4116 words Updated 6/3/24

4124 words Updated 7/22/24

I unintentionally slept in, so I'm posting it a little later than I wanted to.

October 18th

There is a god awful banging in my head as I open my eyes to the still darkened room surrounding me. It takes me a few minutes more to wake up enough and realize that the banging hasn't stopped, and it's not actually coming from within my head at all. It's coming from my door. Before even addressing whoever is making that racket, I grab my phone and glance at the digital display. Six in the morning?!? Who on Earth would bother me at home this early?

I tear myself out of bed and trudge slowly over to the door. When I stare through the peephole all I see staring back at me is a large blue eye. I continue to stare hoping the person will move back a step or two so I can make sense of who is actually disturbing my sleep. Granted I wouldn't be so grouchy about being woken up if I had been asleep for more than three hours. The excitement of waiting on my Soulmate Marks was a bit too much for me. Almost like a kid staying up all night on Christmas Eve, only for me it was a whole lot more important and exciting than attempting to catch Santa Claus leaving gifts under the tree.

A series of rapid knocks vibrate against the door before a voice calls out from the other side of it. "Come on, Lily. Open up."

I roll my eyes when I am easily able to connect the oversized eyeball and voice coming from the other side of the wooden barrier between us. Raina.

I open the door and she traipses in as if she owns the place, which kind of makes a bit of sense due to her inherited familial wealth. At one point I technically worked for her mother, Talia Atwater, who is one of the few rare fashion designers who reside in Chicago. I worked as a personal assistant of sorts to the few other designers that worked under her label. Imagine the workshop where Cruella worked in the prequel by the same name. I worked in a similar workshop; I was the one they sent to pick up coffee, deliver design ideas to other departments, pick up fabric, etc.

I met Raina one of my last days there.

She walked up to me, and directly addressed me. "I don't know you. I know everyone that works here. How don't I know you?" I was in the middle of one of my deliveries, and instead of answering her I continued to work. I didn't know who she was after all; I couldn't think of a legitimate reason she needed to know who I was. She found me later picking up a box containing spools of thread and promptly apologized. "I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself first. I'm Raina Atwater."

I was shocked by the immediate realization that I was rude to my boss's boss's daughter. The box of thread in my hands dropped, the flaps on the top of the box opened, and countless spools fell out wheeling off in every direction. The beginning of our friendship was due to the fact that despite the fact that she was a spoiled rich young woman she started helping me pick up every last spool and return it to the box. By the time the box was full once more, several strands of hair had escaped the pseudo bun I had pulled it in. "Are you really sure you want to work here?" She asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I need the money."

"Yeah, but I can get you a less stressful job that pays twice as much due to tips alone."

I was shocked to discover that working as a barista at Rainy Day Café, the café Raina technically owns, was indeed a lot less stressful than my previous job as personal assistant, or really more or less a gopher. She doesn't do anything with the business side of things; she lets the managers handle that. She bought the café, because she wanted to own a coffee shop where the staff would know what her order was without having to ask her every single time she stepped through the door. I already know exactly what she is about to say to explain her reason for showing up on my doorstep this early in the morning. I also know I would be doing her a notable disservice if I didn't allow her to deliver the dramatic spiel for herself.

"I swear that the other barista doesn't know what he is doing. Why on earth did the morning manager hire him? He's completely incapable." She pauses for a moment, waiting for me to reply to the question that I obviously have no answer to. "I swear unless you are the one working when I go in for my morning latté the concoction ends up tasting like dirt." Over exaggeration, but again she is prone to theatrics, and it's most definitely easier to let her have them. In fact, I'd have to admit, it's part of her charm and a key element of her colorful personality. "Why aren't you working anyway? You don't normally end up with two days off in a row."

I kind of wish she had tormented me yesterday morning instead. Then perhaps she could have at least dropped me off at the clinic for my appointment when we both realized my car wasn't working. Oh shit! Molly isn't working! I'm kind of surprised that I ended up forgetting that. Damn, I am going to have to try to sort that out sometime today. Raina's foot bounces up and down replicating a staccato beat to announce her annoyance at being kept waiting, which prompts me to realize that I didn't answer her question yet. "I received my serum injection yesterday. I took today off so I wouldn't be sidetracked once I got my mark."

Suddenly her annoyance dissolves away, and judging by the expression on her face I can tell her curiosity has been piqued. I had been hoping to first share the news of my five Soulmates with Liz, but it looks like Raina unintentionally jumped out in front of her due to this impromptu visit. "Ooh! I want to see your mark!"

