Souljacker

by Kodilynn Calhoun

  “Are you calling me fat?” Sync huffs. “I am not fat. This is just the way my shell was created! So what if I’m a little round?”

  “Sync, chill.” I scoop her out of the air, away from gaping jaws, and tuck her into my bag. I turn to the dog, who’s now looking up at me with excitement gleaming in her brown eyes. “Go away. Mine.” The dog barks in my face, her breath blowing hair out of my eyes, and I glare at her.

  “Leave it, Hope,” Caddie says in a stern voice. The dog drops her head and tail, casts one look at me over her shoulder, and trots off into the back yard to attack a poor, innocent tree branch. Caddie smiles at me. “She’s just a puppy herself. We got her from the shelter a couple months ago. She’s going through her terrible twos, but she’s harmless, really!”

  “If you say so.”

  The back yard is nothing to write home about; it’s mainly grass needing a buzz-cut and a hundred holes dug into the dirt. The trees look like they’re trying to get away from the holes exposing their roots, the ends of them gnawed on. Hope barks and dashes across the yard, a bright white streak, leaping straight up. Hell, no wonder the fence is so tall—it’s to keep Miss Jumps-A-Lot in.

  “I’m gonna tell Mom I have company. Be right back,” Caddie says, opening the sliding glass door and disappearing into the house. I peer in through the window after her to see her chatting with a shorter woman with a mane of frizzy blonde curls. Like mother, like daughter. At least before Caddie’s dye-job.

  I sit down on a patio chair. The cushion’s been chewed on, but it’s still intact. More than I can say for the other chair, whose leg looks like a toothpick.

  She comes back out a minute later, handing me an unopened cola. “Hope you don’t mind; we hate the diet kind.” She pops her tab open and takes a gulp, setting it down on the glass table. She sits in toothpick-chair and surprisingly, the leg doesn’t give out. She leans across the table, elbows on the glass.

  “So. Like I was saying. The fire builds and builds inside of me with no release. If I let it burn out of control, we have chaos. But if I dispel it little by little…it’s tiring, but it works. Like this.”

  She opens her hand and the glowing ball of flame reappears, swirling in her palm. She swings her arm back and chucks it across the yard. Hope shrieks with, what I’m guessing is joy, and tears off after the fireball. Just as her jaws open to snatch it, Caddie closes her fist. The fire dissolves into smoke and Hope’s teeth click together on air. The poor dog looks confused for a moment, then races back for more.

  “I try and use my powers for good. I’ve stopped two muggings just by setting the bad guy’s pants on fire. You should see how they scream when they realize running away with a stolen purse is the least of their worries.” Her eyes gleam with mischief. “If I create the fire, I can put it out; it just takes a lot more focus. But burning myself out is tiring. By the end of the day, I’m exhausted and sore.”

  “That’s how I feel if I don’t get a boost during the day,” I say. “Maybe we’re opposites, somehow.”

  “Exactly what I’m thinking. I give, you take. Which makes me curious. I want you to take soul from me.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Just take a little. I wanna know what happens.”

  “No! Just…no.” I rise to my feet. As if on cue, the Need wells up, reaching out, fingers pressed against my skin. I need it. But not Caddie. I can’t risk it. “That’s insane. I won’t do that to you.”

  “But you’ll take from Jale?”

  “It’s complicated! Jale doesn’t matter to me.” The truth is out before I can suck it back in. “You’re my friend. The first friend I’ve had in years. You have no idea what that means to me, Caddie, what I could risk and…no. Please.”

  Her eyes soften at this. “You’re not going to hurt me, Luce. Think of this as an experiment.”

  I waver on my feet and am reminded of my weakness once again. I didn’t get enough from Jale to really matter. But what could a taste hurt? I swallow back the lump in my throat and scoot my chair over to her side. Then I sit down. “Okay. Fine. Just a little. I’ll stop myself before I do any damage.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She offers a dazzling smile. “Give me a minute, ‘kay?” She opens both hands, resting her elbows on her knees as she scoots away from the table. Once again, heat trickles out of her, radiating off her skin in waves. “Do it.”

  “You’re sure?” Panic burns in my throat.

  “Touch me, Lucy.”

