Soul Trade

by Tracy Sharp

  Robyn couldn’t think clearly. Was that why Toby never talked about his wife? Because he’d actually killed her?

  “You have to kill him before he kills you too. He’s been thinking of it. You and May. He’s jealous of May. He doesn’t want her around. He pushed her off the ledge, into the river. Remember?”

  Robyn saw Toby shoving May over the ledge. Saw May falling into the river.

  “Juno tried to hold May under the water. She tried to drown her.”

  Robyn saw Juno holding May’s head under the water.

  “Oh my God.”

  “I saw them kissing,” Emma said. “They want to get rid of you and May and be together, just the two of them.”

  “Yes.” Robyn nodded her head. Emma was right. Why hadn’t she seen it before? How could she be so stupid?

  “You have to shoot them, Robyn, before they kill you and May.”

  Robyn nodded. “Yes.”

  †

  Toby’s eyes snapped open. The room was dark, but he sat up, adrenaline racing, straining his ears. There. At the foot of the bed. The floor creaked. His blood thrummed through his veins. Every fear he had of the dark as a child came slamming back to him, and it occurred to him, fleetingly, that maybe the fear of the dark when you’re a kid is really a kind of premonition.

  He reached under his pillow and grabbed the pistol he had hidden there. He aimed toward the foot of the bed, staring, as his eyes adjusted and something slowly took shape. He wanted to turn the lamp on, but didn’t want to spend time fumbling in the dark to find the switch while whatever it was at the end of the bed pounced on him.

  Then he heard the breathing, shallow and rapid, and gooseflesh lifted on his arms. He saw an arm lift, and instinct took over. He launched himself off the bed as something slammed into the wall behind him.

  Gun.

  That made whatever was standing there human.

  He crawled silently toward the shape as it moved toward where he had been laying. Whoever it was apparently hadn’t heard him hit the floor.

  A whisper. “Toby? Are you dead?”

  Robyn? What the hell?

  He slowly stood up, moved up behind her, and then reached forward and brought his hands down over her arms, slapping the gun from her hand. She didn’t move.

  Was she sleepwalking? “Robyn?”

  “You need to die.”

  “Why?” He stayed behind her, his arms wrapped around her arms.

  “Because you and Juno are going to kill me and May, and run away together.

  “What?” Toby reached down, still holding her with one arm, and found the light switch. Her turned her around and looked into her face.

  Her eyes were glazed, unfocussed. “What’s wrong with you?”

  She shook her head, a barely perceptible move.

  “Where did you get an insane idea like that? Were you dreaming?”

  Again, she shook her head. “The little girl told me.”

  “What little—” Realization slammed into him.

  “She’s on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. She was so cold.”

  He let Robyn go and ran into May’s room. She was gone. Juno still slept in the bed.

  “Juno!”

  Juno sat up, her eyes wild. She looked down at the empty spot where May had been sleeping. “May!”

  Toby ran past Robyn, who stood in the hallway, her face confused and dreamy.

  “May!” He ran into the living room. The couch was empty. A quilt lay crumpled on the floor.

  “Oh my God!” Juno ran into the kitchen. “May!”

  “She said you killed your wife.” Robyn stood a few feet away, wringing her hands. “She said you were going to kill me and May.”

  “You let her in?” Juno screamed at her.

  Robyn turned to her. “She was cold. So cold.”

  †

  Early dawn rose. A cool breeze shivered through the leaves, the sound like a hundred lost whispers. Robyn stood in the backyard, barefoot, staring at the trees. She was so tired. Juno and Toby had gone after May, and she was supposed to stay in the house. She hadn’t been able to move off the couch after Toby had lifted her up off the floor. She’d fallen. Just dropped like a stone. He’d picked her up and placed her on the couch, her arms and legs feeling as heavy as lead.

  She was supposed to stay there. But she couldn’t. What if May came back and she missed her?

  Robyn made herself stand up. It took a long time just to reach the door. She’d just stood before it, staring at the knob, forgetting what she was doing.

