Rise of the Fallen 1 - My Soul to Keep Read online

  She was gorgeous from head to toe. I felt a little guilty about looking at her face last. It was without a doubt, her best feature. She looked really young, but at the same time, something about her made her look older. The term, "Ageless," popped into my head, filling in the blank.

  I expected her to shout and ask for directions over the rumble of the Harley’s engine, but she reached down and turned the key, shutting the engine off. I stood there mesmerized as she swung one leg over the bike and sat on the seat, staring right back at me.

  She crossed her arms and lowered her gaze to my shabby Sketchers and raised her eyes, slowly taking in everything else.

  I wanted to hide behind a tree. Nobody had looked at me like that since the first time I met my great-aunt Harriet. I had a feeling she was doing the math to figure out how much she could get for me if she sold me on eBay.

  “Connor Sullivan?” She made my name a question. I nodded dumbly. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Look, I don’t have time for this. I have three more after you. What do you want?”

  “Excuse me?” The word hooker flashed through my mind.

  “Did you, or did you not, sign a binding contract offering your soul in exchange for one wish? If I have the wrong Connor Sullivan who lives at 1432 Willow Street, I apologize.” She rolled her eyes and threw up her arms, apparently more than a little annoyed.

  “That was real?”

  “Yes, completely. Now I haven’t got all night. What do you want? Make it good. The price is a little hefty I’ll admit, but it's worth it.”

  Realization dawned on me. My knees went weak, but I managed to stay on my Sketchers. “This isn’t some sort of joke?”

  “Nope, one wish for one soul, that was the deal.”

  “What are you?”

  “I’m what you would call one of The Fallen. Don’t ask me what that means because if you can’t figure it out on your own, you don't deserve to know. I'm not here to baby you. C’mon, what is it you want? Let me guess, like the five billion other teenagers who saw the movie you want to be a vampire, right?” She shifted herself more comfortably on the Harley and rolled her eyes again. She must not have thought much of today’s youth. “Maybe you’re Team What’s-his-name? You wanna be a werewolf? Less restrictions, but flea collars are kinda expensive.” She actually laughed at her own joke.

  I couldn’t believe this was real. I looked around frantically for hidden cameras and my sister. Then I knew. Just standing there, you could feel the power flowing off of her. Legitimate didn’t begin to describe her. I wondered briefly what a Fallen might be, but I seriously didn’t have the balls to ask her. She might turn me into a frog and take my soul anyway.

  Thinking about my soul made tears well up. I didn’t start crying but I came close, damn close. If I lost my soul, my parents would kill me. I wish I had never bought the damn candle or written the stupid note. I needed a way out of this and I needed it now.

  “Is there any way I can change my mind?”

  “Don’t even think about it. You wrote the contract in your own blood. There isn’t anything in this world, or the other, that’s more binding. Make your wish. By the way, I can see you’re about to turn around and run away. If you do it, I will catch you in less than three seconds, take your soul, and feed your body to some very, very nasty creatures. Don’t even think about it.”

  I had been planning on running just like she said. I don’t know if she could see it in my face or if she could read my mind. It really didn’t matter, I believed her threat. “When do you get my soul?”

  “The law states, not until you expire of natural causes or your body is destroyed by an outside force not related, caused, or schemed by one of The Fallen. C’mon, Connor, it’s a fair trade. You get what you want and we get your soul. Think of it as job security. When people die, unclaimed souls are fought over, get lost, or sometimes just disappear. This way, even after you die you still have a purpose. What’s it going to be? Do you want to live for a very long time? Being a vampire or werewolf would do that. Do you want wealth? Wish for a million dollars. I’ve seen that one a hundred times at least,” she said sounding bored again. Like she knew I would wish for something trivial or something somebody’s wished for before.

  This wasn't happening. I wasn't going to lose my soul over a wish, especially one that I didn't want. I didn't see an answer on the horizon. That kind of pissed me off and started me thinking. I thought of every supernatural being I had ever heard of and tossed the thoughts as quickly as they came. Nothing would help. I stared at her. I wanted to outsmart her in the worst way. Inspiration struck.

