Angelic Destiny

Freaking Out

“W-What?” I stuttered softly. My brain was swimming. What did I just see? What was that feeling? How did I just end up with a tattoo? Did I just imagine David’s voice in my head?

            “No, no you didn’t,” he said out loud. 

            I looked at him with wide eyes. “Excuse me?”

            “No, you did not imagine my voice in your head. It is one of the things we are able to do now.” He was smiling from ear to ear. He looked completely blissed out and not at all confused about what was happening. If I wasn’t so freaked out, I’d be thinking about how cute he looked at that moment. 

            “One of the things we can do now? I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t even know who you are.” I backed away a little bit after noticing how close we were standing next to each other now. 

            “I think you know me better than you think now,” he said with a small chuckle. I’m sure I was staring at him with a “what-the-hell” face in response. 

            “I don’t even know what that is supposed to mean. Since you seem to know what just happened. Explain,” I commanded. I felt myself on the brink of falling into a fit of hysteria. There was too much emotion running through me and I was scared that I couldn’t explain what just happened. I was also scared that I was going crazy. 

            “You’re not crazy.” He reached out to touch my arm and I jerked away. I felt my body protest my refusal of his touch, which confused me even more. It was like my body wanted him to touch me and was trying to pull me back towards his touch. 

            “Stop doing that. How do you know what I’m thinking?”

            “I’m sorry, I can’t really help it since you aren’t blocking me.” He looked a bit hurt that I refused to let him touch me, but he didn’t try again.

            “You need to explain what just happened.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Please,” I begged. I felt desperate now. 

            “You are my soulmate, Analise. We are connected now. What you just experienced was the Connection. It is an event that happens when two souls of the angelic destiny meet and connect. We are connected physically and mentally. That is why I can hear your thoughts, and at some point, you will be able to hear mine.” He cautiously smiled at me. I could sense that he was thrilled about what just happened but didn’t want me to freak out more. 

            I didn’t know what to say in response. I stood there staring at him. My mind was a jumble of thoughts. Even stranger, my body seemed to only have one thought, touch David. I could feel my body trying to pull me to him. It was like an uncomfortable itch that wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t touch David. I fought it though. I needed answers. 

            “I don’t know what you mean by angelic destiny,” I said carefully.

            “Well I don’t recognize you from any of the clans, but every person who undergoes the Connection is either a clan member or chosen for an angelic purpose,” he explained. 

            “How do I know that what you are telling me is the truth? This sounds like you are making this all up. Are you telling me angels are real?”

            “Yes I am.” I stared at him, stunned silent. “And if you let yourself touch me, like I know your body is telling you to do, you will know I am not lying.” 

            I eyed him suspiciously, but I took the bait. I slowly uncrossed my arms and touched his arm with my index finger. Apparently, that was all it took. Gasping, I immediately felt him and heard his thoughts. He was sincere and worried about how I was taking this. I was overwhelmed with how much he wanted to pick me up and hug me and never let me go. I could tell that he has been waiting his entire life to meet me. He was so happy and so thankful. He was excited to get to know me more and to explain everything to me. 

            I pulled my finger back. “Is that what you are feeling?” I asked shocked. 

            “Yes.” He smiled softly and I could see the hints of a blush in his cheeks. 

            This was too much. I didn’t know how to process any of this. There was no denying that I felt what he was feeling. As soon as I touched him, I could even sense his heart beat. I could also feel that he was drawn to me and to my own dismay, my body was drawn to him too. There were so many feelings I could not register. I could feel myself spiraling. All of a sudden and had all these feelings for a stranger and he was telling me I was chosen by some angelic force and that I was now his soulmate. 

            I was having trouble catching my breath and the hallway walls were closing in around me. I was beginning to have an anxiety attack. I was now hyperventilating. I was freaking out now and the silly part of me didn’t want my supposed soulmate to see. 

            I ran back across the hall towards my door. David must have read that I was going run because he tried run after and stop me. 

            “Analise, no. I’m sorry I freaked you out.”

            I ran into my apartment and slammed the door in his face. I sunk to the floor and rocked back and forth as I tried to calm my thoughts and my breathing and the discomfort from distancing myself from him. What the hell was going on? I felt way too many emotions and foreign sensations that did not seem normal. 

            David knocked on the door. “Please open up. I’m so sorry.” I could hear the distress in his voice.

            My body was begging me to open the door, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. 

            I heard him slide down the door. He was directly behind where my back was. So close, yet my body was yelling that it wasn’t close enough. 

            My mind was triggering the attack. I was overloaded with too much unbelievable information to process. I had anxiety. I am not surprised that this happened, but I haven’t had an anxiety attack in a long time. I’ve learned to handle it better, but I guess this was just too much. There was no way I was going to prevent this. I never could’ve prevented something like this. Hell, I could never have imagined something like this happening to me. 

