Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1)

by Tara Benham

  “For He knows all things, O ye of little faith.”

  I looked up as he made his way to his seat. My eyes caught Had’s and noticed a glimmer of recognition in them. If he had figured out who Mr. Whitstock really was, he was smart enough not to say anything. He looked at me for some answer, but I went back to saying a prayer for guidance and breathing through this new feeling. My body and mind felt like they were spiraling. Everything started closing in on me, and felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was beginning to be too much. I jumped up and ran towards the door. I needed air. I heard Hadraniel somewhere behind me yell my name and Father Paul telling him to let me have a moment. Nineteen years...I had been alive nineteen years and had never felt this way before. I had read about this feeling when studying humans. It was classified as stress or anxiety. I was pretty sure I was close to a panic attack. I cannot fail, I cannot succeed. Elder Michael had to have made a mistake. Maybe, he knew I would fail and was trying to teach me a lesson in humanity. I didn’t know, but I felt completely lost.

  Sitting outside seemed to help some. The breeze was nice in the shade, as it was a little too warm out today. I had just leaned back against a tree on the sidewalk with my eyes closed, when I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up just as Gray was stooping down to be level with me. He was dressed in casual clothes so I assumed he was not heading to work.

  “Hey. You okay?” His voice was steeped with concern.

  “Yeah, just got a little overwhelmed with the study session going on, so I came out to rest my eyes and brain.”

  “Studying already? Classes haven’t even started yet.” His eyebrows creased in concern at the possibility of how nerdy Hadraniel and I might be. It made me giggle.

  “Not for school, things for our parents. What are you doing? No work?”

  “Actually I was heading somewhere alone, but would you like to join me? It’ll give us a chance to talk, give you a break and I can show someone new my love of this place.” He was grinning a boyish grin now.

  “How could I not join you after that mysterious invite?”

  With that he stood, and as he rose, he grabbed my hands and helped me off the ground. He suggested that I may want to let them know I was leaving, but I waved it off. I needed the time away from that whole situation, and this gave me a great opportunity to learn about Gray. I needed to know what made him so special that I needed to risk all these things to save him.

  “So, where are we going?” I asked. He kept a decent pace that let me walk comfortably. He was so tall that I would have had to run to catch him if he walked any faster.

  “That’s a secret.”

  “Ok, why are we going there?”

  “Another secret.” He was enjoying this, keeping me in the dark. His eyes danced with amusement.

  “Fine. Can you tell me about what you’re planning on studying in school then?”

  “I’m going to double major in art and teaching.”

  “Art? What kind of art?” I had assumed music because of his band and his talent.

  “Drawing, mainly, but I love to paint, sculpt, all things artistic. The teaching degree is so I can provide a living for Hannah when we get married.”

  Hannah had mentioned that she and Gray had been together for a long time, I just didn’t realize it was that serious. From my understanding, average ages for humans to marry changed from century to century. I’m pretty sure the current society would agree that nineteen was pretty young to get married. He seemed to be a normal human male. Normal goals, normal talents, normal, normal, normal. Why then was he needing to survive this catastrophic event? In our mission files, it was stated in no uncertain tones that collecting his soul was not an option, he must survive the event. We chatted some more about him and Hannah as we headed to his secret spot, but the talking stopped completely as we got to the bottom of a hill.

  “We have to go up. Are you good to climb?”

  He stood looking up the hill, hands on hips. He seemed pumped and ready to go. I figured if he could do it, then I could do it.

  “Sure, I’m game.”

  I’d no idea what I was getting myself into by agreeing to this adventure. The climb was not an easy one. My knees were getting scraped, my hands were muddy from grabbing roots and trees to pull myself up. I did it though, and without Gray’s help. He was leaning against a rock, as I got to the top. He had a bottle of water in a small pack I hadn’t noticed he was wearing. He took a sip and handed it to me. I sat beside him and tried to not guzzle down the whole bottle. The difference in gravity really hit me on the climb. I hadn’t done anything that taxing until now, and it felt good.

  “Where to now, Boss?”

  He chuckled. “Are you always this impatient?”

  “Yes. Had will vouch for that too.” I grinned knowing Hadraniel would find it funny. I had to have a mass of patience in order to complete this job. Collecting souls was a job that couldn’t be rushed.

  “Well, you see that tree up there?” He pointed to a tree up another small hill that looked to be dying. It was the only tree up there. “We are going to go sit there. The view on the other side of the tree will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was sure I had viewed sights more breathtaking. I was sure I would still love the view. Earth’s landscape never failed to bring me happiness. I felt bad that Hadraniel wouldn’t see this view with me, but I had gotten some good information, however small it was, about Gray. As we headed to the tree, Gray’s face grew pensive, almost solemn.

  “Why the face?”

  “This was my brother’s favorite place to go. His name was Oliver. He was three years older than me. He had Down ’s syndrome, and we came here two or three times a week. I usually brought him up with a four-wheeler, because of that climb. He loved it up here. He would describe what he saw to me, and I would draw his world. I had a picture book for him that he would flip through when we couldn’t get up here. He’s part of the reason I want to study art so much.”

