Mortal (6 page)

"Why are you giving me this?" she
asked awkwardly. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls.
He had never given her anything before, and it made her even more
nervous.

"It’s my lucky charm," said David.
"I’ve had it since my first assignment as a guardian. I was
overconfident and stupid, and I failed to save the mortal. He was a
guy around my age...he even kinda looked like me in a weird way.
Anyway, I managed to save his soul, but it wasn’t good enough, I
should have saved him, too. He had this bracelet on him, so I took
it to remember him...I never wanted to forget." He stared at the
ground for a moment. "It’s always brought me luck, and I think you
should have it now."

Kara felt like her chest was going to
burst. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to kiss him, but
everyone was waiting for her and watching.

"David...I can’t accept
this..."

"Didn’t your mother tell you it’s
impolite to refuse a gift?" He teased. "You need this more than me,
and I’ll feel better knowing that you have it."

She rolled the bracelet gently over
her wrist. "Thanks David, this means a lot."

"Miss Tara!" called the oracle. "We
need to start the projection. Hurry up please!"

Kara and David locked eyes for a
moment before she pulled herself away reluctantly. With her fingers
still twisting the bracelet, she made her way to the edge of the
pool and watched her silver reflection waver in the water, like a
foggy memory of the girl she once was.

With some effort, the oracle leaped
above the water and landed effortlessly on a crystal ball. "Right
then," he said. "You must stand on the middle crystal, Tara. Once
you’re settled, then we shall begin."

Kara was just about to tell him her
name was Kara and not Tara, but she bit her tongue. She looked
around. She felt like she was part of some weird ritual where the
girl would be placed in the middle of a circle and then cut into
tiny pieces as offerings to some pagan god. All of a sudden, the
pool seemed very cold and uninviting.

Someone grabbed her hand and pulled
her around. Jenny smothered Kara in a bear hug and whispered in her
ear. "See you on the other side, girl."

Kara smiled uncertainly and let go of
Jenny gently, like she was forced to do so, even thought she didn’t
want to.

"Good luck, Kara," said Peter
awkwardly. "I’m sure everything will be all right. We’ll see you
soon."

Kara smiled and tried to answer, but
the words died in her throat.

David edged closer and interlaced his
fingers with hers. His face was so close that she was tempted to
kiss him. She forced the thought out of her head.

"If it doesn’t feel right, you jump
off." His blue eyes pierced into hers. "If it hurts, or you know
something is wrong, you get off. You get me?"

Kara found her voice. "I will, don’t
worry. I’m sure the oracles know what they’re doing...hopefully.
"

But Kara was terrified. It took her
some time to let go of David’s fingers.

She stood by the edge of the pool. The
water looked like melted iron. Her feet felt like concrete
blocks.

She lifted her right boot and stepped
into the pool.

The silver water only rose to her
knees, and she relaxed a little. She swished her fingers through
the water. It was thicker than normal water, like liquid soap. It
was cool, but not uncomfortably cool. She climbed easily on the top
of the crystal in the middle of the circle and stood up,
waiting.

She looked to David who gave her a
thumbs up and a quivering smile.

"One more thing," said the oracle, "If
you die as a mortal, then the link will be lost. And we will not be
able to perform another memory projection on you. It can only be
done once. If we do it again, your soul will be destroyed. A mortal
soul cannot take that much projection." All the oracles bobbed
their heads up and down in agreement.

"So if I die as a mortal, then I won’t
be able to finish the job," said Kara. "The dark warlock will win.
I get it."

"Sometimes sacrifices are inevitable,"
said the oracle. "The blood of the one that walks alone will free
the souls."

Kara wasn’t sure what that meant. She
hated when oracles spoke in riddles, and she didn’t feel like
trying to understand it at that moment, since she was already
scared to death.

"Let us begin." All the oracles lifted
their arms in the air. Kara watched anxiously and wondered if she
should lift her arms, too. She grabbed hold of the bracelet and
twisted it with her fingers, grateful for its small
comfort.

Crack!

Electricity filled the air above the
pool. Kara’s clothes and hair flapped in an invisible wind. A
coolness sucked out the hot air. The oracles reached out and
clasped their hands together in a circle around her.

Kara watched mesmerized.
Their blue eyes glazed over with a golden color. They started to
chant in a language that Kara couldn’t recognize. As their chanting
grew louder, thunder rumbled overhead. Jenny and Peter stepped
backwards with fear in their eyes. But David stood still. His
fingers were curled into fists and his eyes locked onto Kara with
an expression as if to say, ‘
say the word
and I’ll come get you
’. Part of her wanted
him to.

Lightning flashed from crystal to
crystal, until they were all connected like a white-hot spider web.
Kara’s feet slid, and she strained to keep her balance. The silver
waters bubbled and mist coiled above its surface. She didn’t want
to slip and fall in.

Suddenly the water from the pool rose
all around and formed a ring around Kara and the oracles. David and
the others disappeared behind the wall of rolling water. She was
inside a tornado of water. The chanting grew even louder. She
thought she heard David calling out to her, but there was too much
noise to hear anything clearly.

A bright light burned her eyes. It was
miracle she still stood on the crystal ball. She blinked the
blotches away. Images appeared on the water like a giant movie
projection. Kara watched amazed as images of people, places and
things blurred passed her as though they were on fast forward. The
images began to slow until she could make sense of them. She saw
faces of different men and women and children. She saw a field of
orange poppies swaying in the wind, then a city’s
skylight.

Then the images shifted, and she saw
her reflection in the water.

