Chapter Three
Soulmates
Elizabeth woke up to a scream. It was tortured, full of pain. It was one that came from a nightmare so horrible, you might not ever recover. It was coming from the room next to hers.
She rushed out of her bed, almost tripping over her blanket in her haste, and ran out the door. She went inside James's room to see him thrashing about in his sleep. His face was contorted in pain, his movements wild.
She rushed towards him, trying to wake him up.
A silver hand darted out and wrapped around her neck. She rose from the ground by a few inches, her feet no longer on the floor. The grip on her windpipe was tightening by the second but, to her surprise, that wasn't her priority.
She placed a hand on James's shoulder and tried to calm him down. She could sense that he was panicking, not knowing what was happening. He opened his eyes, meeting hers. He withdrew his hand and she dropped to the ground.
Rubbing her neck, she could hear him say something in a different language.
"I'm sorry, what?"
He looked at her, confused. "Ready to comply."
James woke up to see Elizabeth's face staring at him.
"Thank goodness you're awake. Um, when did we meet?" she asked him.
He furrowed his eyebrows at a weird question but he answered it anyway. "Yesterday afternoon."
"So, you're James at the moment," she muttered to herself. "That's a relief."
Dread washed through him as he realized what her words meant. "What did I do?"
She wouldn't meet his eye. He scanned her up and down and noticed bruises on her neck. Hesitantly, he reached up to touch her. She allowed him to, surprising him once again.
"What did I do?" he asked again.
"You were having a nightmare," she began. "You were screaming and thrashing about. I ran to your room to try and wake you up."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Our words changed," she said instead.
"Yeah. Mine does every now and then. Why?" She looked out the window instead. "Elizabeth, what happened?"
"You kept following whatever I said," she recounted, seemingly lost in the memory. "So I knew you weren't your normal self. I looked at your wrist and saw that the words had changed. So had mine."
He looked at his wrist and back up to her. "What… What did I say?"
"Ready to comply."
He stood up in a heartbeat, looking away from her. This was exactly what he had feared. He had gone back into Soldier mode and had hurt her. Scratch that, he almost choked her to death.
"James," she tried but he moved away.
He grabbed his weapons and his old clothes. He had to move away, that much he was certain. She wasn't safe with him near, soulmate or not. He couldn't control himself.
"James," she said again, trying to move closer.
"I have to go," he said.
"What?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"You're not safe with me around. You saw what I did to you last night. I'm dangerous."
"You're my soulmate," she said.
"That makes it worse," he shot back. "If I hurt you again, I couldn't live with myself. You're only safe away from me."
"So you'll leave me?" she asked him, angrily. "Is that your best option?"
"It's my only option," he corrected her. "What other choice do I have?"
"Stay," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing.
"I can't," he told her, frustrated. Couldn't she see that he was doing this for her? "I can't stay here."
"Why not? Why won't you try?"
"I did try, and look where that got us. I choked you half to death," he said, facing her properly.
"So, that's it? You'll just give up?" He could feel that she was angry. "I'm the one with bruises on my neck and you're giving up?"
"It's better this way," he insisted.
"No! It's not," she protested, blocking his way.
"Move."
"No."
"Move, Elizabeth."
"I won't." She held his gaze. He huffed and pushed her out of the way, ignoring her protests. He moved towards the door when he felt something going towards him. He turned to block a pillow from hitting him.
His gaze fell onto Elizabeth. She was throwing another pillow at him, which he caught with ease. He sighed as he blocked another.
"I have to go," he told her.
"Then go!" she screamed. "Leave! Just like everyone else!"
He paused and let go of the door knob. He looked back at her. There were tears in her eyes, flowing down her face. He took a step towards her but she just shook her head.
"I actually tried, you know. I actually wanted to make this work. I didn't care who you were in the past. I just wanted to be in your future," she said in a low voice, not facing him. "Just go. If I'm not reason enough to stay, leave."
"I'm doing this-" he began, but he was cut off.
"Just go."
James almost walked away when he heard her crying harder. He turned to see her hiding her face in a pillow, and a tight feeling gripped his heart. Sighing, he dropped his bag and went towards her.
She turned away from him, telling him to go. Instead, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. She took a shaky breath and let go of the pillow before burying her face in his chest. Breathing in her scent, he ran his fingers through her hair.
"This is dangerous," he said.
"I know."
"And stupid."
"I know."
He sighed as he pulled her even closer. "I'm sorry."
He knew he shouldn't have done this, but everything in him told him that it was the right. He felt as if this was perfect, how it should be forever. He knew that their bond had already started.