Susan woke up screaming and put her head on her knees, trying to calm her racing heart. She almost screamed again when someone touched her shoulder but the scream caught in her throat when she looked up and saw it was Radell.
"Are you okay?" He asked, sitting beside her. Susan didn't answer for a minute, just sat there, breathing in air and trying to clear her head of the pictures from the dream. Finally, she shook her head. Radell was the only one who knew when she was lying, so there was no point.
You're fine now." He said, wrapping her in his arms, "No one is going to get you here. You're safe here." She knew that it wasn't true, but there, in his arms, she did feel safe, at least for the moment.
"No I'm not." Susan said, finally pulling away. "He's coming back. He told me that."
"Well you don't have to worry about that right now." He said, "Even if he is, I doubt it's right now."
"Radell..." Susan said, "Do you question me as leader?"
He looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course not!" he said, "Why would you think that?! You are the best leader any gang could ever have."
"It's just something Ash said." She told him.
"Don't listen to Ash." Radell said, "You know he is just jealous that you are leader and he isn't. It's kind of hard for him to get used to you being in charge and him not. Give him some time, he will get used to it."
"I know." Susan said, getting up. "I'm going to go outside, get some fresh air to clear my head. Don't worry, I'll be in soon." And with that, she walked out the back door and stood on the porch.
The cold air hit her and Susan shivered, but it did clear her head. The feeling of confusion she had felt when Jason didn't kill her returned though. He had gone on and on about how he wouldn't kill someone without knowing their name but when he had left, he had used her name in the warning she had been given.
"Why me?" she asked, staring at the dark sky, "Out of everyone here, in this world, why is it me?" The response came as a surprise.
"Because we have met before, in other lives. This isn't our first time we have run into each other this way either."Jason replied, stepping into Susan's line of view. Once she heard him, she had started to back towards the door, but his words had made her curious and she stopped.
"What do you mean, 'We have met before'?" she asked, "And what other lives?" Jason took another step forward, with caused Susan to step back.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He said. Susan scoffed. "Right and I should believe you...Why?" She continued to back towards the door until the knob touched her hand and she turned it. What Jason said next though, caused her to stop.
"Your dreams." He said, "I can explain your dreams."
"There is no way possible that you can explain my dreams." Susan said, staring at Jason. "Even I can't."
"But I can." He said, "Because they aren't dreams, they're memories." Susan shook her head, refusing to accept what Jason said.
"Even if there was such a thing as past lives, you shouldn't be able to remember them." She said, "So I shouldn't be dreaming about them. I don't know why I'm listening to what you say anyways." Turning, Susan got her foot through the door before she felt Jason's hand grab hers and pull her back onto the porch.
"Please," he said, "Will you just listen to me?"
"Why should I?" she snapped, "You tried to kill me!"
Jason looked around frantically. "Come on." He said, pulling Susan into the direction of the small woods. He left no room for disagreements.
With Jason pulling her along, Susan had to walk faster than her normal pace to keep up. Once they entered the forest, Jason didn't stop, but kept walking deeper into it. It was only when there was no city lights in sight that Jason let go of her wrist.
"Ok," Susan said, rubbing her wrist, "I'm here, now what?"
"Out of every time we have touched, has it ever been skin to skin?" Jason asked.
"No." she said after thinking, "You were holding my jacket when you took the dagger away from me and just then when you were pulling me here. Whenever you have touched my hand, it was my glove you made contact with, not my skin. Why?"
"Have you ever heard of the term soul mates?" he asked, staring at her.
Susan started to say no, but a faint memory stopped her. A girl, who looked just liked her, was staring up at someone who was standing in the shadows, out of her view. She could hear his voice though, explaining to the girl that they were meant together, that they were soul mates. Then, the memory was gone. Confused, Susan just shrugged, unable to give a straight answer.
"Soul mates are people who were meant to be together even before they were born." He said, "Some people say that when soul mates finally meet, if they ever do, they know each other instantly. But sometimes, soul mates have met in a different life, and one had died. Sometimes that one soul mate comes back. They say that when soul mates finally touch skin to skin, they get this type of electric shock, and some type of invisible force pulls the together. When they are together, that same force joins their souls until they are one, or close to it."
"You sound like you know a lot about that subject." Susan said, "Where's your soul mate?"
Jason's answer was barely audible, "She's right in front of me." he whispered.
Susan gasped softly, caught off guard. "No way possible." She hissed, "Prove it."
"Take off your glove." he said, "Then give me your hand."
Obeying, she took off her glove and held out her hand, "I don't know how this is going to help you prove anything..."
Instead of answering, Jason just took her hand in his. Once their skin touched, Susan felt as if she was falling. Instead of hitting the ground though, she felt Jason's strong arms go around her, keeping her steady. Then, without knowing what was happening, she was in his mind.
