Deception - Episode 3 (Lost Souls)

by Laurel O'Donnell

  There had been another Romeo and Juliet play in 1987. And then the screen stopped. It seemed they all saw it at the same time. ‘Juliet disappears’ was the title.

  Esme didn’t need prompting. She clicked on it.

  The front page of an old newspaper came up. On the side was a picture of a smiling woman. It was a picture of the Soul Sam had just encountered in the theater. “That’s her,” Sam said. She scanned the article. Rose Grimes. She was due to play Juliet in her debut on the stage. But on the night of the first performance, she disappeared without a trace. No suspects. No evidence of foul play. She simply vanished.

  Sam stared at the smiling girl’s face. “It’s Rose in that theater.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Ben walked through the rain without becoming wet. It merely went through him. He’d spent the entire night wandering, looking for Cora. He knew it was useless. She could be hours away from him or right behind him and he would never know it.

  He wouldn’t find her unless she wanted him to.

  Defeated, Ben sat on a wooden bench beneath a large tree with a sigh. A clap of thunder made him lift his head to the sky. Black clouds released a torrential downpour. He saw drops as they rained down into his eyes and through him, leaving his vision unaffected.

  He would have to go back and tell Sam how useless the search was. Maybe they could set a trap for Cora. No. Sam would never do that. And Christian might want to fight her, stab her with an iron dagger. He didn’t know her; he only knew she was a Changed. Ben slid his dagger out of the back of his pants. He looked down at it in the palm of his hand. He should want to stab her, too. It would keep Cora weak, stop her from making the Jump into a human. But the thought of stabbing his sister made his heart ache.

  Maybe we could imprison her, he thought. The image of Scala’s iron cage came to his mind. They had locked him away for centuries in it. They still didn’t know how he had gotten out. The image of his little sister locked away in some iron cage pierced his soul. It was inhuman to do that. Scala was their enemy. Cora wasn’t. Or she didn’t used to be. There had to be another way. Something else they could do. He didn’t want to fight her.

  “Ben.”

  Ben whirled, standing.

  She emerged from the trees, a shadow at first, but then taking on a more ethereal human form. Rain splashed through her, leaving her brown hair dry. It was shoulder length, the ends still curled. She had a heart shaped face like Sam, but her eyes…they made Ben’s heart ache all over again.

  His hand tightened around the dagger’s handle.

  Black. Her eyes were black, the sign of a Changed.

  Cora looked down at the blade. “Have you come to kill me?”

  Shocked to hear such words from his sister, he looked down at the dagger. “You know I can’t do that,” he admitted.

  “Then you’ve come to keep me weak?”

  “Yes.”

  She laughed softly. “I thought that would be Sam’s job.”

  He set his jaw. He had to do it. He couldn’t allow her to get enough energy to make the Jump. He looked at her and they locked eyes.

  Cora lifted her chin. “Do it,” she whispered.

  Ben scowled. Was this some sort of trick? Did she think he couldn’t do it? He took a step toward her.

  She bowed her head. “I’m so tired. I just…don’t want to be lonely anymore.” She looked up at him again with completely black eyes. “You’d be doing me a favor.”

  Ben hesitated for only a moment. Then, he lifted the blade over his head. She was not Cora, he told himself. She was a Changed. He lifted the dagger higher, clenching his jaw.

  Thunder boomed loudly.

  She was the enemy of every Soul, a danger to all of them and to the humans. She was not Cora any longer. She was a Changed.

  But no matter what he told himself, no matter what kind of monster he tried to envision her being, he only saw his little sister standing before him. Her stubborn little chin lifted, daring him to bring the dagger down.

  “Do it,” she encouraged.

  He couldn’t. Cursing, he lowered his arm and turned away from her.

  A long moment passed in silence. No sound was heard except the muffled thump of rain on the leaves around them.

  “Is Sam here?” Cora asked.

  Ben shook his head. “I came alone.”

  “It’s good to see you. I miss you.”