  “Where’s your brother now?”

  “He got sick one day. We took him to the hospital after he got really tired and wouldn’t answer us. They ran some tests, but couldn’t find anything conclusive. We stayed at his bedside every day, rotating between me, Mom, Dad and Hannah. Oliver loved Hannah.” He gave a small, sad smile. “After a while, he slipped into a coma, and still we had no answers. I was coming in to relieve dad from his shift when he died. Dad said it was peaceful. One minute he was breathing and the next, he wasn’t. My parents decided not to do an autopsy. There was nothing we could do for him. I decided to go into teaching, to teach art, so that kids who couldn’t normally express themselves could learn different outlets.”

  I quickly wiped the tears away before he noticed them. Here I was judging him for being normal, and he was anything but. He had a beautiful soul. Even if he did nothing else important, he deserved to be saved. We reached the top of the hill and I gasped. In front of me was a waterfall, a valley full of the most beautiful flowers, and a creek running through the valley dividing it into two sections.

  “Wow.”

  Gray smiled. “I told you. I love it here, but my purpose today was to actually see if there was any change in the landscape after that quake we had earlier. You see, this place was created almost as an oasis of sorts after a collapse of a cave many, many years ago. It has an eco-system unlike any other, so I figured if anything was changed, it would be here. Because of the recent rumblings we’ve been having, I started studying the chances of the New Madrid fault line having a catastrophic earthquake, and this place reminds me of what kind of damage could be done.”

  I was really in shock now. I couldn’t say anything to him about the earthquake as that was one of the few restrictions I was given. He seemed knowledgeable about the possibility of the event occurring.

  “Does anything seem different?” My shock from him knowing about the earthquake played well into feigning anxiety of any possible damage fr
om the tremor.

  “No, everything seems as it was before.” He got quiet, staring out into the valley. It was a minute or so before he spoke again. “Well, I guess we should make our way back into town. Before Had starts to worry about you.”

  “Let him worry!” I laughed, but then nodded that it was time. I now had a renewed sense of purpose, and was ready to jump back into my research. I needed to do further investigation of this valley as well because it could be the ideal camping site if it really couldn’t collapse, and I needed to run it by Hadraniel and Father Paul.

  I entered the bookstore about two hours after I had left. Before I was even able to get to the back, I was accosted by Declan. I watched as he approached; his eyebrows were drawn down in a frown, nostrils flared, and lips pressed firmly together. He was angry. I wasn’t sure why, but he was. I knew whatever he was about to say was not going to be nice.

  “Exactly where the hell were you for the past two hours, Bayla?” He asked, nose flaring. I almost giggled.

  “I was with Gray, if you must know. I went out to clear my head, and he invited me to go for a walk with him. Which, by the way, ended up being very helpful for me, thank you very much.” I glared back at him, all comical enjoyment was gone when he rolled his eyes at me at the mention of Gray’s name.

  “And you didn’t think to tell someone, anyone, where you went?”

  “Actually, I did think to do it and decided not to. I am not used to answering to anyone if you recall, Declan, and I definitely do not have to answer to you. I do not have to check in when I choose to do something. Especially when it is helpful for my mission that I happen to know is going to be successful! Now, if you’re done interrogating me, I have more research to complete.”

  I stepped past him and noticed the look of relief on both Mr. Whitstock’s and Hadraniel’s faces and felt bad. I gave a sheepish shrug and apologized quickly before taking my seat. I hadn’t lied to Declan. I wasn’t accustomed to having anyone on my missions with me, so I didn’t have to think about how my actions would affect others. I needed to remember that while I was upset, it was not Hadraniel’s or Father Paul’s fault.

  “I really am sorry, you two. I just needed to step away for a minute.”

  “I was worried, but now that I know you’re okay, and that it was a useful break, it’s all good.” Hadraniel smiled. “While you were gone, Jacob” he pointed to Mr. Whitstock, “found a book that he thought you might find of interest. I’m not sure how it is supposed to be helpful. It looks like a fairytale story.” Confusion crossed his face, but he handed me the book.

  The story was about an angel who helped deliver children to heaven. At first I was confused as well since the story just told of the angel, but as I read, and re-read, I noticed that the angel does something to help the soul be okay with his transition. It was simple, yet it resonated with me completely. As I sat silently, staring at the words yet not quite seeing them, I realized the story was telling me I had to find a way to make the transition to safety something meaningful for Gray and Declan both, something they could see as a good thing and not as a sign of loss. For Gray to lose his family would be something rough to deal with, I got that. But for Declan to be redeemed from Hell, would he feel as if he was making a sacrifice or losing something?

  I had a plan on how to use this new information with Gray, using the sight he showed me earlier today, I could explain the need to visit that place. This also meant I needed to figure out a way to spend time with Declan to get to know him a little better. This was not something I looked forward to in the least. I scanned the back area of the store and saw he was still brooding. He was leaning against a shelf, reading something, but the scowl remained. Something inside of me danced, and I mentally scolded it. Now was not the time to feel human emotions towards a demon or any man, for that matter. I hadn’t noticed I was staring until he looked up, and his gray eyes met mine. The stare was intense; there was an unfamiliar look in his eyes, and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. I had to look away. I looked over to Mr. Whitstock who curiously was smiling. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he gave a boisterous laugh, startling Hadraniel.