I sigh and glance at the clock again, as if Raina's ostentatious performance was a full theatrical two hour show rather than a short temper tantrum. Despite her exaggerated manner of speaking I honestly do consider her to be one of my closest friends. I just have a hard time dealing with her when I have had barely any sleep, and have had no caffeine to supplement for the lack of rest. "I still have two hours before the marks appear. Until then I should probably get dressed and try to figure out what is going on with Molly." Raina gives me a blank look, once again forgetting who Molly is since I don't drive her often. "My car, Raina. Molly is my car." I sigh for a moment. "I'll probably just have to get her towed and sell her for parts or something. She is twenty-six years old after all. It's a wonder that she has lasted this long."

Somehow Raina only latches onto my conundrum regarding my car, and not the fact that I said marks plural. "Oh, I can probably get Winslow to come over to look at it for you." Raina switches gears and becomes the helpful friend she has proven herself to be time and time again. She may be a drama queen but when it comes to the people that matter to her she has a heart of gold.

Winslow is her father's driver. In his spare time he likes to tinker with the mechanical side of vehicles, which lately is all the time since Raina's father is currently in England for something or other that involves his business. Honestly, that's probably pretty damn close to the words Raina used to describe his absence verbatim. "That sounds great, but don't call him until an actual halfway decent hour. Like either eight or, better yet, nine."

That's when Raina's actions catch up with her and she finally realizes the huge faux pas she just made. "Oh my God!!! Lily, I am so sorry! I honestly thought that you would be awake."

And to an extent she is right, because normally I would have been. When you work at least five out of seven days a week at the buttcrack of dawn your inner biological clock rarely lets you press the snooze button. "Don't worry about it."

"So, tell me about your Soulmate Mark. Where did the sting hit you?"

Oh shit, and now that she is completely focused I realize that this is the part I was leery of explaining to anyone. I'm excited to know that there will be five men who will love me unconditionally, through thick and thin. I just have been unsure about how other people might perceive and respond to the news. Because she acts so directly, I can't seem to want to do anything besides answer her as truthfully as possible.

"Uh, well that's the thing. I didn't feel a single sting." I pause to let that sink in. The tell tale sign of her eyes widening has me finishing the explanation. "I felt five of them."

"Five? Your Soulmates could be a whole basketball team."

I sigh. "You are forgetting that there are only five members on the court at a time. There are also alternates. According to the most recent Chicago Bulls roster there are seventeen players total on the roster." I don't actually follow basketball, but when I discovered I had five Soulmates I started looking up some crazy facts regarding multiple Soulmates.

First I googled the highest number of Soulmates recorded. That honor belongs to a woman in Venezuela who happens to have twelve Soulmates. When I learned that fact I think my brain nearly had a mini aneurysm. I can barely wrap my head around having five after all.

After I found out that fact I curiously looked up what sports teams tend to have five players. Basketball was the only one to come up with that exact number, but then I looked up how many players could be on the court at one time and realized the five member team was a misnomer due to there also being members that would sit out on the bench for a while. That's when I double checked the amount of team members that were on the roster for the local NBA team.

"Oh true. Well, we won't have any definitive clues until your marks appear. What time did you say that would be?"

I hadn't shared that exact info with her yet, but I say nothing and let that fact slide before simply answering her question. "I channeled somnium venereum at about noon. So the marks should appear close to eight in the morning."

She nods her head. "I sort of asked this already, but since you have more than one you didn't actually answer me. Where are all your marks?"

I quickly list off the places I felt all five of the stinging sensations on my body.

"You should change into a tank top and shorts. Actually better yet a bikini top and shorts."

I frown at her. "Why? And I don't think I actually own a bikini top. I haven't been swimming in years. I think I probably still have an old one-piece around here somewhere though. It's probably tucked away in the back of my closet or something."

"Is it at least backless?"

"No, it's more of a sportswear style. It clips at the base of my neck and has a criss cross support coming up around mid back." I honestly don't own a bikini because I am a little shy regarding my figure. I'd never call myself fat or obese, but I am on the curvy side. I need the support my one piece provides because my breasts are a solid D cup. Well, maybe more like a C+ cup. I can't wear most C cup bras though; they tend to run a tad too small.

She sighs as she grows mildly annoyed with my answers. "Do you have a halter top of some kind?"

