• Amir •

[ P A R T  F O U R ]

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Walking through the middle of the cars, Amir took a deep breath as he kept Luna close by him.

"Please be careful," Liberty yelled.

"We will be," Luna said as she spun around to face the group.

"Keep your eyes peeled," Amir urged.

She nodded as they watched Colin navigate between cars.

"I'm not sure where to start." Pausing, Luna bit down on her lip. "I'm not able to sense anybody."

"It'll come to you," Colin said, facing her.

She glanced up at Amir as he narrowed his eyes, nervous about what was about to happen. "Are you suddenly not wanting to go through with this?"

He grinned wryly. "There's no turning back now."

Amir watched as Colin stepped up to a car in the emergency lane with several people sitting in chairs and the Dallas Cowboys' logos printed on them. Some of the people had phones in their hands and kept eying the barricade at the start of traffic.

"How should I do this?" Luna asked, nibbling her lower lip.

He had to praise her. He had to worship the ground she walked on. Luna was being so brave and cautious, but Amir could sense her soul-shaking and how nervous she truly was. She kept eying the line of cars up the road, and he could feel her weariness about wanting to go further. But she was staying strong, and he was in awe of her.

"How do you want to begin?" he asked, drawing her attention. "You have the power, and whatever you feel, I can feel too."

Her eyes lit up. "And I love that feeling."

"All right, no need to get kinky right now. We'll have our fun when we escape this circus."

"Hm. Don't talk about the circus. I haven't used all my tricks with you, yet, Mr. Khan."

Amir giggled. That was his Luna: his life partner, who he'll cherish until his dying breath.

Faisal and Darren stood next to a group and began talking to them. Amir tensed as he noticed onlookers turning to see the commotion. Many of them stayed still, watching two men talk about connecting telepathically. Faisal stood around the back of one car and told the group of people to pick a number from one to ten, and one man said six, so Darren projected his spirit next to Faisal to show them how real they were. Then Raul ran over and joined in.

Time had felt like it froze when several questions and answers were floating between mouths, and one person wanted to know something deeper. He wanted answers to the Tethered Species, and that was something none of them could provide. They didn't know where they originated from.

Darren then said something and Faisal heard it, and that shocked the group.

Amir heard Luna's breath hitch. This group is believing us.

Then the duo moved over to the other car in front of them, repeating the same act. Shouts of applause were heard, and several people honked at them, clearly not interested in whatever Faisal and Darren were selling. Motorists gawked inside their vehicles, while some people dropped their jaws in disbelief.

Luna then collapsed into Amir's arms. "Baby, baby, what is it?" he asked.

"I feel . . . them. Pure . . . pure souls."

Damn. Now onto a different plan.

"Where are they?"

Faisal, Colin, and Darren looked over their way and dashed toward them. "What's going on with her?" Darren asked.

Raul stood on the other side of Amir, helping her up.

"She feels Pure Souls," Amir replied.

"Four. Maybe eight." Luna's breath was unsteady.

"What do we do?" Faisal asked. "We tried to open it up over there."

The people who thought they were messing around marched over to them. Then her eyes widened, and she pointed at two guys next to one another. Everyone went quiet.

One guy stepped forward. "Why is that woman looking at me like I have a set of extra arms? She's looking at my best friend like he's sick."

"I'm sorry," Amir said, standing up. "My wife and I have an ability. We can sense people who are like us before their powers expand. She doesn't mean any harm, but she can sense the aura between you and your friend."

"Which is?" he pondered, clearly not dismissing what Amir was feeding him. He thought, if that was him and he didn't have his powers, he'd be freaked.

"You two are linked. You're paired. You'll have powers soon to communicate telepathically." Amir applauded Luna. She straightened up and said that like a champ.

Faisal looked over at Amir and nodded. Then he spoke up to the group standing around them. "I have a testing kit that will determine if you're like us. A Tethered Soul. That means you're part of a hidden species, and we can connect telepathically."

"We know that, dude, but I don't know how my best friend and I are paired? We don't see each other that way. We're straight."

"Our species pair souls. It's not always about a love connection," Darren explained. "Our species is supposed to help one another, and this traffic is the reason we need your help. Those men in uniforms are searching for four of us to experiment on. Then they'll look for anyone else who tests positive for a specific gene."

The two men looked at each other and back at him. "Are you and that man paired?" They pointed to Colin.

Colin and Darren shook their heads. "No," Colin said. "My wife and son are in Japan, hiding from them, and I only met Darren a few weeks ago. I am paired with his wife, Sue, who is in our car a few feet back. And Darren is paired with Cami. She's standing over there."

"But how do you know my best friend and I are paired souls?" the man continued, his baseball cap falling off his redhead.

