True Connection (The Soul Mate Series)

by Walter, Rachel

  I stay rooted to my seat, while I watch the giants form a circle around the drawing.

  “Let me just get something for you, quick,” Mr. Becker says and walks to the closet. When he comes back he hands me a black portfolio and a piece of rolled up fabric.

  “What’s this?” I ask, and begin unrolling the fabric.

  “A means of carrying your paintings,” he smiles brightly. “More professional than the neon green tote bag,” he points to said bag and chuckles.

  “Thanks!” I smile, and roll up the carrier again. “How much do I owe you?”

  “You don’t owe me a thing,” he waves his hand at me. “Now it’s time for this old man to call his sister. Run along,” he says, and shoos us out the door.

  The silence allows my mind to travel back in time once again. When my grandpa died a few years ago, I was upset and refused to go to our family Easter dinner. I didn’t want to go without Grandpa. Dad told me that if I want to make new memories, I have to do things, sometimes without the very people that have my heart. Grandpa wouldn’t want me to spend my life missing opportunities, because he couldn’t be there to physically share them with me.

  I know Dad and Soph would want me to enjoy life.

  I smile at Seth, who’s walking beside me holding my hand.

  I can start by accepting him as my soul mate.

  His eyes widen and he looks at me startled, then slowly, a grin spreads across his face and squeezes my hand.

  ***

  I turn on my iPod and just let the music melt into me.

  Today was another one of those days.

  I did my homework and Leland called a “family meeting” to discuss Barry moving in with us for the remainder of the school year. I know it’s for my protection or whatever. I just don’t understand what he’ll be protecting me from. I haven’t had any problems here.

  But, Leland agrees with Barry’s dad, who called before we got home, that it would be good for Barry to be able to stay here. Since he and Henry are friends, and Tony and Flynn’s homes are too full, staying here makes sense.

  They forget to mention the fact that Barry is protecting me from a demon, who thinks my soul is dinner.

  I ignore the fact that Barry will be here all the time, and just breathe and listen to the soothing beat of the reggae tune.

  Remembering what Miss Jaynie said, to focus inwardly and think of something important to me or something that’s linked with a powerful emotion.

  I sit on my knees in the middle of my bed and take a few deep breaths. I start by thinking of Seth. The way his brown hair has a hint of red to it in the sunlight, the way his green eyes practically light up when he sees me. The way our hands fit together.

  As I think, tingles behind my eyelids seem to guide me to a section of my brain devoted to him.

  I can feel his emotions. He’s curious and annoyed.

  I wish I could just tap into his brain and figure out what has him feeling those emotions. But Jaynie said that’s not a possibility.

  I think about kissing him, and how I feel all wrapped up in his arms. I can picture it, too.

  I feel his emotions spike, he’s shocked, and then happiness and desire take over.

  My eyelids flutter shut as tingles caress my mind again. Seth and I are tangled together, his hand on my jaw, the other on the small of my back, pulling me flush with his body.

  In response, I imagine running my hands through his hair, tugging lightly on the ends, and nibbling his bottom lip.

  His emotions spike again, but before I can pay attention to anything, my phone rings. The name flashing on the screen makes me think I’m in trouble.

  “I just thought we could do some practicing,” I rush to explain.

  “Uh, Sweetheart, just what kind of practicing did you have in mind exactly?” His voice is breathy, and deeper.

  “I didn’t really think about that part, it was a little on the steamy side, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I only wanted to get the hang of this mind thing.”

  “Don’t apologize. You’re fine, and I have to agree with you, we should practice,” he says.

  “Okay,” I smile. “I suppose we should stick to safe topics then, huh?”

  “That would be a good idea,” he laughs.

  “Can I at least send you a goodnight kiss?”

  “Mhmmm…always,” he whispers.

  “I’m sorry I got you worked up.”

  “No worries,” he assures. “More practice?”

  We resume our sharing, and I picture the soldier I’m drawing and the image I want it to look like when it’s complete. I know he got it, his emotions read pride.

