ASCENSION (10 page)

              “You won't regret it,” the man said happily. “You've made my life worth living again. I can't wait to tell my wi-” he paused. “It's okay if I tell her, right?”

              Jake scoffed. “If you must.”

              Then the man skipped out of the door lighter than air itself. All eyes were on Jake, but his were on the floor. He sat down with a sigh, then gazed pensively out the window.

              “Can you really save Mr. Jensen’s boy?” Zack asked.

              “Leave the man be,” Ben growled. “He's got thinking to do.”

              “Can we help?” Mary asked.

              Jake smiled weakly. “I'm not even sure that I can.”

              Ben grimaced. “Come on, Mary, let's give him a little space. You guys want some ice cream?”

              “Yes!” Zack and Mary said in unison.

              “Then get your coats on. The shop closes soon,” Ben said.

              Mary tugged on Sophie's arm. “Come with us, Sophie. The ice cream parlor here is soooo good. Everything is handmade, even the bowls they put the food in!”

              Sophie frowned. She glanced at Jake once more, who was fidgeting in the corner, alone.

              “Come on, Mary. I think Sophie is going to stay,” Ben said.

              Mary frowned. “Is that true?”

              Sophie nodded. “Sorry. Next time though, I promise,” she lied. She wasn't even sure that there would be a next time. Not anymore. She wished her powers would come back to her. She felt so helpless without them. So vulnerable.

              “Okay,” Mary said glumly, and she and her brother and father gathered their things and departed, leaving Sophie and Jake alone. The house became deathly quiet.

              Sophie watched Jake from the kitchen. He was pacing in the front room now, unable to sit still. “Jake,” Sophie said when she had had enough. He looked at her. His ice blue eyes were full of fear. She had never seen him that way before.

              “What happened to you before? You said they would find you. Who are they?” Sophie asked.

              Jake closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Sophie was about to walk away when finally, he spoke. “When I was fifteen years old, I watched my friend get shot down in an alleyway. When I knelt to him, I could feel him dying. Not his pulse, or anything like that. I felt his soul slipping away, departing from this world. That day I felt something else, too. I felt a power, a light. It crept from inside me to my friend. I saved his life,” Jake said in a robotic tone.

              “That's amazing, Jake. You have a great gift,” Sophie said, taking his hand. It was warm and rugged. He had been working with his hands a lot lately.

              Jake shook his head. “That's what I thought too. Until they came. I was being questioned at a police station when they came. My friend was too. They were demons, Sophie, true monsters. The epitome of evil. I watched them murder a policeman. I felt the blackness of their intentions.” Jake shivered.

              Sophie held him close, his face buried in her stomach. She could feel the wetness of his tears, the warmth.

              “They knew what I was. Said they had been searching for me. That I was part of some prophecy. They said I would either join them or die, but they would never stop hunting me. That's why I didn't want to stay here. Every time I stay put for too long, they find me and leave a wake of destruction in their path. I've watched them burn an entire town down to find me. Heard hundreds of souls cry out at the same time. All because of me,” Jake said, sobbing uncontrollably. “Every time I use my gift to try to help someone, something bad happens. I do more harm than good. So I tried to... kill myself. But it didn't work. There's a monster in me, Sophie. That's what the demons told me. What Ras' Guul told me. I'm a demon, and that demon won't let me die. He is too powerful.”

              Sophie's blood ran cold. She remembered the dream she had, in which Jake turned into a monster. She shook her head. “No. Even if that's true, you have good in you too. I've seen it. The gift you have isn't demonic, it's holy. It's God’s will. You healed a wound,” Sophie insisted. She brushed his soft cheek with her hand. It felt so good to touch him. She never wanted him to let go.

              Jake shook his head again. “That's the demon. He won't let me die because then he would die too,” Jake said.

              “But you saved your friend. The one in the alleyway. Do you really think a demon would do that?” Sophie asked.