"Because . . ." Luna said, stepping forward. "You have a link that I can feel, see, and connect you two. I can see people who are linked. I know little about my ability, but I have to put up with it. My daughter is back there, with my family and friends, fearing for their lives. If you take the test and it shows positive, then you'll know you're like us."

"All right." The man stepped back with his small group of people. "You guys are crazy."

"No," Amir said in a stern voice. Somehow, in the back of his mind, he felt the urge to do something he didn't even know would work. He took Luna's hand as they stepped back an inch. Glancing around at their group and the others, he said in a deep voice, "Watch."

Standing still between two cars, holding their hands together, Amir connected to Luna telepathically. Soar, Moon. Let your aura soar.

Whispers and confusion were heard around them, and he saw their bodies glow. A pure white light with their edges tinged with gold, beacon'd under the dark sky, forcing everyone all around to look their way.

Several people swore loudly, and onlookers kept staring at Amir and Luna like they were two aliens who descended to Earth. He was shocked they were able to glow and didn't know how he knew to do that. He'd never read about it. He felt it in his soul to hold her hand and glow. He concluded maybe it was the start of their powers . . . magnifying.

After a few moments of staying like that, and Amir could have sworn they were lifted off the ground a few inches, levitating, all he heard were people shuffling around.

Silence.

Amir kept his eyes closed and held onto Luna like something could split them apart. He could have sworn he heard a frog hopping. That's how quiet it was out there. Then, somehow, he slowly brought their bodies down to the ground.

A second later, a thunderous applause drowned out Amir's comment he made to Luna, but luckily for their connection, she heard him.

He and Luna were still glowing like they had a nuclear weapon in their bodies and people were cheering? Amir was confused at the crowd's reaction to them. He'd run away if that were him.

Faisal chuckled as he stepped closer to them. "I take it that they've seen weirder stuff."

Great. That doesn't do us any good, he thought.

Onlookers started taking pictures, and he rolled his eyes. Seriously?

"Wow." Luna turned toward him. "I don't understand how that happened."

"It's because you two are Pure Souls. Amir is light, and Luna is dark." Colin glanced at the group of men who questioned them. "What do you want to do about them?"

"Take their tests, if they're willing, but we need to act fast," Amir said. "And Faisal, explain their powers to them when it shows positive. They won't know what to think after today."

"How did you know you'll do that glowy worm thingy?" Faisal asked.

Amir shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly, it felt like something surged through my skin and told me to sparkle."

"Well, being the dynamic duo we are, of course, we'll sparkle," Luna said, winking.

He giggled and kissed her deeply in front of the crowd. He needed her kisses. But then they started glowing again, and it almost felt like he couldn't turn it off. He didn't want to.

"Guys, we need to go," Colin ushered. Amir and Luna pulled away and walked with the group back to where they stood. "Just so you two understand, Pure Souls can do wonders together. You'll share the same strengths, weaknesses, and instincts. The unity oath was just the beginning."

Amir watched Faisal walk back to the crowd, and the two men agreed to take the test. He saw them smile and give each other chest bumps like they won a prize of some sort after getting their results, and one guy asked about their powers. Some people were disappointed to learn they were negative, while others smiled and thought it was fantastic to be positive. But they didn't realize the issues that Tethered Souls go through daily.

Faisal and Darren both grinned and looked for others whose aura they could both feel. Then Amir and Luna did their act again, glowing in the crowd. Off in the distance, he heard a helicopter moving. No doubt one was coming after flying toward the back of traffic. Things were about to become very real in a matter of seconds.

Unease grew amongst the motorists and passengers, becoming thicker than the humidity in the air. It seeped into him, making his skin feel itchy as he let himself glow for a few more minutes.

Like someone pressed the pause button on a remote, everyone around them stopped and stared. Amir was the Star to his Moon. Onlookers' hands were clenched on their phones as they snapped away, making him feel like some kind of celebrity. The crowd's expressions kept changing from surprise to confusion, as some of them continued to gaze at them in awe. He could sense their curiosity intensifying at the discovery of a new species. Then some people moved away, but they couldn't get far between the blocked cars.

We need to do something bigger, Amir thought, unease settling in the pit of his stomach.

Faisal's voice filtered into his thoughts while they stayed like light bulbs. 'I'm going to take out that highway sign.'

'Make sure no one is nearby,' Amir replied.

Faisal stepped back and brought up the blaster that he had in his hand, then aimed it toward the sign. He gently pulled the trigger, and the sign that said Downtown Dallas was forty miles away was blown away. That's when people got the hint that the group wasn't putting on a sideshow. Now the party has really begun.

It all became about getting away from the strange couple who were shining brighter than the moonlight. Amir quietly laughed, thinking of how his girl felt glowing next to him. People started scurrying like ants and jumping back into their cars, dashing away like someone scared them to death. Some people streamed away from the highway and ran toward the tall trees as they looked for shelter, and some runners were so rampant, that they kept falling over each other like they couldn't get away quickly enough.

