” He shook his index finger in the air, “He also at that time discovered Nathanael could do the same with you.”

  A bit of dread released and let some courage seep through, maybe falsely, but it was my only life line. It was no longer about me nor my love for Nathanael. It was about the human soul—something that was more powerful than all Pyre combined. When I flung the coat of armor over my heart and feelings, more courage emerged, and I was able to deaden the look on my face, showing no emotion. Just like Nathanael.

  Without dipping my stare, I was able to do a head count—thirty four, yet it was hard to distinguish between Half Night, human or full Pyre, because they were all wearing their human skin. My gaze shifted slightly over to Nathanael and when it did...far off in the distance, among the trees, the Pue was hovering, waiting.

  Mr. Braxton swiped his fingers down Nathanael’s cheek. Nathanael didn’t flinch, didn’t react at all. “It saddened me that we had to keep our discovery from Nathanael.”

  He rolled his lip up showing his teeth and with a snarl, said, “We always knew Nathanael was playing both sides. We had plans for him once he reeled you in.”

  Then he paced back and forth again. “However, those had to change when council informed me of the most wonderful news. My sons were the circle of three and my Nathanael was the warrior of the prophecy.” He put his hand on his heart and put the back of his other hand on his forehead looking to the sky. “It even made me shed a tear or two.”

  His love was short-lived.

  “That still left us with a dilemma. Nathanael was obviously struggling with his human side. So with the council’s help, we decided we’d let him continue on with his little game until it was time. After all, it was only going to make things easier for us.”

  Braxton twined his hands around and around, like an evil scientist would. “You see, there was an ulterior motive for allowing it to go as it did. Nathanael was so busy keeping you away from us, he didn’t realize what he was doing...deception.”

  I was waiting for the evil laugh and didn’t get it, but he did continue with his overly dramatic narrative.

  “You see, Miss Gardiner, the longer we could keep Nathanael deceiving us, the easier it would be to appeal to his Pyre side.”

  I drew a harsh breath in, it left me speechless. He was right. It was the one thing Nathanael constantly told me to watch out for, the sneaky things that could easily trap me. We both missed the fact that by deceiving them, he was doing the exact thing we were to be watching for and he was doing it...to save me.

  My insides rolled.

  Braxton had centre stage and was loving it. “Now, we had already done the ritual once before and council would not allow us to kill him yet, so we had to take desperate measures.”

  Looking at me from under his eyelashes, he gave me the ultimate willies. “We sent him away to a much darker place, a place that...shall we say...would possess even a Tov.” He threw his head back, laughing at his own stupid joke. “There were intense rituals guaranteed to put a Half Night back on track.” He patted Nathanael’s cheek. Nathanael smiled, but it wasn’t real.

  “It was quite simple to keep you holding on without suspicion. Job simply mind talked to you as Nathanael.”

  For those weeks my insides had tugged at me telling me something wasn’t right. Even though my intuition told me something was fiercely wrong, I chose to ignore it and pushed it down, telling myself not to be so silly—I should have listened to myself.

  Braxton glanced at me with a smirk on his face. “I know what you’re thinking, Miss Gardiner. Why didn’t Nathanael tell you himself what was happening?”

  With my words dripping in sarcasm, I said, “No, actually I’m not. I know exactly why.”

  The freak completely ignored me. “As you know, he was rushing to the scene of a well explosion.”

  He stopped and took a peek at me, then continued, “Nathanael was the one to inform you that he was leaving. However...” He spun back at me and pointed his boney finger. “He was walking right into our trap. We know, from past experience, that a Half Night is unable to mind -talk when surrounded by pure evil. We simply ensured that once he stepped on the plane that’s exactly what happened, thereby allowing our Job here to take Nathanael’s place in your head.”

  I didn’t know if Braxton wanted a reaction from me or not, but he didn’t get one. I was involved in Nathanael’s fixation on me. Everything about him was wrong, completely wrong. If there was even a small portion of him remaining, something would alert me to it, but nothing did. The Nathanael I fell in love with was gone. My heart felt like lead, slowly sinking behind the shield. I wanted to run away and cry. Instead, I did exactly what Nathanael taught me—I pulled on my strength, peeled back the layers of emotion, and exposed the raw physical power to keep me strong.

  Braxton’s voice boomed across the pond again. “Now, the next question I am sure you are pondering is how, in heaven’s name...” He rolled his eyes, “Did we know he was playing both sides?”

  Then he tilted his head and smiled at me. “Let me put your mind at ease.” Waving his arm, he pointed at Father Lacombe. “Our dear Father here.”

  Then he turned back to us.

  “You see, a while back Nathanael tried to convince Father to attend this little family gathering, to join your ranks. Unfortunately for Nathanael, Father Lacombe has been working for us for many years.”

  Braxton slightly placed his hand on the side of his mouth, like he was going to tell me a secret. “Between you and me, the man has way too many desires for a priest.”

  I shot a look at the Father whose face was red, then back to Braxton, who continued to rattle on. “As you know, only leaders of our realms are privy to who our allies are. Therefore it was another secret kept from, well...all my sons.”

  Again with the lifting of the eyebrow, he slowly made his way over to Father. My eyes darted from one to the other. Father looked up while Braxton’s hand slithered up the back of his neck and fo
lded around it—the repugnant sound of juicy limbs stretching turned my stomach. I watched Braxton’s hands turn into lethal weapons—claws.

  Braxton continued, “Another unfortunate thing, we can’t have...”

  Father’s eyes grew to twice the size while Braxton’s hold tightened. Suddenly, with one swift twist, the sound of crushed bone oscillated through the air.

  I screamed, smacking my hand over my mouth and held down the puke from bubbling up my throat—someone put their arm around me. But Braxton’s thirst for death wasn’t completely satisfied. He held the Father’s limp body in his clutches and without warning, snapped his neck completely around before letting him go.

  The fluid in my gut gagged up, burning the inside of my throat as tears stung my eyes. Nathanael stared blankly at the lifeless body lying in a heap on the ground.

  Braxton nonchalantly continued, “As I was saying, we can’t have everyone knowing who our allies are.”

  Everything was shaking, my hands, legs, insides, my whole body, as sobs exploded out of me. This isn’t happening!

  Braxton’s voice grabbed my attention again. “Come, come. That’s war, Saydi, the rules of engagement, if you will.”

  A woman whispered, “Saydi, there is nothing we can do for him now. He knew the chance he took. We have to remain focused. Andrew did it to throw you off, to keep you unfocused... You scare him.”

  Gulping the sobs down, I took some very deep breaths and looked directly at him. “How did you fool Mora?”

  He fanned his hand out behind his ear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. You’re mumbling.”

  My voice broke free. “How did you fool Mora?” I yelled, suddenly furious that he took Nathanael away.

  He waved his hands. “Oh, that was easy. I am very knowledgeable of Mora’s donum. Why do you think I bedded down with her?” He smirked. ”Blocking her from Nathanael was easy and I...” He threw his arms out wide and bowed. “Myself, made those decisions, as Nathanael was busy. The connection she has with my sons is no match for the connection I have with them.”