She saw herself walking down the
street with her portfolio and cell phone. A scream died in her
throat as she witnessed her body slam against the front of a bus.
The images changed. She saw herself standing in the elevator with
Chimp 5M51. Then she was a guardian, fighting shadow demons with
David. The image shifted again, and she saw herself at a breakfast
table, laughing with her mom. A blur, then she was in the
Netherworld fighting a higher demon with David. More and more
images of her life as a mortal and as a guardian flashed before her
eyes. She felt dizzy. She wavered on the spot. Her body felt cold.
The visions spun faster and faster. Her head throbbed, and she
screamed. Her mind was on fire. A bolt of energy flashed through
her like chill. She looked down. Her body was enflamed in white
fire.

The white fire exploded. Kara
screamed, and her body disappeared.

K
ara knew she was dying.

She closed her eyes and let it come.
It was only a matter of time now before her heart stopped pumping
oxygen to her brain. She had no idea one person could lose so much
blood. She sat in a pool of her own blood, and she could smell it.
The demon had killed her.

She was numb. She could feel herself
drifting towards sleep. It was too late to get to a hospital. She
would never have the chance to tell David how she truly felt. She
would die cold and wet in a dark alley with a stranger who held her
hand and knew her name...

But death wouldn’t come.

Then a gush of warmth spread through
her as though she had been submerged in a hot bath. The veil of
weakness lifted and was replaced by a surge of strength. She
trembled as blood gushed to her limbs. She sucked cool air into her
lungs and felt warm again. Her heart pounded strongly in her chest.
She opened her eyes.

It was dark, and snowflakes gleamed
under the streetlight that flickered and buzzed. She blinked her
snow-crusted eyelashes. A full moon peeked through thick navy-blue
clouds.

A young man peered down at
her.

Kara sat upright.

The stranger smiled warmly. Snow fell
from his tousled blond head. His clothes were covered in snow. As
he searched her face, Kara looked away, abashed. There was
something about his piercing blue eyes that unsettled her. It was
as if they could see her deepest thoughts and secrets.

She strained to see into the darkness,
suddenly anxious. Where was the creature that had attacked her? She
remembered a flash of red light. The creature had attacked her. She
remembered the piercing pain. She was bleeding. Instinctively her
hand went to her leg. She wriggled her fingers through the rip in
her jeans and pressed her hand on her skin. There was no gaping
wound. She searched the ground around her. Not a drop of blood
anywhere. What was going on? Had she imagined the whole thing?
Impossible...

"Kara, how are you feeling?" said the
stranger in a voice that made Kara’s skin ripple with goose bumps.
Where had she heard that voice before?

She stared at the stranger, frowning.
"How do you know my name?"

There was something very familiar with
this guy, but she couldn’t figure it out. Who was he?

The stranger leaned forward with an
anxious look on his face. For a moment he just stood there, rocking
back and forth on his heels, staring at her uncertainly. "It’s
me...David...don’t you recognize me?"

"Nope. I only know one David, and
you’re not him."

Kara pushed herself back onto her
feet, surprised at her own strength. She felt better with her feet
on the ground. Apart from the rip in her jeans, there was no sign
that anything had attacked her. She couldn’t help but wonder if she
had imagined the whole thing and that she was going mad.

The stranger’s face fell, and Kara
felt a sting in her chest. He backed away slowly, his eyes never
leaving hers. He raked his fingers through his hair. "Maybe it
needs time to work."

Kara brushed her hands on her jeans.
"What does? And how do you know me again? Do we share a class
together or something—you kinda look familiar to me."

Her fingers were stiff and cold. "Do
you see any mitts on the ground?"

"What’s the last thing you remember?"
said the stranger as he studied her face.

"Why? What’s it to you?" Kara kicked
the snow with her boots looking for her mitts.

"It’s important."

Giving up on her mitts, Kara jammed
her hands in her coat pockets and searched the street. "Well, I was
on my way to the drugstore when something attacked me. It’s a bit
blurry. I think I hit my head and passed out."

She wasn’t about to tell a complete
stranger that a demon had tried to kill her and by some miracle she
had survived. He would definitely think she was as mad as a
hatter.

The stranger watched her closely. "You
don’t remember anything else...anything at all?"

"Like I told you,
no
."

He pointed at her left arm. "So—who
gave you that bracelet then?"

"I’m not wearing a brace—" the rest of
the word died in her throat. A leather bracelet was wrapped around
her left wrist. Kara narrowed her eyes. How did that get there? She
didn’t remember putting it on. But one thing was for certain—it
wasn’t hers. So, who’s was it?

The stranger eyed her worriedly. "I
gave you that bracelet. Don’t you remember?"

Kara didn’t like the intense way the
stranger was looking at her. He looked a little crazy, and she
didn’t have time to fight off crazies right now.

"Look,
David,
if that’s your real name, I
don’t know you, sorry. Listen, thanks for watching out for me...but
I need to get going. My mother needs me."

The stranger stepped up to
Kara. "What do you
see
when you look at me?"

Kara raised her brows and
tried hard not to laugh. "I see a guy in a flimsy leather jacket
who’s probably freezing. It’s December you know,
winter
—you probably need
to put on a warmer jacket."

His jaw clenched, and he started to
pace around nervously. Where had she seen him before? He was acting
a lot like someone she knew...but who? She just couldn’t figure it
out.

"You don’t see anything different
about me...about my skin?" His voice rose slightly in
alarm.

Kara shook her head and
wiped the snow from her eyes. "Nope, sorry. Should I? It looks
pretty normal beige to me. I don’t see what you mean by
different
."