My Soul-Mate Ch. 02

Author's Note:

This is the sequel to the story, My Soul-Mate Ch. 1. Minimal story elements will be explained, except as needed. If you are new to this story, or haven't read it in a while I suggest you read it before reading this one. The story is definitely older and I was less experienced with writing but it is suggested that you read it. Also, this story is part of a larger shared world that will be built up over time. 'Ill Met By Moonlight' and 'My Darkest Hour' are both in the same shared universe, so give them a read too.

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"When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done

Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed

Don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty

Keep me in your memory, Leave Out all the Rest

Leave Out all the Rest"

-Leave Out all the Rest

Minutes to Midnight

Linkin Park

CHAPTER ONE - TWO MONTHS LATER...

Annabelle collapsed on me, her intense climax finally subsided. She rolled off of me, giddy and breathless from our intense love making session.

I recovered from mine as well, giddy from my orgasm. I never get tired of Annabelle or her body; we were the perfect match for each other. Even though she was a ghost, I connected to her more than any woman I had ever met. I panted and grinned like an idiot, kissing Annabelle passionately before cuddling with her. We were smart enough to lay a towel down before our dirty deed.

For obvious reasons Annabelle's fluids didn't show up in this plane of existence, instead it looked like I jerked it off on a towel. Annabelle was still part of the plane between dimensions, even though she's anchored to me. Kind of like a streaming service like Netflix.

"That was wonderful." Annabelle commented. She gripped my arm and pulled me closer to her naked body. My penis was still hard between her legs as we spooned.

"I agree. I never get tired of you." I replied. I wanted to lay in bed and cuddle with Annabelle but my stomach had other plans. My stomach turned sour, nauseous from the lack of food or fuel in it.

"I'm getting up with you, love."Annabelle said.

I brushed her hair aside and kissed the back of her neck; she teased me by mashing her butt cheeks on my now flaccid penis. I winced and moved involuntarily, as it was still sensitive. I breathed a sigh of contempt before I stepped out of bed, taking the towel with me. I grabbed a pair of underwear and jeans to put on before I left my room. I didn't want the morning to end.

One thing has changed from my initial fateful encounter with Annabelle; I moved into Annabelle's room and arranged it as best as I could to match her original layout. My mom pestered me every time she saw my bed in her room, and told me I should move into the master bedroom. I just lied and told her it gets the most heat during the summer and was absolutely miserable when I slept in the other room.

I watched Annabelle step off the bed. She put on a sensual show for me, her body glimmered and materialized clothes. She was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans that hugged her ass well.

I took Annabelle's hand, descended the stairs and led her to the bathroom where I attempted in vain to comb my hair.

I gave up, exited the bathroom and entered the kitchen, immediately going to the fridge to retrieve eggs to cook. I put a frying pan on the stove, poured a small bit of vegetable oil in the pan and cracked the eggs into the pan. I retrieved sausages out of the freezer, and cooked them as well.

After I made breakfast, I took my plate and brought it to the TV tray in front of the couch. I picked up the tv remote, and turned on the tv. I have bought several furnishings for our new home; a couch, rocking chair, entertainment center, TV, satellite television, another PS4 and a stereo system. I turned on Netflix, selected the show iZombie to watch and ate my breakfast.

I didn't have work today so Annabelle and I took the extra time to spend it with each other.

Annabelle had come to accept the modern world, and all of its benefits and faults.

After I ate I washed the dish, putting it back in the cupboard. We continued to watch the show, but ended the binge after two episodes.

We shared a passionate kissing session before my doorbell suddenly rang. I begrudgingly tore my lips away from Annabelle's, and headed for the door. I open the door, surprised to see my mother Alice at the entrance.

"Colton! So good to see you honey. Can I come in?" My mother asked.

I looked over my shoulder at Annabelle, she nodded. I turned my attention back to my mom.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, you can come in." I replied.

"Okay, is somebody here with you?" My mom asked, curiously.

I was caught off guard by her question. In her eyes I had been looking at something that wasn't there. I tried to play it off. "No, nobody else is here. Come in." I replied, opening the door all the way to emphasize no one was there.

