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The Soul Circle

It is said some lives are linked across time.
They are connected by an ancient calling that echoes through the ages-
Destiny.

She awoke with a start. Sitting up, she pushed a hand through her sweat-soaked hair as her heart raced and every fiber of her being trembled in absolute anguish. She breathed through it, willing her mind and her body to calm. Long deep breaths, deliberate exhalation—just as her mother had taught her. The emotional agony was even more unbearable than the physical pain she'd endured for the past several months.

A soft knock at the door told her that her mother had awakened in response to her pain. "Come in," she called softly. The door opened and the pretty redhead stepped inside.

"Aislynn, darling are you all right?" she asked, moving to the bed and sitting next to her daughter.

Aislynn could only nod as it took all of her energy to push the feeling of torment away from herself.

Rosemarie Campbell picked up a brush from the bedside table and began brushing her daughter's brilliant red locks, quietly taking on some of the emotional energy consuming her daughter.

After several minutes, she spoke. "So, it begins."

"It would seem so," Aislynn responded with a sigh.

"Any visions yet?"

Aislynn leaned back against her mother, "Tonight was the first one."

Rosemarie folded her daughter into her arms. "And what did you see?"

"An enormous red wolf running along a heavily forested cliff by the ocean."

"Interesting. It's probably a location signal," the older woman mused. "The rest will come in its time. Try to get some rest, love." She tightened her arms around her middle child.

"Thanks Mom," Aislynn murmured, lying back down as her mother walked toward the door.

"I love you, darling," her mother called before shutting the door and making her way back to her own bed.

"She okay?" Christoph Campbell asked, inquiring after his only daughter as his wife curled into his side.

"She'll handle it."

"And how will you handle it when she leaves home to find her soul mate?"

"The same way I did when Michael left for Peru."

He sighed as he remembered her taking to the basement for two solid months to shield the others from her own pain. He knew that her losing her only daughter would be even worse, even with Richard still at home. He also knew it was inevitable, that Aislynn had to follow her destiny, but like his wife, he felt the sting of loss as if it had already happened.

For the next two months, every day was the same; without warning Aislynn would be consumed by the unending, overwhelming grief. Then suddenly it was gone. One day it simply didn't come, and she was left with a sense of absolute emptiness. She continued to dream of the enormous red wolf, but there was no feeling in it.

One evening, sitting at the dinner table, she discussed it with her parents. "I don't understand. Do you suppose he died?"

"No. If he had, you would feel your own grief and sadness. More likely that he has locked his emotions away. From what you've told me, it's obvious that he suffered some great loss. My guess is that he is moving through the stages of grief, and you will experience them right along with him, and when he is ready, you will know where to go," her father spoke quietly.

As the next few weeks passed, she went about her normal routine, seeing clients and mentally preparing herself for the next phase of her life. Rosemarie watched her daughter closely. She'd notice her smile at the most unexpected times and then the look of absolute sadness would slip back in place as she absorbed the emotions of the man she would spend the rest of her life with.

Rosemarie had known from the moment of conception that her daughter had inherited the empathic gene that was so predominant in their family. Aislynn was perhaps the strongest empath she'd ever encountered, and she was proud of the way her daughter had embraced her gift from a very early age. Aislynn had mastered her personal shield within weeks instead of the year it normally took, and she'd always used her gift to help beings of every species. But even Aislynn couldn't protect herself fully from the connection with her soul mate, the one who'd been born for her.

She glanced across the breakfast table at her daughter, who was flipping through the morning newspaper, and that look of sadness seemed permanently etched on the stunning features of her second born. Then she saw the turquoise eyes go wide as she stared down at the newsprint.

"What's happened?" Rosemarie asked, used to her daughter's empathy for strangers across the globe. Every natural and not so natural disaster brought that fleeting sense of sorrow for the suffering of others to her heart, and then it would be gone, pushed away out of sheer survival instinct.

Aislynn looked up at her mother. "I think this is it," she murmured, pushing the paper toward her mother.

There in the middle of the news section was a large ad for a therapist in the town of Forks, Washington. "What makes you think this is it?"

Aislynn cocked her head, not used to her mother questioning her gift. "Well, logically, it is out of place, not in the Help Wanted section where it should be. It's larger than it needs to be, in bold print, and well...I just know it, here." She placed her left hand over her heart, and Rosemarie sighed.

"Then you better go email your resume and start packing. Dad and I will start looking for a house for you. Any requests?"

"Something close to La Push, where I can see the ocean and walk on the beach," Aislynn said, back to peering at the Help Wanted ad for the Westend Outreach Center. She had no idea how she even knew that La Push was near Forks and close to a beach, she just knew.

Aislynn left for Washington the following week. Her parents had purchased a charming log cabin just miles from the Quileute Indian Reservation for her, and as the new Range Rover climbed higher and higher on the road she felt a sense of peace and serenity settling over her. Her own emotions, with no one interfering with her feeling them. She sighed contentedly. And then as the road ended at a clearing, she gasped in awe at the spectacular setting. She stepped out of the vehicle and took a deep breath of the clean, crisp air. Walking toward the cabin, she could see the ocean several yards away. "It's perfect," she murmured to herself.

She spent the evening settling into her new home and fell into bed completely exhausted just as the sun was setting. She awoke before dawn, a sense of loneliness overwhelming her, and this time she wasn't sure if the feeling was hers or not. She dressed and made her way outside to find the path that led to the small crescent of beach below the cliff.

As she stood in the waning moonlight and stared across the water, she thought of all she had to do that day. It was strange to her not to have to push away all the emotions that normally swirled around her, and she felt a complete sense of peace.

Finally, she turned to walk back up the path and stopped when she saw him. Several yards, away stood an impossibly huge red wolf. She stared at the animal, trying to read its thoughts and was confused when she could not. She wasn't afraid though, she should have been. It was the wolf from her visions—she'd recognized him instantly. She didn't understand why she got nothing from the animal, even though she tried. She extended her hand, palm up to show that she was not a threat, and hoped that her message got through.

The wolf simply stared at her, the huge black eyes taking in every detail of her: her scent, her features, the pale flesh that was almost translucent, and particularly her intent. He knew in an instant that this woman was not a threat to him or anyone else.

Aislynn watched in amazement as he turned and lunged into the crashing waves, ducking under the spray of water before leaping so high in the air she gasped in surprise. She suppressed a giggle as she watched the animal play in the waves, seemingly oblivious to her presence. If she didn't know better she'd have thought he was showing off for her the way he would a potential mate. After several minutes, he emerged from the water, resisting the instinct to shake the water from his fur. He gave a short yip and then bounded back up the path and disappeared into the woods.

She stared after him for several long minutes, wondering why she couldn't read the huge animal. She'd always been able to read the minds of animals even when she didn't mean to. People were different. She couldn't actually read their minds, but she could feel their emotions and she'd learned over the years to pick up on physical cues, despite what the person might want you to believe. Everything from body language to the timbre of someone's voice, even the words they chose to use or the ones they didn't, spoke volumes to a skilled empath.

The sun had risen by the time she headed back up the path and she knew she'd have to get in the shower as soon as she got back to make her formal interview in time. As she climbed, she was unaware of the eyes watching her progress. Had she known, she'd have felt very unsettled.