  But now she was outside. Finally. She was having trouble thinking clearly, but her mind was clearing slowly. It was like walking through molasses. She felt slow and numb.

  She’d been duped. She understood that now. But even now, she could feel the shroud the little girl had dropped over her mind. She could feel the pull of her voice. Though they were gone, now. Farther and farther away. The farther they went, the clearer Robyn’s mind became. Was this what insanity felt like? Being just a specter of the person you used to be?

  A sound directly to her left. Slowly, dreamily, she turned. She smiled. “Hello, stranger.”

  “You seem to have lost your way,” he said. Weird, black eyes watching her. Sharp features reminding her of a hawk. His black hair looked inky against the rays of the sun.

  “I have.” She turned and stared out at the edge of the woods.

  “There is a place for you. You have a rare gift,” he said. “Take my hand.”

  She looked down at the hand. Smooth, long fingers. “I need to find May. I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

  “I know where May is.”

  Robyn’s chest bloomed with hope. “Is she okay?”

  “She is fine. Take my hand. I will take you to her.”

  Robyn blinked. Wetness rolled down her cheeks. She must be crying. “I messed up so badly.”

  “It’s okay. We can fix it.”

  The sense of loss in her chest felt like an endless, dark pit. “Do you have any more of that powder?”

  “I do.”

  Robyn took his hand, cool and as hard as marble.

  “Come on. I’ll take the pain away,” he said, his voice deep, dark, and ageless.

  Robyn nodded, and followed as he led her into the cool of the woods.

  And from somewhere above her, as if from far away, she heard the urgent flapping of wings.

  †

  “She’s gone.” Juno stood in the entryway between the hall and the living room.

  Toby stood in the kitchen, a hand over his mouth and chin. “Fuck!”

  “Look,” Juno said. “We can’t look for them both unless we split up. I don’t think we should do that.”

  “Definitely not. I think that’s what they want.”

  Juno nodded, knowing what they he was talking about. Any and all nasty, evil shit that had somehow been allowed to ooze out into the land of the living.

  “We’ll focus on May,” Toby said, but there was a slight resignation on his face and a slump in his shoulders that belied what he was thinking.

  What they both already knew. May was gone for good.

  Maybe Robyn too.

  “I know,” Juno said. “It might just be you and me from here on out, October.”

  “Yeah. It might.” He dropped his hand and looked around the kitchen. “Okay, then. We keep going.”

  “We keep going.” Juno walked over to him, just a few inches shy of being able to look him in the eye. “We have to.”

  Toby took a deep, shuddering breath. Squared his shoulders. He wasn’t giving up. He lifted his chin a little. Looked down at Juno. He was all she had. “Look at you. Long and lean and tough as nails. I’m counting on you, Juno. You got my back?”

  “I got your back.” Her eyebrows came together. “Just one thing I need to know.”

  “Did I kill my wife?”

  Juno shook her head. “I know you didn’t kill your wife. You loved her, didn’t you?”

  “I d
id.” His voice hitched, and it surprised him.

  “She checked out, didn’t she?”

  Toby nodded. “I didn’t realize it then. She was talking crazy. On all kinds of meds. But she saw this coming, Juno. She saw it. I wish I’d listened to her. Believed her. She saw it all. I guess I didn’t have her back.”

  “But you’ve got mine.”

  “I’ve got yours.” Toby tilted his head slightly. “What is it, then? What do you need to know?”

  “You got the heart for it? Because if you don’t, we’ll both end up dead. I need you in this, October. Okay?”

  He nodded once. “I’m a little shaken. A little tired. A bit tattered. But I’m in it, Juno. Don’t doubt it. Okay?”

  “Okay, then. Let’s figure out what we’ve got to do to kick some evil ass.”

  “We’ve got to find others. Humans. People who haven’t gone over to the dark side, for lack of a better term.”

  “Right. They haven’t gotten us all, yet.”

  “Nah. But it won’t be long.”

  “Then we’d better hustle.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Juno laughed. “You’re stalling.”