"Okay. For a second there I thought you were looking at someone over your shoulder" My mom told me.

I shook my head. "Nope, just the ghost that haunts me." I muttered as my mom entered.

My mom laughed. "Oh honey if you had ghosts I'm sure they would love you as much as I do. Not to say that they're real." My mom replied.

I shut the door and followed her to the couch and sat down. My mom sat beside me.

"You have no idea." I replied, glancing in the direction of Annabelle.

"Your place looks nice, I like what you have done to your house." My mom told me in an approving tone.

I nodded. "It's coming together nicely." I replied.

My mom sat down on the couch, raising her eyebrow at the tv. There was a character taking a brain out of someone's head and frying it up into a dish.

"So how have you been? it seems you are settling in." Mom asked.

I smiled. I sat down on the couch next to her. "I have been well, certainly a lot happier. Also, yes I have." I replied.

"Have you found yourself a lady?" My mom asked.

My heart skipped a beat. I kept my eyes on my mom, I wasn't expecting that question. Annabelle read my mind and disappeared.

"No, I haven't. Why would you ask that?" I lied in a voice dripping with innocence.

Mom looked hesitant, as if she was still deciding how to word her next statement. "Well, because you are a lot more distant as of lately. You have not visited once since you moved, and that is sort of why I'm here. I came to see if you're okay." She told me.

I had to think about what she said. I didn't mean to stop visiting my mother, but I had been spending so much time with Annabelle that I had been unintentionally letting my relationship with my mother suffer.

"I am sorry, mom. I didn't mean to pay less attention to you, I have just been busy with work and trying to settle in." I replied, lying up a storm.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you are okay. Just promise to come by more often, please? I miss you." My mom asked.

I nodded, feeling like shit for not coming over more. It's not like I meant to neglect the relationship with my mom, I have just been so caught up with my relationship with Annabelle that I didn't stop to think about my mom.

I took my mother's hand. 'I'll come over more often. Sorry for worrying you." I answered.

Mom smiled. "I would love that. With you gone, and no one else it's tough. I never wanted to remarry or date after your father died so it's hard on me." She said, and sighed.

I hugged her, resting my head on hers. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." I told her.

I suddenly had an idea to make up for ignoring her. "How about I come over to your place tonight to have dinner?" I asked.

Mom nodded. "I'd like that." She replied, looking down at her phone.

I pulled mine out to look at the time. "Do you have to leave?" I asked.

Mom nodded. "Yes, I do. I just wanted to check up on you. I'm buying some movies from a lady on Craigslist." Mom replied.

I smiled. "I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer. It was good seeing you!" I said, standing up when she did.

Mom smiled back. "It was good seeing you too, honey." She replied, hugging me one more time before she headed to the door. She turned around to face me. "I love you." She told me.

I nodded. "I love you too." I told her, then closed the door behind her.

I ran my fingers up my face and brushed my hair back. I sighed a deep sigh of frustration as Annabelle materialized.

Annabelle had a troubled look on her face, but didn't say anything.

I walked forward and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight. She eventually did the same, burying her head in my chest.

"That was too close, love." I said, stroking her pitch black hair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to almost give myself away." Annabelle replied.

I kissed her forehead. "It's not your fault. It's something we'll both have to work on, being unnoticeable with our relationship." I told her.

My mom almost catching on to our supernatural relationship effectively ruined the mood. She probably wouldn't suspect what was actually going on, she would think I started seeing things and turned schizophrenic; next thing you know I'm on some sort of medication for hallucinations. That was more than enough to warrant fear.

"We definitely don't want that." Annabelle told me, reading my thoughts. "What are we going to do? For the rest of the day I mean." Annabelle asked.

I looked down at my phone. It was only 2:00. "Well we could watch more TV or work on projecting you further. I don't feel like doing much today, there's honestly not much that needs done around here." I replied.

Annabelle and I have discovered that she has some level of freedom in this world, she just sucks more energy from me when she moves further away. We have been working on trying to extend her radius that she can inhabit. It used to be no more than ten feet before her spectral body would start to wane. With effort and concentration we have doubled it, but it physically drains me. Now, she can reach up to fifteen feet without physically draining me, and twenty feet overall with promising signs for further reach.

