Lost Souls: Imperfection – Episode 2

by O’Donnell, Laurel

  One

  “Ah ha!” Christian exclaimed, proudly lifting the apple before him. If any living human had been within eyesight, they would have seen an apple floating in mid-air as if by magic.

  Samantha nodded. He’d better be able to pick up an apple by now. It had been weeks since Christian’s death. He had plenty of time to practice reaching from their ghostly world into the land of the living and influence it physically. It just took concentration and a belief that it could be done. His boyish face almost glowed as he looked at the apple being held aloft by his ghostly hand. His blonde hair was cut close to his head, the top longer. His t-shirt was tight over his muscular torso and his jeans fit him just so. Yeah, Sam supposed he was good looking. But in the days he had traveled with her and Ben, he had started to get on her nerves. She pointed to another apple at the bottom of the tree resting on one of the roots. “Try that one.”

  With his newfound confidence, Christian strolled over to it and bent. He tried grabbing it with a swiping movement, but his hand moved right through it. His eyebrows rose in surprise. Then they furrowed as he tried it again. Again, his hand swiped through it. “What the hell?”

  “Just concentrate,” Sam said to Christian. “Pick up the apple.”

  Lines of determination formed around Christian’s narrowed eyes as he wrapped his ethereal hand around the solid apple beneath the apple tree. This time, his fingers managed to grip the fruit, but he could not lift it off the ground.

  Christian stood, staring down at the apple. “What’s wrong with that thing? It’s not budging.”

  “It’s not the apple,” Sam advised. “It’s you. You have to concentrate on what you’re doing.” As Christian bent to try again, she glanced at her brother Ben across the field.

  Ben leaned against her silver Audi R8 Spyder as he talked on his ghost cell. It was a device their friend Eugene created for them. Worked just like a regular cell phone. Sent data across subatomic particle streams, or something like that. Ben looked down at the ground, kicking the dirt with the toe of his black hiking boot. Even that subtle reach from their ethereal world into the physical world took concentration, but she and her brother had been trapped in the land of the Lost Souls for over six hundred years now, so for them it was second nature.

  She looked back to Christian. He was trying so hard, his expression so earnest. She almost confessed to him that she had nailed the apple to the root of the tree. Almost. Ben would disapprove of her punishment of Christian, she was certain. But Christian deserved this. He had been bothering her for two days to drive her car. He was relentless. Every time they stopped, he asked, knowing damn well she would never let him drive. She rarely even let Ben drive. His badgering was driving Sam crazy. “Go ahead and move it,” she encouraged Christian.

  If Christian had veins pumping blood through them, she was certain they would have popped out of his head. She patted him condescendingly on the back. “Maybe some day you’ll join the big leagues.” She turned and walked away, heading toward her brother.

  Christian fazed before her. “Let’s get this out in the open right here and now. You don’t like me. You don’t want me with you and Ben. You think I’m useless.”

  Sam cocked a hand on her hip. “I guess you’ve summed it up. What more is there to say?”

  Christian’s brow furrowed, his brown eyes darkening. “I’m trying my damnedest to fit in, but you are making it next to impossible.”

  “So, take off.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. You’ll just have to get used to that. You’re stuck with me.” He turned and began to stroll across the field, but suddenly he stopped and stormed back to her. “I don’t understand why you’re like this. What have I done to you?”

  “You’re a freshie.”

  “But one day I won’t be. Until then, just deal with it.” He turned and stormed away.

  Sam smiled at his retreating back. That was the most backbone he had shown since he joined them. He had potential. But she would never tell him that. Then he’d just hound her even more to let him drive her Spyder.

  She shook her head as she watched him. He was still too used to his human form. He needed to be a Soul and use the powers available to him.

  Sam fazed, disappearing and then reappearing next to the Spyder.

  Ben paced before the car, speaking on the cell phone. Sam could tell the conversation wasn’t going well. When Ben snapped the phone shut, Sam asked, “Did he find Cora?” Her brother shook his head and Sam saw the frustration in his tight lips. “We’ll find her,” she said.

