The Soul Seekers by Amy Saia Page A

turned. It was true that I’d misunderstood his plans and had begun to think impossible things. But, why would it be any harder to keep him safe than it would be to make him a real human again? Either one seemed impossible. Why not try?
    “Because if we do, you’ll be caught in the crosshairs. It’s not worth it.” He’d heard my thoughts, and this time I felt intruded upon.
    I brushed my hair away from my shoulder, feeling the heat of the attic more than ever, even with him near. “You’ll be stuck here forever then, or worse.”
    It hurt to think of him dying. A hard lump caught in my throat, and knifelike pain pushed against my chest for the reality of hopelessness.
    He sucked in a breath, and I heard footsteps coming near, but they stopped short of where I stood, by the wedding dress. “I’m used to the idea, Emma.”
    But I’m not.
    In resignation, I reached for a box of old sewing scraps, perfect for a new quilt. Gran had said the other day how she needed some to start a new project. I took the box over to sit by the attic door. When I looked up, William was leaning against a dresser covered in muslin. He gave me a sweet smile, and I, despite the burning feeling in my chest, smiled back.
    I remembered the old newspaper article, pulled it from the trash, scanned over the article again, and handed it to him. “Look, William. You probably remember this, right?”
    He inspected the headline and showed a sour expression. “Yes, unfortunately. My sister went to one of those and came back saying how wonderful they were. She wanted me to go with her, but I never did.”
    He couldn’t read the full article without throwing it back in the trash.
    “I remember not liking the way she started to act as if she belonged to them and felt compelled to go to the meetings every other night. I tried to convince her it was abnormal, but she said they made her feel as if she belonged.” He pressed his lips together in tension. “Our adoptive mother encouraged her to go.”
    “William, tell me about your sister. You said she meant a lot to you. What was she like?”
    “She was pretty, but I showed you that.”
    I smiled and nodded at the memory. Pretty was too modest a word, she had been luminous and graceful, more than any movie star on screen.
    “She was a comfort to me, maybe I relied on her more than I should have, but she had a kind and generous spirit.”
    “What did you do after she died? I saw you there on the street when they took her away. What happened to you?”
    William leaned over on his knees, examining a photograph he’d found on the floor. “I ran. Our adoptive mother smiled at the news of Cathy’s death. I tried hard not to hate her, I really did Emma, but she was truly an awful human being. My sister gone and nothing but a smug grin.”
    A book slipped out of my hands in distraction. His pain was fresh and new, despite all the years, and I could feel it transferring to me. “Where did you go?”
    “Down to the lake to camp out for a few days, until I decided it would be wrong to miss the funeral. I went back to town but wasn’t allowed inside the church. I put up a fight, and just when the police started to put the handcuffs on my wrists, theyshowed up.”
    I didn’t have to guess who he meant by that.
    “Marcus convinced the police that I needed a mental evaluation and that the congregation was well equipped to handle my needs. Alistair spoke of a ceremony and said we’d be going into the caves. The eclipse was coming and they were all very excited.
    “They dragged me through limestone tunnels using a mental force I wasn’t equipped to handle. I had a certain amount of psychic powers but I wasn’t strong enough to deal with what they were doling out. Whenever I fought back, a paralysis would stun me. All my muscles became lead, even my bones felt numb.
    “We reached a large cavern room where they tied me down. Men in robes hovered over me, chanting horrible prayers.”
    I was now sitting at