Soul Searcher by D.M. Richardson (novel24 .TXT) 📕

“She likes paranormal and fantasy adventure books. That’s about it. Like Frank said she doesn’t say much. So are you still giving us a ride home today?” He asked me in an attempt to change the subject. I sighed.

“Not unless you all want to come with me to the garage. There’s something wrong with my car.”

“It’s cool with me I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Yeah I might as well.” Jacob added in a slight sulk from the previous conversation. Frank nodded his agreement, and it was set. At least I would have some company while I waited. My dad was cool, but not much of a conversationalist, and he had to be there to pay for whatever work had to be done.

I pulled the car up to the last garage where my dad and Mr. Keely stood talking. When they noticed me Mr. Keely waived me forward into the building. We all climbed out and joined my dad. He and Mr. Keely had become good friends a few years ago when a jack faltered and landed him. They met in my dad’s emergency room. My dad had finished his hospital internship right before I was born. Since then he’s become the most preferred doctor in the county.

“Hi Mr. Keely.” I said politely.

“Oh I’m still too young yet to be Mr. Keely. Call me Koner .”

“Okay”

“So what do you need done?” he asked indicating the car.

“I don’t know it keeps stalling.” I answered. Being male made it a little embarrassing to admit I knew nothing about cars. I loved my car but that was mostly because it was fast.

“Alright I’ll get it looked at then.”

“Might as well get the oil changed, the tires rotated, and an alignment done while were here.” My dad added. Koner nodded.

“Ok I’ve got the perfect person to handle it.” Koner answered. My dad looked concerned. Koner always worked on our vehicles himself.

“You won’t be doing it?” Koner shook his head.

“No I’ve got someone else for it. Don’t worry she’s even better than I am.” he turned away just as all five of us said the same thing.

“She?” He whistled so loud it made my ears ring slightly.

“Hey! Number seven! I’ve got a good one for you!” Immediately after he finished speaking all of the other mechanics started whistling and shouting. A moment later I started hearing the sound of wheels on concrete. I craned my neck a little to see who was coming. A few moments later I saw her. My mouth popped open.

I couldn’t believe it. She was riding one of those things mechanics use for laying under a car like it was a skate board. She pushed off the ground once as I watched her. Her eyes were trained on the floor so she could watch where she was going. When she was about ten feet from us Rayne hopped off the board and stopped it with her foot expertly. She looked at the car and her eyes lit up with excitement. Then dimmed with slight dismay. She looked over at us. Taking in each of us in turn before turning her attention to Koner.

“Rob this is my foster daughter Rayne. Don’t worry she’s a licensed mechanic, and one of the best I’ve ever seen. Rayne this Rob he’s a good friend.” She offered a small smile of welcome, and my dad mumbled a how do you do.

“You skateboard?” Jacob asked in obvious awe. He was a wanna be skater. She looked at him and shrugged.

“It was a faze I went through when I was fifteen.” she turned back to Koner. “What have we got?” He motioned for her to ask us instead of answering. She blanched but turned to my dad. “Do you know what the problem is?” she asked politely looking at his mouth instead of his eyes.

“Well we’re not entirely sure. It’s been stalling, and since we’re here I figured we’d get the oil changed, the tires rotated, and an alignment as well.” she nodded.

“Okay when does it stall the most?” she asked. My dad looked perplexed for a moment then turned to me. She let out a soft almost undetectable sigh and turned to me as well waiting expectantly. I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t fully understand the question. She must of seen my confusion. “Does it stall when you’ve been driving a lot, or when your on a hill, or flat ground, or gravel?”

“Umm hills mostly.” she nodded.

“It’s probably the spark plugs then. When do you want me to start?” she asked turning to Koner who had, for some reason, moved behind us.

“Now’s good if you don’t have anywhere to be in a hurry.” he said to my dad.

“No we can wait.” she nodded and turned to press a button that rose the car up a couple feet. When she had it where she wanted it she got all of the supplies she needed to work on it. She arranged them to be in easy reach of what ever she was doing. She put the board in front of the car then caught every one by surprise. Everyone but Koner who was still standing behind us.

She reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt pulling it over her head. The sound of multiple gasps filled my ears, and had I been paying attention I would have realized that one of them belonged to me.

