Soul Searcher Book 1

Mere minutes after we walk through my front door, I hear a sort of popping sound before I see my father emerge from the hallway that connects to the bathroom and my bedroom. He is the epitome of what a typical angel would look like. His blonde hair is slicked back giving him a professional appearance, like a businessman. He has chosen to wear a white cotton tee shirt, white slacks, even managing to acquire a white belt which is secured around his waist, and white deck shoes. To me his appearance screams yuppie but that’s just my opinion. Lucian is essentially the older version of myself, minus the fact that I wouldn’t be caught dead in that outfit. Currently his white, colorless eyes are staring into my own with a glint of a smile twinkling within them. “Son. How wonderful it is to see you.” My father takes my right hand giving it a shake before pulling me into a half hug.

“Hello father. I have missed you. Thank you for coming here.” I take a step back from him so that I am able to look at his face as I say this. Someone behind us clears their throat and we both turn our gazes towards the sound.

“Hi,” Cassie sort of whispers the word and then flutters her fingers at us in a little wave. Her ocean blue eyes are wide, bright, and smiling at us.

Stretching my hand out to her, she takes it and I pull her to my side. “Dad, I would like you to meet Cassie. Cassie, this is my father, Lucian.” They both smiled widely at each other before offering hellos to one another.

Grasping her hand in his left one, he places the right one over top it before saying, “Cassie my dear, it is a pleasure to meet you. It is lovely to meet the person who has stolen my son’s heart.” He then removes his right hand, replacing it with his lips in a quick kiss of endearment.

“It’s nice to meet you sir. Rim has spoken about you, so it is nice to be able to put a face to the image he has painted of you in my head.” Cassie continues to grin as my dad releases her hand and I slip my arm around her waist, pulling her against me before placing a kiss upon her cheek.

“Dad, Cassie and I haven’t had a chance to eat any dinner, I was thinking of whipping something up in the kitchen. Would you care to join us?” As I asked him this I have walked over to the refrigerator and opened the right door of the stainless-steel contraption.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see that Lucian has claimed one of the bar stools. “That sounds delightful son. Would you like me to help?” I shake my head no, causing strands of my own white-blonde hair to fall into my eyes. At the same time Cassie begins chatting with my father, taking his attention away from me.

I’m only able to catch bits of their conversation as I am pulling out pots and pans to begin cooking but what I do hear has me smiling. “Were you born an angel... How did you meet Rim’s mom... What exactly do you do when you’re an angel? I mean, do you go to work...” Cassie bombarded my father with questions but he in turn fired his own questions at her. “Have you always lived in this state... How did you and my son meet... Do you love Rim?” I turned wide eyes to Lucian as that last question came out of nowhere.

I know Cassie and I have told each other how we feel, but I don’t know how comfortable she is with telling others because of how quickly our relationship progressed. So, I butt in with “dad...”

To my surprise, the question doesn’t seem to faze Cassie in the slightest and she doesn’t hesitate to respond to him, “yes sir, I do. That phrase ‘love at first sight,’ is how I would sum everything up.” She flashes me a smile, “From the moment he and I met in a dream state, I fell in love with him. I just wouldn’t admit it to myself because he got under my skin and irritated me so much.” Observing my father, I watch as his mouth falls open when Cassie tells him that the first time we met was in a dream.

Throughout their conversation I was cooking chicken and steaming broccoli. As it is now ready, I plate three dishes with the food and pass two out to Cassie and Lucian before leaning against the opposite side of the island so that I can eat as well. A puzzled look crosses my face as I see dad seems to be frozen in thought. “What’s wrong father? Why do you sit like that with such an expression of surprise etched upon your face?”

Shaking himself from his thoughts, my father allows his eyes to dart back and forth between Cassie and I a couple of times before finally answering my question. “There is a myth within the heavens, and it is referred to by many names, the popular name being Soul Mate. The angels typically call it a Soul Tie or Soul Connection.” I’ve heard of those terms before but as my eyes drift to Cassie, I see she has a confused expression on her face.

“Apologies Lucian, but I’ve never heard of those words before. Could you explain them to me?” Cassie places a hand over top of his as she asks this.

“Oh, no, dear. I am sorry. I am used to being surrounded by other beings such as myself or of the supernatural realm and take for granted the assumption that everyone knows what I am talking about.” Dad smiles placing a hand over the top of the one she has on his other, patting it a couple of times to express his apology. “So, in Angelology, it is prophecy that if you and another find each other in dreams, you are meant to be together. Especially if you can interact with each other, touch each other.

