CHAPTER 40

Mike breathed a slight sigh of relief in gaining his parents' approval. He never had any real doubt, but it would certainly ease Melody's mind. After she returned from the restroom, Melody and Mike split a piece of original cheesecake at Jane's insistence, while his parents had a piece of Oreo crunch cheesecake for themselves. As the time neared 8:00, the couple decided to head home for the evening, and left Mike's parents with several exchanges of thank you and goodbye.

Beginning the drive home, Melody seemed much more at ease. "Do you think it went well?" she asked.

"Definitely," Mike replied. "They like you a lot. Mom's description was confident."

"I'm glad."

"Well you got her talking about photography! No way she won't love you if that's your profession," Mike said with a wink.

After arriving home, Melody washed her face and changed into her favorite robe, helping her feel very refreshed. Relaxing with Mike on the sofa, they watched a few CSI: Miami reruns, accompanied by plentiful making out. This eventually deteriorated into fondling and jerking, followed by a long, fun session of missionary sex. Fully spent for the evening, they went to bed around 11:30.

Mike awoke first on Sunday, treating a sleeping Melody to some oral sex in waking her up. She, in turn, showed her appreciation by giving him a long, soapy handjob in the shower, finishing him off with him cumming on her tits, much to Mike's delight. As they got dressed for church, Mike wore a white button up shirt with tan khakis, while Melody opted for a black pencil skirt and a white button up blouse. After grabbing breakfast at Dunkin' Doughnuts, they headed for Mike's church.

This week Melody heard the senior pastor, Dan Black, preach the sermon. She liked his polished delivery, but definitely still felt a connection to Ashley's practical, real-world style. After chatting with Ashley and Trey after the service, the pair headed back to Mike's car. On the way, Melody expressed an interest in owning a Bible of her own and wanting to do more reading and research on her own time, rather than just on Sundays. Smiling at this prospect, Mike stopped at a local bookstore on the way home. After comparing the wording of several sections in the different versions offered, Melody decided on a Common English edition, to which Mike gave his personal seal of approval. After a quick lunch at Arby's, they made their way back to their apartment.

As Mike played on his handheld game system, Melody began skimming through her new acquisition. She was quite familiar with many of the stories in the Old Testament, such as Noah, Moses, and the battle of Jericho. Mike was extremely impressed with her quick grasp of the historical events described in it, before remembering that her vessel was likely created somewhere in the Middle East centuries ago, where such things were an important part of historical lore, regardless of religious affiliation. Sensing that she wanted to delve further into what made Mike's faith unique from other world religions, he suggested that she start with several passages in the New Testament, as they actually describe the events leading up to the formation of the first formal Christian churches.

With Melody now engrossed in her research, Mike's curiosity suddenly peaked, and he felt a strange urge to examine the locket that he had first released Melody from. Walking back to his bedroom, he pulled the locket out from the drawer of his nightstand, slowly running his finger over it. It made no movements, and the stone did not glow at all. Strangely, though, he noticed that the markings on the back, which had previously been illuminated when he touched the stone on the front, now appeared as engravings instead. Before he could ponder what this could mean, he heard Melody's voice behind him.

"Master? Is everything alright?"

Taking a sharp breath in at her use of the title of Master, he replied, "Yeah… yeah everything's fine. It's strange, but I just got this urge to check this thing over again. I haven't really touched it since the day you were born."

"Ok," she said, appearing to sigh in relief. "I'm sorry, I was momentarily worried that you were considering…"

"No way," he interrupted, standing to move towards her. "You are the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. I would never wish to get rid of you, nor to imprison you back in this thing for any length of time."

Kissing him sweetly, she replied, "I'm glad."

Looking intently at the locket, Mike asked, "There isn't any way that just keeping this around would result in you accidentally returning to your vessel, is there?"

"Not at all. As the one who released me, you are in complete control of me, as well as my powers and my vessel. If it is not your wish for me to return to my vessel, I will not, even if I were to hold it in my hand. As I mentioned previously, all of its magical qualities seem to have dissipated from it since my release."

"Good to know," he replied, sitting back on the bed. "Still, it's strange. Look on the back. The inscription here wasn't an inscription before I released you; it previously only appeared when I touched the stone on the front. What do you think that means?"

Examining the locket, Melody responded, "I'm not sure. I really can't speak to the specific nature of the vessel, unfortunately."

"So, what did you experience while you were inside of it?"

"Well, truthfully, I was not exactly inside the locket," she explained. "The locket is merely the doorway to my actual vessel. Think of it as a lock, and the puzzle you solved was the key. My vessel itself is more of a separate dimension. While in it, I did not perceive anything in the outside world, not even the passage of time. I just… existed."

"That's awful!"

"While it was not an unpleasant experience, I definitely have no desire to go back, if given the choice, of course."

"Hmm… So I assume you were created by a jinn or genie more powerful than yourself, correct?" Mike inquired.

"Yes, although my knowledge of who that being was seems to be unknown to me."

"Really? You have no idea who created you?"

"No. It may fall under the restriction of being unable to detect other magical beings, though I am again unsure," Melody speculated.

"Well, did you exist before being placed inside the vessel, or were you simply created inside of it?"

She closed her eyes, searching her mind for any sort of answer. Finally, she said, "I can tell that I was created before being placed in the vessel, yet it seems I am completely unable to access any memories of my existence before being placed in my vessel. I can't say for sure the reason for my lack of knowledge of my past, but it does strike me as odd."

"Wow. So you have no idea where you originally came from… I wonder if the inscription on the locket might hold any clues?" Mike wondered.

Turning to the verse in her new Bible indicated by the inscription, Melody read it a few times, but was unable to find any significance hidden within it. "Hmm… I'll file it away for future reference," she said. "Still, I don't think we should dwell on this too much. I'm focused on the here and now, and I couldn't be happier with my life and everything the future holds."

"No arguments there," Mike agreed, pulling her in for a kiss.

Putting the locket away for the time being, Mike and Melody spent the next couple of hours playing video games. Mike introduced her to one of his favorite games, the Uncharted series. Melody quite liked the fun, yet realistic tone of the stories, and was particularly charmed by the excellent characters. She definitely saw much of Mike's sarcastic yet lovable personality in Nathan Drake's character. Around 5:30, they changed out of their lounging clothes and began to prepare some food for Stuart and Darcy's arrival. Mike worked on some easy finger food, making some frozen chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks, while Melody cooked some meatballs in spaghetti sauce on the stovetop. Almost as soon as the food was done, there was a knock at their door.