If I owned something backless it probably would be a halter style top because it would definitely offer more support than something with simple spaghetti straps. I know that Raina is getting sick of my negative responses, but obviously they are the only ones I can give her. I shake my head and deliver my answer. "No."

I can tell she wants to complain, but when she gives a solid five second stare at my chest I see that she finally understands my reasoning. "Fine, I guess we'll just have to do them with your bra and shorts." If she meant a sports bra, it would probably hinder just as much as my one piece would, but I don't bother to argue this point with her.

I feel like I need an explanation though. Sure I went through a mini interrogation, but I feel like I have received no reasoning for it in the first place. "Um. 'Do' what exactly?"

"I figured I would take pictures of your Soulmate Marks for you. I mean you did say one was on your spine. That would be hard for you to see by yourself right?"

"Then why would you need to take pictures of all of them?" I should know better than to ask such a question. She tends to have an answer for everything.

"Why not at that point? Besides, this way you can show your Soulmates your marks when you first meet them without having to strip."

Whoa hold up! No! "I am not about to show them pictures of me in my bra the very first time I meet them!" Crap, but having to strip would be so much worse... I mean sure we will reach that point eventually, but not when I first meet them. Probably not even within the first month of knowing them.

She shakes her head. "First of all, Lily, stop being such a prude. Secondly, why would I do that to you? Of course I am going to make sure said pictures are decent and that you can't even tell that you happen to only be wearing your bra. Aside from the one on your upper chest, none of the others are really in a risky area anyway."

And even that one she should be able to capture a photo of without having the upper swell of my breast in the picture. I let out a deep breath of air. As a result of being Raina's friend I would imagine that I must be able to provide plants with a little more carbon dioxide due to the many deep exhaling sighs I often emit. "Fine."

"Great. I'll go get us something from the bakery down the street."

She's out the door without even asking me what I want. I know that she is quite aware that I would probably order a whole grain muffin or bagel, but I highly doubt she is going to bring something healthy back at all. She is probably going to come back with a dozen donuts and pawn the idea off as a celebratory breakfast or something. I pause for a moment as my eyes grow dreamy just thinking about the sugary confections. I suppose if she remembers I like the cinnamon sugar twists the most then she will be forgiven.

Before she comes back my phone rings. I glance at the time and notice that an hour has already passed at this point. I smile when I see it's Liz calling. "Hey Liz! How is Micah doing today?"

"His fever broke yesterday, and of course today he wants to go play outside." I can hear her affectionate smile as she casts it his way echoed in the cadence of her voice. Micah happens to be the young woman's world. Too bad Liz's story isn't a completely happy one.

Like me Liz wasn't initially able to get her serum injection due to lack of funds. She was prone to doing a lot of excess partying, because at heart she wasn't really a happy person. She tried to find love at the bottom of a liquor bottle. These actions lead to a drunken one night stand with Micah being the happy accident.

Not long after Micah turned one there was this lottery of sorts held by one of the local radio stations, a modern pop station if I remember correctly. Only the prize for said lottery wasn't a jackpot of cash. The prize was a gift certificate to a local clinic for a serum injection. On the good side, she won the certificate and did end up finding her Soulmate. On the bad side, he was quite a bit younger than her and wasn't sure about being a dad right away. I've never officially met him, but she tells me that they still talk and occasionally go on dates. I guess that they won't be officially together until her Soulmate can come to terms with his unexpected responsibilities.

I'm personally torn with how I feel about her Soulmate's actions. On one side I understand where he is coming from if he is younger. On the other side though, a Soulmate is supposed to be the person that will want to be by your side no matter what. To not only be your love, but also your forever friend.

I now try to put myself in his shoes. If one of my five Soulmates has a child how would I react? I've always wanted a large family so it seems like it would be a no brainer. My outstanding concern would be the mother. Would I be jealous that another woman had a son or daughter with my Soulmate? I would hope I wouldn't, but honestly I am not really certain. It feels so surreal to think about, that I can only guess I won't know for certain unless I end up having to deal with that very scenario. I love children, but I'm a little bit uneasy about the idea of it. Probably because while I have dated a couple of guys in high school we have never done more than kiss. It's silly and outdated, but I was saving my virginity for my Soulmate. Crap, how am I going to make the decision on which Soulmate to give my virginity to?

I shake my thoughts away and realize how much I have been zoning out. Liz just asked me something and I didn't quite catch it. "I remembered that you had your serum injection yesterday. Did you receive a mark?"