  We go back and forth for about half an hour when my phone buzzes beside me. It’s a text from Seth, telling me he has to pause the practicing for now, but he’ll let me know when he’s ready again.

  I glance at the time and see it’s near dinner time, might as well go down and see if Leland needs any help. When I arrive in the kitchen, Henry is there, already starting to set the table, so I join him. We’re having fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and some kind of corn casserole. It smells so good, that I can’t wait to dig in.

  We’re about halfway done with dinner, I take a bite of my chicken and an image suddenly appears in my head that makes me gasp, causing me to choke. Seth sent me a picture of him pinching my butt, a “goose.” My face goes flame-red for two reasons, first being that I swallowed the chicken wrong, and second, that image.

  He goosed me - in my mind - and I choked on my chicken!

  Of course, my brother and uncle panic a bit. Henry taps my back, and Leland goes to get me a glass of water. When I can get words out, I explain that it went down the wrong hole, but my face is still redder than it should be, and I’m positive Henry can see through my lie. They keep giving me strange looks through the rest of dinner, and I do my best to avoid eye contact.

  I am getting a hold of Skeeter to help me out with revenge for that one!

  Crap! I hope Seth didn’t get that thought!

  Barry shows up just after we were done eating. I ignore him and put the leftovers in the fridge. Henry takes Barry upstairs, while I put the dishes in the dishwasher. As soon as I’m done, I text Skeeter, explaining what happened, and that I’d like her help coming up with a way to get him back.

  While I wait for her response, I wipe down the stove and counter. When she texts back, it’s easy to tell that she had been laughing and is still laughing. But she agrees to help, so her laughter is forgiven at the moment.

  Hanging the rag over the faucet in the sink, I start up the steps. I’m about halfway when I hear a rustling noise, and freeze.

  What the heck is that?

  Now it sounds like grunting, and it’s coming from the top of the steps.

  The first room is Barry’s, what the hell is he doing?

  I sneak up two more steps and hit the squeaky one I always forget about.

  “Henry? Jaz?” Barry yells.

  I don’t want to answer. But I guess it’s the nice thing to do.

  “It’s me,” I say as I’m standing in front of his door.

  I hear more rustling and grunting from Barry.

  “Um, Jazzy, can you come in here and help me out please?” He sounds out of breath, and I’m not really sure if I want to open this door. “Come on Jaz, I need some help.” He sounds a little desperate.

  Fine, this’ll be my good deed for the day.

  I push open the door and what I see shocks the hell out of me. The cushions are in a stack on the floor, and then there’s Barry, wedged in the couch bed.

  It seems he didn’t lock it into position before climbing in. Now all that’s visible of him is a foot and his head down to the tops of his shoulders.

  He obviously does need help, but he certainly isn’t getting it from me anytime soon. Tears stream down my face as I hold my side. My laughter roars louder than Barry’s helpless complaints. Just because it’s Barry, I pull my phone out, turn on the camera, and snap a few pictu
res of him.

  He starts wiggling. “What the hell, Jaz! Put that thing down and help me out.”

  My laughter gets louder, I can barely breathe, and I snort like pig, making me laugh even more.

  Henry needs to see this. I run out of the room and stuff my phone in my pocket.

  Barry starts yelling even louder. “Jazzy! Get back here!”

  I’m hysterically laughing as I pound on Henry’s door.

  “What’s so funny?” Henry asks, with a raised brow.

  “Bar…he….” I can’t get any words out so I just grab his arm and start pulling Henry back to a yelling Barry.

  Big, bad, macho Barry lost a battle with a pullout couch!

  I stop with Henry in Barry’s doorway, Henry sees what I couldn’t say, and he loses it, too.

  “That’s right, get it all out now!” he shouts at us. “As soon as I get unstuck, you both are going down! And Jaz? Your phone is gonna land in the shitter!”

  This causes me to laugh even harder.

  There is no way he will get his hands on my phone. At least, not until I send a picture or two.

  We finally calm down enough to get him out. It wasn’t hard to free him, but it took a lot to keep myself from laughing out loud.

