The basics of astral projection sounded easy enough. For humans who were in tune with the divine part of themselves, it came naturally to them after meditation. But honing in on one particular soul and finding that person in the midst of over a million souls required some serious skill. Alex was privy to the knowledge that every single living human gave off a cosmic frequency that was unique only to them. These peculiar soul fluctuations were exclusive to each person. Much like a fingerprint, no two people, no matter how closely related, could have the same spiritual energy signature.
Scarlett, as evasive and as skillful as she was, was no exception.
Alex had been with her long enough to isolate hers in the midst of millions. So, Alex activated his Eye of god, and like an alogorithm filtering out a search, he scanned the length and breadth of the city until he finally found her.
Traces of where she had been lingered all over like wisps of purple smoke. But her main location stood out like a blip on his radar. Alex dove in and rode the wings of the wind till he landed on the very building where his Eye had registered her. She was in a hospital. Alex had no time to deliberate on why she was there in the first place. He wasted no time and made his move.
Within the space of two point five seconds, he teleported back to his apartment and landed in his original body. The next second, he teleported back to his previous location and reappeared in an unsupervised location without a single sound being heard. Of course he could not just reappear in the building. That would have been a tactless move. If someone saw him, he was sure the person would probably end up getting locked up in a mental hospital as no one would believe them.
On foot, he entered the hospital and headed straight to the elevator. The slow steady ascent very nearly drove him mad. As someone who had made it thus far in less than three seconds, it made no sense waiting this long in a slow rising box. Finally, the elevator pinged, and the doors opened. Alex stepped out faster than lightning. His steps were heavy with vengeful intent, and his body moved accordingly.
Walking in a straight path, he headed straight for the thieving woman, hoping to punish her for the mortal sin of larceny.
But he did not get to the room. Around the corner, the familiar face of the blonde beauty appeared out of the blue. She looked a degree colder. The makeup was gone. She was in more simple clothing, her golden mane was drapped across her shoulder, and her arms were folded on her chest as she walked in short concise steps. Feeling like a wolf that was about to close in on its prey, Alex pounced on her.
"Fancy meeting you here miss Scarlett."
The sound of his voice jerked her out of the blues. With the alertly look of a thief, she looked up instantly and met his eyes. Fear gripped her almost completely, and refused to let her go.
"What's the mattter...?" He inquired tauntingly; "Nothing to say???"
Scarlett was like a cornered animal. And like every prey that had its back to the wall, her quick searching eyes began to dart back and forth in hopes of escaping. But Alex was well ahead of her.
"Don't even think about it."
His frame blocked the intersection completely, leaving her with no where to go.
"You know, I've been thinking on how best to handle this..." he kept closing in on her. "...and now that I'm finally here, I'm suddenly filled with inspiration."
But Scarlett was already on the move. She figured her small frame would squeeze past the tiny opening, and she went for it. Scarlett was quick, but she was simply not on the same level with Alex.
At that very moment, while the sex god and the thief were busy playing cat and mouse, a much younger girl in a wheelchair wheeled into them. Her smile lit up the space as she greeted Scarlett warmly;
"Hey you! I've been looking all over for you!"
Scarlett replied the stranger with an equally warming response;
"If I had known you'd be gone for that long, I might have come with you."
Alex took a long hard look at her and saw that she was silently praying that this girl would go away, so he would not hurt her. He was intrigued as to why that was. But the very next word that flew out of the stranger's mouth explained it;
"Sister, aren't you going to introduce me to your special friend?"
Scarlett smiled weakly. Her sister mistook it for shyness, and decided to take over the introduction herself;
"Never mind, Hi! I'm Eliana, Scarlett's kid sister!" she announced excitedly. As she reached out with her right hand for a handshake, Scarlett almost melted.
Alex took her hand and shook it warmly; "Nice to meet you young lady. You have a beautiful aura."
He meant that quite literally. He had used his Eye of god to read her spiritual energy, just to confirm that this was not just another scam. But she was pure. Eliana was also as beautiful as she was outside as she was on the inside. it truly seemed like it ran in the family. There was a slender voluptuousness to her that suggested that she might blow out in the coming years. She resembled her older sister, but fate had dealt her the worse card.
But beauty was not the only thing that ran in the family.
Alex was taken aback when he saw that her potential level was of the A-status! This was the rarest of breeds! It was ironic that the first and only human with an A-level potential had been condemned by fate to be strapped in a wheel chair. This was really just another example of fate's cruelty!
"...to meet you, and I really hope that you will be my sister's boyfriend."
Alex had zoned out, but he was glad he had caught those last few words. He smiled and wanted to say something, but Scarlett rebuked her sharply;
"Eliana! Where are your manners?! You can't say such things to a stranger!"
The younger girl shrugged the same way Alex had seen Scarlett shrug multiple times.
"You see what I mean mister? My sister really needs a boyfriend! Just look how tightly wound up she is---"
"The back of my hand is going to feel your left cheek very soon if you don't keep quiet Eliana!"
Eliana replied jovially; "I'm stuck all day in a hospital Scarlett, this is the closest I've gotten to real life drama in a while! I'm going to get you guys together."
She said it jovially, but there was an underlying sadness to it that just could not be ignored. Alex decided to play house for the sake of the sweet girl. She was friendly, and had been nothing but nice to him. She did not deserve to pay for her sister's sins.
"Don't worry about Scarlett okay? She is after all the reason I am here..." he shot her a knowing glance. "Isn't that right Scar?"
Scarlett was a natural. She slipped into the pretense with ease. "That's right right Alex, it's a wonder you found me here at all."
"Don't be absurd, you practically called out to me. How else would I have known you were here?"
Unaware of the subtle hints hidden beneath the conversation, Eliana butted in innnocently;
"See? That's how I know you were special. She doesn't just bring anyone here you know."
Alex's eyes glistened. "You don't say?" He looked directly at Scarlett and added; "I must be a really lucky guy then. It's almost as if I conned my way into your heart."
Eliana laughed softly. The older sister did not. Jaws clenched, she suggested nicely;
"Say, Alex, why don't we head out to the park and leave this knuckle head to retire for the evening."
She bent low to kiss her sister on the forehead. "Say good night to Alex Anna."
"You don't have to baby me, I know what this is. You guys are going to bump parts aren't you?"
"ANNA!!"
She raised her hands up with a mischievous grin. "Okay! Okay!! I'm leaving! Good night mister Alex. It was a real pleasure to have you here."