  “Sounds dirty,” I mumble, then place both my hands in hers. Our eyes lock, hers dark with fire and mine rivaling in their icy coldness. Then it hits me.

  If I thought the warmth she was putting off was hot? I was dead wrong. Suddenly I’m burning up, my skin on fire, hotter than the Need’s ever burned before. It licks through my veins, liquid flames, and I can’t stop the whimper from erupting from my throat, pain mixed with so much pleasure, a masochist’s orgasm.

  For once in years, the Need peters out before I can pull away. I gasp, jerking my hands out of Caddie’s, throwing myself backwards with so much force that I tip the chair and slam my head against the patio cement. My body buzzes and hums, full for the first time, but it’s nothing compared to the panic that’s tearing through me as I scramble to my feet, afraid of seeing Caddie staring at me with dead eyes, her soul trapped within me.

  No. Please. Anything but that…

  “Holy crap,” she says, one hand touching her head. She’s very much alive. Relief rushes out of me in a whoosh of breath and I sink to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself. I’m so…warm. “Lucy? Look, it’s okay? I’m alive.”

  “I took too much,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I should’ve stopped. Caddie, I’m sorry—”

  “What are you talking about? I feel fine! See?” She flicks a fireball through the air and it poofs out an inch from my face. I blink at the residual heat that burns my eyes. “More than fine. I think you just proved my theory correct,” she says with a wolfish grin.

  “What theory?”

  “My fire and my soul are, in essence, the same thing. You absorbed my soul—and took most of the burn away. I feel like I’m at a comfortable level. It’s not trying to get free; it’s just kind of simmering, ready to be called upon.” She snaps her fingers and sparks flutter through the air, dying out before they can touch the ground. “I feel amazing, Lucy. What about you?”

  I shake my head, my heart still pounding from the scare. “I thought… I thought I’d taken too much, that I’d killed you or something. But I feel good. I’ve never been this full before.” Her earlier words dawn on me. Wait. “You said your fire builds back up?”

  “Yep, in a matter of days, I’ll be ready to burn out again.” She laughs. “Which meaaaans you could use me as your own personal battery and I’ll never die on you. You take a little soul, I lose a little fire. Win, win.”

  “Holy slag.”

  I know that it has to be too good to be true, that I should shoot Caddie down and tell her never to talk of this again, but honestly? My body is positively humming. It feels amazing. The idea of never having to take from Jale or Mrs. Rockwell again? That the soul will be given to me, rather than stolen?

  Iofiel…

  I could touch Iofiel. I could hold his hand and kiss him and I’d never hurt him! We could date and I could have a real boyfriend. Maybe make real friends. Excitement bubbles up like a fountain and I bounce on my heels, unable to sit back down. Caddie laughs. “Feels good, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I admit, feeling a little sheepish.

  “Then it’s a deal. We can do the trade here at my place whenever we need it. Oh, and Lucy?” I look at her and she smiles. “Thanks.”

  “For what? If anything else, I should be thanking you!”

  “I feel almost normal. I mean, yeah, I know I’ll never be normal, but it’s nice to feel like it sometimes. Yanno?”

  Do I ever.

  Chapter 12:

  Lucy

  This week has been he
aven. No. Better than heaven. It’s been heaven, dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in walnuts. For the first time in a long time, I walk with a bounce in my step, the energy inside me swirling and contented. The Need doesn’t rear its ugly head, not even when I brushed up against a girl in Phys-Ed. Despite the nasty look she gave me, nothing bad happened.

  I feel…alive. And if we’re honest? I do feel almost normal.

  I haven’t seen Iofiel since that night. I wonder if maybe he’s been assigned to another city or something, to do whatever cyberhounds do, without my interference. Then, morbidly, I wonder if that big hound killed him, ripped him to pieces, and his corpse is rotting in the woods somewhere. Not a happy thought.

  “Earth to Lucy.” Caddie’s voice is a buzz in my ear. I blink back to reality, looking at her from across the table. She’s swirling her fork around in the myriad of something-stew on her tray, her eyes locked on me. “Hellllooooo in therrrrrre.” She makes a knocking motion on her head.

  “Can it,” I mutter, but I’m grinning.

