There is something about days when the wind blows against your cheeks, brushing the cool skin like gentle caresses and a few drops of mist. 

The world seems a little slower because not a lot of people like to go out on days like this, and yet the world seems more vivid too – drenched in the colours of grey and accent blue.

The particular morning was something like this.

The soles of my shoes tapped against the wet corridor of the school building, splashing miniature puddles pooling in random areas and continuing onwards... letting the flurrying water slowly settle back into calm clearness. A clearness that reflected the grey clouds in the sky.

An arm remained hooked to the white tote hung from my shoulder, while the other swung with my hurried movements, a dull ache ripping under the surface of my skin whenever it brushed against the material of my pants. My left wrist... that was nothing less of a cleverly hidden blue-black testament of the long slender fingers that were wrapped around them for the past two hours I spent in the lecture room.

My melancholy was that I was too stubborn to admit defeat. I was too stubborn to let him believe I could see him, and so just as I had done last night when I simply turned away from the mirror — at that very moment, as I walked out of the auditorium, I simply pretended as if the tall pale man walking beside me like a shadow... was none other than the wind.

"Ni— Gardenia!"

Surprised at the urgent cry echoing my name so shrilly, my wide eyes snapped up to the person the voice belonged to and stilled. Ah...

"Nadine," I tried to smile at my classmate calmly. Pushing down the sight of pure amusement painted across the pale face of the man standing behind her.

"You... did you go somewhere... dirty? So-somewhere old?"

I blinked, staring at the wide-eyed Nadine who turned a little to the side, clearly refusing to look at the individual behind me.

"No," I shook my head dumbly, "Why?"

Nadine cringed visibly...

"Well, you... I ... I think something is attached to you... but I..I can't feel it anymore... I think it was something dirty..."

The daunting air, again, washed itself over me. As if like calculated magic... precisely on the same minute as Nadine's last word fell.

I heard a scoff behind my head, "Dirty? How did you land yourself a morbidly blind wife, Kai?"

My eyes widened as I stared at the normally domineering Kai calmly lower his judgmental eyes on me, but maintained his silence.

"Well, at least she can sense and communicate with you," The being behind me reflected, "My wife can't even see what a handsome husband has fallen on her lap."

Once again Kai's judgmental eyes fixed themselves on me. Once again he remained silent, but this time he raised an eyebrow at me humorously. As if mocking me for keeping this secret from my soulmate.

Faced with a situation such as this, there seemed to be only two options. One was telling Kai to take that smug face and return to hell, and the second was being the ever-so-composed human and avoiding unworldly discourse.

I chose the latter and simply decided to maintain all conversations limited to Nadine.

"I have been apartment hunting recently, I've been to a lot of places you see." I shrugged helplessly.

"Oh, well..." Nadine's eyes darted around me in panicked contemplation, as if she was deciding whether to say the next few words.

"Well..." She hesitated again, her wide gaze resting on my calm ones, "Well... the tune sounds nice, you mustn't be too upset, right?"

I blinked.

Is she saying ... my soulmate... has a nice voice?

"I suppose not?" I couldn't help but let my lip tilt up into a smirk.

Nadine's expression mirrored mine and then she jumped on her feet, "Oh! Did you hear? That girl you were roommates with, the girls at the dorm were talking... she has been missing classes lately. Hasn't been coming out of the room."

I blinked.

Opal.

The waves of life were such. Some crashed against the shore and brought with it offerings, but some waves wanted more and pulled you in with them... deep into the darkness...to float and sink...together...forever.

I would be lying if I said I did not expect something like this to happen. People often expected their life to become calm when I left... but their nights often grew louder.

Regardless, a lesson I had learnt after much pain and humiliation was to not cry wolf before someone else spotted the wolf and cried as well.

"That's unfortunate, I wonder what's wrong." Somewhere close, streams of laughter echoed in the air.

The waves of laughter sounded bright, full of hope and wonder, studying at a university was arguably the most wonderful time of a person's life. The time one made many friends and memories. Both they would carry for the rest of their life. To face... pain and adversities during a time that was supposed to be one of your happiness... a shame. It was such a shame.

Nadine crinkled her nose at my response. Her eyebrows gathered together in concentrated distaste, "They are saying you cursed her."

I smiled.

"Ah, I see," I shrugged, smiling at Nadine knowingly, "Don't think too much about it. It's to be expected."

"Well, it's not your fault her sou—" The shrill notification alert rang around the air between us, making us both jump a little and move our attention to the cell phone in Nadine's hand.

I watched as a glance at the device had Nadine jumping a little in fright.

"I forgot! My dad has arranged a blind date with a business partner's son. I have to meet him in 15 minutes!"

I blinked. Blind... date?

My wide eyes snapped to the tall translucent being standing behind the girl silently. His dark pools trained at his human bride.