She stood there in lose fitting jeans and a sports bra. I figured she would have been a little chubby, because of how she wore her clothes. I was wrong. She was nothing but muscle. She had olive toned skin and a sculpted stomach. That flowed smoothly to her hips. She didn’t have a large chest, but it wasn’t small either. Her shoulder’s were smooth and strong, while her upper arms were toned. What caught the most attention was the tattoo. It looked like a tribal design that went from under her jeans all the way up until it was hidden by her bra. It was beautiful.

Koner gripped my shoulder from behind me. I hadn’t realized how much I had tensed.

“Relax boys” he murmured. Suddenly I understood why he had moved behind us and stayed close. We were a bunch of teenage boys with an incredibly attractive teenage girl. I forced myself to relax and he let go.

“Well I’ve got some paperwork to finish. If you need anything come get me.” Koner said and walked away after he got a nod from Rayne.

“When did you get a tattoo?” Will asked stepping closer to her. She looked at him as she grabbed a hand towel from a neatly folded pile on a close by table.

“Which one?” she asked and turned around to make sure she had everything she needed. On her back was another tattoo. It was a black heart with a dagger going straight through from top to bottom. The hilt had barbed wire wrapped around it. From the back silver wings came out and spread across her shoulder blades. A scroll opened up in the middle with one word spelled out in italics. Honor. The whole thing wasn’t very big. The hilt touched the back of her neck and the bottom of the heart barely reached the middle of her back.

“Umm the one on your side.” Will answered. He seemed perfectly at ease as he leaned against the car. She knelt down to lay on her back on board. Just before she pushed herself under the car she answered him.

“I got that one when I was sixteen.”

“Alright boys lets back off and let her get to work.”

Will backed off and we all watched as her hands came out to grab this tool or that. I could always tell when she was loosening or tightening something because her legs tensed. After about a half hour she came out from under the car. I understood then why she took her shirt off. She had black grease on her arms and smeared on her stomach. She stood using the towel to wipe her hands. She wrapped the towel around her right hand as she reached into the car to pop the hood.

She grabbed five quarts of oil and a funnel. After she had put the oil in the car I walked over to stand next to her. She didn’t acknowledge my existence. She bent over and looked the engine over.

“Hey can one of you start the engine?” she asked. From the corner of my eye I saw both Will and Jacob rush to do as she asked. She leaned back as the engine started and studied the contents under the hood as the machine worked it’s magic. Tentatively she reached forward and started jiggling the spark plugs. She lightly tugged on each one when finally one came away with her hand. As soon as it did the car died.

“That’s what I thought.” she looked over the plug and sighed. She walked away coming back with another towel, a bowl of steaming water, a small brush, and some kind of soap.

She set everything carefully on the car so nothing would spill. Unfortunately for her the spark plug was closer to me than her. She looked at me for a second like she was going to ask me to move. I don’t know why I did it, but I crossed my arms over my chest to show that I wouldn’t budge. She would have to get close to me if she wanted to finish the job. I think I just wanted to make her uncomfortable. She sighed and put one foot on the bumper of the car. She climbed up so she was sitting on the side with a leg tucked under her, and the other foot braced on the front. Nothing touched any of the various parts, and she was so close I could feel the heat from her body.

She dipped the brush in the water and put some soap on it. I watched as she started scrubbing the spark plug. As I stood there distracted by her closeness the guys came to watch her as well. My dad hung to the back realizing this was more of a teenage thing.

“So when did you get the one on your back?” Will asked picking up the conversation from earlier. She looked up from her work and looked at all of us in turn. Obviously deciding whether or not to answer. After a couple minutes I thought she wasn’t going to. Then finally…

“I got it when I was twelve.” she said softly. I looked at the others to see their eyes were just as wide as mine felt.

“What does it mean?” I asked quietly. She tensed and her movements became a little jerky.

“Which one?” she asked again.

“The one on your side.” Jacob answered before I could. She shrugged.

“I got it when I came to terms with who I am. It was my way of claiming myself.” I looked back at my dad to see him gazing at her with sympathy that I didn’t quite understand.

“What about the one on your back?” I asked. Instead of just tensing she stiffened completely. Her hands stopped and she drew her shoulders back. She turned to look at me with a stony expression.

“That one’s personal.” she said in a voice just as hard as the look on her face. It was obvious that the discussion was closed. She went back to her cleaning. I wanted to touch her so badly my entire body was humming. It would be so easy to just reach out. We were close enough that no one would even see it.

She finished what she was doing and started to climb down. I saw my opportunity. I started to reach out to help her but a hand cut across my vision. She looked at the hand and then the