My Soul to Keep - By Sean Hayden Page 0,4
but as soon as the bike got close, the rider yanked the handlebars and fishtailed to a stop just a few inches from the curb next to me.
She looked like a supermodel dressed in leather. Dark curly tresses fell over her shoulders and down her back. I frowned a little at her lack of helmet. I never understood people's obsessions with death wishes. Then I gave her a second look over. She looked badass enough to crack the pavement. Maybe she didn't need a helmet. My eyebrows rose as I finally looked at her face.
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