Redheads are Soulless (15 page)

Later on that night, Robbie hooked his iPod up to some speakers and selected a slow song. He bowed and held his hand out to me. I accepted graciously, and did a curtsey.
We both laughed at the formality.

Robbie pulled me close to him, and we danced. If I was being honest, he was actually a better dancer than me. It’s not saying much, really, because trust me, I’m awful. But he’s actually
good
.

“Robbie Morgan, I do believe you were lying to me.”

“How else could I convince you to dance with me,” he smiled, and again I was weak in the knees. “It’s the only way you would let me sweep you off your feet.”

I playfully tried to glare at him, but I ended up smiling. “I’m pretty sure you’ve already swept me off my feet.”

“That’s what I’
m hoping for,” he whispered in my ear, giving me chills.

Neither of us said anything else. He just held me in his arms, and we danced
for hours
. In moments
like this
, I felt hope.

Robbie is my hope.

Sixteen

Where have you been?

On Saturday, I decided I would go see my mom. I wanted to go by myself, but after the
almost
car accident, Robbie
insisted on driving me. I enjoy
my time with him, don’t get me wrong, but being babysat wasn’t exactly something I enjoyed.

My mom didn’t answer when I pounded on the door, so I had the hotel manag
er unlock it for me. I thanked him
and walked inside. My
mom was lying on the bed asleep.
O
n the nightstand was a half empty bottle of whiskey.

I felt furious at my mom in that moment. I was still in shock that she threw everything away for a guy she barely knew.

I took the bottle of whiskey and poured it down the bathroom sink. Soon after, I opened the fridge and did the same to the bottles of beer, and a full bottle of tequila.
Once I finished that, I opened up the curtain and let the sun shine in.

Afterwards, I propped open the door so I wouldn’t be locked out. I filled up the ice bucket, came back and filled the bucket with water. I took the ice cold water and I dumped it over my mom’s head. She gasped for air as
she
sat up in a fright.

“Get up!” I yelled at her.

“Sof
?” she looked at me confused for a few
seconds
. “What d’ya think you’re doin’?”

“Y
ou’re getting up,” I said looking
at the time. “It’s almost noon.”

If my mom could shoot lasers out her eyes, she would be shooting them at me right now. With the evil look she was giving me, I almost expected it. “Like hell I’m gettin’ up.”

“Did you ask for your job back?” I asked.

She didn’t answer, so I took it as a no.

“Pretty soon you’re going to be living on the street, begging for money to buy your precious alcohol. You should think about it.” I crossed my arms over my chest angrily. “You don’t even care about me. I could be dead for all you knew. You don’t know who I’m staying with, and you don’t know if I’m ok.”

A guilty look came
over her face. “Just – get – out!” She yelled at me.

“No,” I said stubbornly. “You’re going to get off your lazy butt. Get a shower. Seize the day. I’m not leaving here until I see you do something besides lay there.”

“Sofie, I’m hung over. What do you want from me?” I hated seeing her lay there looking so pitiful.

“No matter what happens, you are still my mom. I hate the way you treated me growing up. You loved alcohol and drugs more than me,” I sighed. “I get it, it’s an addiction. But if you want to keep me in your life, you have to change. Because when I leave, I’m not coming back unless you’ve
truly
changed. And I don’t mean you’ve given up alcohol for 2 weeks or a month – you have to give it up for good.”

“What does it matter to you if I screw up my life?”

“Because I love you, Mom, please change. If not for me, change for
you
,” my voice was almost begging.
I wasn’t opposed to the idea of pleading with her.

“Sofie, I love you. You know that, right?”

I nodded my head.

“Just give me some time, ok? I promise I will change.”

I felt my heart drop. “You have promised me so many times.” I felt a tear fall from my eye. My mom reached up to touch me, but I backed away. “Don’t pretend to care.”

With that, I ran out of her hotel room. I heard her screaming my name, but I didn’t
turn back
. I
needed
to get away from her.
All the broken promises, all the lies – I couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore and believe it. She would always be a
manipulator and a deceiver.
I had to separate
myself from her.

It hurt to leave my mom. She was broken, and desperate. She needed me. She needed help. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to help her.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed her too. I’ve needed her for years, but she wasn’t there, and she didn’t care.
And as much as I don’t
want
to care, I d
o.

When I got in the car, Robbie looked at me. I could tell he wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to talk. He just put the car in drive and took off.

After about 5 minutes of driving, I noticed he wasn’t going the direction of home, so I finally spoke. “Where are we going?”

“It’s after noon. It’s time for lunch,” he smiled at me.

“I’m not really that hungry.”
After seeing my mom, my stomach was in knots. I knew that trying to eat would be a waste.

