Soul Cycle (Twisted Souls #3): Twisted Souls, #3

CAMERON

The jarring impact of the truck was brutal as it made its way over the rough terrain. Cameron bit back a yelp as her body went weightless into the air, and the top of her head brushed the roof of the cab. Samuel cut a glance at her over his shoulder, but then he shifted back to stare through the windshield. One of his hands braced against the dashboard, and his white knuckles were the only indication of his effort to keep his body still.

Cameron’s father, Malcolm, was in the driver’s seat of the truck, carefully trying to guide the small pick-up truck in as direct a path as possible considering it wasn’t traveling on an actual road. At first, Cameron had been intrigued and amused by the idea of being able to travel more quickly than on foot, but after spending the last two hours being bounced around the cab, she wondered which was more painful, blisters on her feet or bruises all over her body.

Her mind wandered frequently to divert her attention away from the terse silence in the cab. Until just two days before, the entirety of her memories consisted of living inside an underground bunker on the outskirts of the property owned by the Office of Souls. Her fellow residents in hiding included Samuel, the heir apparent to lead the now defunct Office of Souls, Bishop, the man who had tended to the Soul Garden inside the compound, and her father.

It was at the Fountain of Souls, deep inside the Soul Garden, where Cameron received her soul at the age of six months old. She sat there now, nine months later, in an adult body. She grew at an astonishing rate because she had been destined to fight in a showdown with the evil entity who murdered her mother and had almost single-handedly destroyed the Territory of Malm.

It was a bit much to take in, even though she was supposed to be prepared for it. Cameron knew she was special. She listened to the tiny voice in her mind that guided her when she was in trouble, and it had yet to lead her astray. But now her powers were starting to manifest in more observable ways, and she knew that her companions regarded her differently. She only had to remember the conversation hours before to know that was true.

Our one and only mission is to keep Cameron safe until the time when she will confront Chim. Samuel’s voice was confident and sure as the shadows lengthened around them from the exterior wall of the Office of Souls. We must move quickly, but we have to be thoughtful about it. Driving a car right into a nest of soulless ones would be the most idiotic move of all.

You are the one who said that Cameron can apparently call up some kind of magic spell that stops them. So even if we did run into a group of them, she can handle it. And if you think for one second that you are going to drag my daughter all the way to the edge of the territory and throw her up against some manic, you have another thing coming. You’re the lunatic if you think I’ll agree to let you do that. I’m taking her home, Malcolm argued.

You can’t go home. There isn’t a home to go back to. Samuel’s voice raised one notch.

Cameron, who had witnessed more disagreements between Samuel and her father during their stay in the bunker than she cared to count, decided that the time of standing silently by had come to an end. Enough! she said loudly. Both men’s heads swung in her direction.  If there is something that I can do to change what has been done to these people, I will do it. Dad, I know you want to protect me, but this is so much bigger than me. It’s bigger than anything you or I could possibly think of, and I want to do it.

Her father’s face softened. Cami, you don’t know what you are saying. He put his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes. I know that you both think that I don’t get it. I’m not an idiot. I know that you are special, and I’ll admit that there are some things that I don’t understand about you. But you are my daughter. I’m only asking that we take some time to figure out what is going on before we jump into that nest of vipers.

Standing here arguing while we don’t know who or what else is out there is dangerous enough, Samuel said. We need to get moving.

On that point, I agree, Malcolm said. He put his arm around Cameron’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Her father infuriated her, but he was her father and the only family she had. She had the sudden urge to rest her head on his shoulder like she used to do when she was little. No reason why we shouldn’t take one of these cars and get there faster.

Samuel sighed and rolled his eyes. If you insist on driving, then we aren’t going to be able to follow the main road. There is an old service road from here to West End that might be passable, but it hasn’t been used in years. Taking the highway would be too dangerous, and we will be too easily traceable. We can’t risk letting Chim know that we are coming.

You said that he already knew we were coming, Malcolm snapped.

Before the argument could begin anew, Cameron chimed in. That makes sense. He might know that we are headed in his direction, but we don’t want him to know where we are. We’ll have to sneaky.

Samuel smiled at her, and Cameron felt warmth rush through her body. Samuel’s smiles were rare. She loved the way that it lit up his face. It made him look younger, no more than a few years older than her eighteen years. Of course she knew better, Samuel was over a hundred years old. His proximity to the Fountain of Souls and service within the Office of Souls dramatically slowed his aging process.

Sneaky, Samuel said nodding. I was going to use a different word, but that one will do.

