Ezikel pins me down for the sixth time today and I'm getting sick of it. "Nubia, why are you off your game today?" He asks with one eyebrow lifted and a cute smirk on his face. "I think this lack of sleep is starting to get to me." I yawn when I respond. We have only been getting two hours of sleep the past two days and I think I'm going delusional. The nightmares aren't any better. I don't understand them so I think it's best to keep them a secret until I fully understand. I know they didn't happen, but I have a feeling it may become a reality. Ezikel clears his throat. "Did you hear me?" "Sorry Ezikel, I think I really need to go lie down for a couple of hours. Also, I don't want to look at another book for a while. Could you possibly let my mother know so I at least have 30 minutes before she finds me? He responds "I'll give you better 50 minutes. I'll go to your mother in about 20 minutes then she will take the 30 to get you." He is walking me out of the room when I turn and kiss him on the lips. No cheek this time. I kiss him. My body on instinct pulls away and I run out the door. What the fuck did I do. Was it okay to kiss him? Do I mean to kiss him? Do I have strong feelings for him? Or worse am I using him? Ugh, I need to sleep before I do anything crazy or something I will regret. My body hits the bed and I'm out.

  The door creaks and I roll over trying to get myself up before whoever comes in finds me. The lighting of the room is only by a lamp on the desk in the corner of my room and when my eyes adjust I see its dark time. Holy shit, how long did I sleep for. I sit up too fast and stumble over a box. My mother rushes in and helps me up as she is laughing at me. "Did we get too much sleep?" I nod and start laughing cause man I must have been knocked out for a couple of hours. "What time is it" I ask in a scratchy voice. "It's four in the morning." She responds. "Mom I'm so sorry I didn't mean to sleep that long. I will get back on top of my research and working out." My mother interrupts me before I go full spiral. "Nubia, you have been doing enough around here you deserved some rest and you also need to not be hard on yourself. That is not good for the soul." This is the first time my mother hasn't been hard on me and made me push myself. She may be hard on the outside but I know on the inside she is soft. As we walk out I get up, brush my teeth, and get ready for the day. I come to the mat and start to meditate. I breathe in and can smell the food being cooked up for breakfast. I breathe out my surrender to nature. I breathe in and smell the sweet flowers outside the building and breathe out the kinks in my body. The body can do amazing things if you lean into living yourself both physically and solely.

   Ezikel comes in when I am just about finished with meditation. "How can you calm yourself into a state where you can see everyone or anything coming at you?" He asks in a curious tone. "I don't know honestly. I can't explain how all I know is when I first aligned with myself I was able to see myself, my soul. After we had that encounter, I have gotten myself to slow down time. Then  I focus on myself and cleanse my chakras which creates your soul. If your chakras are off balance your soul will feel like it out of your boy. This is why people get lightheaded, feel nauseous, or sometimes sluggish because their body is disconnected from their soul." I answer what maybe can help him understand but I am even confused about how I can see those images in my head beforehand. "Maybe cause your soul's eyes are still open through your third eye which is why you can see with your eyes close?" His response makes me think. "Possibly, we will need to read more about it in one of those trillion books. Hey! maybe it's one of the guardian skills that I unlocked." I say too loud and excited. He laughs at me and opens the door. As I am walking through the door frame I am side-swiped by Candy. Ezikel is thrown through the door.  

