The Soulkeepers Box Set

by G. P. Ching

  “Don’t you remember? The bruises, the arrests … I got into fights just to try out my skills, to learn what I could do. I purposely put myself into dangerous situations. I wanted to be attacked—for the exercise.”

  Jacob remembered her strange behavior, how it had gotten worse those last weeks. They’d fought the day of the accident. He’d thought she was on drugs or something. She wouldn’t tell him what was going on or where she was going. That’s why he’d followed her.

  “One night, I wandered into a martial arts academy called the Red Door. I saw weapons in the window, ones I’d never tried before. Sure, I could wield a knife and shoot a gun; these were intuitive. I wanted to know if I could fight with something I’d never touched before, a mace or a staff. Master Lee met me at the door. He said that he was my Helper and I was called to fight evil. Of course, at first I didn’t believe, but after a few meetings he had me convinced. He taught me the basics about fighting Watchers. The box and the throwing knives were my graduation present.

  “When those women went missing in Manoa Falls, I thought it was the work of Watchers. Master Lee called in a team of Horsemen to investigate. My first mission would be to help hunt the thing down and kill it before it murdered anyone else. I was too anxious. I didn’t think I needed the help of the other Horsemen, so I went to Manoa Falls myself. I found the Watcher on instinct, but I was taken.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Would you ever believe it, if you weren’t one yourself? If you hadn’t seen what you’ve seen?”

  “Maybe. You could’ve tried me.”

  He stared at her for a long time. The picture of his past had been fractured and his brain was snapping the pieces together in a different pattern, a whole different past, as he reinterpreted the events that he’d defined himself by for so long. Lilly hadn’t been a messed-up and irresponsible widow, she was a Horseman struggling to understand her power, just like him. The accident that had changed his life forever was no accident at all. His memory rang true.

  “When you are taken to Nod, Jacob, the despair of that place overwhelms you. All you can think about is the worst thing you’ve ever done. You try to resist but eventually you convince yourself that you belong there. You convict yourself and, believe me, a person is their most unmerciful judge. When I was in that cage, Jacob, I was a prisoner to one thought, one terrifying offense. I had abandoned you. I left for Manoa Falls knowing that I might never return. I left you with nothing, no means to survive.”

  “You thought you’d be successful. You didn’t mean to.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Jacob. I’m so sorry.”

  “I think you’ve suffered enough. I forgive you. Just don’t let it happen again.” He smiled knowing a weight had been lifted with his words.

  “But how will we explain this? What story will we tell for how she got here?” Malini asked. “Nobody is ever going to believe what really happened.”

  “I don’t know.” Lillian looked at Dr. Silva. “But we’ll think of something.”

  “It’s more than Lilly we have to explain,” Dr. Silva said. “You two have been gone for three days.”

  “Three days!” Malini and Jacob yelled together.

  “Yes, unfortunately time in Nod is different than time here. You’ve been gone three Earth days. Lilly, you’ve been gone almost a year,” Dr. Silva said.

  Lillian covered her face with her hands.

  “But what will I tell John?” Jacob asked.

  “Or my parents?” Malini added.

  “Oh, we will think of something. The most important thing, Jacob, is that now you are a true Horseman. I’ll connect you with others like you so that you can work together. You will apprentice with a team and participate in your first mission. Your mother being here is a blessing. She can help,” Dr. Silva said.

  “But I don’t understand. I never finished my training.”

  “That, Jacob,” she said, pointing to the tree, “was the advanced course.”

  Jacob wasn’t sure he was comfortable with that answer but he turned toward his mother, another question pressing against his lips. “Are we going back home?” He’d assumed she would want to go back to Oahu, to pick up where they’d left off.

  “It’s not safe, Jacob,” she said. “Right now, this is the safest place on Earth. There just isn’t that much here to entice the Watchers to attack. Now that the portal is closed, it will be more difficult for them to get to you.”

