Soul Protector (15 page)

Oh God.
I’d forgotten
her would still have been at the garage.

“I didn’t realise. It’s just… I
wasn’t myself that day… I was feeling ill. I don’t know what else
to say, except I
really
am sorry.”

“Yeah, you already said.”

Damn.
I wished I could
just tell her the truth. Knowing Lydia, I could apologise all day
and it wouldn’t make any difference. There was no way round it. I
was going to have to let time work its magic and wait until she was
ready to forgive me.

“Lydia I’m at work so I’m going
to have to go, but let me know when a good time is and I’ll come
round and see you.”

“Yeah whatever, Gracie.”

“Okay, you take care. Bye
then,” I said, in the cheeriest tone I could muster.

“Bye.”
Click
.

Well that went well
.

~

Pause Gracie, take some deep
breaths.
The moment I‘d been dreading had arrived. Punctual
this time, the real Dan Sullivan was standing outside my front
door. I’d released the switch and had been stood waiting for him to
make it up the stairs and my heart was thumping out of control yet
again. I opened the door and remembered to fix my face to conceal
any trace of disappointment.

My eyes opened wide when I saw
Dan standing in front of me in exactly the same body he’d been
switched into before. He was wearing jeans with a checked shirt
rolled up at the sleeves. His chiselled features were as gorgeous
as ever, and he was smiling at me.

Delighted as I was to see him
in this body, I knew it was pointless.

“Dan, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he said pulling a
puzzled frown, but the mischief in his eyes gave him away.

“But you’re not. I mean...
how... you haven’t changed?”

His smile widened, but I had no
idea what the joke was. When I first met him, he’d been switched.
He’d told me himself, and anyway he’d had that yellow aura
thing.

Dan looked to his left and gave
a small nod. I heard a cough, and then another head popped round
the doorframe, causing me to do a double-take. My jaw dropped and I
had to snap it closed again as I looked from this person to Dan and
back.

“Allow me to introduce Tom, my
twin.”

My hand flew up to my mouth and
I couldn’t speak for a few seconds.

“Your twin!” I shrieked, louder
than was necessary. “You’ve got a twin...” I felt my grin
stretching from ear to ear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he loves watching
people’s reactions when they realise they’ve been duped. Shame
really, he’s never grown out of the whole twin double identity
thing,” said Tom.

“Hi Tom, it’s really good to
meet you.” I said, relief still flooding through my system. I stuck
out my hand to shake his.

“The pleasure, Gracie,” he
replied, grabbing my fingers and kissing the top of my hand, “is
all mine.” He dropped my hand gently. “You know why he stayed in my
body each time he met you, it’s ‘cause he knows I’m slightly better
looking than him.”

Dan rolled his eyes and I
giggled.

“Just one thing Danny boy, you
didn’t let on just how beautiful Gracie is.”

“Alright Romeo, calm down.” Dan
said, looking from Tom to me. “You’ll have to make allowances for
him. He’s fancies himself as a bit of a charmer.”

“Hey, I’m only....”

The ringtone of a mobile cut
through Tom’s retaliation, and he rifled in his pocket to retrieve
it. “Yep,” he said, his face falling into a frown. He listened for
a couple of seconds, before speaking again. “I’m on my way in
anyway, but don’t wait for me. Take him through and start the
interrogation.”

Dan’s head twisted to look at
his brother. I guessed the news must relate to the gang Dan had
told me about, and for a second I wondered if I was going to be
cast aside while they ran off to deal with the situation. I was
relieved to see Tom raise his palm towards Dan, and shake his head,
as if to indicate it was nothing too important. I felt Dan
instantly relax again at my side. Tom flicked his hand up to wave
goodbye, and with a wink, he walked off chatting into his
handset.

~

The restaurant had all kinds of
40s and 50s memorabilia hanging off the rustic bricks. Beneath a
string of chilli pepper lights was a huge open kitchen and you
could see sweaty chefs, red-faced behind the charcoal grills as
they created mouth-watering aromas.