  Ben grimaced, trying to harden himself against her. His grip tightened on the handle of the dagger.

  “Ben,” Cora said softly. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for being weak. I’m sorry I couldn’t fight this.”

  “Why didn’t you ask for help?”

  “Because at first I thought I was strong enough to fight it myself. When I realized what was happening, how angry I was all of the time, it was too late. I didn’t want to be around anyone. I only wanted to be alone.”

  Ben shook his head. “We could have helped you.”

  “No. You couldn’t have.” A flash of lightning lit the trees around them. “I’m so sorry, Ben. I’m sorry for not being stronger. I’m sorry for letting you down. I never wanted this.”

  Ben couldn’t answer. He clenched his teeth. He didn’t think any of the Changed really wanted to turn. He bowed his head. “What’s done is done, Cora. We can’t change that. No matter how much we want to.”

  “I know. I know that. I’m coming to you now to ask for your help.”

  Ben turned to her in confusion. Help?

  “You always said that I could. So I am. I don’t know who else to go to. And you promised you would always help me. We would always help each other.”

  Her head bowed over her twisting hands. He saw his little sister standing before him. The sister he had vowed to help, to protect, to watch over. “What kind of help?”

  She took a deep breath. “I need help resisting the need for power. The urge to drain. I’m attracted to Souls. And when I see one, I want to…” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fight it anymore.”

  Ben steeled himself. This wasn’t Cora. His hand tightened around the handle of his dagger. “You attacked Lucas.”

  “I couldn’t resist. I knew where he was. You don’t know what it’s like. You can’t imagine. It’s like… trying to resist chocolate when there’s a big plate of it in front of you and you are starving to death.”

  “Lucas isn’t chocolate.”

  “I know! I know. I don’t… I don’t know what to do.” She sat on the bench. “I’m so tired of it. I’m tired of not being with you and Sam. I’m tired of being alone. I’m tired of trying to resist the need for power.”

  “We can lock you up.”

  “Like Scala?” She looked up at him. “You would do that to me?”

  He set his jaw. “If I had to.”

  Hurt flashed in her eyes and she put her head into her hands. “I don’t want to be a Changed. I don’t want you to look at me like that. Like I’m some sort of monster.”

  “You had a choice, Cora.”

  “I didn’t! It just happened. I was angry. Angry at Sam. Angry at you. Angry at your stupid plans to save the humans when I was the one standing right in front of you who needed help. I was the one who needed saving!” She shook her head. “And then it just happened. And I couldn’t go back.”

  Ben stared at her. Could that be how it happened? Could it have been that simple? “Why didn’t you tell me or Sam how angry you were?”

  “I couldn’t control the change then any more than I can control the need to drain Souls now.”

  “Then why aren’t you attacking me?”

  Shock and then hurt entered her black eyes. “You’re my brother.”

  Every last ounce of discipline he had evaporated. She couldn’t hurt him, but here he was ready to shove a dagger into her heart. Ben sighed and tucked the dagger beneath his shirt at the back of his pants. He couldn’t hurt Cora. She was family. His sister.

  “What should I do, Ben?”

&nb
sp; He always had the answer. He was the one Sam and Cora looked to the most to have an even head, to be rational, to think his way out. But this time…he had no answers.

  “I’m so close to losing control. I’m so close.”

  He reached out and touched her arm for the first time. “Let me get Sam. Maybe together we can –”

  “No! No.” Cora pulled away. “Sam will want to stab me. She’ll look at me like you did. And I couldn’t take that.”

  “No, she won’t.”

  Cora tilted her head and looked at him with sympathy. “You know she will. With her, it’s always been black and white. Good and bad. There is no in between.”

  “She’s different now.”

  “People don’t become who they are not,” she said softly. “Not even Souls.” She stood and turned her back on him. “I’m done, Ben. I don’t want to live this life anymore.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Cora turned to look at him, slowly. “The only way to kill a Changed is to kill it after it makes the Jump.”