  “Plus, you need Malini,” Gideon said. He’d finished at the tree and now faced them, his green eyes twinkling in the late afternoon sun. “You two have been brought together, spirit to spirit, for a reason.” He stopped when Dr. Silva shot him a sharp glance.

  “Jacob, you need to know, difficult or not, they will come for you. You killed two of their top leaders. Mordechai and Turel were very powerful, what you might call vice presidents in your world. We can slow them down, but I’m afraid there are more Watchers in your future. Both of you.”

  He glanced toward Malini. He hated that he’d dragged her into this. Picking up a handful of sand, he watched it run through his fingers, thinking about the day, about everything he’d learned.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me what you were?” Jacob asked Dr. Silva.

  “Would you have trusted me if you knew I was a Watcher?”

  Gideon shook his head, his green eyes resolute. “You’re not. You are not the same as them, Abigail. I wouldn’t be here if you were.” He was beside her in an instant. He didn’t actually touch her but sat less than an inch away, his wing sheltering her in its protective arc. Even in the daylight, his glow was undeniable.

  Malini nudged Jacob’s shoulder and shot him a look. He hadn’t meant to hurt Dr. Silva’s feelings.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter what you are, Dr. Silva, but who you are,” she said. “You’re our friend. You saved us today.”

  Malini always knew just what to say.

  “I think that honor goes to Jacob,” Dr. Silva replied. “Why don’t we all go back to the house and have some tea? Then we can talk about what to do next.”

  “I think I’ve had quite enough of your tea, thank you,” Malini said.

  “Whatever you’d like then,” she answered with a laugh.

  Malini and Jacob led the way out of the cactus maze, through the field, and up the twisting forest path. Lillian followed closely, but Dr. Silva and Gideon lagged behind. As they entered the forest, stepping from stone to stone through the blood dragons, something started to nag at Jacob, a thought, a piece of the puzzle that didn’t quite fit. He told Malini to take his mom to the gate and quietly backtracked to the edge of the glade.

  Gideon and Dr. Silva had stopped in the meadow, the setting sun a red halo behind them. His hand hovered within an inch of her cheek, his body as close to hers without touching as possible. Under the shadow of his wings, it looked as if he would kiss her at any moment. His lips were so close to hers Jacob could feel the tension between them. It was a level of intimacy that made Jacob blush. He knew he shouldn’t be watching their private moment but for some reason, he couldn’t turn away. Even a bystander could feel the love there, as intoxicating as fairy dust.

  After what seemed like an eternity, their lips finally touched—only they didn’t. At the moment of contact, Gideon transformed, folding in on himself until only the red cat remained. Jacob could see it then, the sadness between them, hanging like a lead weight around their necks.

  Dr. Silva turned for the path and Jacob didn’t bother to hide. He was too affected by what he’d seen. He swallowed the lump in his throat and waited for them to join him on the trail.

  “So, it seems like you are doomed to experience one more form of hell today,” she said softly. Then she held a hand out toward Gideon. “Witness, the curse of the angel who fell in love with the Watcher.”

  The big red cat ran ahead, making a sound like a cry.

  Chapter 46

  Gideon’s Challenge

  They h
uddled in the parlor of Dr. Silva’s home and helped each other recover. Being in the presence of evil, true evil, sticks with you. It hangs off a person like the stench of sewage and takes more than its share of your thoughts. The original elation of being free from Nod settled into quiet contemplation. Dr. Silva insisted each of them have cookies with tea or milk and only discuss their happiest memories for at least an hour. She said it wasn’t safe to go out otherwise. A person shouldn’t take those feelings of grief and hopelessness into the world with them.

  “Jacob, you and your mom can’t go home dressed like that. Go cut some chrysanthemums from the back of the house and I’ll build you an illusion,” Dr. Silva said.

  He nodded. He was still wearing the grotesque rag from Nod. He walked through the sunroom, out the back door, and was about to cut a handful of burgundy flowers when Gideon joined him in the flowerbed.

