Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) (7 page)

“Are
things so bad?”

“If
you knew what we
used
to be, what was taken from us, then you would know
exactly how much we have lost.”

I
began walking toward her, readying my blades. “I’m young, and I’m not that
bright, but it seems to me that all of you, the Chosen included, would be a lot
happier if you stopped focusing on what you were and started worrying about
what you could be.”

Raven
laughed, not unkindly either. “I think you should stop thinking of
yourself as not that bright. To me, you seem a little wiser than your years
should allow. Ready?”

And
thus began the most tiring, rigorous, dangerous workout I could have imagined.
She blocked my two blades with her one every time, without effort. Before I
even began to
think
about moving, she was already there, knocking my
blade aside and tapping me with her blade. She was utterly amazing. The sword
seemed to be more a part of her than a weapon. I wanted to be just like her
when I grew up.

“How
can you be so fast?”

“It
will come in time. You’re actually at a disadvantage. You may have unbelievable
raw power, but you’re limiting your body by having been human. You only think
you’re moving as fast as you can. You could actually move a lot faster if you
believed it.”

“I
only know what I’m used to. I don’t know how to be different.”

“I
know. It is why I said it will come in time. The more you practice, the quicker
you will learn how very much you can do.”

She
finally slapped both my blades from my hands with a well-placed attack of her
own. They dissipated into nothingness before hitting the ground.
“Wow,” I said simply.

She
nodded. “Enough for today.”

“Thanks,
Raven. You helped me a lot today.”

“I
will help you more tomorrow.”

Chapter 10

I
spent the rest of the week going to school, training with Raven, doing
homework, and spending as much time as I could with Jess. By the time Friday
rolled around, I was more than ready for the weekend. Thanksgiving was the
following week, so it would be a short week at school. But for now I wanted
nothing more than to relax and take Jess to a movie like I had promised.

Her
dad would be dropping her off at the theater at eight. That left me two hours
to train with Raven, get home, take a shower, and meet her there. I headed to
the clearing right after school.

She
was there, waiting in her usual spot, just like always. “Hi, Raven.”

“Greetings
again, young one,” she said and drew her blade before I even got off my
scooter.

“Pushy,”
I said.

“You
never know when trouble might show up at your door.”

“What
do you mean?”

She
sighed and banished her blade. “We elders are blessed with many gifts.
Some more than others. While I make no claims to having the ability of
divination, I do often have a sense of a change in the winds.”

“We’re
getting a storm?”

“Of
sorts. The winds I spoke of are more of change.” She walked closer to me
and looked into my eyes. “Be careful in the times ahead. Change is coming
for you. Times might get…difficult. Remember your training should you ever find
the need for it.”

I
nodded and didn’t like the sound of that at all. Change was never good. “I
will, thank you.”

“Come,
draw your weapons.”

And
so we sparred for almost all of the two hours I had to spare. By the time we
were finished, my arms felt like lead. I wasn’t sweaty, and I wasn’t dirty. I
was just tired.

“Enough,”
she said and banished her blades. “I believe it is the custom of the
humans in this world to ‘take the weekend off’ is it not?”

I
laughed. “Yes. It is.”

“Then
I shall see you after two days’ time. Enjoy yourself. Monday starts the
difficult portion of your training.”

“Advanced
swordplay?” I had meant it as a joke.

“No,
you are not ready yet. Maybe in a decade or so. Monday we begin training you on
collecting souls.”

I
shuddered at the thought. “Great.”

“More
of your sarcasm, I see. Does not the thought appeal to you?”

“Not
even a little bit.”

“Good,”
she said and turned to leave.

I
watched her walk to the edge of the woods. I had no idea where she went after
she left me standing in the field every afternoon, nor did I dare to follow.
Raven didn’t seem to be the type to tolerate anyone spying on her.

I
did have to admit, she was pretty amazing. I thought Darius was scary, but
Raven made him seem…small. I guess being an archangel made you seem that way.

I
smiled. I couldn’t even imagine being that scary or having that much power.
Although, being able to fling fireballs would be pretty nifty. I drew back my
hand and threw an imaginary fireball at a large rock twenty feet away. I
yelled, “Whoosh,” as I pushed with just a bit of power and imagined a
fiery sphere hurtling toward it.