  “He wants our help with something else,” Ben said.

  ~ ~ ~

  Sam walked through a fallen tree, not bothering to step over it. She had left her Spyder in the camouflaged garage Eugene had built for it and was now leading the way through the forest, Ben and Christian following. On their way through the thick trees, she saw Christian still hesitate before every big obstacle in their path, not knowing whether to lift his leg over it or just move right through it; she knew his brain was still trying to figure out the new world he was in. He still had a ways to go to acclimate himself to his new surroundings.

  “The last thing you ever want to do is startle Nichols,” Ben explained as they walked toward the run-down looking wooden house buried deep in a forest in Wisconsin. “He has to know you’re coming.”

  Eugene Nichols had been their friend for a very long time, at least five hundred years. So, when he said he needed help, there was no hesitation. They went right away.

  “Isn’t this a little unsafe for him? I mean out in the middle of a forest. A lone Soul?” Christian asked.

  Sam shook her head as she had numerous times on their little road trip. “Eugene knows we’re here. We’ve already come through numerous alarm systems. He’s shut off the systems to allow us entry.”

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “You’re not meant to.”

  “You’re not looking,” Ben explained. He pointed to a towering evergreen tree. “Look halfway up that tree.”

  Christian saw a bird sitting on the branch. “I only see a black bird.”

  “It’s a camera,” Sam said, walking through a tree that grew too close to another.

  “It’s moving,” Christian said, peering closer.

  “Eugene is a talented techno geek. He has all the time in the world to work on his creations.”

  “He’s probably watching us right now trying to figure out who you are,” Ben answered, following Sam. “And to make sure you’re not coercing us into leading you to him.”

  Sam nodded. “Eugene is very paranoid that way. He thinks everyone is out to get him.”

  “Well, everyone except you,” Ben remarked.

  Sam cast Ben a warning glance.

  “Why not Sam?” Christian wondered.

  Another low chuckle came from Ben. “Eugene has a crush on her. He built her car for her.”

  “Ahhh. That’s why there was an iron garage for it that you knew the code to.”

  Ben nodded, a crooked grin on his face. “Hidden by camouflage.”

  “Behind a barbed wire fence.”

  “Electrified.”

  “Okay. Okay,” Sam cut in. “Maybe he likes me a little. But that’s all.” She heard Ben laugh softly and then Christian. “He’s a friend, that’s all.”

  “Sam!”

  Suddenly, Eugene Nichols stood before them. At five foot eleven, Eugene did not present an intimidating figure. He had a stocky, compact build. He wore a t-shirt that read ‘Bronies’ and loose-fitting jeans. He had somehow managed to give his short brown hair a gelled looked so it shone. He rushed forward, his arms open as if to embrace Sam.

  She stepped back, holding her hands palm out and shook her head.

  Eugene came up short, nodding. He ran a hand through his slick hair and wiped it on his jeans. “It’s, um, good to see you, you know?”

  Sam nodded. “You too, Eugene.”

  “Hi, Nichols,” Ben greeted.
r />   Eugene nodded at him and then his gaze speared Christian. “Who’s he?”

  Sam knew she had to be the one to introduce him to alleviate Eugene’s paranoid fear. “This is Christian, Eugene. You can trust him.”

  Eugene grunted doubtfully. He looked around at the surrounding forest, then back at Christian. “Did you lead anyone here?”

  “I’m hurt you’d ask that,” Sam said.

  “I didn’t mean you!” Eugene defended, his tone almost pleading for immediate forgiveness. “You know I didn’t. It’s just that…well, we’d better get inside and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  As Eugene led the way, Sam cast a glance at Ben. She quickly caught up with Eugene. “You having trouble with the Changed?”

  Eugene bridled. “Nah. Those bone heads. No. They can’t get through my security. Haven’t figured it out, you know.”

  “I didn’t think they would.” Sam walked through the door of the abandoned broken-down house, following Eugene. Christian and Ben did the same. “So, what is it?”

