Thank you, readers! I am beyond overwhelmed by how much support I have received and how you all enjoy Aluna's story. This is an emotional chapter, and Luna is reunited with everyone again. Yay! Shoutout to those individuals who are reading after clicking on my book link somewhere. YouTube. Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. Online forums. Reddit. I appreciate everyone who is reading Tethered Souls. It is almost finished. Eek.
*Exhales deep breath*
If you are in or from Pakistan, Sarah loves Amir, and the country, just like Luna.

*Luna*

Amir didn't know how to react. Knowing my sister, she was probably ready to play twenty questions. I don't know. I was just excited and thrilled to finally hold her in my arms. It felt like it had been months, maybe years since I saw her. And I kind of laughed at Amir and his silence. This wasn't like him, but he was so used to seeing her in my memories and my mind that he stayed still, mute.

And Liberty looked so beautiful. Her black curls framed her cute, round face, and a small amount of make-up was applied to her eyes. I missed doing make-up sessions with her. She stepped back an inch and looked me over, then launched herself at me with full force, not wanting to let me go. When she finally did, she smiled brightly at Amir and walked in front of him, giving him a strong bear hug. I giggled.

"Thank you, Amir." Tears started streaming down her rosy cheeks. "You saved my sister. I can never thank you enough."

"No thank you is necessary," he said, his words muffled by her hair. "I love her. I would do anything for her, and for Sarah."

"I am glad to hear that," she responded, her voice thick. "You risked your life for her. You beat me to the punch. We were devising a way to get her out."

I clasped my hands to my chest, close to tears, just when another person stepped outside. Sucking in a deep breath, I was shocked to see Raul. He looked different since the last time I saw him. Stocky, and his facial hair was trimmed. The dark shadows under his eyes were gone, and his hair had grown out. He didn't look like my age anymore; slightly older now.

Amir lifted his head, finally laying eyes on him in person. During the months Amir and I had been seeing each other, he had only seen Raul through me. I didn't expect to see him here. Hell, I didn't know what to expect after our escape.

Raul came over and gave me a small hug. "Hi, Luna." I smiled back.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"You mean, you aren't happy to see me? After all we've been through?" I laughed. I knew he was joking. "My mother is inside with Sarah. She had to use the restroom. There is food and beverages inside if you'd like to come in."

Amir gave me a look. Then he said, "Yeah. It was a very long trip over here."

Raul stepped aside and brought out his hand. "I'm Raul," he said. "You must be Amir?" Amir nodded back as they shook hands. "Well, this house is my grandparent's home, and each of you guys are welcome to stay as long as you need to."

"So you know about the residents who live within this community?" I asked Raul still fathomed that this home is part of him. He nodded. "You know what I am?" Damn... I make it sound like I was an alien. Maybe our species came from Aliens? It's just a thought.

But before I could erase that silly thought, tweedle-dee and tweedle-jokester started laughing. Faisal and Ahmed heard my inner private thoughts.

"That could be true," Faisal said, still laughing against the Hummer.

I peered my gaze up at Amir. "If you didn't hear what I just thought, nevermind." But he looked at me and grinned.

Coming close to my ear, he whispered, "You might be onto something. Area 51 is out there."

"Yeah. Just laugh it up, guys." Even Raul was laughing. "What?"

"Aliens, Luna? I guess living in a town that believes in hauntings and ghosts, Aliens aren't too far-fetch."

"Wait... you read my mind?" My mouth opened when I asked Raul that. He was part of us?

He nodded. "Sure am. My abilities came after I turned seventeen. But like Ahmed, I developed the talent of turning off my powers."

"You lost your partner too?" I almost felt like crying. When I tuned into Amir's memories and saw him talking with Ahmed, he explained about what happened to him and his discovery. It was a sad story, and that was the problem with our species. We never knew when we'll become active.

"No. Actually, he is alive and well. He's living in Indonesia right now," Raul replied, glancing down to the ground.

"Guys," Ahmed interrupted. "We should go inside and talk about this. The sun is descending and some of us are tired."

"Yeah, and I still need to pray," Faisal said, pulling all the bags to the door. Amir walked around and helped him.

I sat with Raul on the steps and asked about his partner.

"His name is Chang, and is from China," he told me, looking down and playing with a leaf he picked up. "He's twelve years older than me and lives with his wife and children in her country. We rarely talk to each often because he is a denier. He dislikes his powers, so he told me to only see him as needed. And he has asked me to separate myself from being tethered to him. Last time I spoke to him... Maybe three weeks ago? I lose track most of the time."

Just listening to Raul's story was sad. I guess some people didn't luck up with a decent partner, and there were many deniers of our species. They hated having our gifts, so they washed it away like it was nothing.

"So, he continues living his life and not at all worried about what happens to you?" I asked him, and he shook his head.

"He once said if there was a way to separate a pair, he'd be first in line to get the serum. He also wants his powers to evaporate and go away. Like it was that easy. Chang doesn't want anything to do with being a Tethered Soul. You and Amir were lucky to be tied together. Not everyone gets to experience that connection."