  “I want to be like you, I want to be one of The Fallen.”

  Chapter 3

  She moved so fast I didn't even see it. One moment she sat on her motorcycle looking quite bored. The next she stood behind me and had me in a headlock. Quite shocked, I watched the beautiful Harley tip over and fall to the ground on its side. I could feel arms trembling as she held me. She seemed almost nervous, like she was expecting somebody to show up at any second. Moments passed as we stood under the streetlight above.

  “Listen very carefully, worm,” she hissed in my ear. “The Fallen are not made, they’re born, and none in the last eight millennia to boot. You can’t wish for that. I need you to very clearly and slowly say the word, 'Rescind.' Can you do that for me?” She loosened her grip on my head but slipped her other hand over my mouth. I nodded I would, and she very slowly took her hand away.

  “I want to be one of the Fallen,” I said as fast as possible. Her hand shot back to my mouth, clearly not expecting me to disobey her. Stupid Fallen, tricks are for kids.

  “You frigging idiot…”

  She let go of me, took three steps back, and looked up at the sky. The moon was bright, even though it was only a half. The clouds rolling in unnaturally fast blocked it quickly. Something very bad was coming. Something very, very bad.

  I turned to start running like I should have done to begin with. Before I even made it an inch, she had me back in an ironclad grip. Not a headlock, this time she merely grasped my shoulders from behind and turned me to face the approaching storm. The clouds split and moved around us as they sank lower and lower. The sky turned a sickly shade of greenish-black, completely blocking the stars above. The cloud formation started rotating clockwise, forming a vortex around us. The blackness thickened and I could vaguely make out a shape in the center. The more I watched, the larger it grew. I realized it wasn't flying.

  It was falling.

  Just before it crashed into the street it unfurled its wings with a resounding whump. That slowed it down enough to keep it from punching a crater into the asphalt, but only barely. The dust-cloud its wings kicked up took a moment to settle. Once it did, a winged man with glowing red eyes stared angrily at the two of us.

  I couldn’t help but stare at his wings. He drew them in close to his body as he placed his hands on his hips. Even without the wings he was impressive and frightening. He stood over six-feet-tall and made most body-builders look flabby. Apparently he liked leather clothing, too. Pants, vest, and boots were the only things he wore. The Fallen must all have biker tendencies.

  “What in the mortal realm is going on here?” He sounded even more pissed than he looked. I tried not to start shaking. The Fallen holding me probably would have thought it was funny.

  “It’s the boy, Darius. He made an incomprehensible wish. I gave him the chance to rescind, but in a fit of stubbornness, he repeated it.”

  “I heard his wish, Clarisse. Did you explain to him it is not possible?”

  “I did. I don’t know what to do.”

  I didn’t like being talked about while I stood right in between them. I also didn’t like the look Darius gave me as he moved and circled around Clarisse and me. I lost sight of him as he walked behind us. When he came back into view, his wings were gone and his eyes had faded into a smoldering blue color which looked a l
ot more appealing than the red they'd been moments before.

  “Can you just let me go? If you can’t grant my wish, no harm, no foul. I don’t mind,” I said proudly. I smiled like I just won a game show.

  The wings and eyes came back in a burst of movement as Darius grabbed my shoulders from the front and lifted me up to his face. “No, tiny human. It doesn’t work like that. You signed a contract and your soul is ours, no matter what. In thousands of years we have never failed to deliver our end of the contract as the laws command. I admit, I am perplexed, but a solution will be found.”

  He dropped me and stepped back. I only fell about a foot and a half but I hadn’t been expecting it. The impact jarred my ankle and pain shot up my leg. I barely managed not to cry out.

  He stood there staring at me for a moment before spreading his arms and wings out wide. I heard Clarisse walk past me before I saw her. She moved closer to the other Fallen and turned to face me as she opened her arms and wings, matching Darius perfectly. They both turned their heads skyward and closed their eyes.

