Soul of Roses

Track Eight

Will told Dad everything. From his mother's death, to his father's mental breakdown, he and his sister's murder, and the years he spent on the run from his father. He also explained why his dad was trying to kill me.

My dad just looked at both of us.

"I've never had an attachment like that," he said. "Sure, some souls have followed me around for a while, but not that long... You must be very good friends." He got up from my bed and told me to get some rest. "It's almost two and you have school tomorrow. Go to bed, we can talk later."

I nodded and he stepped out of my room.

Will turned to me and said, "Now I get why he was able to find us. One Gifted, like yourself, is a beacon of energy that we souls can sense and attach to. Since there are two of you here, hence twice the energy. It was never you that was extremely Gifted, it was the two of you together."

I scowled at him and said, "That doesn't make me feel better, Will."

He realized what he words sounded like to me and said, "Oh, I am so sorry! It was an accident. I didn't mean to offend you, Olive..."

"Good night, Will," I said, getting up to turn off my light.

"I really am sorry-"

"Yes, I know that," I said, yawning. "I'm tired, good night."

He smiled at me and said good night back as he disappeared.

As the morning came much sooner than I wanted it to, I was woken up by the sounds of rustling in my room.

I opened one eye as I lay in my bed, confused as to who was in my room.

"Lilly?" I asked.

The noises stopped abruptly, but there was no response.

I sat up. "Lilly, get out... of my..." I let my voice trail off because the person in my room was definitely not Lilly.

To my surprise, the boy from one of the first times I met Noah was standing in my room with a guilty expression on his face. He was holding my drawing notebook.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Um... Err..." he began. "I just wanted to... Um... look at them?"

I looked at him with a clearly unamused and skeptical expression on my face. "Yeah, sure," I said sarcastically. "What are you doing?"

He frowned sadly, knowing defeat and said, "I'm sorry... I really did just want to look at them."

"Ok...?" I said, getting up.

The boy looked exactly the same as then. Clearly burned, brown eyes, and blonde hair filled with ash and soot. He had the same purple and black striped pajamas on, too.

He held out my notebook for me to take. "If you want to look at it, just don't rip any of the pages. I need to get ready, so go nuts."

I walked into my bathroom after getting a set of clothes for today. It was going to be warmer outside today, so I didn't both putting on a hoodie.

Once I was completely ready, I went back into my room to see Will and the boy looking at my drawings together.

"Will," I said.

They bother turned around and Will said, "Good morning, Olive."

"These are really good," the boy said.

I went to see the page they were looking at. It was the one with him on it. I smiled and said, "I should charge for all the portraits I make."

Will laughed, but the boy looked concerned.