When
the fireball impacted, it exploded and knocked me on my ass. The grass around
it was scorched black and smoldering in the afternoon sun.

“Holy
shit!” I scrambled to my feet and ran over to stomp out the flames.

I
grinned
after they were out. It was pretty cool,
I had to admit to myself. But then the realization of what it might mean hit
me. I glanced around to make sure I was alone before I bent down and let loose
with a bit more magic, healing the grass and cleaning the rock that had taken
the brunt of my experiment. The Fallen were already treating me a bit
differently than before. I wasn’t sure I wanted to add to their curiosity
toward my abilities.

*
* *

“The
gods of parking are my friends tonight,” I said to myself as I pulled into
a parking spot right in front of the theater. It was Friday night, the mall was
packed, the theater was packed, and I
still
got a primo spot.

I
killed the tiny engine, grabbed the key, and walked up to the entrance, looking
around for Jessie the whole time. It didn’t look like she had shown up yet.

A
line was forming at the box office and I was getting a little anxious. I would
have gotten in line and gotten tickets for us, but I had no idea what she
wanted to see. Glancing at the movie posters next to the box office, I groaned
inwardly. There wasn’t much I wanted to see. One shoot-em-up movie that didn’t
look to shabby, but other than that it was a collection of chick flicks,
dramas, and one zombie movie.

I
truly hoped that Jess didn’t pick that one trying to make me more comfortable.
I had
never
been a fan of zombies, zombie books, zombie movies, or even
preparations for a zombie apocalypse. I didn’t get everyone’s growing
fascination with the whole idea of people getting bitten by mindless undead
creatures and then turning into ones themselves. To date, I had only ever found
one book I even remotely liked. It was around Halloween and I had to do a book
report on a zombie book. Jeremy had recommended some book called
Zombies
Don’t Cry
by some guy named Rusty Fischer. I had been
very
surprised
to find I actually loved it. But then again, his zombies weren’t mindless
monsters. They were actually kind of cool, even if they ate brains.

A
big black SUV pulled up to the curb and Jess hopped out before it even stopped
moving. I heard her dad yell something at her and she briefly glanced in the
door and yelled something back before slamming it shut.

Ruh
roh.
“Everything
okay?”

“It
is now,” she said and gave me a hug and a quick kiss when she got close
enough.

“What
happened?”

“I
don’t want to talk about it. He’s just being a pain in the ass.”

I
nodded in understanding. “What do you want to see? Your choice, it
is
the
first movie you’ve seen in…”

“Longer
than I can remember. I don’t care what we watch as long as we have popcorn… How
about… Um,” she said as she quickly glanced at the selections.

Please
don’t say zombies. Please don’t say zombies.

“Oh!
Zombies it is!”

Crap.
“Sounds
good,” I said with an inward groan. I grabbed her hand and we walked over
to get in line. I snuck in a few more kisses while we waited. “What do you
have planned for the rest of the weekend?”

“Absolutely
nothing. Why?” I could hear the teasing in her voice. “Did you want
to do something with lil’ ole me?”

“Nope.
Just wanted to see if you had something to occupy yourself with while I picked
up a new hobby.”

“You
had better be joking. It could be hazardous to your health if you’re not.”

I
smiled. “You caught me. What do you want to do?”

We
moved up and were next in line to get tickets. The movie started in five
minutes, and I honestly didn’t care if we were late, but that would mean
missing the previews, which might actually be better than the movie.

“Want
to go Christmas shopping?”

“Um.
Sure?”

“We
only have a month. I need to start, even though I’m only buying for you and my
dad.”

“I’ve
got you, the bratty sister, and my folks.”

“Nothing
for Claire?”

It’s
a trap!
I could
feel the tension building in the air as I formed a response in my head. “No.
My friendship is gift enough,” I said dramatically.

“You’re
such a dork.
My
dork. Don’t forget it.”

“Sheesh.
Like you’d let me,” I said with a wink.