  I debated running. The thought of the two of them kept me rooted to my spot. I doubted I could have gotten away from one of them, never mind two, so I stood there and watched as they cocked their heads from side to side. After what seemed to be an hour or two, they finally opened their eyes and stared at me like I had crapped my pants. That might be a possibility.

  “It is done. Boy, come here,” Darius said. I could hear the defeat in his voice and hope filled me. “Stand in front of me.”

  I followed his command as Clarisse closed in behind me. I felt very puny as the two of them held out their hands and touched them together above me. A chill ran down my spine and I thought about running anyway, again. My nose itched and I tried to lift my hand to scratch it, but it wouldn't move. My arms and legs felt like they'd been filled with lead. So much for running. I could still move my head so I looked up at Darius’ chin. The sky above still smoldered with the green blackness. That seemed a lot more interesting so I looked above his head and focused on that instead.

  Energy vibrated all around us. I could feel it in my bones. Darius and Clarisse began humming, matching the power around us. The sound started to drown out the rest of the world. It filled my ears and echoed in my head becoming all I could think of. I could see the sound. I could even taste the sound.

  Green light pierced the clouds, completely bathing us in its glow. It replaced the air around us and I fought not to breathe it in. I started to black out after only a few moments and let out the air I'd been fighting to hold on to. I breathed in the light. It burned my lungs and I couldn’t even scream through its thick, watery power. As a kid, I choked on seawater on a trip to the beach. The light was ten times worse.

  With a burst of pain the light faded. Darius and Clarisse stepped back to give me space. I collapsed and landed on my knees. Oddly I didn't feel any pain other than the lingering burning in my lungs. I coughed and sputtered, and I swear I saw specks of green light fly from my mouth with every cough. After what felt like an eternity, the pain faded and I stood. I looked over at Clarisse and Darius, standing there with what looked like pity in their eyes.

  “What?” My voice shocked me. I sounded like I had been gargling with broken glass.

  “Welcome, brother,” Darius said with a wan smile. “Very cunning. You are the first mortal ever to figure out an answer and to keep your soul. Guard it well.” He turned to Clarisse. “Take him home. Let him rest and on the morrow, introduce him to what he has become, what he will be, and how the world around him will now be. Goodbye, brother.” He jumped into the air. With a powerful down-stroke of his wings he shot into the clouds and disappeared in a flash of light. The clouds slowed, stopped, and finally started spinning in the opposite direction as the coil pulled in on itself and disappeared behind Darius.

  I turned and looked at Clarisse. She didn’t look too happy with me. Since I didn't have any idea what had just happened, I opened my mouth to ask the first of a billion and a half questions. She held up her hand for silence and walked over to me. I started to take a step back but she shook her head sadly.

  “Don’t, I cannot harm you now. You got your wish, worm.”

  “Yeah, right. I don’t think so. Nice pyrotechnics and special effects show, but I don’t feel any different.”

  Clarisse opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort. Or at least I assumed so. She didn't say anything. Instead she snapped her lips closed and walked over to her motorcycle, still on its side on the ground. I expected her to pick it up, but she reached down and ripped the mirror off the handlebars. I winced inwardly at the further damage to the beautiful motorcycle.

  She walked over to me and held the mirror in front of my face. My eyes stared back at me, blood red and glowing just like theirs. I involuntarily took a step back and caught sight of my right wing. Clarisse actually laughed when I screamed.

  “Go home? How the hell am I supposed to go home like this? I didn’t have freaking wings when I left the house, Clarisse!”

  “Calm down, worm,” she said and put her hand on her hip in a very Caelyn-like gesture. It endeared her less to me than calling me worm.

  “Will you stop calling me worm?”

  “No. Calm down. I need you to close your eyes and think. You need to remember what it feels like to be a human. Once you remember that feeling, tell your body to feel that way.”

  Her directions made absolutely no sense. Think like a human? I am a human. I tried it anyways. I closed my eyes and pictured myself without wings and glowing red eyes. I pictured myself like I'd been exactly ten minutes ago. I told my body to feel the same way.

