Lost Souls: Imperfection – Episode 2

by O’Donnell, Laurel

  Claire paused. Her smile disintegrated as she grabbed a picture beside the light. She stared down at the glass for a long moment. Tears entered her eyes as she gently stroked the picture. “Miss you, Ryan,” she whispered in a trembling voice.

  Sam pushed herself from the wall. “Don’t worry, kiddo,” she said. “I’m not going to let anything else happen to your family.”

  Claire didn’t move or acknowledge her, and Sam didn’t expect her to. She remembered the ache of losing Cora. It was like part of your life had been cut out of you and there was a hole left. She knew what it was like to lose a family member.

  “Sam?”

  Sam looked up to see Ben standing beside her. He had just fazed in to the room.

  “Ryan’s girlfriend is missing.”

  “Missing?” Sam asked.

  ~ ~ ~

  Sam stood behind a kitchen chair, her arms crossed. Christian, Ben and Eugene sat in chairs at the around the kitchen table in the dark.

  Eugene stared down at his black machine. “For 24 hours now.”

  Sam grit her teeth. They had missed this. How had they not known Ryan had a girlfriend? And even so, who could have predicted that it was love.

  Christian shook his head. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with Scala?”

  Sam grimaced. She couldn’t stand having to explain to him. She and Ben didn’t have all the answers!

  “We think Scala made the Jump to Rachel,” Ben answered.

  “What? Wait!” Christian held up his hands. “You said the lifelines had to be connected.”

  “Love is a lifeline,” Sam snapped. “The question is how do we find him…er, her now?” Sam and Ben looked at Eugene.

  Eugene hunched over his black box, his fingers flying quickly over the keyboard. Slowly, he looked up. “I don’t work well under pressure.”

  Christian rose. “So, what you’re basically telling me is that after six hundred years, you can no more tell who the Changed are going to Jump into than you could at the beginning?”

  Every eye turned to him.

  Fury washed over Sam. Who did he think he was? They were doing the best they could. “If you can do better, then feel free.” Her tone was tight and strained.

  “Sam,” Ben said firmly.

  Christian added, “I’m just saying… there must be some way –”

  “This isn’t an exact science,” Sam said sharply.

  “The possibilities can be endless,” Ben added. “And unfortunately, there are not enough Souls as there are possibilities.”

  “So you guess?” Christian demanded.

  Ben shrugged. “Sometimes it’s easier than this.”

  “Yeah,” Sam said. “Maybe we could have covered every one of his friends. And teachers. And co workers. And –”

  Christian scowled. “A girlfriend should have been one of the first to cover.”

  “Okay, Mr. Perfect. Next time you decide who we cover.”

  “Maybe you should have asked me. I’m in this group now and I should have a say.”

  “You’re a freshie.”

  Christian nodded. “And you were once, too. I’m tired of you treating me like I’m incompetent.”

  “Not incompetent, just a freshie who doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

  “I might be newly made, but that doesn’t mean I can’t guess with the best of you.”

  Sam slapped her hands on the table and leaned toward him. “Look –”

  “Okay. Okay. We need to calm down,” Ben interrupted.

  Sam glared at Christian. She’d been doing this for six hundred years without some freshie telling her how to do it. How to hunt these Changed. “If you think you can hunt the Changed better than we can, then go ahead.”

  Christian nodded. “I will.”

  “Christian,” Ben called.

  “Go on,” Sam encouraged.

  “Sam,” Ben warned.

  Christian straightened, staring at her. His lips were taut, his fists clenched at his sides.

  Sam cocked a grin and crossed her arms over her chest. He didn’t have the nerve to go on his own.

  Suddenly, he fazed and was gone.

  Sam dropped her hands. At least he fazed and he didn’t walk out of the room, she thought with an unwelcome tinge of admiration for Christian.

  Ben rolled his eyes. “Now, how is that going to help us?”

  Sam shrugged. “He can follow his own assumptions. We have work to do.”