"What is this? Kai, you have got to be joking me, you know clearly, we can not function in polygamy."

"I-I will text you! I have really got to go!" Nadine jumped slightly in panic, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Text me where you are going," I nod in understanding, "Be safe!"

"I'll send the brothers for you!"

My unworldly soulmate was only able to scream that before the girl and ghost pair went out of sight.

|||||||||||

The estate was even more radiant than last time. As if it too, was celebrating the arrival of a change in ownership. There was something about the air — crisp, clear, and fragrant. The breeze was gentle and the leaves slowly floated down to fall right in front of me as I walked awkwardly behind a small line of people carrying my belongings towards the entrance of the manor.

Somewhere in the distance, the soft sound of a piano could also be heard. The tune was something I had never heard before but could sit and listen to for hours upon hours. Just as spring-like as the trembling pale pink petals of the lotus flower floating in the pond.

"Ma'am, you must be hungry. If you would be alright, why don't you settle yourself in the hydrangea nursery there and we will serve you something?"

The clear voice caught me off guard and brought my attention to the short around 4ft young man standing beside the line of people now entering the manor.

"This way please," He beamed at me before quickly moving towards where I thought the nursery was. The young man was surprisingly quite fast, faster than I could form a reaction or kindly refuse. However, in the face of his kind enthusiasm, I could only follow behind him, sparing only one glance back to the group taking my luggage inside. My body-less attachment was strangely nowhere to be seen. In fact, he had suddenly disappeared mid-way journey.

His disappearance sparked a curious candle in my mind. It made me wonder if there was an organised form of existence in the afterlife. Simply because he had seemed to freeze, talked to someone in the air, glanced at me for a few seconds and then simply melted into the air.

Could it be... that there was an entire structured supernatural world running parallel to the living?

It could make sense, after all, would deities and Gods not command organisation? And were Werewolves considered a society within the living or outside of it? And my soulmate?...what was he preoccupied with? Did he have a duty? A role?

All these thoughts seeped out of my mind the moment my gaze met the nursery. A small greenhouse with a triangular roof housed pink, blue, purple, and green puffs everywhere. Like a beautiful heaven of colour... and in between... a quaint circular table with two equally delicate-looking chairs on each side.

"Please, ma'am, have a seat!" The smiling man gestured towards the chair. I could do nothing except follow through with the suggestion, quietly settling into a chair.

"Do you have any dietary restrictions or allergies, ma'am?" The man asked promptly, taking out a smartphone and holding it before him.

"No, I can eat anything," I replied, feeling my cheeks warm with the amount of delicate attention I was getting.

"What is your name?" I straightened in my seat when I noticed the man was about to retreat.

"Oh, forgive me, I am Otto." He smiled amiably, waving his hand a little at the first sight of an awkward greeting since I had seen him.

I smiled back, mirroring his wave, "Hello Otto, I am Gardenia. It is very nice to meet you, I genuinely appreciate your kind reception. I am hoping it wouldn't be too much if you could pass a message to everyone around the estate, please?"

Otto blinked, still eager looking as he tapped a few things on his phone and looked back up to me expectantly.

"Thank you," My smile brightened, "I would like to be addressed as Gardenia or Nia by everyone. I would also like to meet all the staff if that is possible. Possibly over lunch or dinner the following weekend. Do you think that's alright?"

"Of course! Of course! I think it's a wonderful idea, Miss Nia. Everyone is eager to meet you too."

"Thank you! I cannot wait," I beam down at Otto, grateful when his smile genuinely seemed to widen as well.

||||||||||||

Settling into the estate was easier than I had expected, getting to know the staff was easier than that.

Thankfully, the Saturday lunch went smoothly. The vast majority chose lunch over dinner as they somehow refused to remain near the manor after sunset. I could understand, it seemed that everyone working on the estate was supernaturally gifted in one way or another, which goes to show... they were all aware of the unworldly existence of the true owner of the estate.

Commutes to and from school had suddenly become a luxury. The days of public transit seemed like a distant dream, now I had a black Mercedes waiting to take me wherever I wished. Ungrateful though it may seem, I was unable to get used to it. I had not grown to know or get comfortable in such opulence.

Transportation aside, a lot of other aspects of my life had also changed. I did not have to worry about making ends meet anymore. I did not have to worry about groceries, day-to-day funds, and the eventual rent I thought I would have to coup up and pay monthly. The estate ran itself and I seemed to now be carried on its back.

The most difficult thing about settling into the estate was actually the undeniable presence of my soulmate. Clarity seemed like searching for a drop of water in a desert in his presence. All I could focus on was his existence, which in itself was difficult with my stubborn desire to pretend that he was nothing but thin air.

Since acquiring the knowledge of my existence, of my mother's true self and the absence of that trait in me. After the research and tales by people around me, I wondered... what it would feel like to have a soulmate.