"I–"

Just then Raina opens my apartment door, she must have grabbed my spare key before heading out, and strides in with the box of a dozen donuts that I had predicted. "Is that Liz?" She immediately asks.

Aside from Liz and Raina there is only one other person I would talk to this early in the morning and that's Carson. Carson also happens to be the barista that Raina was complaining about as she walked in this morning, so obviously I wouldn't be talking to him because he was still working. That meant by process of elimination it had to be Liz.

Raina sets the box of donuts down on my coffee table and ceremoniously takes my phone from me without a pause to ask if she can speak with her. "Liz, you should come over to Lily's apartment. We can have a full Soulmate Mark reveal party." She pauses for a second while Liz responds. "Hey, as long as he isn't running a fever and doesn't wipe snot on me I am sure it will be fine to bring Micah along."

I roll my eyes. I probably should have been the one to worry over if Micah was still contagious or not, but honestly I probably would have said something similar. Only minus the part about his snot. Raina often lacks tact.

After Liz arrives the time passes much faster having the trio here with me. Especially Micah who was certainly thrilled to find we had donuts for breakfast. Raina quickly tattled and told Liz how I didn't have a single Soulmate, but five. Now we were just waiting for the first mark to appear. We figured the one on my neck would be the easiest to see. Once it appears I can then change out my pants and into shorts. Then remove my shirt so Raina could then take photos of my marks.

"Whispers!" Raina ironically halfway screams.

"What?!" I ask, confused by her immediate outburst that didn't make sense to me. Who shouts the word 'Whispers'?

"The mark on your neck says, 'Whispers.'" She grabs my phone and takes a quick shot of that one. "Time to change pants and strip off your shirt."

With every shot she takes her eyes begin to grow wider and wider. After she takes the last photo on my back she deletes the excess blurry images and continues to stare at each well taken photo for a few moments. After about seven minutes she hands me back my phone so I can see my Soulmate Marks for myself. Before I start to do so however I end up gawking at Raina instead because she is acting completely out of character and pacing silently while worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. I honestly don't know if I have ever seen her this quiet for more than a minute before, at least outside of sleeping. Even then once she entered REM I wouldn't be surprised if I were to discover that she had full conversations out loud with herself while she dreamed.

I decide to do my best to ignore her for a moment so I can scan through the photos. Along with "Whispers" written on my neck the rest are also written words, but where "Whispers" is a single word the others are composed of two words or more. The one on my chest says, "My Heartbeat's Echo." Decorating my right thigh are the words, "Your Lullabye." On the upper part of my left arm are the words, "Swinging from a Star." The final one on my back actually sends a shiver down the location it's situated as I read it. "Lazy Caresses."

"I wish I knew what all these words mean. I mean they are all really pretty, but I can't make sense of any of them." I admit aloud.

Raina freezes and the stare she gives me is one I can't quite decipher. It seems cold, and yet somehow she also seems excited at the same time. "With the exception of 'Whispers' I have an idea of what they might mean."

I wait for her to elaborate, but then she surprisingly goes quiet once again. I am shocked by the fact that I have to verbally prompt her. "And?"

"Have you ever heard of Alluvion?" She asks me.

I shake my head, but Liz is able to partially answer her. "Aren't they a Kpop group that is growing in popularity internationally?"

Raina. "Exactly."

"What does a Kpop group have to do with my Soulmate Marks?" I ask in confusion.

"With the exception of 'Whispers' every single last one of them is a song title by the group. The group is composed of five members, and while I might not understand the importance behind that fifth word it makes me suspect that you might be the Soulmate of one of the most popular musical groups in the world."

"I.." Speechless. I'm completely speechless.

"After I call Winslow to look at your car we are turning this day into an Alluvion fact crunching day. I'll turn you into a Baby Current before you go to bed tonight."

"Baby Current?"

"Alluvion means flood. Current is their fangroup name. There, now you have had your first lesson. Next we are going to be listening to every single song that now decorates your body."

"Aside from 'Whispers.'" I mutter quietly.

"Wait, what if this is just a coincidence? What if she isn't actually their Soulmate?" Liz steps in to play Devil's advocate.

"Then hopefully I just recruited a new Baby Current regardless of that fact. I am sure we will learn some kind of news in the near future. If she is their Soulmate it will be exceedingly difficult for one of the members to hide a mark on his neck like that."