Curse of Soulmate--The Complete Series

by D. N. Leo

  “I know it’s not easy. That’s why I think Ciaran is receiving some training now. The king cannot connect with us, but Ayana activated the seal of the successor on Ciaran’s arm a few days ago, so the king might be able to connect with his successor now. But that’s only a theory.”

  “You’re saying Ciaran is in a hologame now?” Tadgh asked.

  “The king built the first super artificial intelligence system in the multiverse. The system ran Eudaiz flawlessly while he was in absence for more than thirty years. If the training comes from him, it won’t be just a hologame, Tadgh.”

  “What can we do to help him?” Madeline asked.

  “If you have faith in God, then pray.”

  The hologram of Richard flickered and disappeared.

  Madeline stormed into the bedroom. Tadgh followed. The room was as quiet as a tomb. Jo sat at the end of the bed, holding a damp cloth, confused and worried. Before Madeline could ask, Jo hopped off the bed and shoved the cloth into Madeline's hands.

  "He’s burning up like an oven. I can't watch this. Did you get any info? Is there anything I can do to feel less useless?"

  Madeline pulled the sleeve of Ciaran’s shirt up, revealing the crucifix tattoo glowing white and blue.

  “Jesus Christ, Grandfather was right. The king must have Ciaran in some form of a game.”

  “A hologame?” Jo asked.

  “He said it might be something more complicated and advanced than a hologame.”

  Ciaran grunted as if he had been hit. His body tensed up and convulsed like he was in a fight—or being beaten up. Madeline jumped on the bed. She held Ciaran's hands. As soon as he felt her hands on his, he gripped them.

  "Ciaran, please come back to me!" Madeline cried out.

  Ciaran squeezed Madeline's hands, and his body gradually loosened up.

  Jo stared, contemplating. Then she yelped out the words, "Kiss him. Kiss him, Madeline."

  Madeline did.

  Ciaran's body relaxed and cooled down instantly.

  "He can feel you. He can feel us. And that means we can feel him." Jo waved her arms in the air for victory. Madeline and Tadgh gawked.

  "Can you wake him?" Tadgh asked.

  Jo scurried toward the bedroom door.

  "Where are you going?" Tadgh asked.

  "To get the eyes." She disappeared out the door. Then they heard her voice. "I need your muscles, Tadgh."

  "Oh, okay."

  Tadgh rushed out of the room.

  A moment later, Jo, Tadgh, Doctor Thomas, and George filed back into the room. Jo dove to the computer keyboard, doing something that only she and Ciaran would understand.

  "Doctor Thomas, I need the connections to his vitals and visuals," Jo said while typing like a madwoman.

  Doctor Thomas connected a wire to Ciaran's body.

  "George, can you hook up the monitor?" she asked while still typing.

  "My expertise." George didn’t hesitate to dive in to help his cousin.

  Ciaran's temperature shot up again. Madeline grabbed the cloth and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He grunted again.

  "That's a fucking kick from the back. Coward," Tadgh swore.

  "How do you know, Tadgh?" Madeline asked.

  "I don't know, Madeline. But I have no fucking clue what else to do here."

  "Done," Jo said.

  George turned the monitor on. Images of faceless creatures with bodies shaped like half-man and half-ape looked back through the screen. Everyone gasped.

  "Holy cow, what is that?" Tadgh gaped at the creatures.

  "We’re seeing what Ciaran is seeing," Jo said.

  "So we are looking at this from Ciaran's perspective? We have his visual?" Doctor Thomas asked.

  "Yes," Jo said.

  "He's lying on the ground. Those fuckers must have attacked him from behind. Like I said, cowards!"

  "Good, Tadgh, you know Ciaran's movements. Tell us—” Madeline began.

  "I'd kick that fucker right there in the face," Tadgh said, pointing to the monitor.

  On the monitor, they saw Ciaran’s foot kick into the head of the monkey standing in the middle. The other monkeys yelped. They could see a punch here and a kick there until the bunch of monkeys retreated and ran away.

  Then they saw an open field with rolling green hills on one side and stone caves on the other. The air was suspiciously still.

  "What is that? Jo, is there a way we can communicate with Ciaran?" Madeline asked.

