The Soulkeepers by G. P. Ching Read Free Book Online Page A

voice called
from the back room.
    "Yeah, Katrina. Is John around?"
    Katrina emerged, large clippers in her hand.
"No, he had to go on a delivery."
    "Could you tell him Malini and I are going
to McNaulty's to study?"
    "Tell him yourself. You're supposed to stay
and help out this afternoon. They've got the Harrington wedding
tomorrow and need fifty feet of fern garland."
    "Sorry, Katrina. Can't."
    "Whatever. I'll just tell him the truth.
You're completely useless." She rolled her eyes.
    Jacob was out the door before Malini could
introduce herself to Katrina. He heard her beating feet down the
sidewalk trying to catch up to him. He opened the door to
McNaulty's for her.
    "What was that all about?" she asked.
    "My uncle keeps trying to get me to work in
his shop."
    "Well why not? It doesn't sound so bad."
    "It's a long story, Malini. Just don't ask.
You don't want to know."
    "If you say so, but I would love to have my
own money." She slid into a booth by the window.
    Jacob crossed his arms over his stomach.
He'd been accepting spending money from his uncle for lunch, his
cell phone, movies, and of course his new cold weather clothes.
Jacob hated taking the man's money but it couldn't be avoided. He
would have to get a job eventually if he ever wanted to earn a
ticket back home, but he figured if his dad disliked the Laudners
enough to legally change his name, then he wasn't going to work in
a shop by that name. It just didn't feel right.
    "Can I ask you something, Jake?" Malini
leaned forward across the table. "That first day, in school, I
heard you say that your father was Caucasian and your mother was
Chinese, but your last name is Lau. Why wouldn't your dad just take
your moms last name? Why shorten Laudner to Lau?"
    "The sad thing is that I don't know. Three
months ago, I thought the only last name my father ever had was
Lau." He stirred his soda with his straw, watching the trail of
bubbles circle the glass.
    "What happened to your parents?"
    "They're gone. My father died in
Afghanistan, and my mother is missing."
    "I'm so sorry. How awful. Is that why you
never talk about Hawaii, or when you were a kid?"
    "I don't want to talk about my parents."
    Malini made a small choking noise and Jacob
could see he'd embarrassed her. A blush crawled up her neck. He
opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but she cut him off.
    "You don't have to talk about it, Jake,"
Malini said, her hand on his arm. "We have Biology." She held up
her book and smiled.

Chapter Nine
    Heads Will Fly
     
    Sleep was the enemy. Jacob wrestled with it
every night, the endless rush of thoughts that no amount of tossing
or turning could lay to rest. The guilt that he hadn't done enough
to help find his mom mingled with his anger toward Dane and his
friends. Together, the emotions created the world's best
anti-sleeping pill. The alternative was worse. If he fell asleep,
he'd dream weird, vivid dreams, the kind that made you sweat and
scream in your sleep. Sometimes it was the false memory replaying
in his head. Other times he saw the ghost at his window. He might
dream of being chased or showing up to a test without a pencil but
all of his dreams were alike in one important way. He was helpless
in them. Absolutely helpless. So, as the first rays of sunshine
cast dappled shadows across his desk he was already awake.
    In his hands, he turned the jewelry box that
he'd found among his mother's things. How could he have missed it
in the tiny apartment? He needed a way to open it, something that
wouldn't damage it. If he could just see what was inside, maybe
something would explain why she was different those last weeks, and
why she'd gone to Manoa Falls that last day.
    He lifted the box higher, heavy even with
two hands, and inspected the bottom. There was a label, the white
kind that you see on the tabs of manila folders. Hurried but
familiar, it was a phone number, nothing more, but it was
definitely in his mother's handwriting. Jacob set the box down
carefully and