The Soul Quest ( #YourStoryIndia #Wattys2016)

Chapter 13 ( Jared's POV)

I was sitting on the floor in Emily's cellar beside Kelly, waiting for her to regain consciousness. I couldn't blame her for fainting. The onslaught of information must have been overwhelming for her. Add to that the immense responsibility that Peter had so casually thrown in her face I would understand if she didn't feel like waking up anytime soon. As for me I just sat there holding my head in my hands. Random disjointed thoughts kept skittering across my mind but only one kept resurfacing every few moments.

My Dad.

I had purposefully left out Emily's revelation about his death when I told Peter the whole story. I was not sure if I could handle the looks of pity he would give me. So for now I was going to keep this to myself and trust that Kelly will keep the secret. I needed time to process this and had to come to terms with it. Not to mention the fact that his killer was sitting a few feet away from me and I had to use every ounce of my restraint to keep myself from strangling her with my bare hands.

Emily was huddled in a corner her eyes fixed on Paula as if willing her to wake up. The pain and horror in her eyes were enough to convince me that the monster inside her had died but that didn't stop me from hating her. Suddenly her eyes widened and she let out a breath of relief. I followed her line of sight to find Paula stirring. I ran to her side immediately helping her sit up.

"Jared? Where am I ?" She mumbled dazedly. Then her eyes took in everything around her. As soon as she saw Emily she started screaming.
"Jared she is a monster! She was hurting me. She tried to kill me. She is a MONSTER!" she screamed hysterically.

"Sssh sssh Paula. It's okay. She won't hurt you now. I won't let her hurt you anymore." I tried to comfort her and held her in my arms as she broke down completely. She was shivering uncontrollably. I saw Peter come up from behind her and put his jacket around her shoulders.

"Thank you." She whispered as she turned around to look at him. " I don't mean to sound rude but who are you ?" She asked.

"I am Peter Black. One of Jared's associates." He replied curtly and turned around to talk to the other Hunters.

"Why is he so friendly?" She whispered to me sarcastically a hint of her normal self returning. Then she saw Kelly lying on the ground and started screaming again.

"No no no. Please tell me she isn't dead."

"Paula! Calm down. She is just unconscious. She is fine. Jeez you have a really shrill voice." I said to her rubbing my ears and giving her a reproachful look.

"I am sorry." She said looking embarrassed. "She is just lying so still I thought she was dead."

"She will wake up any minute now." I assured her."We should get you home. Your parents are really worried about you."

"No."she said stubbornly. "First explain to me what this is all about and only then I am going home."

I sighed in defeat. I knew she wouldn't budge until I told her everything so I started explaining. Right from Kelly changing into a Soulless to her lying unconscious on the ground.

"Wow!"she exclaimed. Her eyes were as wide as saucers by the time I finished. "Does that mean vampires and werewolves are real too? I could do with an Edward Cullen for myself." She said dreamily.

"Ugh girls!" I groaned in disgust. "Here I just told you one of the biggest secrets of my life and all you can think about is a sparkly vampire. No Paula , vampires don't exist so snap out of it."

"You are right." She said unexpectedly. "I have other important things to do." She was staring at Emily as though trying to figure her out. Emily cowered in terror and whimpered as she kept mumbling apologies.

"I am sorry Paula. I know I can't take back what I did to you and I would understand if you want to punish me. For what it's worth I truly am sorry." She said hanging her head in shame.

Paula didn't say anything. She stood up and walked towards Emily slowly. Emily looked terrified out of her wits. Then Paula did something that no one would have guessed. Not even in a million years.

She bent down and HUGGED Emily.

"I forgive you." She whispered. "It wasn't your fault that you had no soul. I forgive you." She repeated.

Emily looked as though she was numb with shock. Then as the impact of Paula's words hit her she held on to her and started crying like Paula's words had saved the world. I was pretty sure they had saved her world.

"I am not going to turn you in to the police either. In fact I am going to tell my parents you were the one who called Kelly and helped her save me."
She turned around to me then. "Jared we can tell my parents that I got lost in the woods and Emily found signs indicating I was there. Then she called Kelly and you and then helped you guys find me and rescue me. Don't look at me like that." She said scoldingly looking at my disbelieving expression. "It's not the poor girl's fault. And she looks like she truly regrets everything she did. Just look at how traumatized she is. Emily you cannot stay here alone. Stay at my place tonight. Both of us could use the company."

I was awed by Paula's compassion. In a few hours her world had turned upside down because of a monster and here she was planning sleepovers with her. Shaking my head resignedly, I agreed to go with her story. Only Paula is capable of such extremes I thought to myself.

Kelly was finally waking up now. She saw Paula and once again the girls had a hug-and-cry session. I gestured to Peter to follow me and all of the Hunters walked out hurriedly leaving the girls to their emotional displays.

"They'll join us when they are ready." I told Peter rolling my eyes in the girls' direction. "So are you guys heading back ?" I asked him.

"No Jared. We need to take Kelly and leave. We have to concoct a plan and end the menace of the Soulless once and for all." Peter said. He had a one track mind that always focused on only one thing. The Soulless.

"No one is going anywhere for now Peter. You listen to me." I said forcefully as he opened his mouth to argue. "Kelly needs time to recover. She needs to get used to her new identity and accept it. There won't be any point in forcing her to do something she isn't ready for yet Peter. You guys head back to your town. I will keep an eye on things around here. The school year is almost ending and summer break will start soon. We will do whatever we have to then. But until then all of us need time to prepare ourselves both mentally and physically for what we have to do."

Peter could see the sound logic of my plan. He knew I was right so he nodded his assent.

"But I am not going back." He told me. "I am going to stay here and help you protect them. There's no way that the Soulless are going to let any of the three of them walk away alive after their roles in tonight's events. You could use the extra hand."

"Sure. That is actually a very good idea." I agreed with him just as the girls walked out.

"Yes it is a good idea." Paula said winking at Peter. "Come on now. Take me home guys." She said.

The rest of the Hunters soon left leaving just Peter, Paula, Emily, Kelly and me. We decided to take Emily's car. Peter got into the driver's seat and Paula immediately got into the front. I let Kelly sit between Emily and me. Kelly took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. As Paula started guiding Peter towards her house, Kelly whispered into my ear.
"Are you okay?" Her voice was full of concern.

I sighed as I realized how much I had missed that voice. Squeezing back her hand I smiled slightly. I was grateful that I had her with me at least. No matter what she was before or who she has to become in the near future, she would always be my Kelly.

"Yes I am okay." I said and I realized I meant it. Putting an arm around her I finally let my exhaustion wash over me. Lulled by the car's engine I drifted off to sleep.