The
people ahead of us got their tickets and headed toward the theater door. We
moved up to the window. “Two for
Zombie Paradise
, please,”
Jessie said and pulled out a credit card.

“I
got it, Jess.”

“No.
Daddy does. His treat he said.”

I
nodded appreciatively. “Tell him I said thank you.”

“I
will, when I start speaking to him again.” She signed for the tickets, grabbed
them and my hand, and we went inside.

“Okay.
Spill it. You’re mad at him, fighting with him, and yet he still pays for us to
go out,” I said as we got in line for snacks.

“I
said I don’t want to talk about it–”

I
silenced her with a kiss. “Okay. But at least tell me if it’s bad. Should
I be worried?”

“Oh.
No. Not at all. He’s just annoying me.”

I
laughed. “Well, remind me never to do that.”

“Stay
away from Shannon and all will be right with the world.”

“I
don’t think you have to worry about that,” I said and looked over at her
with a smile, noticing the topic of our conversation standing at the entrance
to theater three, the shoot-em-up movie I
wanted
to see.
Thank you
for picking zombies. Thank you for picking zombies.
Shannon gave me a wink.
I quickly looked back at Jess, hoping she wouldn’t turn to see Shannon standing
there. She started turning.

I
panicked. “Will you marry me?”

“What?”
She stopped turning, which was good, and smiled at me, which was not so good.
It meant she was thinking about it.

“I
suppose I should have said
would
.
Would
you marry me if we were
older, not living with our parents, had good jobs, and a means to support
ourselves?”

“Maybe,”
she said and ordered our popcorn, drinks, boxes of snowcaps, gummy bears, and cookie
dough bits.

“Hungry?”

“Shut
up,” she said, giggling as she paid for everything.

Mr.
James was rich compared to most people in Cedar Hills. I just hoped our trip to
the movies didn’t force him to mortgage his house. “Your dad is gonna kill
us.”

“I
consider it penance for annoying me. Do you want a new car?”

“Jeez,
when did you get so…
evil
?”

“Do
you like it?”

I
gave her my best “mad scientist” laugh. “Absolutely! It means my
plan worked and I have corrupted the innocent!”

“You’re
such a dork.”

“Yup.
Yours. We already covered that.”

“I’m
going to pee quick,” she said and left me to carry the pile of food she
bought. I stuffed the boxes of candy in my hoodie pocket, tucked one drink in
my arm, and grabbed the other drink and the tub of popcorn in my hands. I saw
her duck into the women’s restroom on the way to our theater.

I
wandered over and hung out by the entrance, waiting for her. As I stood there,
Shannon came out of the theater. The sounds of the movie playing blasted out
the door as it closed behind her, only to be muffled again.

“Hi,
Connor,” she said and blew me a kiss as she headed toward the women’s
room.

“Hi…”
I sighed and waited for the fireworks.

Jess
opened the door, took one look at Shannon, glanced over at me, and slammed the
door behind her instead of holding it open for Shannon.

“Wow.
Bitch much?”

Here
it comes…

But
Jess ignored it. Or so I thought.

“Oh,
Shannon,” she said without turning around as she kept walking toward me.

“What?”
Shannon turned, holding the now open door.

“You
haven’t even begun to see my bitchy side,” she replied as she grabbed my
face with both her hands and locked her lips to mine. I was grateful for the
heaviness of the candy in my hoodie. It pulled it down well past my hips as I
felt Jessie’s tongue slip into my mouth. She didn’t stop kissing me until she
heard the bathroom door slam shut. “Ready?”

I
nodded dumbly as I glanced down to make sure I hadn’t dropped any soda or
popcorn. “Yeah.”

As
hot as the kiss was…and as good as it felt… I felt a little used. I started to
frown at Jessie, but then my little brain took over the thought processes from
my big brain, and I gave Jessie a lopsided grin.

Jessie
walked to the entrance to our theater, opened the door, and held it for me.
“Sorry,” she whispered as I passed.

“Don’t
be. I enjoyed that thoroughly.”

“I
figured you would. Is that a box of snowcaps in your pocket, or are you happy
to see me?”

“Both
actually.”

Jessie
laughed as she let the door close behind us, plunging us into darkness.