  Jo shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't know how."

  On the monitor, they kept seeing quiet meadows and rivers.

  "No, this isn’t right. It’s suspicious. I wouldn't keep moving," Tadgh said.

  On the monitor, the scenery became static, suggesting that Ciaran had stopped moving forward.

  In the distance, they saw a pack of wolves rise from the tall grass and charge toward them.

  "Oh, God, can we give him a weapon, Jo?" Madeline asked.

  "It's not a hologame. I can't insert anything or manipulate the data.”

  "Time traveling. Is this a simulated game?" George asked.

  "Can he hear us? He felt Madeline before,” Tadgh said.

  "I don't think he can hear any of us," Jo said.

  "This is in another dimension. It's not time traveling, and it’s not a hologame. It’s dimensional traveling. Ciaran told me about that yesterday," Tadgh said.

  "Which dimension?" Jo asked.

  "I don't know. I didn't pay him any attention. Some stupid quantum physics rules. Something about a parallel universe. Some strings or wires. How the fuck should I know?" Tadgh kicked at the desk.

  "You mean M theory? Quantum travel?" Jo asked.

  "I don't know, Jo. Whenever he goes on about that, my brain turns into clay."

  "But he's here. His body is here, at least. So whatever the dimension is, how can we channel him back here?" Madeline asked.

  "Maybe you can talk him back. He can't hear us, but he seems to respond to you, Madeline," Doctor Thomas suggested.

  Chapter 90

  The ferocious wolves charged closer to savage.

  Ciaran turned around and raced toward the forest. He ran as fast as he could.

  On the monitor, everyone in the room could see the shaking view of the forest. They could see Ciaran's hands reaching up and breaking a tree branch. He held it like a weapon. He turned around and stared straight at the wolves.

  The view of the incoming wolves filled the screen, suggesting that Ciaran had zeroed his view in and was looking straight at them.

  Gigantic wolves.

  They ran in a pack with structured attacking positions. The leader, an enormous black wolf, ran in the middle. It charged at Ciaran as if it was its life mission to kill him.

  Ciaran stepped closer. When the wolf leaped at him, he ducked down and stabbed the sharp edge of the tree branch up. The branch impaled the wolf. It fell and roared. But the wound was not enough to kill it.

  "Hit it! Whack the motherfucker into the mud!" Tadgh screamed.

  On the screen, the view suggested Ciaran was doing just that. He hit at the big wolf with the tree branch nonstop.

  A bunch of smaller wolves lunged at Ciaran.

  "Oh my God, Jo, there are so many of them. Can we give him a gun?" Madeline asked.

  "I told you before—it’s not a hologame. There’s nothing I can do to help. But it does feel like a simulated environment. It seems like these are challenges. Problems he has to solve to pass a test."

  "Would they kill him for real?" Tadgh asked.

  Before Jo could answer, Ciaran moaned.

  "It must have bitten him. It did! It bit him!" Madeline yelped when she saw a streak of blood on Ciaran's hand.

  Tadgh paced, mumbling to himself. "So it kills. It can kill.”

  Several smaller wolves charged at Ciaran.

  "Tadgh, Tadgh . . . what would you do now?" Madeline cried out.

  Tadgh still mumbled. "Don't know. I don't know. Challenge. It's a
challenge. Isn’t that what you said, Jo?'

  "Yes," Jo responded.

  "I . . . I'd try to kill the big wolf. That's my only chance," Tadgh said.

  Another bleeding wound appeared on Ciaran's arm.

  "They're mauling him!" Madeline panicked.

  The screen filled with wolves’ teeth and claws. Some were scarily close. Some of the wolves were spun away as Ciaran flailed his arms. A few more were kicked and thrown away, creating a gap.

  The big wolf stood up and plunged through the gap.

  Ciaran reached his hands up and grabbed for it. He spun it around and pinned it on the ground.

  On the screen, it was clear that Ciaran no longer had his weapon. His two bare hands clutched at the head of the big wolf. It tried to kick free and growled.

  On the bed, another wound broke out on Ciaran shoulder.

  "Crush the head! Crush its head!" Tadgh yelled.

  "He can't crush that monster's head with bare hands, Tadgh," George said.