  She laughs and shoves her tray away from her. I nibble at the corner of the waxy butter bread and stack my tray on top of hers. The stew sloshes over the side, forming a congealing puddle of ew on the table. “So, you’re coming home with me tonight, yeah?”

  “Uh…” How long have I been spacing?

  “Say yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Good girl. You’re so meeting my mom.”

  I slam on the brakes, staring at her. “No.” I shake my head. No parents. Parents remind me of my dead mother and never-been-there-ever father. I’m glad Caddie has someone to be there for her, but no. No thanks. “I’d rather not.”

  “She’ll adore you, Luce.”

  “Again, I’ll pass.”

  She rolls her eyes and snorts at me. “What’re you, chicken? Little Lucy Chickenpants? Afraid of a big bad mom?”

  I growl at her, the sound sounding foreign in my throat after a week of jokes and laughter. “I don’t do parents. Obviously, they don’t do me either, else I’d have been adopted by now.” She snaps her jaw shut at that, her next words dying on her lips. I shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Caddie ducks her head in an apologetic-puppy way. “She knows what I am and she loves me anyway. She won’t care that you’re different.”

  “I don’t want her to even know about me! I trust you, but there’s a difference. You’re just as freakish as I am. She’s not.”

  “I want you to meet her. As my best friend. Seriously, girl? You’re the closest thing to a friend I’ve ever had. Mom, she worries about me. She thinks I’m destined to spend my life alone. I want to share you with her, Lucy. She doesn’t have to know what can do if you don’t want her to, but…at least meet her.”

  I want to tell her no, but she’s fixed me with a stare so shiny that I feel my resistance cave. I groan and rub my face with both hands, my elbows grinding on the table. “Okay. Fine. I’ll meet her, but I won’t like it.”

  “Oh, you will,” she says. “Mom will weasel her way into your heart with baked goods. Closest way to a girl’s heart is through her stomach, yanno.”

  I roll my eyes and she waggles a finger at me. “So head to my place after school. Portal’s always open.”

  “I’ll walk.”

  “Whatev, doesn’t matter. See ya then!” She pushes her chair away from the table with a screech of metal on tile and picks up our trays. I watch the way her hips sway as she saunters through the cafeteria, bold, her confidence growing with each step she takes.

  Jale comes up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She turns and gives him a sassy grin and they walk away together. I feel a flare of jealousy and fight it down. No. Caddie deserves him—hell, it’s only because of her that Jale is keeping whatever he thought happened between us a secret. But Caddie does deserve to be happy.

  Still, I can’t help but think about Iofiel, the way his hand rested lightly on my leg, the way his tongue swept the drips of ice cream away from the cone. His smile, the gleam of happiness in his eye when I sank that hole in one. The way he held me, if only for a moment. My throat tightens. Maybe it’s not supposed to be mine. I grab my bag and books off the table and take off before the bell has a chance to ring.

  ***

  My stomach is a coil of snakes, writhing in my gut with nerves as I knock on Caddie’s front door. Hope barks mercilessly out back, high pitched and annoying. The door swings open and Caddie grins at me. “Thought you’d gotten lost.”

  “Had to check something first,” I admit with a shrug. Color me OCD, but I had to see if maybe Iofiel was back. If I could just…find him, then maybe…

  I take a deep breath. “I’m not sure about this.” I take a step back, feeling my heel teeter off the edge of the porch step.

  Caddie reaches out and snares my arm. “Dude, chill. It’s just my mom. She’s awesome!” With a laugh, she drags me inside and I’m surrounded by the smell of cinnamon and sugar, AC billowing through the house. She tugs me down the hall, wallpapered with country-style print and pictures of Caddie and her brother lining the walls.

  Her brother is blond and blue-eyed and very…impish looking. Like he could have little devil horns sprouting from his skull at any time.

  “That’s Caleb,” she says, pointing at a picture. “He’s a pain in my butt.”

  “Looks like he could be Satan’s child.”

  “Nah, that’s me.” Caddie smirks and a flicker of fire dances across her fingertips. “He’s powerless. Which is a good thing. He gets into too much trouble as a normal kid, let alone a paranormal one.”