  When he’s free, he stands and glares at the couch bed. “I think I’ll just sleep on the couch part.”

  I lose the thin grasp on my control and start giggling. Luckily, I see the look on Barry’s face change, and I know what’s coming.

  He’s coming for my phone. I dart out into the hall, slip into my room and lock the door.

  “You’re lucky, Princess! I’ll get you back. Tomorrow, you won’t be laughing quite so hard.” I’m still laughing too hard to respond.

  He kind of reminded me of a turtle stuck on his back, but this turtle is a wolf, and was stuck in a fold-out bed. I still don’t see how that worked, but I am so glad it happened.

  Focusing on Seth, I check his emotions. He’s bored. I grin evilly. He’s about to be highly entertained. I think about Barry stuck in the couch bed while focusing on Seth and hope he sees the image. Then send one of the pictures to Leland.

  I could send it to Flynn and Tony, but I think I will wait to see how Barry exacts his revenge. When he does, I’ll send it then.

  The Alpha’s son stuck in a couch!

  Seth calls me. When I answer, his laughter flows through the speaker on my phone, and that starts my next giggle fit.

  When we catch our breath, we joke about Barry a little before I notice the time. We say our goodnights, and I successfully sneak out to get a shower, without interruption. I guess he’s already passed out.

  Once I’m back in my room, I do a quick check for any sign that Barry might have snuck in. All clear, so I shut and lock my door, again.

  I send Seth a mental kiss, and he sends one back, along with another of us snuggling. I smile and get comfy under the covers with thoughts of Seth’s arms lingering around my waist.

  Chapter 10

  Sleeping Arrangements

  My ears are ringing and everything is blurry. I blink a few times and rub at my face. Looking around, I recognize I’m in downtown Lupiterra. But it’s off. This street is abandoned, not full of shoppers and commuters. I also notice belatedly that I’m holding Seth’s hand, but there are no tingles.

  Someone pokes my arm, and I spin around to see Skeeter. Her mouth is moving but there’s no sound.

  Hmm…

  I shake my head and stick my finger in my ear. If I can force it to pop, maybe I’ll be able to hear her.

  I look between the two of them, their mouths are moving but it’s like someone hit the mute button. I try speaking but I can’t hear my own voice either. I don’t understand what is going on.

  I shrug, and try to motion to them that I can’t hear anything, when I spy a huge shadow heading our way from the opposite side of the street. I grab Skeeter’s hand and try to pull them into a faster speed, but they dawdle. It’s like they can’t see that huge shadowed blob that’s getting closer by the second.

  Everything goes dark, like the clouds blocking the sun on a bright summer day. But the sun doesn’t return with the wind. The wind blows, and kicks up road dust, creating tiny swirls in the street as pieces of trash dance along the sidewalk like they’re living and breathing. The wind picks up more speed with enough force to sway the three of us off balance, and suddenly I can hear.

  “That wind came out of nowhere,” Seth mumbles. His voice sounds off. It’s usually a smooth baritone, but now it’s scratchy. Before I can ask what’s wrong with his voice, a gargled scream and thump echoes off the empty buildings. I spin in the direction the scream came from to see Skeeter lying face down on the sidewalk.

  I scream and fall to my knees beside her. I yell at Seth to help her, and he starts to move towards us as I check her pulse.

  Nothing.

  I start to roll her over, but hear a tearing sound. It sounds off, not like the tearing of clothes or paper, it’s something wet.

  “Seth? What was that?” I ask, and look up just in time to see Seth’s head fall off his shoulders to the sidewalk right in front of me.

  I do the crab walk and scramble away from the carnage. I scream, cry, and beg for help. Someone has to hear me. There has to be one other person in these damn buildings that can help us.

  I feel pressure on my face. I can’t breathe.

  I fight back, trying to get this crap off my face, but it’s hard to fight something you can’t see. I touch my face and that’s it. All that’s there is my face.

  One lone wolf howls and charges down the middle of the road.

  I can breathe again.