  "I know. But he can't let go. It’s his only chance."

  Another wound broke out on Ciaran's shoulder. Blood dripped down onto the mattress.

  On the screen, they saw Ciaran's hands gripped tightly on the monster's head. He was still being bitten by some of the smaller wolves, but he squeezed hard. Harder. More. But the wolf’s head was still intact. It turned around and tried to bite his hands.

  Madeline looked at Ciaran's face. Then looked at his hands on the screen. She understood what he needed to do—and what she needed to do to help.

  On the bed now, she bent down and kissed Ciaran. Her lips connected with his. She grabbed his hands and squeezed hard.

  Her thoughts connected to his.

  You have my support. You have me, Madeline thought. She squeezed his hands harder. Kill it with your bare hands, Ciaran. I love you, Madeline told him in her mind.

  With all the power of her psychic ability, she transferred her energy, her thoughts, her wishes to him.

  She connected to him. This was what he needed.

  Kill it, Madeline thought again.

  She squeezed his hands harder. Kill it.

  On the screen, Ciaran's hand crushed into the wolf's head. Its head caved in like a smashed watermelon.

  The wolf disintegrated and vanished along with the smaller wolves.

  On the screen, Ciaran looked at his hands as if he could not believe what he had done.

  Madeline kissed Ciaran's cheek. She wiped the blood from the wounds on his shoulder. She wished he would open his beautiful gray eyes and look at her. But it seemed as if there were more challenges awaiting him wherever he was at the moment.

  On the screen, the forest burst into flames.

  Ciaran ran. He charged out of the forest and headed toward the water.

  The heat must be incredible. Ciaran's body temperature shot up as if he had a fever. Madeline grabbed the cloth nearby and wiped away the sweat that dripped into his eyes.

  It looked as if there was a river in the distance. He sped up. He could beat the fire.

  From a small bush nearby, a baby wailed. Ciaran looked. Laurent was there, holding baby Bella in her arms, running from the fire. Laurent was lagging behind.

  "It’s an illusion. They want to slow him down. Come on, Ciaran. Don't stop!" Tadgh yelled.

  Ciaran grabbed Bella and helped Laurent run. They slowed him down considerably. The fire caught up. It was only a few feet away from them.

  Madeline knew she couldn’t ask Ciaran to leave the woman and the baby behind. He had to know it was an illusion. Laurent and Bella had died in front of him weeks ago.

  They were one of Ciaran's deepest regrets. They were his weakness. But still, in whatever dimension or whichever world he existed in at the moment, he could not leave the woman and the baby behind.

  They approached what looked to be a river, only to discover that it wasn’t a river at all. Instead, they faced a bottomless canyon, connected to the adjacent mountain by a tiny crossing bridge.

  The fire exploded into fireballs, and they rolled toward them at an incredible speed. Ciaran gave baby Bella back to Laurent and helped them to the bridge. He held the bridge firmly so that Laurent could cross safely.

  The fire closed in. The air pressure and the wind swung the bridge violently from side to side. The wire snapped, and the bridge collapsed.

  Ciaran reached out for Laurent's hand. She dragged him over the edge of the canyon. Ciaran's left hand hung desperately onto the edge. His right hand grabbed for Laurent, who was still hanging onto the baby. They were dangling from the cliff by Ciaran's left hand which bore the entire weight of his body, Laurent's, and the baby's.

  "This isn’t possible. They died. It's an illusion. Let them go,” Tadgh said in desperation. But he knew Ciaran would never do that.

  Ciaran would never do that if it were his decision . . . if it were under his control, Madeline thought.

  This was a test of the strength of a leader, of the ability to compromise and sacrifice smaller subjects for greater causes.

  But this was not fair. Ciaran didn’t know he was destined to be the ruler of Eudaiz. He didn’t know how great of a cause it was. He didn’t know this was a test. She had to help him.

  Chapter 91

  Madeline kissed Ciaran again. She locked their thoughts together. She intertwined his pain and her pain. She whispered in her mind.

  Let them go, Ciaran. You have to survive.

  On the bed, Ciaran's right hand grabbed at the bed sheet. Madeline held it.

  Let go, Ciaran. For me. You have to survive. You have to live for me. Let go, Madeline thought.

