Soul Ties

Chapter 51: A Broken Heart In A Broken Home

I'm not sure what I should do. Seren floats in front of me like a dream finally turned into a reality, and all I can do is stare. The only thing in a state of constant panic is my pulse. Every other part of my body is frozen in place. I can't even get my tail to move, which sinks me slowly to the floor of the ledge.

"Seren," I finally say with little to no air in my lungs. It's like the word has broken the trance we're both in. Rushing at each other, our bodies crash into the other. I wrap my arms around her, squeezing so tight I think I might hurt her. She wraps her tail around my leg and I do the same to her, making sure every inch of me is connected to her body.

"Lynx. Lynx. Oh my Goddess, it's really you," Seren chokes out between cries. She spins me around and I bury my face into her shoulder, inhaling her. She still smells like home. Like warm sun and sweet fruits and salted water.

Her scent is too much for me and I let myself weep in her arms. She was finally here. She was real. We'd made it back to each other like we promised. Everything that happened before this moment didn't matter. It was like an adventure, a right of passage we had to go through to feel this again.

I reluctantly push her back so I can look at her face. Her blue eyes are still the same, but something beyond them feels odd. They appear familiar and also changed at the same time.

Seren peeks behind her shoulder to the door and unwraps her tail from me. The feeling left behind makes me squeeze her even tighter. I don't want her to go, not when we've just found each other again. Not when she fits so perfectly in my arms.

She grabs my wrists and tugs me off the ledge.

"Come on. We can't stay here." Seren leads me through the water, our tails whipping behind us as we flee. She peers back once more and so do I, but the only thing I see is the black windows reflecting the water. Then, almost like my eyes are being pulled there, I look at one specific window in particular. I don't know how, but I can feel eyes watching us, watching me.

A sudden wave of nervousness floods through me, but when Seren looks over at me and smiles, the wave dies. I'm filled with love. I shake Seren's hold on my wrist and move her hand into mine. Kissing the back of my hand, we swim together.

For a moment, I wonder where we're headed. But when an abandoned tree house comes into view, my question is immediately answered. Of course we were heading there. My heart swells for Seren, loving how she knew me more than I knew myself.

We dive towards the damaged roof, Seren entering one of the holes that leads inside first. She sticks her hand out for me to grab and pulls me inside. This house is a bit smaller than the one I had seen before. Furniture is thrown along the floor, pictures smashed and flipped every which way on the walls.

Seren moves between the rooms and I follow behind. A bed sits in the corner of one of the rooms, the sheets torn and the pillows flung on the floor in front of it. We both look at each other, Seren's face pulled together into a look of concern. I feel the same.

We swim back towards what looks like the front entrance. The door hangs off the side of the wall, the middle of it broken and smashed in. Seren sits on the floor, dangling her feet off the edge and I join her, looking out at the calm water. The amount of transportation has lessened and not many Luniods are swimming on the ground. I wonder if it's time for everyone to rest.

Seren places her hand on my thigh, bringing my attention to her. Her eyes are tear-filled once again, the smile on her face a mixture of pain and love.

"I can't believe it. You're actually here. I didn't know when you would show, but I was getting anxious," she says, looking down at my hand. She lifts it, her eyes scanning over the golden imprint on my finger. Quickly, I move it away from her.