  I opened my eyes and…nothing. Not a damn thing. My eyes were still glowing and my wings towered over my head by at least eighteen inches. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the right one extend. I tried not to let a smile creep onto my face. I did have to admit it, they were pretty friggin' cool. I experimentally tried to flex one, just a little. It shot fully open with a loud snap.

  “Will you stop dicking around and concentrate? You need to get home and pretend like nothing has happened.”

  “Yeah. Right. Just like nothing happened,” I repeated sarcastically. I willed my wing to close and shut my eyes. Pretend to be human…will the wings away… I repeated the words over and over. Nothing seemed to be working. “Clarisse, it’s not working.”

  “We haven’t got all night. If you can’t get them to go away, I’ll just have to cut them off.”

  My eyes snapped open and the wings went…well the wings went somewhere. They didn’t make a noise, they just disappeared. I spun around in circles, trying to see my back. I probably looked like a puppy chasing its tail. I gave up and reached behind me. My shoulder felt smooth and normal. Maybe not normal. I realized I had my hand on bare flesh. My shirt and jacket now sported a nice wing sized hole. “How the hell am I going to explain this?”

  “What?”

  “Explain the holes in my clothes to my parents!”

  “Oh. That’s easy. Turn around,” she said and I did. “I can affect your clothes, but I can’t change your physical body.” She ran her hand over my clothes and when I reached back the holes were gone.

  “Thanks." I stopped and looked at her for a moment. She smiled at my thanks and she seemed almost…human. Maybe she isn't that bad.

  I realized something in that moment. She wasn't as scary as she tried to make herself out to be. I bet she even said she'd cut off my wings to scare them off of me. The more I thought about it the surer I became. I smiled and said again, "Thanks."

  "What for?"

  "For trying to scare the crap out of me. It worked. For a moment there I actually thought you were going to cut my wings off.

  “I wasn’t trying to scare you…” The confusion on her face frightened me more than her threat.

  Chapter 4

  Clarisse reached down and grabbed the Harley with one hand, pulling it off the ground. Once it was upright, she closed her ey
es. I could feel the power flowing from her as the motorcycle shimmered. I blinked and missed the show. In less than a second, it went from damaged goods to showroom quality. Even the missing mirror had been replaced. She sat down on the bike and it rumbled to life. The noise filled my ears and rumbled in my chest.

  I'll probably never even own a car now. The thought depressed me a little. I would probably never get married, have kids, or a normal job either. Hell, I didn’t even know if I would be finishing high school. I needed to do some serious thinking.

  Clarisse motioned me to get on. I slipped behind her, trying to touch her as little as possible. I had no idea how she would react. She sped off down the street as soon as my feet left the pavement.

  Once the bike got within a quarter mile of my house, the engine noise stopped. The bike kept moving and I could still smell exhaust, but it didn’t make a sound. Clarisse stopped in front of the neighbor’s house instead of pulling directly in front of the big bay window that gave a view of the entire street from our living room.

  Her thoughtfulness surprised me. Mom and dad might be home, I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate me being dropped off by a woman who looked eighteen and drove a motorcycle. Well dad might, but mom would definitely flip and of the two parental units, she was the scary one.

  Clarisse turned the key and shut off the bike for real. I swung my leg over the back and got off first, hanging on to her shoulders without thinking. I won't lie. The skin I touched felt hot and soft, and I liked it. Sometimes being fifteen really sucked. I'd been staring at her exposed flesh the entire ride home. As I got off the bike, I didn’t stop staring.

  “Did you hear me, worm?”

  “Huh?” Her voice snapped me out of my flesh-filled fantasy, the second time.

  “I said to go inside and act sick.”

  “Why?”

  “Because tomorrow you’re staying home from school. I’ll be back after everyone leaves. I am not letting you go to school untrained. The first vampire you see you’ll probably freak out and they’ll lock you up for being a nut job.”