“Well, I am. I know this really great sushi place.”

Oh, yum.
Besides cheeseburgers, s
ushi is my all time favorite food. “Maybe I could stand to eat a little bit,” I said.

“So how did everything go?” Robbie asked. His voice was full of concern.

“Terrible,” I answered. “She was still drunk from the night before… I just don’t understand her. Why can’t she just step up to the plate and be a mom? A real mom.”

“Was she always like this?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s the alcohol. Once she started drinking, she cared less about me, and more about alcohol. She tries to blame my father’s death, but that excuse was over long ago.” My voice started to quiver. “I was 10 years old when she started.”

I went on to tell Robbie how I used to pick my mom up from the bar at 10 years old. I would drive, even though I could barely reach the pedals. I told him how I was scared she would die too.

“I’m so sorry, Sof,” he said softly.
“I wish…”

I cut him off. “It’s not your fault. You did what you had to… My mom did this to herself.”

“Sofie, that night… I was a mess. I’m so sorry. I just
had
to.
The curse wouldn’t let me stop. I just wanted to stop.
Then I saw you, you were only 10 years old, and you had no idea what you were doing…” He cleared his throat. “I regret
everything
about that night. Not one day has gone by since that night that I wish I could take it back.”

“I have a question,” I said once he stopped. “Why did yo
u say you were going to kill me that first day at school?
”

“I thought that if you thought I was a
bad guy,
you would stay away from me. It hurt to see you – to know what I did to you.
I didn’t expect to fall in love with you. I don’t deserve your friendship.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.

“I am a monster.”

“No, you’re not. You are the mo
st
loving, kind person I know. You would do anything to save your brother. I can’t hate you for that.”

“Not anything,” he said softly. I was about to ask him what he meant when he opened his door. “Let’s go eat.”

…

Whenever Robbie and I came home, it was a little after 2
in the afternoon
. Jason was nowhere to be seen which was very unlike him.
He was always around, wherever I was… But I was glad he went out… So
Robbie
and I
just put on a movie and just chilled.

When we put on a movie, we
didn’t
eve
n
watch it. Instead, we end
ed
up talking through the whole thing.

“Is black your favorite color?” I asked, pulling at his black shirt.

“No, red i
s
,” he answered.

“Then why do you always wear black?”

“I don’t know,” he said lamely. “Why do you always wear purple?”

“Because it’s my favorite color,” I said laughing.

“Purple looks good on you, just like black looks good on me,” he shrugged. “So I guess that’s why I always wear black.”

“I bet you would look good in red.”

“Maybe,” he laughed. “You look good in red.”

I looked at him for a moment confused. “I never wear red. It clashes with my hair.”

He laughed. “That’s the point, Sof. I’m saying your red hair looks good on you.”

“Is that why your favorite color is red?” I asked.

“Duh,” he said playfully.

“Oh
…”

He pushed my bangs behind my ear, and kissed my forehead. “You’re beautiful.
”

I looked down from his eyes. “I am nothing compared to you.”

He pulled my chin up so I was forced to look at him.
He simply said
, “Don’t e
ver think that,” and then kissed
me gently on the lips
.

Afternoon turned into night, and Jason still wasn’t home.
When I glanced at the clock, I noticed it was just after 11pm.

“Where do you think he is?” I asked Robbie. “Is he ok?”

He nodded. “I’m sure Jason is fine.”

I agreed quietly, but it didn’
t stop me from wondering where he could be
, but finally, he walked through the door.

“Hey guys,” he said, walking into the living room.

“Where have you been?” I asked playfully, but the truth was I
really
wanted to know.

He simply said, “Out,” as if that would be a sufficient answer.

Really, out should be sufficient. I am nothing to Jason – just the girl who broke his heart. But I was much too curious.

“Out with a girl?” I pursued.

“Maybe, but what is it to you?” he asked coldly.

I cleared my throat, unsure of what to say.

“Come on, be nice,” Robbie warned Jason.

Jason looked at Robbie so harshly that I felt a chill go over me. I quickly shook it off… Brother’s fight, it’s just part of life… He didn’t respond. He just kept looking at Robbie intensively.

I stepped in between them. “Umm, we were just going to bed,” I told Jason. I grabbed Robbie’s arm and pulled him to the room. I wasn’t sleepy at all, but I couldn’t stand being in the living room anymore. Th
eir
death stare match was freaking me out.

“That was weird,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Robbie stood there. He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yeah, it was,” he finally agreed.
“Just do me a favor, and be careful around Jason, ok?”

“Ok,” I agreed.

What is up with the two of them?
I silently wondered. I didn’t pursue the topic any further. If Robbie wanted to tell me, he would. It isn’t my place to pry.
Besides,
it’s
inevitable
sooner or later, I would
find out.
I always do.