            I could feel the attack passing. My breath was becoming more even. As much as I hated anxiety attacks, I could always think more clearly after I had one. It was like I released all the anxiety I had stored in my body and mind. 

            I leaned against the door and sighed. I sighed in relief but also in realization. 

            I was David’s soulmate. With my clear head, I couldn’t deny that I felt a pull towards him. The pull was physical and something I couldn’t ignore. The physical pull over rid any doubt in my mind that this wasn’t real. I could even sense him through the door. I had felt his feelings when I touched him, just like he said I would. He was telling the truth, and that meant that his had to be real. This was truly happening. I believed him. I believed David. I was definitely not used to the idea of what he told me, but I believed him. I couldn’t ignore what my body was telling me. And a part of me was suppressing that I was excited I had a soulmate. 

            I felt myself relax and then smile when I noticed a pinky finger peeking out under the door. 

            “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” David wiggled his finger. 

            I wasn’t touching David, but I could sense that he was desperate to get closer to me. He was also freaking out. He was afraid he scared me and ruined the best thing that ever happened to him. I guessed I was able to sense his feelings because he was so close and we were both so upset. 

            I slowly touched his finger. I heard him sigh with me through the door at the contact. 

            “It’s not your fault. I believe you,” I carefully said. 

            I stood up and unlocked the door and opened it slowly. 

            He was standing in front of me. We were both hesitant about what to do.

            “You believe me?” he asked surprised. 

            “Yes, I do. I can’t deny that I do feel some sort of connection to you. That means you are not lying.” 

            “I think you know that you would be able to sense if I was lying too.” I nodded. I do think I would be able to tell. 

            “I’m sorry,” he said again. He looked guilty and dropped his head.

            I carefully reached out and touched his face. My body was telling me that that was what he needed in that moment. “Like I said, it’s not your fault. I’m ok.” I looked up at me in surprise. And he smiled gently. I felt him relax at my touch. My body practically sang with joy that I was touching him. It was very strange, yet just right. These were the feelings I was realizing I couldn’t ignore. The best way to explain something this crazy was with a crazy hard-to-believe truth. “I’ve had anxiety attacks before. It was just a lot to take in all at once.”

            “I should have been more careful telling you,” he refuted, bringing my hand down from his face and in between both his hands. 

            “I don’t think anything would’ve have made the explanation any less shocking and difficult to process.”

            He laughed softly, “I guess you’re right. I can see how the news may come off a bit shocking.” I smiled a little bit. “Can I come in? Can I try and explain things better?” 

            I stepped aside and made room for him to enter. “I think that would be a good idea. I have a lot of questions.” 

            There was obvious hesitation between us now that I was starting to accept that whatever was happening between us might actually be real. I could tell that David’s forefront thought was to not scare me again as he cautiously stepped through the threshold of the apartment. Despite what just occurred, silence grew. He made his way over to one of the stools facing the kitchen and sat down. I followed him and sat down next to him, careful to not touch him. I needed to figure out what he was about to tell me on my own and without him in my mind and me in his. I wanted to touch him, but that would have to wait. 

            Breaking the silence, “can I get you something to drink?” I asked already standing up again. I was trying to bring some normalcy to this odd situation. 

            “Sure. I could use a water,” he said with hope in his voice. “But I feel like I should be getting you something instead after what you just went through.”

            “Like I said, I’m fine. I was going to grab myself a glass as well,” I said reaching into the cabinet for two glasses. I couldn’t help but think that my soulmate was in my apartment. This was every girl’s dream, to bring their soulmate home -- even if they never really know if it is there soulmate or just a really great boyfriend. This was actually my soulmate, and yet, boyfriend seemed  like a stretch for us.

            After filling the glasses with water from the filter in the fridge, I made my way back to him and set his drink in front of him. I watched as he brought the glass to his mouth for a sip. To my dismay, I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips. It was as if my body was honing in on him and accenting every perfect feature. His lips were full and a light pink color. The water from the glass stuck lightly to the outside of his lips. It was hypnotic to watch him lick the access water off. I had to shake my head and scold myself for being so silly. How could I even think about his lips right now? There are way more important things I need to understand and I was staring at his lips. What kind of girl was I turning into? Am I just going to jump in and start kissing him because I believe the miraculous story that I am his angelic soulmate? The answer was no. I needed all the details to what was happening. I needed to understand why I was feeling this way before I could even think about acting like his soulmate. 

            “So, I want you to start from the beginning. Tell me about these clans and about what you are. I want to know everything.” I looked at him square on. He raised an eyebrow at me. He wasn’t sure if I could handle knowing everything all at once. “I will believe you know. I promise I won’t freak out.”