  She knew he could read her thoughts. She pulled his hand off the bed sheet. Sweat streamed down his face. Madeline could taste it. She could smell the black water at the bottom of the canyon. She could feel the breeze coming from the darkness. She could hear the call of death.

  She kissed Ciaran deeper. I love you, Ciaran. You have to stay alive. People depend on you. Let Laurent and the baby go. You have to let them go.

  Madeline pulled hard at Ciaran's right hand.

  On the screen, his hand let go. The woman and the baby fell into the darkness.

  A tear trickled down Ciaran's face.

  Madeline wiped away the tear. She had never seen him cry. He never revealed his tears or his pain to anyone when he was in control of his body. She ached for him. In his subconsciousness, he cried for a woman and a baby who were already dead.

  The screen went blank. Then it came back up.

  "Where's that?" Tadgh asked.

  In front of them was an endless snowfield. Nothing but white snow. In the distance, a woman stood in a white coat. She turned around.

  "Mother!" Tadgh gasped. "That is total fucking bullshit. That’s a trap. Ciaran will be able to tell."

  "No, I don't think so." Madeline shook her head. This test was designed to target his weakness. He wasn’t prepared. He didn’t know. He didn’t even know it was a test. Otherwise, he would treat it like a game, and he would win. This was hopeless, Madeline thought.

  Ciaran approached Jennifer.

  "No, no, no!" In the room, Tadgh yelled and kicked at furniture.

  On the screen, Jennifer turned around and smiled. It was the gentlest, most gracious, motherly smile Madeline had ever seen from Jennifer.

  Ciaran approached her.

  "Jesus Christ, you're an idiot, Ciaran," Tadgh said.

  Then Ciaran stopped. He looked at her from a distance.

  Jennifer started to approach Ciaran. A bullet came out of nowhere and hit her. She fell to the snow. Red blood pooled, melting the snow around her.

  Ciaran charged toward his mother.

  Tadgh slumped to the floor. "Oh, no, no. He's done. It's a trap."

  But Ciaran stopped a short distance from Jennifer. She lay in a pool of blood. She looked at him. She tried to say something to him.

  The snow under his feet cracked. He looked down. It wasn’t just snow. It was the ice.

&
nbsp; A crack ran from his feet toward his mother.

  She was still alive. She was looking at him. She reached her hand out to him. His mother. She would slide down into the icy water when the crack reached her.

  Ciaran ran.

  "No, no! Don’t go near her!” Tadgh screamed at the monitor.

  Madeline felt numb. She didn’t know what to do.

  The crack reached Jennifer.

  The ice opened up, and her body slowly slid down into the dark water.

  Ciaran dove, sliding on the ice toward his mother, grabbing her hand.

  Jennifer and Ciaran both dropped into the dark water beneath the ice.

  Jennifer's body sank to the bottom like a stone. Ciaran followed. He tried to lift her up. It was hopeless. Her eyes were glassed over. She was dead. Ciaran tried to lift the body again, but it wasn’t possible to move her.

  Ciaran looked up. A white light shone from the crack in the ice above through the darkness of the water.

  "Go back up, go back up!" Tadgh talked to the monitor again.

  In the room, Madeline gathered blankets, sheets, whatever she had on hand to cover Ciaran. His body temperature was dropping so rapidly. It was as if he would turn to ice at any moment. He'd fail this test. She knew he would. Madeline just wanted him to stay alive. She could only hope that failing the test would not cost him his life.

  She could only hope.

  Ciaran was coming back up to the surface. He headed toward the light.

  But the ice had closed over.

  "What the fuck!" Tadgh yelled as if it would help.

  Ciaran punched the ice from underneath, but it did not give an inch.

  Madeline heard herself praying. No, there was no time for that. Think. She had to think.

  Ciaran punched the ice again. His breath was very short now. He punched again.

  On the bed, Ciaran's lips turned purple. His pulse slowed considerably.

  "He's drowning," Doctor Thomas said.

  Madeline thought she heard the doctor say something about drowning. Maybe not. She held Ciaran. He was as cold as ice now. He did not seem to be breathing. Tadgh was saying something, and it seemed as if there was a lot of commotion in the room. Madeline blocked all of it out.