  Eugene rubbed his chin and scratched his dark head. “Lots of things. Lots of things are happening. You guys stirred up quite a wasp’s nest.”

  Sam grinned. “You know us.”

  “That stunt you pulled with the Changed. It’s all over the ghost waves. All the souls are talking about it. Did you really do it? Did you blast the crap out of it?”

  Sam nodded. “Remember? I was telling you my theory about the Changed being pure energy. They are at their peek when they make the jump. So, what would happen if you pumped them full of more energy?”

  Eugene nodded in agreement. “Brilliant. Brilliant.”

  Ben shrugged. “Daniel wasn’t too happy.”

  Eugene rolled his eyes. “To say the least! He is pissed. There’s talk of quarantining you.”

  “They already tried that,” Sam whispered.

  Eugene grinned proudly at her. “There are lots of Souls who agree with him. But there are some who don’t. You’ve caused something of a state of tension, to say the least. Like a dissension. Those at the top don’t like. Not one bit.”

  “How come you live in this rundown shack if you have so much technology?”

  All three turned to Christian. Sam sighed softly. “Sorry,” she said to Eugene. “He’s new.”

  “What?” Christian demanded. “What did I say?”

  “Freshie,” Eugene muttered in disdain and sank through the floor.

  “I’ll faze you down,” Ben told Christian. He put his hand on Christian’s shoulder.

  Sam fazed, disintegrating and reappearing on the floor below, beside Eugene. They stood in his pre-base. A simple room made of four iron walls. Thick iron. Impenetrable iron.

  “Wait until you see my new test to get inside. It’s right out of a James Bond movie. But it works really well for us.” Eugene led her over to one of the walls where the only break in the four iron walls and floor was a black panel. Christian and Ben came down together.

  After glancing around, Christian whispered, “I’m still unimpressed.”

  “Unimpressed?” Eugene demanded. He pointed to the ceiling. “If one of those Changed freaks got this far, which would be a miracle in itself, that ceiling will close and trap him. Seamlessly. For good! Not impressed?” He shook his head.

  Sam laid a hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Show us your new test.”

  Eugene nodded. He leaned close to the black panel. The front of the panel slid aside and Eugene leaned his forehead against it. A light scanned his eye, moving from right to left.

  “You got a retinal reader that reads ghost eyes?” Ben asked, coming around Christian to stand beside Eugene.

  After the process finished scanning his eye, Eugene stood up. “I made it myself.”

  Sam grinned as the door to his inner sanctum opened.

  “You expect a Changed to put their head in there for an eye read?” Christian asked in disbelief.

  Eugene looked at him coldly. “It’s for Souls. To make sure they haven’t changed. Duh. Eugene step forward toward the sanctum. “Wow, he really is a freshie…”

  Christian shook his head and followed them into the room.

  Sam moved across what had always looked to her like a living room. A blue couch lay perpendicular to the opposite wall. Sam knew a television lowered from the ceiling. She also knew that it wasn’t always just for entertainment. Eugene had set up devices in certain complexes around the world to spy on the other Souls. Behind the door to their left was a regeneration bed she had personally used on two separate occasions to restore her energy. Behind the door to the right was Eugene’s lab. She was sure there were more rooms he hadn’t shown her.

  As Eugene followed her, he gently and lovingly stroked a dismantled alarm clock on a table.

  Sam sat on the couch. “Why’d you call us?”

  Eugene’s face melted into uncertainty. “Well, there’s this Soul… I don’t want you to think…” He cleared his throat and picked up a piece of the alarm clock, turning it over and over in his hands. “You know that there are a select few Souls that I work with.”

  Ben crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against a chair near the table. “We know.”

  He looked quickly at Sam. “But you, of course, are my favorite.”

  Yes, Sam knew she was his favorite. He hadn’t made a car for any other Soul. He hadn’t dropped everything for anyone else except for her. Even his precious technology came second to her. She knew.

