Babe!

Melissa was now starting to get a knot in her stomach because she was nervous. Before Alexis came home, she did not have time to think about the repercussions of her lies and deceits. But now that her daughter was home, she finally started to think how she had dug a hole for herself. And the more she tried to get out of it, the deeper she was sinking.

Yesterday, Melissa lied to Natalia saying that Alexis was sleeping soundly in her own room. But now, she was afraid that her daughter would find out that she had lied. "What am I going to say if Alexis asks me why did I lie to Natalia? Am I going to reveal her secret to her? Or am I going to lie even more?" Melissa was zoned out in her own thoughts.

Alexis noticed that her mother was not eating and was lost in thoughts, "Mom, are you okay? Why aren't you eating?"

Melissa jolted a little when she heard Alexis and she smiled nervously, "I don't know how to break it to you. Umm…"

Alexis kept on staring at Melissa with raised brows while also chewing her food.

"Yesterday Natalia dropped by to see you. She found your bag on the street and brought it here. But I lied to her saying that you were sleeping in your room." Melissa's face started to turn red and she could not even look at Alexis properly.

"But I was not in my room. Why did you lie to her?" Alexis did not suspect anything; she just could not comprehend why there was a need to lie to Natalia.

"Well, I don't know how, maybe it was my sixth sense or something. But I had a feeling in my gut that you were somehow lost in the Dead Zone. And you know how the government punishes those who trespass there. I hoped that I was wrong but I just took the precaution, incase my hunch was true. I haven't filed a missing person's report as well. I was planning to search for you myself if you didn't come home by today." Melissa felt a sudden sourness in her heart when she lied to her daughter once again; not the searching part but the gut part. She was planning to search for Alexis by herself.

Alexis did not mind her mother's words at all. In fact she was glad that she did not have to go through all the hassle of interrogation by the police if her mother had filed a report. "It's okay mom. I was worried about what I was going to say to the police when even I don't remember what actually happened." Alexis tried to put on a smile on her face and then started to play with her food.

"It would be even more dangerous if you remembered what actually happened", Melissa thought quietly.

After finishing their food, they both called it a night. Both of them were exhausted from the incident and as Alexis had finally returned home, Melissa wanted to get a good sleep. Both of them headed to their respective rooms.

Alexis lay down on her bed with her cell phone. "Mom told Natalia that I was here, which means she might not be that worried about me right now. I'll call Vorian first, he might be really worried", Alexis murmured while opening her Soulmate app.

Then she made a project request to Vorian. Vorian immediately accepted her request and now she could see Vorian sitting on his bed. Vorian let out a long sigh when he saw Alexis floating midair in his room.

Vorian got off from his bed and went near to where Alexis was. He crouched down to the level where Alexis seemed to be floating and looked at Alexis right in her eyes, his face right above her, "Where were you Alexis? I was worried out of my mind. I called Natalia and even asked her to check on you."

As he spoke, Vorian's thick brows curled up and Alexis could clearly see how tensed he was. Vorian kept on speaking, "And later she told me that you were sleeping in your home; then I thought you would call me after you woke up but you didn't. Do you have any idea how wo…" Alexis raised her head to bring it closer to Vorian and kissed him. Both of them could not feel each other's lips yet they both felt a tingling sensation throughout their body.

Vorian finally stopped talking and his eyes kept on staring at Alexis, wishing to kiss her for real. Then finally Alexis got a chance to explain what actually happened, "Sorry babe! I didn't mean to ghost you. I was not at home; I was trapped in a weird situation."

"What? What kind of situation? By the way, this was the first time you called me 'babe'." Vorian was happy again; all his tension was slowly disappearing.

"Focus! Vorian", Alexis felt shy and she started to blush. She wanted to hide her face from Vorian but he was still lingering above her.

Vorian leaned further and whispered near Alexis's ear in his husky voice, "Babe will do. Call me 'babe'." Vorian teased her with a sly smirk.

Alexis laughed and then she sat up in her bed. She passed right through Vorian while she did that. Alexis pointed at the nearby chair with her brows and said, "Babe" she smiled and continued, "Bring that chair over here. This is one hell of a story that I'm going to tell you."

Vorian acted as if he was intoxicated when she called him 'babe' and did as she asked. The chair seemed to be heavy but he lifted it with ease as if it was a pillow. Then he sat right beside Alexis for the story-time, "So, what happened?"

"This is going to sound crazy. But here goes nothing. I have no idea how, but I woke up in the Dead Zone. And before you ask me what Dead Zone is, it is a government-restricted area." Then Alexis narrated the whole story to Vorian in the next half an hour.

Vorian let out a long sigh and ran his finger through his dark hair, "Holy light! I cannot believe you went through all that. And here I was, thinking that you were angry with me and avoiding me."

"Yeah, even I cannot believe that I went through all that." Alexis bit her inner lips.

"Take off your bath robe." Vorian blurted out randomly.

"What?" Alexis was shocked with what she just heard, or misheard; she wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry! That came out wrong. I meant, let me see if you have any injuries. You were attacked by dogs, fell off a cliff, and crawled through abandoned tunnel and what not. Let me see." Vorian's ears were visibly red from what he had said earlier.

"Oh!" Alexis rolled up the sleeve of her right hand to show a small bruise that she had from the fall. But she could not believe her eyes. "What? I had a small bruise here. Now it's gone!"

"What? And there were no other injuries?"

Alexis looked at all the places where she had cuts and bruises. But she did not find any. "What sorcery is this? All bruises are gone!" Alexis could not believe her own eyes.

"Do you have super-healing ability?" Vorian asked with a curious look on his emerald eyes.

"What?" Alexis laughed but Vorian was seriously considering the possibility so, she asked him, "Is that even a thing?"

"Of course, if Earthlings were to compare themselves with Celinians, they would say we have super strength. And the Healers also exist. So, it is absolutely possible that you have super-healing." Vorian tried to reason with Alexis.

"Huh!" Alexis was very confused. "How come this never happened before?" She tried to connect the dots but she could not.

"Never happened before? That is odd." Vorian also could not explain why there was sudden change in her body. "I think you should rest for now, my soulmate. I'll do the research for you. We'll talk tomorrow." Then he winked at Alexis.

"Soulmate…" Alexis smiled after saying that word. Her beauty was bewitching when she smiled. Without even realizing Vorian moved his hand to touch her cheeks. He had almost forgotten that they were not in the same room, this made him sad. But he immediately smiled, "Goodnight Alexis."

"Goodnight babe", Alexis smiled again and lay down on her bed.

Vorian stared at her with longing eyes for few seconds and disconnected the projection. "I wish I was with her right now", he whispered in his room, alone.