              Jake pushed Sophie away. “No. He died anyway, though. I killed him,” Jake said, looking at Sophie. Her heart stopped. His eyes were a ruby red, like a snake’s. His hair seemed darker too, his skin more pallid. “When Ras' Guul attacked me, the demon released itself. It burned everything in the police station. Until it was nothing more than a smoldering ruin. My friend was in that building.”

              Tears were running down Sophie's cheeks now, too. She was afraid. The air seemed to get thinner, colder, the light dimmer. Only Jake's red eyes pierced the dimly lit room. Sophie swallowed the fear and pressed on. “But you couldn't control it, Jake. You were just trying to defend yourself. It wasn't your fault.”

              Jake laughed. It sounded deeper than normal, darker. “Such a petty sentiment,” he spat. “Humans always try to do that, to remove themselves from the guilt. You're pathetic!” Jake howled at Sophie, the lights flickering on and off rapidly as he did. “All of you are wretched sinners! You as much as anyone else! That is why your powers have left you, because the gods have forsaken you. They put their trust in weakness. In fickle hearts. That is why man will fail!” Jake howled. The light in the room was all but gone now. Then, just as suddenly, the light returned, and Jake's eyes iced over. He fell back into his chair in a slump, the hue of his face flushing with color again.

              Sophie just gawked at him, tears in her eyes. Everything Jake had said was true. She had always run from her problems, always. She was doing it even now. She ran from the orphanage, from the angel in the diner, and now she was hiding away in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, hoping that all her problems would disappear. But they hadn't, they had only festered, mutated into something worse.

              “Sophie,” Jake said, getting up. “I'm so sorry.”

              “No,” Sophie said, shaking her head. “Stay away from me!” and Sophie ran, like she always did. Because it was all she knew. She ran to Mary's room and buried her face in the pillow, sobbing until she fell asleep.

****

(Jake)

              There was a rap at Jake's bedpost. He awoke to see Ben with a jacket in one hand and a tarp in the other. “It's time,” he said.

              Jake rose from his bed, kicking off the sheets. He was already fully dressed, prepared. “How far is the house?” he asked as he slipped on his boots.

              Ben shook his head. “Not far, maybe five miles at the most.”

              “Does he have any neighbors?” Jake asked.

              Ben nodded. “He lives closer to town, so yes. But we've planned for that.” Ben shut the lights off in the bedroom and placed his index finger over his mouth. “The kids are sleeping, so stay quiet.”

              Jake nodded. “What is the tarp for?” he whispered.

              Ben grinned. “You'll see.”

              When Jake reached the bottom of the stairwell, to his surprise, Sophie was there, dressed in a nightgown. Her pale legs shone brightly in the moonlight. “Sophie,” Jake said, stunned. He thought she would never talk to him again after what happened that afternoon.

              “Jake...” she said, then eyed the floor. She was acting very strange.

              “I have to go now. To try and save the boy. Are you coming?”

              Sophie shook her head. “No. Ben needs someone to stay and watch over the kids. I just wanted to apologize.”

              “Apologize?” Jake said, shocked. He was the one who had blown up on her, who let the monster inside him leak out. The demon’s powers got stronger in the presence of fear, of doubt, and Jake had nearly lost all control. “It's me that should be apologizing.”

              Sophie shook her head. “No. I asked so much of you, without even realizing what it meant. I should have known that there was a good reason you weren't using your gift. That you had that… thing inside of you. It must be hard, living like that.”

              Jake nodded. “We all have our burdens. You know that as well as I do.”

              Sophie nodded and began walking towards him. Her lips were a dark red, and her jet black hair glowed gracefully in the candle light. Jake's heart began to quicken. Then she embraced him with a hug. Jake froze. It was strange at first. His first instinct was to recoil. He had never been touched that way before. So gently, lovingly. It made him feel warm on the inside. Then he smelled her scent. It was like a wildflower, brisk and pure, calming.

              “I just wanted to tell you that I think you're doing the right thing,” Sophie said. “And... that I'm proud of you for it.”

