Redheads are Soulless Read online

  Next, he bought me a couple of new dresses. They were on sale, and they did look good on me. So, after arguing for a couple of minutes, I caved… He also bought me 2 new pairs of jeans, a couple of tank tops, and a new hoodie. I felt absolutely terrible afterwards, but he wouldn’t hear it.

  And, after all that, he took me out to eat… again. I was not used to being taken care of, but he seemed to genuinely like doing it.

  That night, he dropped me off at my door about 10 o’clock. My mom was gone to the bar, so I invited him inside to hang out. I was embarrassed once we got inside. There were empty beer cans, and broken glass all over the living room floor.

  “I’m really sorry,” I started to apologize, but he stopped me by putting his finger over my lips. I kissed his finger, and he smiled. He took my hand and pulled me seductively towards my bedroom.

  I crawled into my bed, and he lay beside me.

  “I hate that you have to live like this.”

  I sighed. “Not much longer until I graduate and get out of here,” I said optimistically. “Once I leave, I am never coming back.”

  “That’s fine, as long as you take me with you.”

  “How did I get so lucky?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You’re just… this… incredible guy. I don’t deserve you.”

  He sat up, looking me in the eye. “Is it so hard to believe that I want you?”

  I nodded, and he smiled.

  “Well, believe it, because I do.” He paused for a moment, looking at my lips. “I want to kiss you right now.”

  “I want you to kiss me right now,” it came out more breathless than I intended.

  Right before his lips found mine, I heard the front door open. Drunken laughter filled our small house, and Jason pulled away.

  “Ugh, I’m sorry,” I grunted. “I’ll be right back.”

  I walked out into the living room to see my mom, shirtless, on top of a guy I didn’t recognize.

  “Sofie,” she slurred at me. “Come meet my boyfriend.”

  I was getting angry. “Mom, can you please go to your room and do that?”

  She laughed. “Come on! We’re jus’ havin’ fun!”

  Beside my mom, a glass lamp shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. My mom jumped, but then just laughed. “Whoops,” she said.

  She didn’t bump the lamp though. It just shattered all on its own.

  Jason ran out of my room beside me. “Are you ok?”

  I looked up at him, it was then that I noticed tears filled my eyes. “Not really.”

  “Come on,” he said, pulling me back to my room. “You are going to stay with me again. Pack some clothes.”

  It didn’t take much persuasion to get me to go with him. In fact, anything sounded better than staying here while my mom has sex with a random stranger in my living room.

  “Can we leave out the window?” I asked, embarrassed.

  Jason smiled knowingly. “Good idea,” he agreed. First, he lowered me down, passed me my suitcase, and then he jumped down himself. He landed perfectly on the grass.

  “Thank you, again,” I said as we took off towards his house.

  “For what?”

  “For saving me. Once again, I owe you.”

  He smiled mischievously. “Your undying gratitude is enough for me.”

  “I’m serious – someday I will pay you back.”

  After a few minutes of driving, we pulled in Jason’s very large house.

  “Do your parents ever come home?” I asked.

  “Never,” he answered as he opened the front door. He motioned for me to go inside first.

  “And you’re sure they don’t mind that you have a girl over when they’re not here?”

  He seemed amused by my question. “I can assure you that nobody cares who I invite over.”

  We sat down on his brown, leather couch and he put on a scary movie. He put his arm around me, and I jumped at the appropriate spots, but my mind was elsewhere.

  First, I was thinking about the whiskey bottle. The bottle didn’t just break on its own. That’s impossible. Then the light bulb busted when I slammed the door. I know I didn’t slam the door hard enough to break a light bulb over 5 feet away from the doorframe. And then, there was the soda can – it rattled this morning whenever I got mad and thought about my mom. Jason, grabbed the can quickly, and then acted like he didn’t hear anything. But I know he did. And then tonight, when my mom was with that… guy… The lamp just shattered. She didn’t bump it. She was at least 3 feet away from the lamp when it happened.