  Jacob glanced up in time to see the cat transform. The process was gruesome, the cat turning inside out on itself, skinned alive. But in the end, Gideon looked no worse for it. He ran his hands through his auburn hair and stretched his wings to their full span before folding them neatly behind his back. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt Jacob assumed was an illusion since the cat hadn’t had any clothes. Still, he was thankful for that much. More comfortable than staring at a naked man with wings.

  “Does that hurt?” Jacob asked.

  “Mildly. Kind of like vomiting your own shoes.”

  “Oh.” He took in the glow around Gideon. “Then, why did you change?”

  “Because I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “I want to tell you about Abigail and about why I’m here.”

  “Okay.”

  Jacob took a seat on the garden bench and Gideon leaned against the fountain. His movements were quicker than a human’s and the turn of his head was reminiscent of a bird.

  “Before the beginning of time, we angels lived with God. Angels do not marry the way that humans do but we do have families. Abigail’s family decided to follow Lucifer when he challenged God for power. He and all of his followers were cast from heaven, including Abigail. I knew her then, before it happened. We had spent an eternity together.

  “Abigail never agreed with what Lucifer did. She went along blindly, following her family group. She regretted it immediately. While the others established Nod and preyed on humans, Abigail lived among men peacefully. She knew she was cursed, like the rest of them, but she refused to give up. She wanted to return to heaven. So, she left her family and lived a solitary life for thousands of years.

  “Then she met Oswald. She loved him, as much as any human has ever loved another. He believed she was human of course. She tried to tell him about her past, but he interpreted her words to mean that she had done some things wrong when she was young. He encouraged her to be baptized because he believed it would redeem her. She did it in good faith, not knowing what effect it would have.”

  “Wait a minute,” Jacob interrupted. “You guys are angels, you’ve been to heaven, and you’ve met God. How could you not know what effect it would have?”

  “I can see why you would think that, Jacob, but angels are servants of God. We don’t have any more answers than you. In fact, humans have been promised more from God than angels ever have. Your future, your soul, is more a certainty than ours.”

  “But don’t you know? I mean, who’s right? All of these religions on this Earth … you’ve been to heaven and back! Are you telling me that even you don’t know who is right?”

  “No, I don’t. But I can tell you that where I come from, in the presence of God, it is less important who is right than what is right.”

  Jacob tried not to look disappointed. Here he was, a new believer, and not sure what exactly believing meant for his life. He’d hoped that knowing Gideon, he would know for sure what to believe, what the truth was. He tried to bring himself back to the story. This was obviously important to Gideon.

  “So, you were saying, that Dr. Silva was baptized?”

  “Yes, she was. When Oswald died, I knew that God had plans for her when He allowed the portal to grow. To allow that kind of power in her hands—God trusted her. And then, I was called.”

  “Called?”

  “Yes. When God has a job for us, we hear it in our head and we obey. My job was to offer Abigail another chance. I was the messenger. I came down to her in the garden and I told her what God told me. Soon, a boy would come who would be important to the battle between good and evil. If Abigail proved her allegiance by successfully helping this boy, then she would be rewarded.”

  “Am I the boy? Will she get to go back now that I’m a believer?”

  “Yes. You are the boy and no, she cannot go back now. First, because your purpose is far from complete. There is much for you to learn and do. And, second, because going back is not her reward. At least not in the same form she left.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If Abigail fulfills the Lord’s will, He will make her human. He will give her a real soul, a mortal body.”

  Jacob stopped himself from asking why an angel would want mortality. He didn’t want to be rude.

  “You are wondering why she would want this?” Gideon filled in.

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  “You, silly human, have free will. You have a soul. And, God does not call you a servant like He does the angels, but a friend. When you die and go to heaven, angels will serve you.”

  “Oh,” was all he could muster.

  “You haven’t asked me the obvious question,” Gideon said with a grin.

  “What should I ask?”

  “Why am I still here?”

  “Why are you still here, Gideon?”