  Sam hadn’t really thought Christian would go. He was more stubborn than she gave him credit for. But not more stubborn than her.

  She ignored Ben’s scowl of disapproval and looked at Eugene.

  Eugene grinned at her. “I didn’t like him, either.”

  That’s when Sam knew she had gone too far. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Christian; she didn’t even really know him! And she didn’t want to get to know him. She sat down.

  “What do you have, Eugene?” Ben asked quietly. “Any sign of Rachel?”

  Eugene shook his head.

  “There wouldn’t be,” Sam said. “Scala isn’t stupid. He’ll avoid cameras and anything that will give him away. He knows we’re looking for him.”

  Ben paced, running his hand through his brown hair. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

  “It never is.”

  ~ ~ ~

  High School. It had been a long time since Christian had been in school. As he stood in the gym observing the teenagers, he remembered how horrible it had been. Not necessarily for him, but for some. He had been a decent short stop for his high school baseball team. As such he wasn’t bullied. But he had seen others bullied and picked on relentlessly.

  Now was no different. He could pick out the children that were bullied. One skinny little boy stood away from the class, observing the game of basketball the others were playing. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

  “Come on, Fenske! Get in there!” the coach hollered.

  The skinny kid named Fenske took one step forward onto the court. The instant the coach turned his back, Fenske took the same step backward.

  There was a group of children very much into the game, racing up and down the court, dribbling, passing, moving past Fenske as though he weren’t there. That would have been the group of kids Christian hung out with. He had always been more athletic, oblivious to the nerds on the sidelines.

  There were also groups of girls standing around, more interested in talking and watching the boys than they were in playing the game. It was these groups of girls Christian loomed around, listening. They spoke of Rachel in hushed tones, as though if they said their fears aloud, she might never turn up.

  Then Christian noticed a blonde girl sitting alone on the bleachers. The girls carefully avoided her, whispering amongst themselves. She was a pretty girl and Christian was certain she should have been in the popular crowd. She hadn’t even changed for gym.

  When the coach called a foul and a kid stood at the free throw line, one of the other boys jogged over to the blonde girl. Christian followed him. “Hey, Missy,” the boy greeted with a jerk of his head. “How you holding up?”

  Tears rushed into her large blue eyes and she nodded and looked away.

  He sat beside her. “Any word on Rachel?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I got a text from her last night just before she left for work. But she never got there.”

  That’s because Scala made the Jump into your friend Rachel before she made it to work, Christian thought.

  “She probably lost her cell and is at her cousins. You know how she is. She’ll turn up,” the boy tried to comfort her.

  The girl nodded, but there was no conviction in her agreement. “Thanks, Brad.”

  Christian knew he had to find Rachel. And fast. Now that Scala was in human form, it wouldn’t be long before he started killing again. Christian’s gaze moved over the teens in the gym. Each one probably knew Rachel. Just like they knew Ryan. Which one would give
him the clue he needed?

  Brad re-joined his teammates on the court. The coach patted Brad’s shoulder as he passed him, crossing the gym toward Missy. Christian could tell by the coach’s saunter and his overbearing demeanor he used to be good at sports, but age was starting to take its toll on him. He had a toned body with just the slight sign of a rounded belly. What little dark hair he had receded beneath the red coach’s cap he wore. “Hi, Missy.”

  “Hi, Coach,” she mumbled.

  “Not playing today?” He seemed very sympathetic, kind even.

  “I have a note.” She began to reach into her bag, but he waved it off.

  “Why’d you come to school today? You should have stayed at home.”

  “I didn’t want to fall behind on my school work.”

  “I would have brought it over to you.”

  That seemed rather inappropriate. Christian never remembered a teacher offering to bring work home for him.

  Missy shook her head. “Nah. I like being here. I have friends…” Her voice broke off.

  The coach sat beside her. “You want to go to the nurse?”

  She shook her head.

  “Don’t worry about Rachel. She’ll turn up.”

  Missy nodded, a lock of blonde hair falling forward over her face.