There were drawbacks if we neglected training for a couple of days, it took much more effort to project her if we didn't exercise the spectral muscle that links us together. She couldn't manipulate large objects, but could manipulate smaller ones to an extent. She could hold my phone but couldn't operate it, obviously because phones needed an electrical signal to operate and she had none. She could use a PlayStation controller which she had all but mastered all the games I played. She took the information stored in my brain and put them to use no matter what situation or game she's playing.

Slightly bigger objects like toasters and microwaves she had difficulty with, and even bigger objects are impossible to interact with. Even if we practiced every day consistently we would have no luck getting her to open doors. It's like a human trying to lift a one ton vehicle by themselves, physically impossible. It doesn't make much difference, as she is always around me anyways to do any simple task for her. However, we have discovered she could manipulate the locks enough for me to open the door.

"We can train if you want." Annabelle said eagerly.

I nodded and smiled. "That sounds good to me." I replied. I outstretched my right hand, and took her left hand. I led her to the back door and opened it, letting Annabelle go first.

Our backyard was approximately thirty by thirty feet. There were a couple of lawn chairs, a homemade fire pit that I had dug out in the open, a barbeque grill with a plastic table beside it and plastic stacking chairs underneath under the covered area. There was also a table with objects of increasing size and difficulty, from a screwdriver, to a wrench, to a power drill, and a hammer.

I stood over by the lawn chairs, and motioned to the fence. "Let's start with the distance, but go slow. Let's try and get you to twenty feet to start with." I instructed.

Annabelle nodded. She turned around and started walking to the fence side parallel to mine. She went from five to ten and slowly went to fifteen feet, our comfortable limit. She turned around to face me.

I nodded, and prepared myself.

As soon as she took a step further, I felt a slight tugging. It was indescribable, like an elastic rope from my very soul suddenly had tension. With it, came the indescribable feeling of power and essence being drained from my body. It had a slight pain, but was more tiring than anything else.

Annabelle took another step forward. The rope connecting us started to resist more, fighting back. There was more pain than before, and my energy was being drained at a faster rate.

"Keep going." I told her.

Annabelle nodded, taking a step forward. She was now almost exactly twenty feet away.

The pain was more noticeable than the energy being drained, even though the rate of energy being drained increased ever more.

I winced in pain. "Keep going!" I repeated firmly.

"Are you sure?" Annabelle asked reluctantly.

I nodded.

Annabelle took another step forward, passing twenty feet.

I staggered, almost dropping to my knees because the pain was like a knife piercing my heart. I took short, rapid breaths, because I was in so much pain.

Annabelle tried to take a step towards me, but I held out my hand, shaking it. She stayed put, a look of concern on her face.

"S-stay there." I told her, with a shaky voice.

Annabelle obeyed and stood with an anxious look on her face. Every time we trained, I always pushed myself to the limits, otherwise I wouldn't be able to build up endurance. The bond between us was unbreakable, so I would just pass out if the pain was too much. It has happened before.

"Ta-take one last step back, please. Remain there no matter what happens." I told her in a still shaky voice. I was starting to sweat from exertion.

Annabelle put her head down and closed her eyes, no doubt feeling terrible and responsible for my misery. She took one last step back.

I cried out in pain and dropped to my knees. I stayed on my knees for a solid two minutes, before the pain and energy drain subsided. I took a shaky, long breath then exhaled. It wasn't completely gone, but bearable. I stood back up and beckoned for her to come back.

Annabelle ran up to me. "I'm so so-" She started to say before I hushed her.

"It's okay. Don't feel bad." I told her. The pain completely went away as soon as she was within our comfort range. I was now exhausted from exerting so much energy.

"I still worry about you, about us. There could be a limit that we don't know of." Annabelle replied.

I nodded. "If there is, we haven't found it. The vampire witch said we were cursed to live for eternity, remember?" I reassured her.

"She also said that nature would find a balance. What was that supposed to mean, anyway?" Annabelle asked.

I shook my head. "Let's not worry about that. Let's focus on today, and nothing else." I replied.