              Jake looked into her eyes. They were wide, orb-like, and shimmering. When he looked into them, the constant clawing inside of him disappeared. “Do you want me to be honest?” Jake asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

              “Of course,” she said with a nod.

              “I'm not doing it for the boy, or his father either, or for the town.”

              “Good,” she said. “You're doing it for yourself.” She pressed an index finger into his chest.

              Jake grabbed her hand, which was velvet to the touch. “No. I'm doing it for you. Until I met you, I didn't think there was anything worth fighting for. I would have died for anything, for anyone, but it wasn't until I met you that I would live for someone,” Jake said, his lips drifting closer to hers.

              “All right, let’s go!” Ben barked abruptly, bursting into the den. Quickly, Sophie and Jake tore away from each other. Sophie's flushed face could have told the story on its own. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked suspiciously.

              “No,” they both said in unison.

“She was just wishing me luck,” Jake said, clearing his throat.

              “Ah,” Ben said with a nod, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth. “Well, do you two need any more well-wishing time? Or can you wait until after we get back to start smooching?”

              Jake shook his head and shoved a baseball cap on, drawing the bill low. “Let's just go,” he said, dashing for the door.

              It was a cold and clear night, not a single snowflake in the air. Not even so much as a bit of fog. The moon was full, too, basking the endless fields of snow in light. You could see everything for hundreds of feet, clear as day. The worst kind of night for a covert operation. It was just Jake's kind of luck.

              When Ben reached the pick-up truck, Jake complained, “Have you seen the moon?”

              Ben nodded. “Yeah, it's a blue one, fursure.”

              “It might as well be a spotlight,” Jake growled as he climbed in the truck.

              Ben stopped him. “And just what do you think you're doing?”

              Jake was confused. “Well, what do you want me to do? Walk to the man's house? Or fly?”

              Ben grinned. “That depends. How badly do you want to remain hidden?”

              “It's the most important part about this whole operation,” Jake said.

              “Good, then get in the back.”

              Jake paused. “What?”

              “Don't ask questions, just do it. The less griping the better,” Ben insisted.

              Jake sighed. “This whole thing is a fiasco,” he mumbled as he jumped into the back. The cold metal bit into his back as he sat down.

              “Now lay down,” Ben said.

              “But there are still logs in here!” Jake protested.

              “Exactly. I'm just bringing them down to the mill. Spent a little too long in the forest tonight, have to turn ‘em in before midnight. The perfect alibi. Thought of it myself,” Ben said proudly.

              “With a lot of thought about my personal comfort, I see,” Jake grumbled, but lay down. It really was a good idea.

              “Now stay still and shut your trap, ‘til you hear me knock on the fender three times, like this.” Ben slapped the side of the truck. “Got it? Good.” Ben threw the tarp over the truck, and darkness descended around Jake.

“Oh, and one last thing,” Ben said as he climbed into the truck. “Don't squirm too much. The tail-gate's been known to bust open a time or two. I've lost more loads than I care to count that way. But that only seems to happen when I'm carrying precious cargo. So we shouldn't have to worry now, should we?” Ben said with a laugh, then Jake heard the truck door slam and the engine roar to life.

              The ride was long but peaceful. Jake actually felt quite cozy among the logs. The smoky scent of cedar filled his lungs, and the rhythmic thrum of the road was making his eyes grow heavy.

              THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! The noise startled Jake out of his sleep. They had stopped moving. Were they finally here? THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! That was the signal. Jake lurched forward and pulled the tarp off of his face. Ben was awaiting him with two other men cast in shadows.

              “Who are they?” Jake hissed.

              Ben looked bashfully at his feet. “That's the boy's father and Dr. Hoffman. He said he had to see it one more time. To really believe it.”

              Jake leered at Ben, then at the sick boy's father. “You promised me!” The man looked down.

              Dr. Hoffman stepped forward. “Nice to see you again,” he said, extending a hand.

              “We've met?” Jake asked.

              “Well, yes, you just weren't,” the doctor cleared his throat, “conscious.”

              Jake switched his stare back to Ben.