Chapter Twoღ 

                My room was grey and bleak when my eyes fluttered open. I could tell that it was only the early hours of the morning and I frowned sleepily – I was not a morning person, which is why I was confused as to why I had managed to open my eyes before ten or clock.

                It hit me like a tsunami.

                It's my birthday.

               A gasp escaped my lips as I sprang up, throwing the sheets from my body so that I could look down at my wrist. My heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it were trying to break free from my chest. My breathing became shallow as I saw the thick black italic lettering on the skin of my wrist.

                Killian Durant

        I stared dumbly down at the name for what felt like eternity. My whole body grew rigid as if someone had just poured freezing cold water down my back. I felt numb as I looked down at the name tattooed on my skin until my eyes grew blurry and I could no longer see the black ink.

                Killian Durant.

                I was shakily trying to get out of bed because I knew I was either going to faint or throw up. I finally managed to make my body move and stumbled towards the bathroom. I slammed the door behind me and threw myself onto the ground beside the toilet.

                Killian Durant.

                Not Dominic Bradley.

                I was throwing up, my hands clutching the toilet seat as I retched my insides up. I was sobbing, large angry tears running down my face. Small animal-like wails sounded from my lips as I stared down at the tattoo. I was rubbing angrily at it with my long nails, screaming at it to disappear. The skin began to turn angry and red yet the name of my 'soulmate' remained prominent.

                Large hands clamped over my own, easily halting my attempt of ridding the disgusting tattoo from my wrist easily.

                "Nadia," A calm and collected voice said from behind me, "Stop."

                I looked over my shoulder and through my blurred vision I saw Christian. He was crouched behind me, his hands still clamped firmly around mine to stop my destructive actions. He had a grim expression on his face as he assessed my bright red wrist and tear stained face. I knew that I must have looked like a wreck, screaming on the floor as I attempted to make my tattoo disappear, but I didn't care.

                "It's not him." I sobbed.

                "I'm sorry." Christian apologised immediately.

                I could tell by the way he said it, with so much empathy and compassion that he meant it. His gaze on me softened as he slowly released my wrists and stood up from his crouched position.

                "Your parents are waiting for you downstairs." He told me after a moment.

                I nodded and he left, closing the door behind him.

                I wiped my eyes furiously but the tears refused to stop. I felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I thought about Dominic and I felt sadness run through my veins, poisoning my very being until it was the only emotion that remained. I loved him, he was my soulmate, not this stranger – not this Killian Durant.

                I was still sobbing but it had turned into a sort of desolate crying as I realised that I was helpless – trapped. I felt like the universe had cheated me, that I was being punished. I wanted to sulk and throw a tantrum like a child, I wanted to scream my protest to the heavens, claiming that they had gotten something wrong, that Dominic was my soulmate, not this Killian Durant, that nothing would ever compare to Dominic, that the thought of loving someone other than him was inconceivable.

                But it was hopeless, because the universe was never wrong, which was why I felt as if I were dying inside.

                When the tears finally stopped I picked myself up from the cold tiled bathroom floor and walked towards the mirror. It looked as if I were dying on the outside too. My dark hair was ratty and it had mingled with my tears causing stay hairs to stick to my neck and cheeks. My eyes were small and pink, making them look as if they were attempting to retire back into my skull.

                My wrists were stinging uncomfortable but I refused to look down at them to assess the damage. I couldn't bear to see the unfamiliar name printed across my wrist like a barcode, it would only cause me to break down once again and I knew that I had already been gone too long, that if I stayed any longer that my parents would send Christian upstairs to come and get me.

                I grabbed my makeup bag from my room, applying my usual makeup routine so that my skin didn't look as pink and blotchy and my eyes didn't look so shrunken. I ran a comb through my hair quickly and then pulled on a long sleeved top so that it obscured my wrists.

                And just like that I was ready.

                 My mask was in place. 

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        "It's a strange name isn't it?" Mum mused, her fingers turning my wrist to the left so that she could look at the tattoo once again. "Killian Durant. Durant, is that Spanish?"

            "Possibly." Dad considered.

            He was hunched over the computer at the other side of the living room. He had been searching Killian Durant into every search engine known to man. My Mum on the other hand hadn't left me alone since I had walked downstairs, as soon as I had sat down she had lunged forward, tugging up my long sleeve so she could look at the black ink that was now permanently embedded into my skin.

            "Don't worry dear, we'll find him, Killian Durant is a very uncommon name." Mum soothed, obviously assuming my blank expression was due to disappointment that I couldn't instantly run into the arms of my soulmate like she had.

            "Why do you want to find him so soon?" I questioned.

            "What do you mean?" Mum laughed in astonishment.

            "Can't we wait a while?" I tried to suggest calmly, "I'm in no rush."

            "Nonsense!" Mum scoffed, "Last night you were telling me how excited you were."

            "That was when I thought my soulmate would be Dominic." I whispered bitterly.

            My Mum's face softened as she came to the realisation that I was unhappy. She scooted closer to me so that our knees were touching. She reached over to me from her position opposite me so that she could move my dark hair away from my face.

            "Oh honey," She sighed heavily, "I am sorry about you and Dominic."

            "I love him." I told her fiercely.