Annabelle nodded and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Let's go inside." I told her.

I took Annabelle's hand and led her back inside where I took a nap from the exhaustion, with Annabelle in my arms.

CHAPTER TWO

I awoke to my alarm on my phone blaring, so I threw it on the ground. It didn't do anything to silence the alarm but It was the last thing I wanted to hear. I groaned in contempt, and forced myself up from the couch. Annabelle was still sitting on the couch, but got up when I beckoned for her. I went into the kitchen and retrieved a pack of mint gum and put a piece in my mouth.

I walked back into the living room and picked up my phone. I inspected the screen but found no damage. After I had looked it over for a while, I put it in my pocket and grabbed my car keys. I walked to the front door, and opened it, with Annabelle right behind me.

We walked to the car and I opened Annabelle's door, and then closed it behind her as she entered. I walked over to my side and entered the car, and then started it. I didn't have to do it, she could just disappear and reappear in the car. I only did it because I wanted to. We drove to my mother's house, which was about twenty minutes away. I looked at my phone, which read 5:16 pm. Dinner should be done.

I turned off the engine, opened my door and exited the car. I walked over to Annabelle's door, and waited for Annabelle to exit.

"Colton, what are you doing?" A voice behind me asked.

I turned around fast and saw my mom standing with a curious look on her face.

"Uhh, just looking for a CD I lost in my car. What are you doing outside?" I lied, and asked my mom to divert attention away from what I was doing.

My mom held up a trash bag. "I am taking out the trash, silly." She replied in a playful tone.

She walked towards the road and put the trash bag in the trash can, then returned to me.

"You just got here right on time. I just made dinner, it's chicken alfredo pasta." My mom informed me.

I nodded. "I'll be in the house in a couple of minutes, a CD fell from my dashboard and I have no clue where it went." I told Mom, lying every word. I felt like shit.

"Ok, just don't take too long, it'll start to get cold." Mom replied, then turned back towards the house.

When she entered the house I breathed a sigh of relief. I turned around to find Annabelle studying the house.

Annabelle was looking over every detail, and only looked at me when I closed the car door. "So this is your mother's house? It's very nice. Much better than in your memories." Annabelle asked.

I nodded. "It's also where I spent my entire life living up until the point I moved into your-our home. It's also where Dad-" I replied, my voice trailing off.

Annabelle took my hand and squeezed it affectionately. She reluctantly let go, because she knew we couldn't make eye or physical contact with each other. It was best to start now than to start when we entered the house.

I turned towards the house and walked up the driveway, Annabelle right beside me.

"Could you de-materialize until I enter the house?" I asked.

Annabelle nodded.

I saw her and felt a surge of power as she disappeared in a mist and entered my body. I almost knocked but then realized it was my mother's house. I turned the doorknob, opened the door and started to enter when a strange burning sensation started all over my body that was almost incapacitating. I took a step back and looked at the door frame. Strangely, the pain vanished.

I didn't know of anything that could be causing the pain, it was inexplicable. Perhaps by some chance she had some sort of religious symbol that was interfering with my bond with Annabelle located in the house somewhere.

My mom's head peeked around the corner. "Honey, you are letting the cold air inside. Please come in and close the door behind you." Mom told me.

I nodded, then looked back up at the door frame. I took a deep breath and entered, this time with no pain. The smell of garlic bread and chicken pasta filled my nostrils. It smelled wonderful, and I realized how long it had been since I had a good home cooked meal. I was already salivating.

"It smells delicious, mom." I commented.

"Thank you, I'm guessing you haven't had a real in a while? You probably just heat up hot pockets or pizza rolls." Mom said in a sarcastic tone..

I nodded, then took a seat at the table. "You know me too well." I replied. The food was already on the dining room table.

I reached out a hand and retrieved a large serving spoon, dug into the pasta and took a medium sized piece for me. Mom did the same. I stood up, went to the fridge and smiled when I looked inside.

"You still get Dr. Pepper?!" I asked, retrieving one.

"Of course I do, they're for you when you come over. I don't drink those nasty things. I know you like them so I bought them for you." Mom replied.