To be fair, didn't everyone have a soulmate? It was just that most supernatural beings such as werewolves were gifted with an accurate detector.

I had once heard that having a soulmate was a gift. A gift from God, or from the devil.

At that time, I remember having a dangerous thought. If having a soulmate did not determine happiness, what was the point of having one?

I suppose that was how I had spent the years consoling myself because I didn't believe I would find mine, as I had not inherited my brother's trait.

I had told myself over and over that it was better to have the freedom to find and choose the person you wanted to devote yourself to than to be directed to them by fate, and given no choice.

Still, which girl would not dream of love?

I suppose I had to. On nights when I let my heart dictate my mind, I had wondered how it would feel ... if fate favoured me and I found a soulmate... a gift from God... how would it feel like?

Now I knew.

It felt like you had a home in a person. A place where you belonged, where you felt safe. A roof above your head on a rainy day, a wall to keep you safe from the stormy wind, a window to let you see the sunlight, to feel the cool breeze of life, and a door that allowed confident freedom. Confidence that you could live, and explore the world to your heart's content — and this home would be here, with you, for you, to protect... love... and shelter you.

Unfortunately, my home seemed to be quite invisible to the vast majority of the world we lived in.

And somehow, I had managed to live with this invisible home for a whole 5 weeks.

Thankfully I did not have to handle the logistics and management of the estate businesses. Surprisingly it was handled by my quite undead soulmate through some impressive miracle I was still incapable and unwilling to devote my mind to in an attempt to understand the mechanics. That too, was due to the fact that I was ignoring Adam's existence to date.

Besides that, over the past 5 weeks, my hypothesis on the supernatural society had solidified quite significantly.

Unlike how I had observed in the werewolf society where male mates often glued their partners to themselves or had a full account of what they did, Adam disappeared almost daily at odd hours at a time. Sometimes he would also communicate with someone I could not hear or see, as if through a connection simply in his brain.

If he were alive, this behaviour could be classified as a mental disorder.

Even more peculiarly, I had heard him speak of transporting people and collecting things. Surely it seemed like my soulmate was an underworld Uber driver.

Unlike the trend for the past few days, the day had begun quite gloomily today. The sky was grey all throughout the day and distant thunder rolled up above in the sky, dull but foreboding.

I had spent the day lying above the soft covers of my bed, in a pair of long mint green sweatpants and a matching baggy shirt.

Before me was an option laptop and an old book about the estate's origin which I had borrowed from a library in the estate that I had discovered just a few days ago.

I had realised that since I was to stay in this estate, it was best to complete the assignment while my motivation lasted. The current focus of my attention unwillingly drew me to think of Parker, my classmate who had also been given the estate as a topic, Parker who was soon to arrive as well.

Where was I to live while she lived here during her selected assignment period?

I couldn't afford to hear new rumours about me spread. Most of the kids in my faculty knew I was an international student with no tie here, and most of my ex-dorm mates knew I was not impressibly rich nor with connections, or I would have forsaken the dorms way earlier after being kicked out of rooms one after the other. Now how would I explain that I had somehow scored residence in a multi-million dollar estate? It was hard luck.

A soft puff of sigh left my lips as I gently shook my head and began to refocus my attention on the string of words on the lit screen.

Tap tap tap

My fingers began dancing above the keyboard gently but surely, pressing down on letters that began to form the summary of how the estate had come to be. Most of which seemed hogwash to me, due to the fact that it was too normal. Too human. Without even a hint of the supernatural.

Nonetheless, I continued to tap away. I was not going to write anything more than what they wanted to be known about the estate. I was going to let the human point of view remain, let the supernatural be hidden. This was no exposé... simply a university assignment.

It began to lightly shower outside. The pale cream curtains began to twirl flimsily into the room, as the scent of wet soil and flowers waded into the room from the open balcony door. It was peaceful. I suppose I was happy.

The loud crack in the silence seared through the silence as my phone began to vibrate on the mattress.

A glance at the lit screen made me surprised.

The Warden.

"Good evening, ma'am," without waiting for the other party to speak, I greeted the lady immediately upon accepting the call.

"Ah," an exhausted voice tumbled out of the device into my ears, "Gardenia I hope I have not found you at an unforgiving time."

"No ma'am, it's quite alright. Is something the matter?" I replied evenly, although I knew that something had to be the matter for her to call me so suddenly.

"Yes," the warden supplied quickly, before stopping, as if to hold herself back from saying things too quickly, on the whim.

"You see... your roommate Opal... has found herself in quite a peculiar state of being."

My eyebrows gathered together in a frown. A state of being?

Did her soulmate attempt to communicate with her again? Tried to take her with him?

"I don't quite understand, ma'am."

The silence on the other side remained for what seemed like a long time. At one point I even began to wonder if the warden had cut the line.

Then it replied. An answer.

"She's possessed."