  Ben blinked. For a moment he didn’t understand her meaning. Maybe he didn’t want to. And then he did. “No,” Ben said firmly. “You are not making the Jump. I won’t allow you to.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she nodded. “You know when we first died, the three of us, in that fire and that beautiful woman came. Remember? We all saw her. Long blonde hair, remember?”

  Ben nodded.

  “I’ve seen her one other time when a human died. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was there for the human.”

  “You know how it is. She comes for the humans. Not for us. We had our chance.”

  “I’ve been thinking. If I was human again would she come for me?”

  “You mean if you made the Jump? Would she come for you when the human died?” Ben had never thought of that. Was that the reason the Changed made the Jump? So that their souls would go with the ‘angel’? No. They wanted to do evil. It had nothing to do with going with the angel. It was about being human again. And hurting others.

  “That’s all I want. I just want another chance. I want to go with her. I want her to come for me.”

  “Cora…”

  She shook her head firmly. “I’m tired, Ben. I really am. I just want this all to be over. I never wanted to leave you guys. And now, I can’t go back. And I can’t go on.”

  Ben could have sworn he saw the sparkle of tears in her eyes. “Come with me. Let’s go back to Sam. We can all figure something out.”

  “No. Sam won’t understand. She would try to lock me up.”

  “Sam wouldn’t do that.”

  “This is all her fault, anyway. If it wasn’t for her, we would have gone with the beautiful woman.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “You know it’s true! After the fire. She wanted to stay. She said she couldn’t leave Damien. I begged her, remember? Remember? But she wouldn’t go. And then you wouldn’t leave Sam. I had no choice but to stay.”

  Ben remembered. He remembered that night as if it had happened yesterday. The hot flames. The pain. Their screams. Cora was right. He wouldn’t leave Sam. And that had condemned them all. “Alright, Cora. It’s all right. We won’t go to Sam. We’ll figure out some other way.”

  “Promise me. Promise me you won’t tell her you spoke to me.”

  Ben scowled. “She’d want to know.”

  Cora shook her head. “Tell me you won’t tell her. That you won’t tell anyone. I have to be able to believe you. To trust you. Please.”

  “Alright, Cora.” He eased himself onto the bench beside her. “I won’t tell anyone.”

  Chapter Two

  When Ben materialized in the apartment, the thunderstorm had turned into a drizzle and the mid-morning sun was trying desperately to peek through the gray clouds.

  Ben left Cora at the nature center, promising to meet her again at noon. He had to think. This wasn’t at all what he anticipated. He hadn’t thought he’d be on her side. He wasn’t really sure what he expected. Yes, to stop her, but he hadn’t really thought about what that meant. He hadn’t really thought it through. How could he have meant to stab her? Because he thought she was going to be some energy-hungry monster.

  Sam sat up from lying down on the couch. The thin armor she wore, iron laced into her leather pants, vest and heels, made it easier and more natural to react to the items in the human surroundings without having to concentrate as hard. It was why they made their weapons out of iron. Something in its chemical consistency made it interact with the human world. Ben didn’t really understand how, that was Eugene’s department. He just knew it worked.

  “Did you find her?”

  Ben shook his head.

  She swung her legs off the couch and stood. “We found a Lost Soul.”

  “Really?” Ben looked around the apartment. “Where are Lucas and Christian?”

  “They went down to the coffee house on the corner with the human.” Sam shrugged. “Lucas likes to be with her. I think he’s afraid to leave her alone. I think he thinks Cora will return. And Christian wanted to get out for a while.” Sam picked up the printed papers from the printer tray. “Look.” She handed them to him. “Rose Grimes. Disappeared. She’s the one I saw in the theater. The Lost Soul.”

  Ben read the article.

  “Not sure why she wouldn’t pass. Maybe it has something to do with finishing the play. It does say she disappeared before she even had a chance to perform it. And when I saw her it looked like she was still practicing her performance.”