  “One of the other Souls – Becky –”

  “Rebecca?” Ben asked, straightening away from the wall, dropping his arms to his sides.

  Sam glanced at Ben. They had worked a case with Rebecca a long time ago. If Sam remembered correctly, Rebecca was a thin woman with cropped brown hair who could hold her own in a fight.

  “Yes. Yes. Becky was working on a case. A boy. She thought he was a Soul and she was looking for him. She stopped in to say hello and ask if I had any information.”

  “Which, of course, you did,” Ben said.

  Eugene bridled as if the comment offended him. “Of course.” He reached forward and took a folder off of the table before him. He handed it to Samantha.

  “A folder?” Christian wondered. “Kind of low tech, isn’t it?”

  “I prefer to call it old school,” Eugene countered. “I like the tactile feel of paper in my hands. Almost makes me feel human again.”

  “Ryan Johnson,” Sam read from the label on the folder, ignoring their banter.

  Eugene turned back to Sam and nodded. “Star basketball player. Young boy.”

  Sam opened the folder to see the grainy image of a boy in a basketball outfit, holding a basketball. She read from the file Eugene had created. “Senior in High School. Parents, a sister.”

  “Died suddenly on the basketball court during a championship game with his team’s rivals.”

  Sam’s lips closed. Could be a lost soul. Might not be. “Why would Becky think he wouldn’t pass?”

  Eugene pointed to the folder. “He went down in the middle of the game. Some sort of heart irregularity. Star player. He might feel he had to finish.”

  Ben nodded in agreement. “He might not know he was dead.”

  Sam stared into the brown eyes of the young boy, hoping he had passed. Hoping he hadn’t stayed, hoping he wasn’t trapped in the world of Lost Souls as they were, never to move on to the next life. He was so young.

  “He might not have wanted to let his teammates down,” Christian added.

  Sam, Ben and Eugene turned to Christian.

  Christian shrugged. “I wouldn’t.”

  Damn it. He was right. They all were. “What did Becky say? Did she find him?”

  “That’s why I called you. Becky is missing.”

  Dread peppered Sam’s shoulders. Missing.

  “I haven’t had any communication with her for a week now.”

  “That’s not like her,” Ben said.

  Eugene shook his head.
“She’s almost as meticulous as I am.”

  Sam chuckled as she looked back down at the file. “No one is that meticulous.”

  “Was she working with a partner?” Ben wondered.

  Eugene nodded. “Me.”

  Sam shuffled through some of the papers in the folder. “Where was she looking for…” She flipped back to the front page. “Ryan?”

  Eugene smiled. “I knew you’d help,” he whispered, running a tender thumb over the piece of alarm clock he held. “You never let me down.”

  His gaze was full of a worshipfulness that made Sam uneasy.

  “2231 Cheshire. You’ll find a map there at the bottom.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Sam, Christian and Ben stood before Ryan Johnson’s house. It was a typical two story suburban house with a white picket fence. A basketball hoop hung on the garage, the backboard thoroughly scuffed from use, the netting starting to show frayed edges.

  No one said a word. But they all knew the danger that always surrounded the first appearance of a freshie in their world. If Ryan truly had turned into a Soul, there was a good chance that a Changed was here, too. Even Christian knew that. The Changed were damned monsters who hunted new Souls for their energy. Ryan would have been in danger. But Becky was no freshie. She’d been around for centuries. She would know how to handle herself and what to do if a Changed attacked her.

  “She’d go right in,” Ben said.

  Sam nodded. The family wouldn’t have been able to see Becky, so it wouldn’t have mattered if anyone were home or not. Sam scanned the area; there were no cars in the driveway. It was midday and the sun beat down on the house. Perhaps the parents were at work, the sister at school.

  Ben started forward. Sam moved after him and Christian took up the rear.

  The boy would have been comfortable here. This is where he would have returned. Instinct was strong in all Souls to return home. It was always the starting place when they looked for a new Soul. They had found Christian in his home right after he had become a Soul. It was the place the other Souls had found Sam and Ben.