My Soul to Keep - By Sean Hayden Page 0,2

tossed it in the trash, but I wasn't done yet. Something drove me to grab the note and walk over to my stereo speaker. It stood over three feet tall (another leftover from an era before digital surround sound and wafer thin speakers) and had only one thing on it. A black candle I'd gone through hell and high-water to get.

I picked my unused candle off the speaker and headed through the house out to the back porch. As soon as I opened the storm door and stepped outside, I debated going back in for my jacket. The chilly October air sent goose bumps up my arms and over my chest. I figured I wouldn’t be outside long, so I let it go. I set the candle down and reached into my front jeans pocket and pulled out my red plastic lighter (don’t ask, or at least don’t tell my parents). The wind blew across my arms as I held out the lighter and cupped it with my hand, trying to block the breeze. As soon as I ran my thumb over the lighter, the wind died completely and a bright flame sparked to life. I brought the flame closer to the candle and I swear, it jumped from the lighter to the candle wick. It only added to the craziness of the situation. My mind screamed, "This can't be real." The rest of me wasn't so sure.

I stared at the dancing little flame for a full minute waiting for the wind to snuff it out. It never happened. The air was still chilly but calm. I pulled my hand away from the candle and pulled the letter out from underneath my arm. I unfolded it and looked at it one last time. The words were no longer bright red. My blood had dried to an almost dull brown. What the hell are you doing, Connor. This is stupid. Nothing is going to happen.

My hand shoved the paper into the flame of the candle.

Jokingly I chanted, “I, Connor Sullivan, promise my soul to whomever grants my fondest wish. I do this freely, understanding that this is bound in blood, never to be undone. So shall it be. Please accept my oath of blood.” The words rang and echoed into the cold October evening.

The sun set, and just as it dropped over the horizon, I swear the vanishing light chimed like a bell. The slowly burning paper flared in my hand. I lifted it higher as a nagging voice in my head urged me to blow it out. I sucked in a lung-full of air to do so when the note disappeared with a soft thwump. I didn't get burned, but I had a handful of ashes. Without another thought, I tossed them up onto the air.

I leaned over and blew a soft puff of air over the candle, snuffing the flame. The wind picked back up and the crickets that had gone silent without me noticing started chirping again. I grabbed my candle and headed back to my room, trying to calm the sudden fear spreading through my chest. It's official. You've lost your mind, Connor. They're going to lock you in a loony bin.

Chapter 2

It took me nearly an hour to figure out three times x equaled four times y. Disgustedly, I shoved my unfinished homework back in my backpack and tossed it on the floor by my desk. I’d hoped my homework would help me forget what I'd done out on the back patio. Half of me said I was being stupid for worrying. The other half said my other half was stupid and that I should be shitting kittens. The conversation going on in my head made me want to throw up. Where did that whole idea come from? I’d never heard those words before in my entire life, but I wrote them out without thinking about them. Something isn't right. Something is very, very wrong.

I turned around to immerse myself fully in some blood and carnage of the video game variety when the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut made me shudder. Damn, there goes my free time.

“Connor!” My sister’s shrill voice echoed up the stairs and rattled around in my ear canals causing tympanic hemorrhaging. Okay, she didn’t make my ears bleed, but her voice seriously annoyed the crap out of me.

“Up here, K,” I shouted out the door, not really caring if she heard me. I called her K, but it