Seventeen

Stronger

Monday morning at school, everything was back to normal… And by normal, I mean
as normal as
my very
un
ordinary
life
can be
.

Jason and Robbie were both back to their old selves, arguing with each other.
You’d think with them being over one thousand years old, they’d have learned to get along better
.

Adria
nne still stalk
ed
me, only now
every tim
e I look
ed
up I expect
ed
her icy blue eyes to be glaring at me.
I pretend
ed that I wasn’
t scared of her, but the truth is, I am. I know what she can do to me. She’s just waiting for the perfect moment to rip my heart out.

But today, there was something different in her eyes
that
I hadn’t seen before. I couldn’t understand it, she almost looked
scared
.
I tried to ignore it. She was probably trying to get me to feel sorry for her. I refused to let her get to me.

“Hey, Sofie,” I heard a voice from behind me, and I froze.

I looked around me. Jason and Robbie were nowhere to be seen.

“Looking for your boyfriends?”

Don’t be a coward.
I
turned around and
looked up into the eyes of Adrianne.
Again, there was something in her eyes, and I could tell she was sc
ared. I instantly felt stronger, and braver. “What do you want?” I could hear the annoyance in my voice.

“I want
you
.”

I rolled my eyes. “Too bad, you can’t have me.”

“I can. And I will have you,” she walked closer. I didn’t step back. I stood my ground. “I
will
kill you.”

I walked a circle around her. I was brave, but on the inside I felt like I was falling apart. “I don’t think you will. If you wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it before now.” I could tell I was getting to her, so I continued talking. “I’m stronger than you.” I broke the light above us, as if to prove a po
int. The glass shattered
all around us. “I think you’re the one who should be scared.”

Suddenly, my vision was
blurred
.
Once everything slowed down, I could see that s
he had her arm around my neck, and I was on the floor, on my knees beside her.

“I could kill you so easily right now,” she threatened. She tightened the grip around my neck, as if to prove a point, and then she threw me on the ground in front of her. “You’re a pathetic
little girl
. I’ve got over three thousand years on you.”

I was so mad that I could literally feel my skin getting hotter. I looked at her, nearly blind with rage. I knew I had to get a grip on myself, but I couldn’t. Lights throughout the hallway started shattering. I heard the glass door behind me shatter.

Adrianne just stood there looking at me. She looked genuinely scared, but she didn’t back down from me. I felt a cold chill go over me, but it didn’t help calm me down at all.

“Is that the best you can do?”

“I’m just getting started,” I said with a laugh.

I held out my hand and pushed her physically with my mind. She slid down the hallway for abou
t 100 feet before hitting a
wall
.
She hit the wall so
forcefully
the concrete was crumbling around her body.
She was covered in blood, but she stood back up and ran towards me.

She moved so fast, she was literally a blur, but I held out my hand and she stopped. She kept trying to run towards me, but she couldn’t break through the invisible
barrier
I
had
put up.
This made her angrier.

Adrianne took her fist and hit the wall with all her strength. When she did, I nearly fell to the floor from the force. She broke her way through and started running towards me again.

At this point, I heard screaming. The hallway was full of students and teachers. Adrianne noticed this too.
She held out her hand and literally sent an electrical shock towards the other students. I too held out my hand and blocked the shock from getting to them. It hit me with full force knocking me
down. I slid
on my butt until I was
outside of the school doors.
I stopped right before falling down the stairs.

Adrianne thought it was funny, so she sent another bolt
of electricity
towards me. I fell backwards, rolling down the concrete steps back first.

Fury stirred inside of me. I wasn’t sure if I was hurt or not
, but I didn’t care. I jumped up on my feet defensively. Beside me, I saw an old Oak tree. With all of my strength, I held my hands out to the tree. Without touching it, I ripped it out of the ground, all the roots coming with it, and I flung it at Adrianne.
It hit her face first, but it only knocked her down for a few seconds.

She sent another lightning bolt towards me, but I blocked it again. It didn’t hurt as bad this time
since I was prepared for it
. She started shooting them at me, one after the other. I blocked each one perfectly, and she looked mad.

In front of the school, an empty school bus was sitting there. I had never tried to move anything so heavy before, but it was worth a try. So, while still blocking her shots, I picked up a school bus and literally dropped it on her head.

“Sofie!” I heard a familiar voice
yelling at me over the screaming students
. I looked back to see Jason. He was in his car on the street waiting for me. I didn’t waste any time. I ran towards him and got in the car.

“Go!” I yelled.

I wasn’t sure how long the school bus would hold her down, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that long.

“Where’s
Robbie
?” I asked over the tires screeching. I had never seen Jason drive so crazy. He drifted around the corner and completely ignored the stop sign. I held onto the dashboard.