  "Today's lesson is pairs. Let's see how well you guys can do with communication on a soul level." My Mother tries to sound direct. I just look at Ezikel and we both ask at the same time. "What is communication on a soul level?" Candy and my mom don't answer they just rush us. My mother targets Ezikel and she isn't taking it easy on him. She slices through the air with two silver blades. He keeps doing till one slices a thin line on his chin. He wipes it with his arm. When my mother goes to charge him I try to go help and forget that I am fighting Candy. His hand wraps around my waist and throws me back. I slam into the brick wall—every muscle in my back stings from the pain. The brick wall holds me up for a moment and I don't have time to think. Candy comes in with a neck kick to my left ribs. I block her with both hands and move to grab her by the neck slamming her down on the floor. My feet start towards Ezikel who is on the floor blocking hits. My legs are grabbed and I fall to the ground. Candy is on top of me and she is throwing left and right punches. I'm trying to keep up with each hit but she is faster than I am and gets one in by my eye and the other on the right side of my chin. I'm fed up and I shield myself. My soul starts to focus on where Ezikel is and then I can reach him. My mother smiles and Candy and her slide next to each other. "They're planning something," I tell Ezikel. "But their not even talking to each other how are they planning anything?" Ezikel yells back. Soul communication, soul communication. Ugh I know I read it somewhere. It's as if a light bulb has gone off in my head. I whisper, "Ezikel you have to accept my soul. Not like soul jumping but trust my soul to talk to yours." Ezikel looks hesitant at first but he finds it in him to let me in. I see his soul in silver and gold. It looks beautiful. My lips are sealed shut but I talk through my soul. "Can you hear me?" Ezikels freaked-out face lets me know he can hear me loud and clear. "What do you think they have planned?" Ezikel ask. "They're going to figure out how to wear my shield down but I honestly can only hold it for 15 minutes max. It also wears me down. I won't be strong enough but I'll lean into my connection and finish Candy with a side swipe to her left Knee. Use your flight to go behind my mother grab her under her arms and make sure her hands are pinned to her head." As I'm telling the plan to Ezikel I can feel the shield tremble and slowly come down. What they don't expect is I take it down faster than what they were waiting for or trying to figure out how to take it down. Ezikel and I set the plan and we have won this round of the battle. My mother is proud of us that she decided to have a celebration dinner tonight for our success.

  The dinner table is long and everyone in the building must be joining us for our success because there isn't an empty seat except for two chairs next to us. The food has food from all over the world and it seems to be rotating around so everyone can have anything they want. Ezikel sits down and digs in. I'm not far behind him. We also received wine and it was sweet like cherries. There is laughter everywhere at the table. people are telling stories of battles, funny moments of not knowing how to use their powers, or almost blowing up stuff with lightning. I can't stop laughing. I am also happy to hear I am not the only one who struggles with their power. Ezikel laughs and even grabs my hand. I don't know how long we are holding hands but I know it feels good. My mother calls it a night but tells everyone to keep enjoying. She also is allowing a free day tomorrow. I wonder what that means for everyone. do we get to sleep in or stay in our rooms all day? The room starts to spin a little and I decide is best that I get to my room. Ezikel decides he will walk me to my room because I made no sense at all and I don't even know what I was trying to say. 

The hallways feel longer when you're drunk i think we might have missed a turn or maybe this is where we are supposed to be. I can hear Ezikels deep sexy laugh and I feel hot. Stop thinking in that way. It's only been two months since I slept with Damian and I can't just jump in bed with someone else. Umm, I'm sure it will help get over Damian. Am I talking to myself? "Nubia, you passed your door," Ezikel says when his hand grabs mine. His face has a blush of pink right under his eyes. Those eyes are light brown almost like honey. I want to say something but I can't because he is also drunk and our lips collide. I can see our soul dust and it's a violet color with hints of pink. I pull him into my room. He closes the door behind him. "Nubia, I want you." Ezikels out of breath says in my mouth. "Have me. I want you to have me." I say breathing heavily. He stops me from trying to pull his shirt off. "But I can't have you. Your soul isn't tied to mine even if I want you to be mine. I know deep down it will always be Damian who will have your heartfully and I can't put myself in a position where I will have to ask you to choose. It's not fair to either of us and I don't want to hurt you." Ezikel says and he is trying really hard not to ruin this moment but I get where he is coming from. "I'm sorry Ezikel. It's not fair." I say to him and he nods his head and walks out the door leaving me there with my feelings.