  The coach stood for a moment. “If you need anything…”

  Missy nodded again. “Thanks.”

  The coach patted her knee and then moved back to re-join his class.

  Christian figured since Missy knew Rachel so well, he’d stick with her. Maybe she could give him the clue he needed.

  ~ ~ ~

  Sam watched from a chaise lounge as Doug, Ryan’s Dad, bent over his computer, typing diligently. Not that they needed to be there, Sam thought. Not with Scala already making the Jump into Rachel. There was no reason for her and Ben to be at Ryan’s house any longer, but Ben wanted to read all of the letters from Rachel to Ryan. It might let them know where she was, or at least give them some idea where to start. He was upstairs checking Ryan’s room.

  Eugene was back at his lab, making sweeps with his machines, trying to detect where the Jump was made. Each Jump was so full of energy that it left clues, a power outage, burned out electrical sockets… Every time a Jump was made, it required a tremendous amount of energy.

  Sam swung her legs off the lounge chair. Guilt was gnawing at the borders of her consciousness. She knew she had been rough on Christian. She shook her head. It wasn’t all her fault. The fact he thought he could do better then them after just barely becoming a Soul irked her.

  The door opened and Claire entered the house.

  Doug scooted his chair back and looked down the hall. “What are you doing home?”

  “I’m going to Missy’s house. She left school early.”

  “That doesn’t give you permission to leave early,” Doug answered, rising and moving to the stairs as Claire headed up. “Claire!”

  She paused, but didn’t turn.

  “We’ve talked about this before. You can’t just cut class when you feel like it.”

  Sam stood and moved to the hallway, leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest.

  Claire’s hand fisted over the railing. “Give me a break, Dad. Her best friend is missing.”

  Missy was Rachel’s best friend. Sam’s gaze narrowed. Maybe that was the clue they were looking for. Maybe Missy could lead them to Rachel.

  Doug visibly inhaled. “Look, I know how tough this is for everyone –”

  “Do you?” Claire asked and finally turned. “Then why don’t you get off my back? Rachel is my friend, too. I’m worried about her.”

  “I understand that,” he said firmly. “But school is important. You can’t just blow it off. You’ve been gone for a week already.”

  “I’m not blowing it off, Dad. I’m taking a day off.”

  “You’ve already been out too much. Your grades are horrible.”

  Claire shrugged. “I can make them up.”

  “But you’re not.”

  “Give me a break,” Claire said. “I’ve been gone for a week because of Ryan’s funeral.”

  “And that’s all the more reason to stay in school today. You’ve already missed so much.”

  “I’ll get to it later.”

  “You’ve said that before. Don’t you understand this is your future? Don’t you see how important it is?”

  “My friends are more important.” She started up the stairs again.

  Doug clenched his teeth and shook his head. “I warned you, Claire. I told you no more ditching. You know the consequences.”

  Claire shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Doug stormed up the stairs after her. “Don’t talk to me like that. I’m your father and you’ll show me some respect.”

  “Like before, Dad? Is that the respect you want?”

  He held out his hand. “Give me the car keys.”

  Oh, that hurt, Sam thought. To a teenager, car keys were the key to freedom.

  Claire’s mouth dropped. “No!” she hollered. “You can’t do that! I pay for my own car insurance.”

  “You know the rules.”

  “Here!” Claire took her purse and threw it across the room where it hit the wall and slid to the floor.

  Doug’s hand came around swift and hard, striking with a resounding thwack.

  Sam jerked away from the wall.

  Claire’s eyes welled with tears, her hand holding her red cheek. “I hate you. I hate you!” She raced up the stairs into her room and slammed the door.

  Ben materialized beside Sam. “What happened?”

  “Apparently this family is not as perfect as we thought. Did you find anything?”

  Ben shook his head. “No secret rendezvous place that I can find.”

  “Scala wouldn’t go there, anyway.” Sam’s gaze locked on the door at the top of the stairs. “Too easy to find him then. Go see what Eugene’s found. I’ll meet you there.”