They stopped their glow act as they began walking back to their group.

But the crowd kept rushing forward, tumbling on top of them. The entire highway was now littered with people running in many directions, scared out of their wits. For a split second, he lost sight of Luna.

Amir rushed forward, parting the crowd like the Red Sea. Their screams were already annoying him. It was like a bad buzz clinging next to his ear.

"Moon!"

Her answer was faint, but it was inside his head and near his ear. "I'm here!"

She stumbled around people who were frozen in place. "I think we got their attention."

"That's what we needed." He held her hand in his and welcomed the intense spark that flowed from her skin to him.

Their group appeared back on the other side of them, and Faisal looked around, noticing many cars moved out of the way. "We can't get through."

The vehicles were left abandoned and taking time to jump in and turn the engine on would slow them down. They still had rocket launchers from their hospital escapade and needed to keep everyone safe.

Amir brought his attention to a line of cars in front of them, vehicles ranging from luxury cars and ones on their last leg.

Colin walked over to one of the BMWs and jumped in behind the driver's seat. A helicopter passed by, and the group saw they were searching through the crowd of people dashing into the forest, a spotlight over them.

"I'll move this car. You guys work on the others," Colin said, driving a car off the street. They had about twenty cars left, and they would have enough space to run.

So each person ran back to the Hummer and grabbed a rocket launcher and any weapon that could be of use. Walking back to the line of cars, Raul and Cami stood on both sides to confirm there wasn't anyone inside them.

"Make sure you check the trunk," Amir said. "We don't know if anyone had been kidnapped."

"That's a good point," Faisal said as he gave Amir a thumbs up that the car he checked was empty.

The group blasted vehicle after vehicle until they came about six vehicles left to move out of their lane.

Then the sound of a baby was heard in one car, screaming. Luna rushed over and picked it up, holding it to her chest. "How could anyone abandon their baby?"

"I don't think the parents were paying attention." Amir turned back to the group with weapons in their hands. "We need to go."

"What's going on with the SWAT team?" Faisal asked.

"They're in the forest over there," Amir replied, standing next to his wife and the baby.

"I'm going to take the baby girl back to my family," Luna said.

Amir admired how she was such a beautiful and caring woman.

"Let's go!" Colin yelled in the middle of the chaos.

Amir turned toward Faisal and saw a teenage guy hidden behind a tour bus filming the destruction. But the bus gave him an idea. They could use it to run from the scene. He hoped the keys were still inside; people were scattering everywhere.

"Hey," he said, standing beside a red beaten truck. "Let's grab the rest of our group and bring them to that bus. The keys are on the dashboard."

"We need to hurry," Luna said, glancing at the baby. They dashed to the Hummer and grabbed their belongings. "What do you suppose her name is?"

"I don't know."

She was a tiny baby, with blue eyes and bushy brown hair around her head. Eight-months-old?

As they got to the SUV, a woman rushed forward and saw Luna holding her. "Oh my God. Abigail. I was in shock at what I'd seen, and she was asleep. I can't even believe I left my baby."

"Ma'am, it's okay. We saw her and got her away from harm," Amir told her as Luna handed Abigail back to her mother. "Just watch over her and never let her out of your sight." The baby was a Tethered Soul. Her aura was bright. He could sense it.

The woman darted off and joined others running into the bushes. They each gathered supplies and headed quickly toward the bus. Colin groaned about leaving his precious Hummer behind. And the group piled onto the bus as Colin swerved himself behind the wheel, stating how he was used to driving large Humvees.

After adjusting the bus out of the tight space and hitting a few vehicles surrounding it, they finally made their way onto a vacant lane and got past the front of the traffic. Driving as quickly as they could, Colin swerved a few times around potholes and parked vehicles but then slowed down, slowly coming to a stop.

"Why did you stop?" Amir asked.

"There's a roadblock up there. See those signs?" Amir peered forward and cursed under his breath.

"Then we'll get on foot and run through that forest. They're not searching over there," he said, gazing toward their left.

Luna looked back and nodded her head.

As they stepped off the bus, they all made a run for it through the branches and over long streams, hearing the buzzing of helicopters flying above their heads.

Then, when Luna was coming close to a hilltop, she ended up slipping and rolling down a long hill until she reached the bottom.

Amir's heart stopped. "Moon!"

But then, a dart hit the back of his shoulder, causing him to fall backward, eyes flickering. He gazed around, barely able to keep his eyes open, and he tried his hardest to talk to her through his mind, but it wouldn't work.

Amir couldn't see or hear anyone, and within seconds, his brain shut off.

He slipped away into the dark trenches of his mind.

He knew they were caught.

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