  Toby cracked a grin. “Yeah.”

  “You good, now?” Juno asked him.

  Some of the color came back into his face. His eyes seemed to clear. “I’m good. Let’s go.”

  The air had warmed by the time they went outside. As they headed to the shed, the flapping of wings made Juno look up. “Look who’s back.”

  The white owl had perched on a nearby tree branch and sat watching them with round, amber eyes.

  “Hey buddy. You gonna keep an eye out for us?” Juno asked the owl.

  The owl blinked at them.

  “Wonder what’s going through that bird’s mind,” Toby said.

  “He thinks we’re screwed. But he’s hangin’ with us anyway, to see if we can beat the odds.”

  “Guess he has nothing better to do,” Toby said, opening the door to the bunker.

  “We don’t either,” Juno said.

  “Nope. So let’s do it.”

  As they gathered weapons and loaded them into the truck, the owl watched. Waiting patiently, as if the world weren’t ending at all.

  Chapter 23

  She was different. She was better. Lucifer had made her better. He’d given her a few very special talents that would help her in her job for him. She was a collector, but she was allowed to pick and choose whose souls she would collect, just like before he’d changed her.

  And now she was waiting. She was patient. She sat down on the curb beside the nineties-model minivan parked at the old rest stop off the highway. It was early morning. Just after dawn.

  They wouldn’t recognize her. Maybe just a vague memory of having seen her before. Her hair was a darker shade of red. Molten copper. Her skin was smooth and perfect. Her body, once too thin, was now sinewy and strong. She was the perfect image of health and youth. She looked no more than seventeen years old. This was by design. Beautiful teenagers are both desirable and vulnerable. Especially ones travelling on their own, looking lost and forlorn.

  She pretended to be smoking a cigarette. Stood up and made a show of tossing the butt on the ground, then grinding it out with her ankle boot. She felt first his eyes on her, then hers. They sat at a table beside the windows facing the parking area.

  Robyn slowly walked to the bus stop in front of the building.

  Yes, they were coming.

  “You need a ride?” The girl said from behind her.

  Robyn turned and smiled inwardly. She looked around and didn’t see the man. She knew he was settling into his hiding spot behind the passenger’s seat, under a pile of clothes.

  “Where are you headed?” Robyn asked her.

  The girl shrugged. “That way.” Smart, she pointed in the direction the bus would be headed. “Going to see my aunt.”

  Robyn paused, looking as if she were considering. “Are you travelling alone?”

  The girl smiled. “Yeah. So are you, by the looks of it.”

  Robyn smiled back. Yeah. Just like me. Except you’re really not. You’re barely even human. “Okay. Maybe just for a while. Where’s your car?”

  “Over there. My name is Sadie by the way.” Sadie took quick little glances at the minivan to make sure her boyfriend was well hidden.

  “Robyn.”

  Robyn almost laughed when her eyes flicked to the space behind the backseat. To the pile of clothes there. Blankets and jackets. “You sure have a lot of stuff back there.”

  “I travel a lot. Don’t get alone with my stepfather. He’s a drunk pervert.”

  And this Robyn knew to be the truth. The stepfather was only one in a long line of violent drunks Sadie had been subjected to since she was learning to walk. Which was why she was a stone-cold sociopath today.

  Monsters often created monsters. Not always, but too often for Robyn’s liking.

  “The world is an ugly place,” Sadie said.

  “True that,” Robyn said. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “You’re welcome. I know I’m really going to enjoy having you around.” Sadie said this for her boyfriend’s benefit.

  “I’m sure I’ll enjoy you two.” It sounded like “You, too.” Robyn grinned.

  And she sat back and waited for them to reach the turnoff she knew Sadie and her boyfriend, whose name was Devon, had scoped out before they’d chosen that rest stop from which to lure an innocent and vulnerable girl.

  Then they’d pull off the road, and she’d let them drag her kicking and screaming into the old, abandoned barn they’d found.

  And then she’d have some real fun.