  We walk into the kitchen and I’m hit with the mouth-watering smell of cookies—buttery flour and cinnamon. Her mom’s pulling a pan of snickerdoodles out of an ancient black oven, the heat making her untamed mane of blonde curls even frizzier. She sets the pan down on the counter on a couple of hot pads and turns to us.

  My stomach tightens as our eyes meet and lock for the briefest of seconds, and then she’s looking me up and down. I hunch my shoulders and glance to Caddie, who’s picking at a very hot cookie.

  “They just came out of the oven, Cads,” her mom chides, her voice soft and flowery. Then she shoots me a brilliant smile, warm enough to melt snow off a roof in the dead of winter, and I feel myself relax a notch. She offers her hand. “I’m Trista, Caddie’s mom, but you already knew that. Who else would I be?” She chuckles.

  I stare at her outstretched hand for a moment, my knee-jerk reaction not to take it, just in case. Caddie shoots me a look that says, “Hurry up, dummy! You’re normal, remember?” and I remember that I’m full. I don’t need her soul, her energy. I offer a tight smile and shake her hand but it’s only after she releases me, untouched by my Need, that I relax. “I’m Lucy.”

  “I hope you like snickerdoodles. This is one of my favorite recipes.”

  Caddie grins around a mouthful of cookie. “They’re great, Mom,” she says, spitting crumbs. Trista shoots her a glare and Caddie swallows before she continues. “As always.”

  “Thank you, Cads,” Trista says, ruffling her daughter’s hair. “Feel free to make yourself at home—any friend of Caddie’s is welcome here. It’s been too long, and…” She glances between us, suddenly looking unsure of herself.

  “Luce knows about my powers. It’s cool.”

  I nod.

  Trista wraps her arm around Caddie’s shoulder, pulling her in close. “Good. Sometimes it’s good to have someone to share your secrets with.”

  “Moooom.”

  I laugh as Caddie rolls her eyes, shrugging out from under her mom’s arm. “Go do something. We’re gonna take a plate of cookies to my room and shut the door and talk about girl stuff.” With that, she piles about eight cookies on a paper plate, grabs my arm with her free hand, and drags me down the hall.

  “Nice meeting you!” Trista calls after us.

  Caddie shuts her bedroom door behind us. I turn, taken aback at the amount of pink and purple and flowers in Caddi
e’s room. Even her bed skirt is girly. “Don’t say a word,” Caddie growls, setting the plate down on her bedside table. “Just because I can control fire doesn’t mean I can’t like pink!”

  “Nice.” I grin, and I mean it. I grab a still-warm cookie off the plate and sink down to the floor, crossing my legs at the ankle. “So…uh. Enlighten me. What are we doing?”

  “Girl stuff. Hanging out. Talking about boys. That sort of thing.”

  “Oh boy.” I groan, Iofiel pestering my mind once again. “Let’s not and say we did.”

  “Lucy, are you blushing?”

  “No!” I yelp, but my face is already hot. I cover it with my hands.

  Caddie lets out a squeal of triumph and jerks my hands back down. “Okay, so who’s the crush? You have to have a crush. I knew you did! Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “He’s nobody you’d know.”

  “Ooh? Is he graduated already? Lucy likes older men?”

  “Something like that,” I mutter, stuffing my mouth full of cookie so I don’t have to talk. “Holy crap, these are good.” Now it’s my turn to spit crumbs.

  She swats at me. “Don’t change the subject. So. What’s his name?”

  I hesitate. Would Caddie think I was insane for crushing on a cyberhound? Did she have to know more than he’s just a boy? “Iofiel. I met him at Cosmo a couple of weeks back. He’s really…”

  “Hunky? Gorgeous? Orgasmic?”

  “Nice.”

  “Just nice?”

  “He’s…I don’t know. Sweet, funny. Adorable.” I feel myself gushing a little, my smile so wide it hurts my cheeks. I try and dampen it with a frown, but it just won’t work. I shrug. “We went out and played mini golf. I totally kicked his butt. But…”

  I freaked out and ran away from him, then figured out he was a freaking cyborg. “I was afraid I’d hurt him. Every time I touched him, I felt this horrible Need, like I was going to drain him dry. I just…I couldn’t do it. I haven’t seen him since.”