"What connection?" I whispered, laying my elbow on my knee.

"Acceptance. Both of you accept who you are, and neither of you want to separate from the other. Not everyone is lucky."

"No. I guess not," I said, and looked down at the ground.

Then Raul got my attention and said, "I didn't realize you had the gene when my family and I saw you carrying on in the kitchen of our restaurant. We thought you were imagining Sam, again. I sort of let Liberty know that, and I'm sorry for telling her what you were doing."

"You don't have to apologize. It's okay."

"Well, I didn't inform Liberty about the Tethered Species because I wasn't sure if she knew anything. If I'd known that you were one of us, I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"It's okay to jump to conclusions. I would've thought the same thing if I were me." He laughed. "So tell me about this community and how it came to be."

Raul and I sat out here and chatted for a while longer. He explained that our species were hunted every day. People paid top dollar to find out everything they could about our abilities, and he mentioned that Chase snooped anywhere he thought I would be since my escape. That was why he offered Liberty and Ahmed the idea of this safe house, and we couldn't know the exact location to be on the safe side. All the residents were protected inside the security wall, and different people volunteer to be security guards. They have done security training classes so they could protect all the Tethered Souls within these walls. The TSH hasn't found them for the past fifteen years since starting this community, and the head hunter won't.

In the blink of an eye, Liberty rushed over to me and practically knocked me against the stone wall behind me. I almost forgotten what her hugs were like, and for someone who had the body of a ballet dancer, her grip was strong. And her hugs... well, I hadn't felt one of those in a long, long time.

I was surprised more than anything else and didn't know what this hug meant, but then I dropped my stuff and brought my arms around her tiny waist. Tears formed quickly, and I closed my eyes shut. The different parts of my body that felt achy over the last few days suddenly didn't feel as bad as her warmth flowed to me. That was a good feeling.

"I am so sorry," she said, her voice clogging up. Tears started coming through her eyelids. "I will never forgive myself."

"Why?"

She still hadn't loosened her grip around my body, and I didn't care. I needed her hug. "For everything-for not doing my best to get you out of there sooner, for not realizing beforehand that you weren't sick. It was Chase. It was all him. He drugged you all those years. And he made it look like you were seeing things. Then there was that doctor..."

The doctor who planted seeds of doubt inside her head was what she was going to finish with.

Blinking my tears away, I smiled against her neck. "You have nothing to feel bad about, Lib. I mean that. None of it..." Well, it mattered. My time in the hospital. But it was okay now. "Everything is fine. I'm okay."

She squeezed me tighter and whispered, "Seriously? Because all I could think about was all that you had to go through. Ahmed and Faisal explained to me everything that happened..."

My body jolted at the memories of my time there, and a swell of emotions pumped through my chest. I willed my tears away, not letting that place get to me. The memories weren't welcomed here, not during this happy moment. "It's fine."

"I'm so sorry."

"I know you are," I said as a few tears slipped out.

"Okay. Okay. I think you're both cutting off each other's air supply," Ahmed said, tugging on Liberty's arm. "And Amir looks like he's worn out."

"Pfft. Everything is just going to have to wait," Lib replied, holding my hands. "I've missed my Luna."

And then Ahmed replaced Liberty and gave me a gentle hug. It was nothing compared to hers, but it was still strong and fierce. "I'm sorry I didn't do this earlier," he whispered. "We had so much going on and needed to leave quickly. I'm glad you are okay."

I nodded.

"Okay. Now I am getting sleepy," Amir murmured, and Faisal laughed.

Ahmed gave me a quick squeeze. "We'll figure something out to take them down. You will get your revenge on Chase."

I wanted to tell him that wasn't important anymore, because right now I was out. Going after Chase will just lead him into capturing me again, and Amir's rescuing effort would have been all for nothing. I didn't even care to think about the Spawn of Satan anymore. After being in that facility, now more than ever I understood how important freedom was, and how I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize going back in there. The only thing I would change was the moment I told Amir not to come to me when he wanted to. Especially now that we know we could always touch each other. We were never a threat. Not an immediate one, at least.

Ahmed stepped aside and Amir swooped in, picking up my bag and bringing an arm around my waist. Ahmed tilted his head to the side and looked down at the bag. "Cute dolls. Where did you get them?"

"The gift shop at the motel," I told him. "Amir surprised me with them. You didn't see them before?"

He shook his head.

"Tell him what their names are," Amir said, kissing the top of my head.

My heart bounced, and my skin felt warm. "For the boy doll, Ibrahim, after Amir, and for the girl doll, Aluna, after the both of us."

Lib gazed at the dolls and smiled my way. "I think they look cute. They kind of resemble you two."

"Ha." I tugged them close to my chest. I loved these toys.

"Everyone want to head inside now?" Raul asked as he rocked on his black sneakers, patiently waiting for our answer. "I'm sure you guys are starving."

[Part Two of this chapter is next. --->]