  Ben nodded and vanished.

  Sam fazed into Claire’s room to find her sobbing into her pillow.

  “Why did you have to leave me, Ryan?” she cried. “I hate him!”

  Sam’s heart twisted. How hard it must be to carry the brunt of your father’s expectations. It had been so long since Sam had seen her own father, she barely remembered his face. But he had never hit her.

  Claire sat up, running a sleeve across her nose and cheeks, smearing the tears from her eyes. She grabbed her cell and typed something in. Then she pocketed the phone and stood. She locked her door and moved to the window.

  Sam shook her head, silently pleading with the girl. You’re just making matters worse. Don’t do it, Claire.

  Claire opened the window and swung her leg over the side. She reached over and grabbed hold of a white trellis on the side of the house.

  Sam fazed to the outside of the house and watched Claire agilely climb down the trellis. Sam remembered her rebellious youth. How Ben had tried to stop her from sneaking out to see Damien. But this was different. Claire was hurting. Doug was hurting. It wasn’t typical teenage angst.

  Claire jumped to the ground, looked back at the house and then took off across the street. Sam followed as she skirted fences and hopped over bushes. It was very apparent that Claire had done this before.

  Finally, Claire came to a house about five blocks away and paused in the backyard to text on her cell. It was only moments before a blonde girl opened the back door and stepped aside to let Claire in.

  The blonde girl closed the door and Sam walked through it…

  …only to find Christian sitting in one of the chairs of the kitchen. She was startled for a moment. He had gotten here first; his instincts had led him in the right direction. A reluctant grin stretched Sam’s lips. Not bad. He might be useful after all.

  “What are you doing here?” Christian asked, rising.

  “Don’t go getting all defensive. Claire skipped school to comfort her friend. I just followed her.”<
br />
  Christian nodded his head as if that was acceptable. “Yeah. I was at the high school. Heard that Missy was Rachel’s best friend.” He nodded again.

  Still so defensive. Sam guessed that was her fault. She should cut him a break. At least a little one. They did end up in the same spot.

  “Look,” Missy was saying to Claire with excitement. “I think Brad slipped it into my backpack.” She held up a golden locket. “I told you he liked me.”

  “Where are Ben and Eugene?” Christian wondered.

  “They’re at the lab,” Sam answered, turning to look at the locket Missy was holding. “Eugene is trying to track Rachel’s car.”

  Claire took the locket into her hands and studied it. Her brow furrowed. “This is Rachel’s.”

  Dread slithered up Sam’s spine.

  Missy scowled. “I never saw her with it.”

  “Ryan gave it to her the night he –” Claire looked at Missy. “What are you doing with it?”

  Christian looked from the locket to Sam. “What is it?”

  “Scala. He leaves items he takes from one victim with his next intended victim.”

  Eugene and Ben suddenly appeared at her side.

  “Rachel’s body was found,” Ben said. “He’s not in Rachel.”

  Three

  Sam stared down at the body bathed in the pale moonlight as police swarmed the vacant lot. Rachel was found near a dumpster in a bad part of town. Memories flooded back. How many women had Scala killed?

  “Just like before, Sam,” Ben said, walking over to her. “Eyes burned out and feet cut off.”

  Sam clenched her jaw. Again. Scala was back to start his murderous spree all over again. They thought he burned out the eyes because he couldn’t stand the guilt he saw reflected in them. Then, he cut off the feet so they wouldn’t come after him in death. It was deranged that he still did the same things, even knowing about Souls and Changed.

  The police stretched crime scene tape from the vacant building at one side of the lot to a dilapidated house on the other.

  “No one saw anything,” Ben said softly. “And there are no cameras in this part of the town.”

  Sam stood absolutely still. Chills peppered her body as she stared at Rachel’s blank, black eye sockets staring off into nothing. Images of other black eye sockets flashed in her mind. “How many times do we have to lock this bastard up?” She turned to look at Ben. “Where is Scala? Who is he in?”