  Really, everything has to have an explanation. And I am determined to figure it out.

  …

  On Sunday morning when I woke up, Jason and I were still on the couch. He held me as I slept, and when I woke up, he was looking at me.

  “Good morning,” I said all groggy.

  “Good morning,” he smiled.

  “Were you watching me sleep?”

  “Maybe,” he admitted.

  “That’s kind of creepy,” I joked.

  “Good creepy or bad creepy?”

  “Is there really a good creepy?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

  We spent most of Sunday hanging out. On Sunday night when I got home, mom was there on the couch, she was crying, and very wasted.

  I talked to my mom for a few minutes, but she was pretty intolerable when she was like that, so I quickly excused myself to my room. Once I got there, there was a big purple ribbon sitting on the middle of my bed. Once I got closer, I could see that the ribbon was attached to a brand new purple iPod. There was a note attached.

  Sof,

  I loaded a ton of songs on here I thought you would like. I know you don’t have a computer, but anytime you want music, you can come to my house.

  Love, Jason

  P.S. You don’t owe me anything.

  I couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across my lips.

  Really, this was too much. I don’t think anybody has ever spent so much money on me before, even my own mother. I knew that I should take the iPod back to him, but I also knew that he would refuse it, so I put the ear buds in my ears.

  The iPod really was loaded with all my favorite bands. I don’t really remember discussing my favorite bands with him, but I was sure the conversation must have come up at some point. I turned the volume on MAX and let the music mute the sound of my mother’s sobs from the living room. I let the music drown out my thoughts… I allowed it to take me to my happy place… I listened until finally I drifted off to sleep.

  On Monday morning when I woke up, my headphones were still in my ears. I pulled them out, and plugged my iPod up so it could charge.

  After a quick shower, I got ready for school. When I looked in my closet, I was excited as I remembered I had new clothes… Outside, it was in the upper 60’s, so I decided to wear my new purple dress with my purple Converse.

  My normally frizzy red hair was actually tame today… Lately it had actually been pretty non-frizzy. I didn’t mind – I hated my frizzy locks.

  When I left, my mom was snoring on the couch.

  Once I got to the classroom, I slid into my desk just as the final bell rang. Jason smiled at me, and I sent a shy smile back as Mr. Franks took roll.

  “We have a new student.”

  I looked up to where Mr. Franks stood. I had been watching Jason, so I didn’t even notice that anybody else had come in.

  Beside him stood a guy with the same color of black hair as Jason. His eyes were the same caramel color, in fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say they looked like brothers – twins even. The only difference was the new guy had a much shorter hair cut, his short spikes sticking up all over.

  “If you would all please welcome Robbie.” Mr. Franks pointed to a seat near the front.

  I looked over at Jason. First, his expression was shock, but it quickly turned to anger. Then it happened again, his eyes turned black. The first day, I thought I had imagin
ed it, but I didn’t. There he was, looking at Robbie with black eyes.

  I looked over at Robbie. His eyes were red as he looked back.

  I gasped loudly and the whole class looked up at me. I blinked, and Robbie and Jason’s eyes were once again their natural color.

  Everybody snickered at me, but Mr. Frank’s quickly got everybody’s attention on the lesson. My mind couldn’t be further away.

  I looked at Jason. His caramel colored eyes looked at me with concern and confusion. Really, had I imagined the whole thing?

  When the bell rang, I jumped in my seat. Everybody laughed as they walked past my desk. I just sighed and got up. Jason walked beside me. He looked at me cautiously before speaking.

  “Are you ok?” He asked.

  I cleared my throat. “I don’t think so actually.”

  “What is wrong?”

  “I think I’m… crazy,” I whispered the word ‘crazy’, though I was sure everybody knew it already. It’s got to be hereditary, right?

  He just laughed. “Sofia, you are not crazy.”