“We didn’t have time to wait for him. I have to get you safe first,” he yelled back. “You are our priority.”

“Turn around!” I yelled. “I don’t want to go without Robbie!”

“Listen!” he screamed at me. “Robbie made me promise to keep you safe before him! I’m keeping my promise! He can take care of himself!”

“I was doing just fine!”

“No you weren’t
! You’re freaking covered in blood!”

It was then that I finally looked down at myself. My clothes were stained in fresh blood.
In the mirror, I could see dried blood stuck in my hair.
I just shrugged.
“Adrianne looked way worse.”

When I looked at the road, I realized that we were getting on the interstate and we weren’t heading home.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m getting you away. I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

“NO!” I screamed in frustration. “I am not going anywhere without Robbie!” When Jason didn’t respond, I continued. “Why aren’t you listening to me? Turn the car around!”

“I’m not turning the car around. I’m getting you to safety first.” His voice was completely calm.

I looked at the door handle
, and found myself slowly reach for it. It was a stupid idea to jump out of a car going 90 MPH, but I couldn’t leave Robbie.
I looked at Jason who was looking at the road. Finally, my hand was on the
handle
, but before I could pull it, Jason grabbed my shoulder
.
The car spun out of control, but Jason didn’t let go of me.

I felt lifeless. I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and I could literally feel myself floating in the air as the car flipped over and over again.

Jason put his arm around my wa
i
st and jumped out the back window while the car continued to flip. We watched the car for a few moments before it finally came to a stop hitting the overpass.

I could see a small spark under the car. I wondered if the car was on fire. Suddenly, the car just exploded. Fire and smoke shot up through the air.

I looked over at Jason. He was glaring at me. “What the
hell
were you thinking?” he yelled.

“I’m not leaving
without
Robbie!” I repeated myself.

“Sofie, stop
being difficult! H
ow am I supposed to get you
safely
out of here
now
?” he pulled his hair in frustration.

A convertible, yellow Camaro pulled up beside us. “Are you guys ok?” the guy asked.

A smile came over Jason’s face. He walked closer to the car, and what he did next surprised me. He
pu
nch
ed
his fist into the guy’s nose
.

Now it was my turn to ask. “What the hell are you thinking?” I looked at the guy’s lifeless body lying in the seat. “Did you kill him?”

Jason laughed and rolled his eyes. “No, I just knocked him out.” Jason took the guy’s body and laid him on the side of the road. “Get in,”
he commanded, holding open the passenger side.

“No,” I said crossing my arms over my chest.

He obviously didn’t like my answer. He shoved me, and I fell into the car. I barely moved my legs out of the way before he shut the door.
Jason jumped into the driver’s seat and took off before I even had time to react to what happened.

I tried taking deep, even breaths. It was next to impossible. This was a side of Jason that I had never seen, and to be honest I was scared of this side.

“It’s going to be ok, Sofie,” he promised.

I could feel the tears streaming down my face. “No it’s not! Nothing will ever be ok! You should have just let Adrianne kill me!”

He shook his head. “Don’
t ever say anything like that again.”

I pulled my cell phone out of my poc
ket. “I’m just going to call Robbie
, and see if he’s ok.”

Jason grabbed my cell phone out of my hand and literally threw it out of the back of the car.
I watched
as it shattered into pieces on the
road behind us.

“Why did you do that?”

He
didn’t answer. Instead, he down
shifted and suddenly we were going faster. 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 – I held onto my seat scared.

“
Are you going
to try and jump out again?” he asked.

I
shook my head, unable to respond.

“Good,” he said coldly with a smile. “
You and I
are going on a little trip.”

My mouth suddenly felt like it has been stuffed full of cotton balls. Sitting in the car with him, I was finally seeing the truth. “Adrianne was just a decoy.”

Jason smirked. “Robbie was too busy watching Adrianne to notice his heartbroken brother.”

“So everything was a
lie
. You never loved me,” I said, unable to even believe it. “It can’t be true.”

“Oh, but it is.”

My pain seemed to bring him pleasure.

“I hate you,” I told him.

He laughed. “That’s ok. I’m going to kill you, so I get the last word.”

“Why wait? Why didn’t you kill me that first day you saw me?” I asked. I was hurt, and I wanted, no I needed, answers.
“Why wait
to
get to know me?”

“Be
cause this was so much more fun. Plus, I had to find a way to kill my brother. You’re just leverage. I knew my brother would fall for you… He’s always been weak.
” he said. He started to put his hand on my neck, but I threw his arm off me.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.”

Jason is a liar, and a darn good one at that.
He had me fooled, but he will not get the last word. I will make sure of that.