The Soul Quest ( #YourStoryIndia #Wattys2016)

Chapter 15

A few hours later we were seated in our favourite coffeeshop 'Coffee House' devouring donuts and pastries.
Paula had been annoying Peter unabashedly and he looked just about ready to punch her while the rest of us watched in amusement. Ian still looked a little pale and anxious. When we told him the truth a while back he had totally freaked out. He thought we were trying to prank him and got angry. Finally Jared had to demonstrate his superpowers to shut him up. After that he hadn't said a word for about an hour. Poor Ian. He was shocked out of his mind. We ignored him for a while giving him time to process all of this and slowly he came around and started talking.

Jared looked distracted. I was pretty sure he was thinking about his father and having Emily right in front of his eyes must not have helped him either.

"Jared let's go for a walk." I told him trying to make up an excuse to talk to him alone. "Come on. Let's go."

"Sure." He replied.

Grabbing my hand, he led me out of the cafe. We walked around in silence for a while. His mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"Jared are you alright?" I asked, my voice filled with concern.

"Yes I am fine." He said but he saw my incredulous expression and realized I wasn't buying it. "Okay I am frustrated. Angry. Pissed off. I don't know what to do." He groaned.

"This is about your Dad, isn't it?" I asked him.

"Yes it is. I know I should be happy that we have found a way to save souls but all I can think about is that I can't kill Emily now to avenge my Dad's death. Now she has an excuse to escape justice. That's not fair Kelly. It's not fair." He raged. "She killed my Dad and now just because she got a Soul she gets a chance to walk away freely. I want justice Kelly. I want to kill her. A Soul for a Soul. That's how it should be."

I felt terrified listening to him talk. He was going insane with grief.

"Jared listen to yourself. What you are talking about isn't justice. It's revenge. Killing Emily now is not going to help you in any way. All it's going to do is make things worse for you. I know you Jared. I know that if you kill Emily now all you are going to feel is loathing for yourself. Because you are a Hunter Jared but not a murderer."

"You don't understand Kelly. It feels like he died once again. It took me years to cope with the fact that he was gone and to find out now that it wasn't a freak accident but it was intentional my whole perspective has changed. I need to know why she did it Kelly and I want her to pay for what she did to my Mom and me."

"I can tell you why I did it."

Emily was standing behind us. Her face was contorted with remorse as she struggled to talk through her tears.

"I am sorry Jared. I know I can't bring back your Dad but I can at least try to help you get closure."

A mixture of emotions crossed Jared's face. Rage. Sorrow. Hatred. Finally he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"Start talking. Now." He said in a strained voice.

"About ten years ago we started getting reports that one of the Hunters had found out about Alison's soul escaping and taking root in a human. About two years later we got information that the same Hunter had found her. That is why your family moved here when you were 10. Your Father wanted to protect Kelly. That is why he encouraged your friendship with her. He always kept an eye on her making sure no Soulless ventured this area. Three years ago we were finally able to locate him. My Father sent me here because I was the best trained one. He ordered me to come back with all the information I could gather and to use whatever means necessary to get it. I...." Her voice broke and she looked down ashamedly. Horror filled her eyes as she recalled what she had done.

" I had to torture him to get information. But he never revealed Kelly's name. After hours of questioning I realized he was not going to give up her name. So I killed him." She started crying earnestly now. "I am sorry Jared. I am so sorry. Please kill me if you want to. I deserve it. I deserve to be dead." She kept repeating.

I was shattered. Jared's Dad had died trying to protect ME. I felt blank. I had no idea what to say. Jared's face looked like it was carved from stone. He was staring at Emily with an unfathomable expression.

"No I won't kill you. That will be your punishment. I can see that death will be the easy way out for you now. But you don't deserve easy. You deserve to suffer and so you will live. Everyday of your pathetic life you will suffer with remorse and guilt for all the pain you caused. Everyday you will be haunted by the memories of the lives you have destroyed. Yes, you will live." He said in a hard voice and started walking away.

Emily's horrified expression proved that he was right. The worst punishment the girl could get was to live. She turned and ran away.

"Jared wait." I called out. "You shouldn't be alone right now. Please wait."

He turned around to look at me and the accusation in his face made me take a step back.

"No you listen to me Kelly. What I need right now is to be as far away as possible from you. My Dad died because of you. You are the reason he is gone. That girl was just a pawn but you...you are the cause of it all. So stay the hell away from me." He shouted at me his voice full of venom.

I was too shocked to even say a word. He was right. It was my fault and there was nothing I could say or do to make it right. So I kept my mouth shut as I watched the love of my life walk away from me.