  “But… your eyes… and Robbie’s…” I cut off, not able to finish.

  Jason’s face looked panicked. “You could see that?”

  I nodded my head. “I mean, I saw it the first day you came here, but I thought I was just seeing things… and… I’ve been breaking things… with my mind. It’s not normal.”

  “I promise I’ll explain everything, I just…”

  Jason was cut off as Robbie walked up. “Hello, brother,” he spoke.

  “Brother?” I asked, looking between the two, and then finally at Jason. “You never told me you had a brother.”

  “Twin brother,” Robbie answered me, and then turned to Jason. “Got yourself a cute one, brother. Too bad she’s mine, and you know it.”

  “Could you not talk about me like I’m not here,” I waved my hand in his face. “And I’m not yours. In fact, I’ve never met you before.”

  “Ah, I’m hurt – you don’t remember me?” Robbie’s eyes turned red once more, and realization hit me.

  “You… You…” I tried not to cry. “You killed my dad.”

  “You do remember,” he smiled.

  I felt anger throughout my whole body. Above us, the light bulbs shattered. The sound was louder than I expected. I covered my head as broken glass fell around us. When I looked up, the whole hallway was dark, and the glass doors that led to outside the school were shattered.

  My body felt like it was on fire. I looked at my hand. Steam was literally rising from my skin. I looked at it in amazement.

  “I see you haven’t changed,” Robbie laughed, and turned to Jason. “Feisty little thing, isn’t she?”

  “Stay away from me,” I yelled at him.

  “Come on, sweetheart, you don’t mean that.” His voice disgusted me. “I can show you things you could have never dreamt of. I can rock your world.”

  “Robbie, stop,” Jason stepped in front of me. “Leave her alone. She’s not a toy you can mess with. She is a human being. I am in love with her.”

  I gasped, at his confession, and Robbie laughed. “Oh how sweet, you love her,” his voice held a very sweet, sarcastic tone. “But I know you better than anybody else. You can’t lie to me… You and I both know that she isn’t human. I don’t trust you with her. I know what you’re doing.”

  I wanted to take a moment to think about the fact that Jason confessed his love for me, but I was too mad at Robbie. “You need to leave, now,” I said angrily at him. My voice was full of malice and hate as I spoke to him. It shocked me.

  “That’s right, get angry. Let it all out.” Robbie reached his hand up to touch my face, and I knocked it down hard, burning his hand in the process. “You little b…” I touched his arm again, making him scream. He fell to his knees.

  “I… said… leave!” I took my hand off Robbie’s arm, and he was up and out the door at inhuman speeds.

  Jason looked up at me in awe. “How did you do that?”

  “How come you didn’t tell me you weren’t human? And that your brother killed my dad?” I tried to sound angry, but it came out all wrong. “What are you? What am I?”

  I looked up to see that people were standing around us.

  “I think it’s best if we take this somewhere else,” Jason said firmly.

  I nodded my head once and headed out the door and into the parking lot. I stopped abruptly, and turned around to face Jason.

  “We are somewhere else now. So talk.”

  “Come with me.” I followed him to his car. He opened the door, and I hesitantly got inside. I still wasn’t sure I could trust him – I just found out he wasn’t human. Then again, apparently I’m not either… He shut my door and walked around to the driver’s seat and got in.

  We drove for a few minutes before he spoke.

  “Did you know there are legends that say redheads don’t have souls?”

  I snorted sarcastically. “Really? You’re going to tell me about some bogus legend?”

  Jason smiled sadly. “Well there are records all throughout time that shows redheads being crucified for that very reason. They would do it because their hair was the color of fire, so surely they belonged to the devil.”

  “Are you trying to tell me I don’t have a soul?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he smiled. “Of course you have a soul…”

  “Continue.”

  “Right, well… the legends weren’t completely true, but they did have some truth to them… You see certain redheads have abilities.”