  “Did you talk to her?”

  Sam shook her head. “She was a little too angry for me to talk to.”

  Ben looked at her. “You think she’s going to change?”

  Concern filled Sam’s gaze. “Yes, maybe. You should talk to her. You’re always better at that stuff than I am.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Sam fazed Ben to the theater lobby. He would have done it, but he couldn’t faze there directly since he had never been there before and wasn’t familiar with the surroundings. It was a real plus for them that a Soul could pull others through a faze with them by touching them.

  Ben paused to glance at the regal theater. The walls were painted in deep red with gold accents. It was elegant. It reminded him of the old classic movie theaters from ages ago.

  Sam led the way further into the lobby.

  Ben picked up a flyer from one of the concession stands and looked at it. Romeo and Juliet was opening in three days.

  Sam paused at the door to the theater. “I saw her in here. On the stage. She knows the theater. I’m sure she can appear anywhere.”

  Ben followed Sam through the heavy wooden door and stopped in the dark theater. He scanned the room. It was a large theater with many seats and many hiding spots. A large chandelier hung over the empty seats. “Wait in the back. I’ll go check out the stage.” Ben fazed to the stage. He looked around but it was empty. He tilted his head to the high catwalks overhead. Lights lined the ceiling above. He lowered his gaze. Rows of seats were empty, except for the one Sam occupied in the back. “Rose?” Ben called. “I’d like to talk to you.”

  Nothing happened. No one appeared.

  Ben slowly turned, glancing in all directions. He walked to the front of the stage. “I know you were Juliet. I just want to know what happened.”

  Still, she did not appear.

  “The papers said you disappeared. Some even said you were scared to play the part of Juliet. They said you ran away.”

  That got her. She rippled into being right before him. “I was not afraid.” She lashed out at him, meaning to shove him.

  Ben fazed behind her. “Then what happened, Rose?”

  She whirled, glaring at him with burning eyes.

  Ben held up his hands. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

  “You’re in my theater,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “I won’t stay if you don’t want me to. But I’m a fan of the theate
r. I would like to see a performance. I would have liked to have seen your performance.”

  She tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.

  “You must have loved the theater to stay this long.”

  Rose closed her mouth tightly and looked down.

  “Rose, Sam and I are here to help you. We don’t want you to be alone.”

  “I’m not alone. The theater is my home.”

  “I understand that. But there are things out there that can hurt you and you need to be able to defend yourself.”

  Suddenly, the door in the back of the theater opened, drawing Rose’s gaze. An elderly woman entered. She paused and her gaze slowly swept the theater until finally coming to rest on the stage.

  Rose walked to the edge of the stage, her gaze softening.

  Sam stood up.

  “Who is she, Rose?” Ben asked softly.

  “My mother,” Rose answered, not taking her gaze from the white haired woman. “She misses me.”

  The woman took the last seat in the last row and sat down. She looked frail, her hand shaking as she held onto the seat in front of her.

  “What happened, Rose?” Ben asked gently. “Why didn’t you pass? Why did you leave your mother?”

  Rose’s hot glare snapped to him. “It wasn’t by choice. That bastard killed me. He raped me and killed me. Is that what you want to know?” She fazed to her mother’s side and sat in the seat beside her.

  Startled, Ben watched the tender way Rose gazed at her mother. He didn’t want to interfere right now. Rose should have this time with her mother. He knew how special and fleeting time with family was. He glanced at Sam and fazed.

  ~ ~ ~

  Esme’s fingers flew over the keyboard of the computer. Lucas stood near Esme.

  Sam leaned against the couch, her brow furrowed. Rose had been aggressive to her, yes, but it was very apparent she had tender feelings for her mother. She missed her, and didn’t want to see her mother in pain.

  Ben paced before them. “She was killed. It makes sense.”

  Christian stood near the kitchen. “Who killed her?”

  “Did you see how sad she looked when her mother came in?” Sam asked softly.