A soul connection is when two beings feel they are linked on a soul level in an extraordinary way. It’s the sense that your connection transcends beyond the heavens, though in your case I guess it would be transcending beyond the earthly realm. Then there is the term soul tie. It is essentially the same as a soul connection just worded a bit differently. A soul tie is the feeling that another person is in your life for a reason. And of course, we have the most common phrase that is used by humans on earth; The soul mate. This is a word used to indicate that two people are fated to be together. It is another soul in this realm or another that is so perfectly matched to your energy that when you meet there is an instant binding of souls. You just know within yourself that if you are ever taken from this being, that you will never be as truly happy as you are when you are with them, they are your other half, the reason you were put on this planet.”

“Oh, wow.” Cassie utters the words, stunned. “All three of those terms perfectly describe Rim and I. Or at least, for me anyway.” Her eyes shift to mine causing butterflies to stir deep within me. “Is it the same for you, Rim?” she asks with wonder in her voice. Having just lifted my fork to take a bite of my chicken, I held it near my mouth, frozen as I blinked a couple of times.

“Yes,” the word rushes from my lips without hesitation. I watch Cassie breathe a sigh of relief. Was she scared that I was going to say no? She hops off the stool she had been sitting on to quickly position herself in front of me. In one fluid motion she has drawn my lips to hers, running a hand up my neck and into my hair at the same time.

“This is quite astonishing,” my dad says perplexed.

Confused by his statement, I broke the kiss between Cassie and myself as I turned and looked at him. “Why do you that?” I asked arching one of my eyebrows in question.

“Because my son,” Lucian pauses; “A soul tie has never occurred between a human and a Halfling before.” Cassie and I both stare at my father in shock at hearing the news that this has never happened to my kind before. Hearing Cassie groan next to me I turn to look at her, worry trickling through my body.

“Ugh, I’ve got to leave.”

“What! Why?” I asked baffled.

She turns her phone to me so that I can read the text she had just received. Ginny: We need your help, Cassie. A pipe burst at the Star-Sky and Jason is pleading for all hands-on deck. “I will let you know when I’m done so that if you want to come stay with me, you can.” She plants a kiss at the corner of my mouth before turning and addressing my dad. “It was awesome to meet you sir. I am sorry that I have to leave. I would love to stay longer.” She gives him a half pout and then walks out.

“She is by far one of the most amazing humans I have ever met son. I approve 100% of your relationship.” He grins which causes a wide grin to grow on my face as well. “There is something most unique about Cassie, I’m just not able to pinpoint what makes her so different from other humans,” he adds as he taps his forefinger against his chin in thought.

“There is an ulterior motive for requesting a visit from you, father.” I hesitate for a brief moment before just simply laying all my cards on the table so to speak. “It’s about the reason I’m in South Carolina in the first place. Samael has sent me on a quest to find him a Pure Soul.” I can see in my father’s eyes that he wants to ask why in the world Samael would want such a being, but I hold my hand up to keep him from speaking. “For some reason he wants to be human and for him to achieve this he must have a Pure Soul willingly give up their soul to him for him to accomplish this feat.”

“Okay... and wherein lies the issue that you seem to have with this task,” my father asks as curiosity takes hold of him.

“Well, I’ve found his Pure Soul... it’s Cassie. Cassie is the soul he needs.” I allow my heart break to show in my eyes at this news as I gaze into his eyes.

“Oh. Well, that is a predicament, isn’t it? Have you told either of them about this little fact yet?” I let my head fall in despair before shaking it no. “It has been millennial since I’ve heard about a reaper wanting to become mortal. I must say the Pure Soul remedy isn’t something I’ve heard of before. The only other time a reaper has achieved the ability to become mortal was because she had found her soulmate.” Flickering to life within my soul is a glimmer of hope for what my father has just shared with me.

“That’s it! All I have to do is find Samael’s soulmate and he won’t be in need of Cassie anymore! This is amazing. Thank you for informing me father. I truly appreciate it.” Throwing my arms around him in a jubilant hug I squeeze him tight for a second.

“Now Rim, my son. This may sound like an easy assignment but believe me when I say that is far from the truth.” And just like that my bubble of happiness has burst.

“Grr, there has to be a way...” I murmur to myself as I try to think up scenarios for Sam to encounter whoever might be his soulmate.

“Rim I best be off. If any ideas pop into my head I’ll reach out to you, okay?” I nod my head slightly and absentmindedly give him a hug.

“See you later,” I manage to utter as an afterthought.