But for how long?
A crowd had gathered around us and I couldn’t see around them so I stood up. None of the Guard were in sight.
Where had they gone?
“Hey! She’s still alive!” I shouted, twisting around, desperately trying to see over the concerned patrons. Why was no one helping her?
Then I saw them. Cooper, Calliope and the other Guard were on the second floor. They stood in a line, side by side, their backs facing me with their swords raised. A chill ran through me.
Cooper didn’t look over the side but I heard him clearly. “Maggie, protect her!” Then his body disappeared from view as he ran toward the unseen threat.
The patrons were oblivious to the battle that raged above; they focused on what they could see – the twisted body of the pale, yet still beautiful girl crumpled on the floor. I looked over at Heather and Krystal, who were carefully making their way down the escalator, both on their cell phones.
I knelt down again next to Ally and reached out to touch her skin. Even though the sensation was unpleasant, I could feel her pulse as it rapidly declined.
“No,” I moaned. I looked up again to see if any of the Guard could help, but no one was around.
I looked back down at Ally. Her face was paling by the second. My soul started to tingle. I leaned closer to her body, reaching my hand out to touch her face again, when her arm moved toward mine.
I jumped back.
Heather pushed through the crowd. “Did she just move? Did I see her move?” Streaks of black mascara ran down her cheeks.
A ringing sensation tickled my ear and I tuned in to the True Soul’s presence. I looked at each human. The True Soul was close, but who had it? They all seemed equally shocked at the tragedy.
An uncomfortable pressure in my chest drew me closer to her body. My soul slanted toward hers until I was practically on top of her. I helplessly watched my hand morph and stretch toward her body.
“What the—?” I tried to pull back but the strength of whatever was happening had other ideas. My hand disappeared first, then my arm, then my torso.
But before I could call for help, my world went dark.
A suffocating heat pressed all points of my soul. Even though I hadn’t breathed in a hundred years, I felt the need to inhale, yet I couldn’t. A fire burned in my chest.
I attempted to open my eyes, to move one finger, a toe maybe, but the pressure immobilized my body. The burning sensation tore through me over and over until I had just about given up the fight.
But, just as quickly as the pressure came, it lifted, bringing a seemingly endless barrage of images. I was experiencing someone else’s memories, as if I took a back seat in her mind and watched her life flash before our eyes. I caught her image in a mirror, a small golden-haired girl.
Ally?
I tried to slow the images or possibly make sense of them but, just as I grabbed a hold on one of them, it slipped through my fingers and moved onto the next. I followed this girl through all the moments of her life as her memories flashed before my eyes.
Darker emotions overlapped the girl’s happy memories. I saw a young red-haired girl in an old-fashioned dress; her demure eyes looked back at me. Jealousy flared through me. My heart squeezed, watching this girl who was not part of Ally’s memories. A rush of energy pumped through my body; the power touched every fiber of my soul. Then the vision dissolved and I was forced back to experiencing Ally.
Was I dreaming?
Souls didn’t dream. I told myself firmly.
The visions started to slow and I was able to focus on one.
I had to tell them, even though Dad said I couldn’t. But in a week I wouldn’t be the same girl. Or would I? I still wasn’t clear on everything. Becoming a Guard: it was my life’s mission, he had said. A life that was no longer my own. Would it be easier to let this life slip away? I would regret each day if I didn’t. Maybe I would start with Seth. Sweet Seth. He’d be crushed, but someone would take my place. Dad had said something about people—humans—was I not human? Humans were drawn to those like me. Maybe Seth only liked me because I was different, unexplainably different.
I ripped the paper off the coffee sleeve. It was now or never.
“Hey guys,” I started, trying to find the words. Heather looked at me expectantly.
Something hard stabbed into the skin of my calf. My knee popped and I fell over, far over. Nothing held back my swift descent down the escalator.
My crushed bones offered no strength or grip. My teeth chattered against each other with each hit. I landed on the floor, my elbow close to my face.
That didn’t seem right.
Dozens of pairs of shoes filled my view. The squished gum stains on the floor would normally have been a deal-breaker but I lacked the ability to raise myself off the floor. A pretty girl knelt beside me, her almost clear blue eyes looked straight into mine, and I knew I would be safe.
My vision fogged up as tears blurred my vision, but they never fell. I watched a gray mist billow up behind the girl as she leaned over me. I tried to tell her about the mist that lifted and swirled over her head. But my eyelids were so heavy. Maybe I’d just rest for a minute…
I drew in my first conscious breath of air and gulped a few times. I sat up, opened my eyes and immediately closed them.
“She’s awake,” Calliope’s voice said. “Get Cooper.”
I lay back down on the bed and draped an arm over my eyes against the harsh glare.
“Bright,” I croaked.
I tried to open my eyes again but they burned.
I heard the light switch click, and the brightness behind my eyelids subsided.
I opened them again, one at a time. A sliver of sunlight peeked through the thin window shade, offering a less invasive light. The outline of flowers packed the shelf by the window.
Inhaling, I took in the beautiful scent of them, the mix tickling my nose in the best possible way.
I lifted my arm again and stopped. “This isn’t—” I inspected the manicured fingernails attached to the hand and arm that definitely was not mine.
“Turn on the lights, please,” I said, attempting to maintain calm. I tried to sit up but something hard rubbed against my leg, keeping me in place.
“Maggie, I—”
“Now Calliope!” I shrieked.
She flipped the lights on, blinding me for a second but the arm still wasn’t mine.
“Maggie, listen; don’t freak out. Her Caeleste blood is helping her heal but to do that her body needs to rest a little while longer.” Calliope