            "Yes." Mum nodded but her eyes averted from my face and fixed themselves onto the plush living room carpet. "I understand that you're upset-"

            "Upset?" I repeated incredulously.

            Upset didn't even come into comparison to how I felt. I felt as though my heart was covered in paper cuts, which was causing it to bleed slowly and painfully, that there was nothing I could do to fix it. I felt as though my entire world had been tugged from beneath my feet, leaving me to fall into an endless pit of despair and unknown. 

                I was in agony.

                The only soulmate I wanted was Dominic, he was my soulmate. In almost every happy memory I had, Dominic was there. I remembered all the late nights that we had spent just talking about everything, how we were going to travel around the world as soon as we finished school, how we were going to go to the beaches in Hawaii and lounge around in the endless sunshine and swim in the sea, how we were going to sleep out under the stars and try and ride wild horses. Dominic was my other half, the one person I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, experiencing life and going on adventures.

                Dominic was my future.

                Not this stranger Killian Durant.

                "I know you're upset Nadia, but you have to let it go, you're future isn't with him anymore. Your future is with your soulmate Killian Durant. It's meant to be, written in the stars, you can't pine after a boy who was never supposed to be yours." Mum said gently, but I could sense the underlining threat of her voice, it was a warning.

                I shook my head furiously, "Dominic is mine!"

                "Not anymore." Mum disagreed firmly.

                "No-"I began to protest.

         "Your Mums right Nadia, you have to let him go. You weren't meant for each other." Dad scolded, momentarily looking up from the computer to fix me with his cold business-like stare.

                I sprang up from my seat, almost knocking it onto the ground completely. I stormed out of the doors, ignoring my parent's orders to return immediately. I was out of the front door and running immediately. I was barefoot but I could barely feel the snow crunching beneath my feet, I was numb, incapable of feeling any other pain apart from the fact that my soulmate wasn't the boy I loved.

                "Nadia!"

                I had known Christian would follow me – he always did, but I had wished that he hadn't caught up to me so easily. It was stupid of me to think I could outrun him, Christian was a machine, he had been trained to attack and run as though his life depended on it – in some cases his life did depend on it.

                I came to a halt and he was by my side in seconds. He was carrying a cream trench coat, almost identical to the black one he was currently wearing. A few snowflakes of snow had fallen into his hair, the white flakes emphasising the dark colour of his hair. He had even had enough time to grab a coat before catching up to me!

                "I need to see him!" I yelled angrily.

                "Your parents want me to bring you back." Christian told me, his smooth voice making all his emotions undetectable.

                I shook my head and backed away from him, "Please Christian, I need to see Dominic, I have to figure things out."

                His dark eyes watched me carefully, seeming to be having an inner battle with himself. I took a step closer to him and pressed my palms against the open collar of his coat so that I could look up at him.

                "Please Christian." I pleaded.

                His eyes bored into mine, his expression remained blank but I could see a flicker of something in his eyes – was it sympathy? He moved backwards so that my hands fell away from his coat and tears sprang to my eyes. He was going to drag me back, force me though the door so that I would have to face my parents, he –

                "Ok," He agreed calmly, "But I'll follow you to make sure you're safe and after that you have to promise you will let me take you home."

                I nodded furiously, "Yes, I promise!"

            He nodded but his expression remained unsure. I could tell that to some extent he understood my need to go and see Dominic, but on the other hand he was disobeying my parents which made him feel as if he were going against his duty.

                "Thank you." I said sincerely.

                He only nodded.

                "You have no shoes." He noticed when I started to walk again.

                "I didn't really have time to grab any during my escape." I mumbled. I felt betrayed by my parents reaction, they had acted as if my feelings for Dominic was just some silly school girl crush, that I had no idea when it came to love because I hadn't seen my 'soulmate' yet.

                "Wear these." Christian ordered.

                I looked over my shoulder to see that he had kicked his own boots off and that he was offering them to me. I started to shake my head but he rolled his eyes – the first unprofessional thing I had seen him do in the four months he had been my bodyguard, and dropped the shoes into my arms.

                "Their going to be big on you, but at least you won't get frostbite." He shrugged. The cold didn't seem to bother him at all, he had barley flinched since his bare feet had touched the freezing ground.

                "What about you?" I questioned.

     He smirked, as if he thought me worrying about him was ridiculous, "The cold doesn't bother me."

                I sighed, decided there was no point in arguing with my Mr. I'm-immune-to-cold-bodyguard, and put on his boots. He was right – they were huge on me, but I was grateful that I would no longer have to trek through the snow with freezing feet to get to Dominic's house.

                I heard a snort behind me as I tried to walk in his massive boots, tripping slightly ever now and then. I turned around with narrowed eyes only to see Christian staring innocently back at me.

                "What is it?" He asked.

              "Nothing." I replied after a minute, although I was pretty sure I could see a hint of amusement in his endless brown eyes. 

        A/N - Christian is going to be played by Ben Barnes (yummy picture on the side) and I won't deny the fact that I am madly in love with him! I hope you guys liked this chapter and felt the emotions that I was trying to put into it. Please show your support by commenting and voting! I would really appriciate it! 

        What do you think of Christian? How do you think Dominic will react when he finds out he isn't Nadia's soulmate?