The Secret of Soul

Running

 

 

Kara

 

I checked the time on my watch. Six eleven, which means they are doing roll call. I gathered up my green backpack, tied up my hair, and double checked to make sure my shoes are tied. I knew I only had a few more seconds before they began to chase me. I looked towards the woods across the street. The woods provided a short cut to central park, which is where Payton said she'd meet me.

I wasn't interested in joining her, like I told her on the phone earlier this morning. I was going to stop her, snap her neck in half with the flick of my wrist, literally. I am one of the most powerful witches in Soul, and she knows it. I heard the shape shifters howl, and that's when I knew I screwed up and took too long preparing.

I began to run as fast as I could. Normally, I would have put a shield around Soul's main gate to stop them from chasing me, but I needed to save my energy to protect myself during the run, and to kill Payton. "Stop her! Take her down now! Don't let her get to central park!" I heard Whitney screaming the commands. The chase had officially begun.

I looked over my shoulder, and sure enough, there were hundreds of shape shifters. While we only have seven at Soul, the human hunters have thousands of shape shifters. Shape shifters can shift into anything you can imagine; rocks, dragons, lakes, anything. The humans aren't aware how large the population of shape shifters are, which is why so many drown every day. A hungry shape shifter can shape into the shape of a pool, and then a human would go swimming. The shape shifter just found lunch.

I heard Kyla and Aiden catch up to me. They were in biting distance now, which means I had to pick up my pace. I finally made it into the woods, and the trees began to blur, my heart beat increased, sweat dripped down all parts of my body, and my chest was on fire. My water was in my bag, but Kyla and Aiden were catching up to me quickly, and I didn't want to go back without doing a good deed for Soul.

I heard the siren from Soul begin as I kept running. The guards figured out what was going on, which means Peace Keepers are going to be looking for me now. "Gah! Stupid rock!" I screamed. I tripped over it without noticing it was there. I quickly scrambled back to my feet, feeling the adrenaline, and ran. I heard the rock call to me, "Don't call me stupid! Let's see you shape into a rock witch!" Shape shifter. Should have seen that coming. I ran faster than I ever had before. I was in serious trouble. Escaping into the woods like this is punishable by death.

I looked behind me as I ran, dreading what I was going to see. Kyla and Aiden are too close to me now. I called back to them, "I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice." They kept coming for me so I began the spell: "My prison is trying to capture me. Make it poison so they will let me be." The forest began to mist, and eventually got foggier. They tried to keep going, but they won't be following for long. I laughed and kept running.

 

 

Kyla

 

When Whitney told us to chase Kara down, I was all for it. I immediately shifted into a wolf, wagged my tail, and ran up to the gate separating Soul from the human world. Whitney opened the gate for me and Aiden, and then yelled at the guards for letting Kara escape in the first place. They claimed they were on break and they wouldn't have let her if they had known. Whitney didn't put up with their excuses. She walked out and gave all of the shape shifters their instructions. "Find Kara and bring her back alive. Run! Get her!" Whitney commanded. Aiden and I were the head of the pack.

We have been running for a half an hour, then we finally caught up to Kara. "Kara! Quit running! You know we’re going to get you!" I barked at her. She looked back and laughed at me, then kept going. I started to pick up my speed, and then Aiden jumped in front of me and started sniffing the air. "Aiden! What are you doing? She's right there!" I scolded him. He looked at me. "Do you smell that? Look the air is getting foggy," he told me. I began to take note of my surroundings. "Ew, it smells like a dead cat was flushed in the toilet, dipped in a week old lasagna casserole, then left out in the sun to rot for a week." He looked at me and I could see the humor in his eyes.

Whitney caught up to us, "why did you stop chasing her? She's getting away!" she yelled. "Poison gas," Aiden told her.  "Kara must have done that knowing she could get away. Too bad for her, I hate to have to punish her. She acts like a child sometimes," Whitney looked at the ground disappointed. I looked up to her and told her, "We can still get her. We just have to go around the woods." Whitney's walkie-talkie began to blink a red light. "This is Head Peace Keeper Whitney, what is your position?" she asked into the machine. I started to take off again, and then Whitney called me. "Go back. Mission aborted!" she told all of the shape shifters. "What? Why?" I asked. "We got her," Whitney told me. I looked at her and nodded, and then Aiden and I took off towards Soul with the other shape shifters.

 

 

Kara

“Let me go! I can walk!” I yelled at the Peace Keepers. I was really upset with myself. I stopped to get some water by a creek. I could see Central Park and Payton waiting for me to get there. The Peace Keepers have been hauling me kicking and screaming. When we got to a road, they handcuffed me and put me in the back of a black Sudan.

“Calm down and maybe Head Peace Keeper Whitney will go easy on you,” the taller one said. I cringed at the sound of her name. They both laughed and slammed the door. I tried to break the cuffs with my powers, but they were magik proof. I silently swore to myself as the vehicle began to move.

I dozed off a little on the ride back to Soul. Sleep should be at the bottom of my list of concerns, but all of the running for the past two hours wore me out. I didn’t shake off the sleep until I felt four hands grab me and haul me into The Peace Keeper Headquarters, which was the building across from the cabin in Soul. All of the Peace Keepers live here, and it’s a nice place when you want to lounge. They have several games provided for us so we would never get bored. Unfortunately, I went to the second floor of the building, where I saw Head Peace Keeper Whitney waiting for me.

“Un-cuff her. She’s not an escaped criminal,” Whitney told the Peace Keepers. I silently thanked her, hoping she would notice my smile. The smile quickly faded when she sat down. I felt like I was back in the principal’s office in high school, and to be honest, it was not a good feeling.

Whitney looked at me questioningly. “Why did you leave Soul Kara? Getting bored? We can change the routine if you’d like.” I felt humiliated and I was afraid of what the punishment might be. I decided to tell her the truth. If I learned anything in Soul, it was that honesty is the best policy. They will hang you or put you in Anti-Soul if you lie. Neither one of those were an option to me.

Whitney sensed my discomfort while I was figuring out how to answer and told the Peace Keepers to leave. “Tell me Kara. Tell the truth. If you refuse to tell me, it makes the punishment a lot worse,” Whitney told me. “I was trying to meet Peyton in Central Park,” I told her. I cringed when she spoke. “To join her? Why?” “No not to join her, I was going to stop her.” Whitney looked at me with a confused expression. "Peyton is a demon. You can’t kill her." I was shocked. “I thought you could! Isn’t she just a human with powers?” I cried out. “No,” she began, “she gave her soul up to the evil spirits. She is a demon because she has no soul. That is why she’s in Anti-Soul. 'Anti-means not’ or 'the opposite'. We are in Soul because we battle for the good and we have a soul,” Whitney explained.

I tried to understand this new information. “I am going to teach a class to everybody here later this week on the differences. You should take it. In the meantime, let’s discuss your punishment.” I groaned. “Stop acting like a child Kara. If you are going to act like one, I am going to treat you as one,” Whitney scolded. “Yes Peace Keeper Whitney.” “For your punishment, your powers are suspended for three days because of the poisonous gas. Also, you are going to replant everything you killed in that forest during those three days, as well as be my assistant during those three days. Understand?” She looked at me and waited for a response. “Yes Peace Keeper Whitney. I won’t do it again,” I mumbled. “Good. Go back to your cabin. It’s lunch time. The punishment starts tomorrow,” she told me as I headed down the stairs to eat lunch in the cabin.