There were only a couple of
lights turned on along the brick walls. The main illumination was
coming from chubby candles placed on every table. Our one was
well-used. Thick rivers of wax pooled into the dish, leaving the
top uneven and wavy.

I found it hard to relax. My
main worry before had been whether I’d still be attracted to Dan,
but after that situation sorted itself out, I’d flipped back into
wondering how on earth he could like
me
. I’d somehow managed
to wing it so far, but I no longer had anything to hide behind; no
dramatic switch back, no Office, no set of crazy circumstances to
distract from just plain, old me.

I know it sounds shallow but I
couldn’t help thinking he should have aimed higher; someone on
Lydia’s level. Obviously something had temporarily messed with the
laws of attraction in his brain. I wondered how long my luck would
hold.

The candle flame flickered and
cast dancing shadows across his face and I hoped it meant he
couldn’t see me properly either. It didn’t stop me from feeling
self-conscious though. I was over-thinking everything I did; how I
sipped my drink, where I put my knife and fork between mouthfuls,
and how often I made eye-contact with him.

I’d ordered a prawn salad
because I thought it would be light and easy to digest. I soon
realised that had been a mistake. Every now and then I struggled
with the lettuce, half a leaf would be hanging out of my mouth at
inopportune moments. Dan, on the other hand, didn’t seem
uncomfortable at all, and was tucking into a large juicy steak.

He asked me questions about my
childhood, so I gave him the censored version, a nicer version,
highlighting the fun times Mum, Michelle and I had once we’d moved
away from Dad. Before long, I deliberately steered the conversation
away from me. I didn’t want to bore him. I swallowed my mouthful,
and took a sip of my drink before launching into my own
inquisition.

“I’ve been thinking. Where do
Soul Protectors come from? I mean, how did they come to exist?”

Dan finished his mouthful.
“Well there’s an age-old question. Why are we here? Where did we
come from?” He raised his eyebrows. “Sorry, Gracie, I can’t tell
you any more about the meaning of Soul Protectors than I can about
normal human beings.”

I sagged. I’d been hoping for
some miraculous story.

Dan must have noticed my
disappointment because he leant closer. “You know, some of the
older SPs think we’re living, breathing angels…”

I tried not to react as
lemonade backfired up my nose causing my eyes to water.

“… Sent down from heaven to
protect the vulnerable.”

“And what about you? Do you
believe that?” I asked, running a fingertip under my lashes.

Dan shook his head and laughed.
“It sounds good, but I think we’d know for sure if we were proper
angels.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He picked up his water and had
a long sip, then banged the glass down on the table. “I’ll tell you
what I do think. I think we’re nature’s answer to stress and
anxiety. You know how when you get stung by a stinging nettle,
there’s usually a dock leaf nearby. Well that’s kind of like us
when you think about it. Someone needs help, and there we are,
ready to be applied.”

I smiled at his analogy. It
didn’t change my mind about wanting to be a PSP though.

Dan picked up his knife and
fork, and began cutting another chunk of steak. “You know, you have
to suffer first in order to have real empathy. And the more you’ve
suffered, the better you are at healing...”

I thought of what Dad had puts
us through as kids, and wondered if that meant I would be any
good.

“…and it’s usually during an
intense low period that you manage your first switch. Does that
sound like your experience?”

I nodded, but decided against
going into the details.

Dan carried on. “I resisted
being an SP for years. Tom didn’t. He was straight in there,
absolutely loved it. I think he didn’t know what he wanted to do
with his life anyway, and this all came to light at exactly the
right moment. But not me, I rebelled and went to Uni.” He laughed,
and I giggled with him. “Not much of a rebellion in the grand
scheme of things.”

“So what made you give in and
do it professionally?”

Dan looked away from me,
staring into the middle distance. “I was so sure I wanted nothing
to do with it all. In fact, I went out of my way to avoid being a
Soul Protector. But then one of my Uni mates, Mitch...” His voice
broke off, and he frowned. He closed his eyes for a moment and ran
his fingers through his hair. When he returned my gaze, his smile
was back in place.