  While gasping for air, I crawl over to Seth’s broken body. Touching his cheek with my finger, the texture of his skin is the same, without the tell-tale tingles. I look into his lifeless dull-green eyes, and feel my heart rip out of my chest.

  With tears flowing, I kiss his cold lips for the last time and swear to myself I will end whoever did this. Even with his death, I still feel him in my mind. I guess that’s what it’s like to have a soul mate. The bond doesn’t die when one passes.

  A gut-wrenching sob rips out of my chest.

  Skeeter. I should’ve let her in sooner. I should have gone to that stupid party with her, just to hear her laugh or make fun of the fan club again.

  I feel hands on my shoulders, like someone is shaking me, but all I see around me is the lifeless bodies.

  “Jazzy!” Someone yells for me, but I can’t find them. I stand up and look down the street. I hear my name being called again and again.

  Something snaps in my head and my eyes pop open. It was a dream?

  I look into Henry’s eyes and know it was just a dream. But I can’t shake the effects. I gasp for air through my sobs.

  These dreams feel so real, I don’t know how I’ll prevent any of it, but I will find a way.

  I latch onto Henry like he’s my life preserver.

  “I, I’m sor…ry,” I stutter. Henry is rocking with me, and Leland tries to calm me down with kind words.

  Finally, my breathing gets close to normal and Leland goes back to bed, a very pale Barry sits on the foot of my bed.

  “This one was worse than last night, was it the same one or different?” Henry asks me.

  “Both. I couldn’t save Skeeter or Seth, then the suffocating feeling again. Everywhere I looked, it was like they multiplied, I saw Skeeter’s body, and Seth had been decapitated. The shadow thing was coming back,” I start sobbing again.

  “Shhh. Jazzy, calm down. No one is broken or dead. It was just a dream. Do you want me to stay again?” he rubs my back in a comforting way.

  “No, I think I’ll be okay this time,” I tell him, and lay back down.

  Barry clears his throat. “I’m just, uh… Gonna leave your door open. I’ll buy you a new door and lock this weekend. I kinda had to kick it in so we could get to you.”

  I look over to my door and sure enough, it is defin
itely broken. At least it can still mostly close if I need it to.

  “Are you sure you don’t need me to stay?” Henry asks again.

  “I’ll yell if I need you,” I try to smile.

  “Not funny,” he glares at me. “You scared the shit out of us.” He shakes his head slowly and squeezes me. “I love you, sweet dreams this time, okay.”

  “Love you too, I’ll try to tell the sandman that when he stops for his next visit,” I mumble.

  When he leaves, I grab my phone from the stand and tap out a quick message.

  I know it’s late but I need to know that you’re okay - I send to Seth and Skeeter.

  I fall asleep with my phone in my hand.

  ***

  After having a second nightmare in one night, and waking everyone up again, I have banned sleep from my life. Completely.

  That’s the reason I’m standing in my kitchen, after midnight, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I’m so freaked out and paranoid that these morbid nightmares are a premonition, that I’ve triple checked the locks and have every single light on.

  I’m so tired I could fall asleep standing. I force my eyelids open and walk over to the sink and splash some cold water on my face.

  As I’m pat drying my face, I hear footsteps behind me. I grab the first thing my hand touches and spin around to face whoever is intruding.

  “A spoon?” Barry chuckles. “Sorry for sneaking up on you, please don’t spoon me!” he teases.

  I roll my eyes. “Shut up and go back to bed.” I turn back to the pot.

  “We need to talk,” he takes a deep breath. I glance over my shoulder at him, and he motions me to the bar. As I climb onto a barstool, he continues. “I just got off the phone with my father. I’m disturbed by the nature of the dreams you’re having.”

  I interrupt him. “And you think a shifter alpha can help me with dreams. How?”

  “He’s been around a lot longer than either of us, and he’s dealt with devuxen more than once.”

  “What the hell does a demon have to do with my dreams? Obviously the explanation is that since I’ve dealt with death and loss, I’m now afraid to lose anyone else,” I glare at him and jump off the barstool. “They’re just dreams. They aren’t coming true,” I say the last part mostly for myself.