Cameron knew that her father was scowling at their interplay, but she didn’t care too much. Her life was a kaleidoscope of emotions and responsibilities, and she had no idea how it would end. Her own aging had been significantly accelerated so that she went from six months to eighteen years in a mere nine months. She didn’t know if that would slow now that she had reached adulthood, or if it would continue careening forward, in which case her time to accomplish her destiny was considerably reduced. She felt a sense of urgency, which she knew that Samuel shared, but within that was a mixture of affection and warmth for Samuel as well. It was confusing, and she didn’t have anyone to talk to about it.

Anyone know how to hotwire a car? Malcolm grumbled as he started prowling the vehicles that had been deserted in the massive parking lot. He looked wistfully at a blue, four-door sedan.

Cameron thought it odd that although there was room for well over a hundred cars in the lot, only a quarter of the spots were taken. She walked over to her father’s side and looked into the sedan. She saw a baby’s car seat in the back and realized with a start that this was the car that brought her to the Office of Souls compound on her Soul Implantation day nine months ago.

She reached up to touch her father’s arm. That was the day that she also lost her mother. Cameron didn’t feel Eve’s loss the way that Malcolm did because she only had vague memories of that female presence in her life. Although her father hid it well, she knew that he missed her mother terribly.

Malcolm spun away and looked at Samuel. What about those trucks that belong to the Office of Souls? Don’t suppose you have the keys hiding somewhere?

Samuel said nothing but strode over to the nearest vehicle. Cameron saw that the neat line of small white pick-up trucks all had the symbol of the Office of Souls blazoned on the side. Samuel pulled open the door and slid into the driver’s seat. He pulled down the visor and Cameron saw a flash of metal slide down into Samuel’s hand. Samuel extended his arm and a set of keys clicked against each other in his hand. We never locked the doors or saw a need to leave the keys anywhere but in the vehicles. Theft was a non-issue. The soulless ones don’t even have a rudimentary understanding of driving.

Lucky for us, Malcolm said. Scoot over. I’m driving. Cameron thought that Samuel was going to argue but then thought better of it.  You’ll have to help navigate this service road if you expect us to stay clear of the main road.

Samuel pulled himself out of the cab, and Cameron was reminded again how tall he was. She barely came up to his shoulder. Samuel swung his backpack of supplies into the truck bed and then motioned at Cameron. She hurried over to him and handed her pack to him. Soon both her pack and Malcolm’s joined Samuel’s. Samuel tossed the keys to Malcolm, who caught them handily.

Malcolm looked into the cab. Looks like there’s a back seat. Jump in, Cami.

Cameron squeezed into the back behind Malcolm, although there was a part of her that wouldn’t have minded being close to Samuel in the front seat. But once they found the entrance to the service road, she realized that she was lucky to have as much room to bounce around as she did. She blushed thinking that she could have easily landed in Samuel’s lap.

As the sun set, the dirt path, which barely could be called a road, became even more treacherous. So several hours and a few more arguments between the men later, the truck crested a hill and, Cameron caught her first glimpse of tall buildings on the horizon in the moonlight. She gasped. The images that she had constructed in her mind of what a city looked like were blown away.

West End, the capital city, Malcolm said with a note of sadness in his voice. It was your home and mine, Cami.

We should skirt around it, Samuel said.

What? No. No way, Malcolm said shaking his head. We can hunker down in our apartment until we have a plan.

We already have a plan, Samuel said. Get to Outpost Alanstown as quickly as possible. Bring Chim down. Save the Territory before every human being left has been desouled and turned into a bloodthirsty soulless one.

"That’s your plan, Malcolm said. My plan is to go to our apartment, and see if there is any way to figure out if Outpost Alanstown actually still exists before we try to cross the rest of the Territory with no idea of what is out there."

Suddenly, a high keening wail filled the darkness, and the hair rose on the back of Cameron’s neck. Malcolm immediately cut the engine and turned off the headlights. The three of them sat in silence for what seemed like a long time.

I think we all know what is out there, Samuel said. But I guess you are right. I would like to know if Outpost Alanstown has fallen. I hope for everyone’s sake that it has not.

Finally, you are starting to talk sense, Malcolm said.

I think we should wait until daylight before we go into the city, Samuel said.

Cameron nodded her head in agreement. I can’t see them, but I can feel them out there. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and even as she said them, she realized that the words were true.

Samuel twisted in his seat to stare at her. His mouth opened and then closed as he reconsidered his words. Are they close by?

Cameron closed her eyes and let her senses go. It was something innate that unfolded within her, and she wondered how she had not realized that it was there before. Her mind went out, beyond the cab of the truck and out into the darkness, searching for the pulsating presences that hovered around her consciousness. Then it was like her mind fused with one of them, and she gasped, pulling back from the swirling dark pit she found in that mind. She shivered.

You alright, Cameron? Samuel’s voice was low.

She nodded. "They aren’t close, but they are out there. I don’t think we should go any further for now. I can’t tell how many there are, and I think the