The Soul Quest ( #YourStoryIndia #Wattys2016)

Chapter 9

Grabbing my car keys I ran out of the house. Within ten minutes I was at Kelly's house banging on her door. Her mother opened the door with a panicked expression.

"Oh my God! Jared are you okay ? You scared me. Calm down please." She said staring at me with wide eyes. She took in my disheveled appearance and nodded understandingly.
"You heard about Paula didn't you? She will be okay Jared. The police will find her. Don't worry. I was just telling Kelly the same thing. I think she is in shock because she hasn't said a word since she saw the news."

"Can I talk to her?" I asked with as much calmness as I could muster.

"Sure. Come on in." She said opening the door.

I went to Kelly's room and found her lying on the bed staring at the walls. She looked up when I came in.

"Hello Jared." She said. "Is this about Paula? I don't know where she is. Her parents called and asked me if she was here. But she never even showed up."

"Kelly I know where Paula is. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who took her. She was on her way to meet you so that means she had to pass by Emily's house. That awful Demon must have taken her. Being a Demon she needs to feed on the life force of humans to keep up her energy. That is why she joined high school so that she can stay amidst a large group of young humans and feed on them without creating suspicion. But the fact that she has kidnapped a girl and risked her cover means that she isn't planning on staying here much longer." I said pacing about the room agitatedly.

"We cannot let her disappear. I will lose my soul forever if she goes. I only have three more weeks left. " Kelly said.

I wanted to shake her for being so selfish. Her immediate concern should have been Paula not herself but it wasn't her fault so I took a deep breath to control myself. I had to be patient.

"Listen to me Kelly. Emily has Paula. That means she is planning to use all of Paula's life force at once. Using that much energy means she is planning something big. And that will not be good for anyone in this town. Before she can do anything drastic I need to rescue Paula. But I can't let Emily walk away freely. So you have to come with me tonight. Maybe we can find a way to get back your soul from her somehow and then I can kill her and put this all behind us. " I was determined to end this once and for all. For selfish reasons I had neglected my duty and an innocent girl was suffering because of that. This was my mistake and I had to set this right.

"I can't go inside her house because of her magical barrier. How is that going to help us?" Kelly asked.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." I told her confidently.