  I gasped. “The broken glass and the lights…”

  He nodded his head. “Exactly… You are special, Sofie.”

  “So, it’s true… I really am a freak,” I said while shaking my head.

  “You’re not a freak… You’re just not exactly human,” he answered. “You’re a roggera.”

  “And my mom?”

  “She’s human,” he answered.

  “Was my dad human?”

  Jason shook his head. “No, he wasn’t. We have to stop my brother before he kills you too.”

  “What are you?”

  “Me and my brother are quartheras.”

  “Ok – so what exactly does it mean that I’m a roggera? And why does your brother want me dead?”

  “See, me and my brother are… different. Robbie, he’s not good. About a thousand years ago, your dad put a curse on him. Now, he’s trying to get revenge,” he explained. It seemed like he was lying, but I didn’t question it. I had no reason not to trust him. “The only way for the curse to be lifted is for your father to be killed.”

  “Wait, wait – my father has been alive for more than a thousand years?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… It was all too weird.

  “Yes. Sofie, you’re immortal.”

  “So all redheads are rogerras?” I asked.

  He sighed. “No, there are just a few of them. You being one of the few.”

  “Ok, so if he needs my dad to die for the curse to be lifted, no problem. My dad is already dead. Why is he coming after me?” I asked, still trying to grasp what he was telling me.

  “See, that’s the thing. Your dad passed on a part of himself into you. So killing your dad did nothing. Now, for the curse to be lifted, he has to kill you.”

  I swallowed hard. “So Robbie is going to kill me?”

  “No. I won’t let him kill you,” Jason said confidently.

  “How are we going to stop him?” I threw my hands up.

  “We are not going to… I am going to kill him, Sof.” Jason tried to sound sad, but I could tell the thought of killing his brother made him happy.

  “You would kill your own brother for me?”

  He nodded. “I don’t think you realize how much you mean to me.”

  “But he’s family,” I protested… I don’t know why I was trying to convince him to be on his brother’s side. “I’m just a random girl you met a couple months ago.”

  “You’re
not just some random girl. I came here to protect you, and somehow, somewhere along the way – I fell in love with you.”

  “What do you mean you came here to protect me?” Then, his words finally hit me, “You love me?” I repeated.

  “Is that so hard to believe?”

  I nodded my head.

  “Wait, so you believe that you and I are not human, but you refuse to believe that I love you?” he confirmed.

  “Pretty much.” After hearing him say it though, it did sound silly.

  “Well, believe it, because it’s true. I love you.” It took a few moments for his words to sink in.

  He loves me... Jason Morgan loves me!

  Wow.

  Seven

  No plan

  “So what’s the plan?” I asked as we walked into Jason’s house.

  He sent me a sideways smile. “I actually don’t have a plan.”

  I laughed nervously. “Oh.” Now I was scared. “Is my mom going to be safe?”

  I knew that I shouldn’t care if she was going to be safe. It’s not like she valued her own life, but I did care, and I probably always would. No matter how bad she treats me, no matter how bad she hurts me daily, I will always love my crazy mother. She is all I have left.

  “She’s going to be fine,” he promised. “Robbie wants you, not her.”

  “Ok, so what about school?”

  “We’ll go back tomorrow. By then they will have reported the incident as a freak power surge, and the kids will have forgotten our conversation by then. Teenagers are so easily distracted…” he cut off, looking at me. “Well, not you. You’re not like the others.”

  Normally, I would be offended by a statement like that. Being different sucks, but somehow Jason makes it seem ok. And, I know he didn’t mean it offensively.

  “Also, you probably shouldn’t go home.”

  My heart stopped momentarily. Who was going to take care of my mom?

  I think he knew what I was thinking, so he continued talking. “You’re about to be 18, and graduate high school. It’s about time your mom learned to take care of herself, Sofie. You have to be selfish right now. You could die,” he said the last word pointedly, so that I would understand the seriousness of the situation.