  “I’m sorry. I think I may be going a little stir crazy. Shall we break again? This time together,” I added that after I was given a very pointed look, “in order to eat supper? I know I am hungry. Let’s head to the café.”

  “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

  “Oh, Haddy.” I teased, “Any plan with food sounds like a good plan to you.” I needed to keep up with the brother/sister façade because as far as Had knew, Mr. Whitstock was just Mr. Whitstock.

  A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. ~Mahatma Gandhi

  Dinner was a fun event. Hannah joined us during her break. It was a nice distraction from my thoughts as we sat around the table at the café having fun and laughing. Declan turned the charm on full blast, regaling us with the adventures of his travels. Whether they were stories made up for the part he was playing or if they were true, they were funny. He was telling us about getting lost in a foreign country, with no real knowledge of the language. After some confusion with the hostel clerk, he was able to procure a bed for the evening. He proceeded to explain that because of the lack of communication, he ended up sharing a bed with a little old lady who thought he was sent as an answer to her prayers, and he had to spend the majority of the night fighting off her advances by hiding in the bathroom of the hostel. We were in tears by the time he finished his story. Hannah had spit water everywhere, and Mr. Whitstock almost fell off his chair. Declan chuckled some at his story, but mostly he looked amused at his ability to make the four of us laugh so hard. We were just calming down when Gray headed our way for his break. Hannah gathered herself and waved bye as she went back to work. Gray took her seat.

  “Y’all sound like you’re having a great time.” he said to no one in particular. He then leaned towards me. “I guess this means you’re feeling better than you were earlier?” His forehead wrinkled in concern.

  “I am. Thank you for asking.” His smile was kind and warm. Gray was special. This I could tell, yet I still didn’t know why his kindness made him more worthy than other humans to be saved from the fast approaching earthquake.

  “You’re welcome. Anytime you need a break from these knuckleheads, you just let me or Hannah know.”

  Declan was scowling, but Hadraniel had a look of mischief in his eyes. Mr. Whitstock was grinning.

  “I’m sure she will be entirely too busy these next few weeks.” Declan responded before I could. I shot him a look that warned him to not answer for me again.

  “Gray, that is a kind offer. I may take you up on that if I get a chance, but unfortunately, Declan is correct. I have a lot of research to get through before school starts, and our parents will be stopping by to check on us. However, Haddy and I were talking about planning a camping trip for the weekend before classes start. We’ve narrowed it down to the valley you showed me earlier, and some mountain nearby called Adam’s Peak. Do you have a suggestion as to which is a better place? Also, do you and Hannah want to join us? So far it’s myself, Declan and Haddy.” Both guys knew enough not to challenge me on the invite.

  “Adam’s Peak is not a great place to camp, and it’s a heck of hike to get to, but I’m not sure about the valley either.” He looked leery at the thought of camping in his and his brother’s special location.

  “Well the reason we were looking at those two spots, was because there is supposed to be a wicked meteor shower that night, and both of those offer the best viewing.” Declan stated matter-of-factly.

  Mr. Whitstock cleared his throat, signaling me to close my mouth at the shock of Declan helping. I was unsure of what this game was that Declan was playing, but I recovered as quickly as possible, praying Gray hadn’t noticed my reaction. I was thankful for this input that I was not aware of, making my camping tri
p more viable. But I began to wonder why he hadn’t shared with us that there was going to be a meteor shower that evening.

  “Sounds like a great idea, let’s do the valley. I’ll see if Hannah’s brother and his girlfriend want to join us. They always come in to visit that weekend.”

  “We should meet in the next week or so in order to make concrete plans.” Hadraniel suggested.

  “How about this coming Saturday? My parents are having a cookout at our house. We can get the plans settled there, and be able to tell Alex and Megan the plans afterwards.”

  “It’s settled then.” I smiled. That went a little too easy for my taste, but I would take it.

  We spent the rest of his break taking turns telling Declan, Had and Mr. Whitstock about the valley. Gray explained how it was created after a roof of one of the caving systems collapsed. The ecosystem was completely different than that of the land around it. Because of the river and the minerals in the earth, the soil was extremely rich. Gray went on to talk about his studies of the earthquake tremor we had yesterday, as well as the signs he had discovered that a possible bigger earthquake might follow. He finished by telling us that according to historical records, the New Madrid was due for a big quake. Had’s eyes widened as he looked between Declan and me. I gave a slight shrug to indicate that as long as we didn’t react like we knew anything, it should be fine. Mr. Whitstock looked amazed that Gray was as adept in his studies without any assistance. He began to ask Gray questions.

  “Did you study the outlines of where the earthquake would affect if it did happen?” Mr. Whitstock was appropriately concerned as a citizen of the town and storekeeper. I smiled at how well he played the part.