“What am I doing? I bring you
out for a meal, and all I do is bore you with details of my life
history.”

“No, you’re not boring me at
all. It was interesting. Please carry on.”

He shook his head, smiling. “Uh
uh. You know what? I think it’s time to order dessert. He picked up
the menu, opened it to the right page, and plonked it down next to
my half-eaten salad.

~

On the drive home, Dan took a
slight detour before bringing the car to a stop.

“Come on,” he said, turning the
engine off, “it’s an amazing evening. Do you fancy a stroll around
the lake?”

“That sounds lovely,” I said,
grateful the night wasn’t over. I wasn’t sure if he was prolonging
it because he liked my company, or he was about to let me down
gently.

We jumped out of the car, and I
was mesmerised by the serenity of the lake. The air was still with
an icy nip and it felt good to breathe it in. The full moon
illuminated the path and silver flashes were reflected in the
water.

I fell in step with Dan so we
were walking side-by-side. I had a strong urge to hold his hand,
but still wary from the rejected kiss fiasco, I thought better of
it.

He chatted away comfortably. I
learned that he did have a life outside of being a monitor. In
fact, he had quite a few hobbies, but as you’d expect, they weren’t
along the lines of stamp-collecting or train-spotting. He told me
about climbing mountains in various places around the world and
diving off wrecks in the Caribbean. He also mentioned he’d started
helicopter flying lessons.

“Thing is, since the CSP group
came to light, I haven’t had a chance to do much else apart from
chase them. It’s just work and sleep these days.”

He stopped as something on the
ground caught his eye. I watched him bend down and pick up a
smooth, flat stone. After rolling it around in his fingers a couple
of times he turned and flicked it in the direction of the lake. It
was hard to follow the stone in the dim light, but we heard several
splashes as it bounced across the surface of the water.

When there was silence, I
turned towards Dan.

“Is there anything you’re not
good at?”

He grinned at me. “Yeah,
lots.”

The memory of Dan singing
popped into my head, and I giggled.

“Dan, who else is the Soul
Protector in your family, is it your mum or dad?”

“Both.”

“Both? That must be one hell of
a coincidence.”

I could sense his smile by the
lightness in his voice. “Not really. They met at the Office”.

Well done, Gracie. Try to
keep up
.

He picked up another stone.
“Come on, Gracie, your turn.”

I plucked the stone out of his
hand and rolled it around my fingers the same way he had. I was
rubbish at skimming stones. I think my all time high was two
skims.

“Have your mum and dad made a
career out of it, like you and Tom?”

“Yeah, but neither of them are
interested in monitoring. They’re both Professional Soul
Protectors. They work all over the place – travelling round the
world to whichever war-torn or famine-stricken area needs a helping
hand the most; Africa, South America, it doesn’t matter how
remote.”

“Have they done that ever since
you guys left home?

“No, they started well before
we left home; ever since we were little. Wherever Mum and Dad went,
Tom, me and our little sister Natalie came too. ‘Course, as kids we
had no idea what they were really doing. We thought they were aid
workers, which is their cover story.”

“And they sat you all down one
day and blew your minds away with the truth?”

“Only me and Tom... Mum and Dad
realised Natalie hadn’t inherited
the gift
. Apparently they
made plenty of hints over our teenage years, but only Tom and I
picked up on them. Usually it’s only one sibling that inherits the
gene anyway, but as Tom and I are identical twins, we both
inherited it. Natalie, however, is completely
normal
.” He
exaggerated the last word and it made me chuckle.

I rolled the
stone again in my hands, took a deep breath and tried to mimic
Dan’s actions as I flicked it out towards the lake. We both
listened for the sound of it hitting the water, and heard the
unmistakeable sound of it plopping through the surface,
once
.

“Oops, I think I need more
practice.”

I looked towards Dan, expecting
to see him laughing, but he was just looking at me. His expression
had gone all serious; it was the same look he’d given me when we
were at my house after the switch. He reached his hand out and I
felt strong fingers intertwine with my own as he we started walking
again. I took some deep breaths and tried to act as natural as I
could.