  “Because when I came to deliver the message, I fell in love with Abigail. I suppose, I have always loved her and will always love her.”

  “But what does that mean for you? If she becomes human…”

  “I asked, I begged the Lord, if I could help her, if I could stay … and He said, ‘yes.’ If Abigail succeeds, then I will be made human also. We will be able to be together like no two angels could ever be.”

  “You can’t be together now?”

  “I can’t even touch her in this form. She has a Watcher’s skin, a cursed body. This stuff that I am made of cannot make contact with it. Only as the cat, can she touch me.”

  “So, that’s what she meant by the curse. You have to stay with her now, because of your agreement with God, but you can never really be with her, until she succeeds in her quest. Until I succeed.”

  “Yes.”

  “And, I am her first? She’s never been a Helper before, has she?”

  “You are her first and only chance at redemption.”

  “Suddenly, I feel a lot more pressure to be good at this Horseman thing.”

  “I thought you should know.”

  “Thanks. I think,” Jacob said. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

  “Sure.”

  “Auriel told me that Watchers lose their power above ground. How does Dr. Silva do it?”

  Gideon smiled. “She never ate flesh. Watchers who feed on flesh are cursed and must continue to do so or lose their power. Abigail has maintained a vegetarian diet for her entire time on Earth and thus was never cursed in this way. It’s another reason she’s different from them.”

  Jacob nodded. “Well, I better get inside.”

  He leaned over to cut a handful of chrysanthemums and tried not to watch as Gideon folded in on himself.

  Epilogue

  It was amazing how fast news traveled in a small town. Jacob stood in the atrium of St. Mary’s Catholic Church with the Laudners amidst a sea of whispers and sideways glances. Truth can be a fuzzy concept in the best of circumstances. His story was less than perfect.

  When his mom returned with him to the Laudners’ home, he wondered how Uncle John and Aunt Carolyn would react. Dr. Silva, Malini, Lilly, and Jacob had talked for hours about wh
at story they would tell. What explanation could there be for her disappearance on Oahu and reappearance in Paris?

  They told Uncle John that Malini and Jacob had decided to drive to Florida and back, just for fun. Jacob said he’d found Lillian on the side of the road on their way back. Lillian’s appearance certainly upheld the story. She was gaunt, bruised, and her clothes were torn.

  For her part, Lillian said she couldn’t remember anything but being held in a dark warehouse. Dr. Silva had given them a place to say they had found her, a place of great evil. It turned out the FBI knew that place was frequented by human traffickers, and told Lillian she was lucky to have made it out alive. They had no idea.

  Although Aunt Carolyn wasn’t happy about it, Uncle John invited Lillian to stay in the Laudner home until she could get back on her feet. With Katrina gone, they gave her room to Lillian so she could be close to Jacob. They even gave her a job working in the flower shop. Jacob asked to work there too and Uncle John seemed ecstatic to finally have him on board. In truth, he did it to make up for lost time with his mom, but he was glad it made John happy anyway.

  He had no excuse for why he hadn’t called John. The Laudners were beside themselves with worry and had called the police, as had Malini’s parents. Although, Uncle John did admit he’d talked to Jim Gupta the first day after the pumpkin chuck and they had guessed something like this had probably happened. It didn’t lessen their punishment. Both of them were grounded until further notice, maybe forever.

  Dr. Silva’s garden slowly died as winter moved in. With Oswald’s soul departed, the tree did not have the warming effect on the environment around it. Jacob tried to help Dr. Silva collect seeds and roots for her greenhouse, but many varieties were lost during the first freeze.

  Once Jacob returned to school, there were dozens of stories about what had happened between him and Dane. He’d been in pretty bad shape. Dane’s official story was that he was mugged in the parking lot by three large men but didn’t get a good look at their faces. Jacob stuck with his story about finding him beaten in the parking lot. They never spoke of what really happened, but Dane completely changed his treatment of Jacob and Malini. It was too early to say they were friends, but the idea wasn’t as crazy as it used to be.