Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

  I blinked, hoping something would compute, but nothing came and I just stared at him, unable to decipher what the hell he was saying.

  He pulled something from his pocket and tapped the screen before turning it to me. It was covered with unfamiliar symbols strung together. Nothing registered.

  Distant whispers filled my head and I glanced around the room for the source and then back at the man. I shook my head slowly.

  “Do you know where you are?” the question formed in my head an unfamiliar voice along with my own broken narrative. The man’s mouth didn’t move and I glanced around the room, looking for the source.

  He took my hand and my gaze snapped to him as I tried to pull my hand away.

  He let go and pointed to his chest. “CJ, it’s me, Tom.”

  I licked my lips and tried out the last word of the sentence. “Tom?” It came out in a harsh croak and he smiled, nodding. It didn’t hold any meaning and I glanced around again for what made the words inside my ears.

  Liquid sloshed and I glanced back at him as he moved something clear with a thin plastic rod toward my mouth. I backed away, uneasy by the offering. The complete unfamiliarity of everything was pushing me closer to the freak out zone.

  “Take a small sip,” the voice said as the plastic touched my lips.

  I hesitated, unsure of what a sip was and the man pulled the liquid away slowly, plugging one end of the plastic with his finger and placing the long straight end against my lips. He lifted his finger and cool liquid seeped into my mouth, quenching the dryness. I swallowed and closed my eyes, licking the remaining liquid from the corner of my lips.

  “Do you know where you are?”

  The voice announced again and my eyes opened, scanning what I could see of the room before slowly shaking my head and dropping it back on the soft pillow.

  “You’re at the hospital,” the voice echoed softly in my mind but his lips still didn’t move. Again I looked for the voice in my ear but only the man stood in the room with me.

  “Hos...pit..tal?” I tried the word out and it didn’t come as smoothly as in my head. His smile faded.

  “Do you know who I am?” the voice whispered and behind it resided pain that I couldn’t identify. The man patted his chest when I didn’t answer, his eyes pleading for a reaction that I couldn’t give.

  I stared at him and shook my head. The devastation in his eyes squeezed my heart and he sat down slowly in the chair. That’s when I realized he was the one talking in my head.

  “I’m your brother,” his voice whispered.

  “Broth...ther?” I asked, the meaning lost to me. I didn’t know why it was so damned hard to speak or to understand things; it was like my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

  He nodded. “Do you know who you are?” his voice invaded my mind again.

  This time I met his worried stare. “Bro...ther?” I said because I had no idea what the right answer was.

  He covered his mouth and his eyes glossed over with a watery sheen. When his eyes closed, some of the liquid leaked out, rolling down his cheeks. He opened his eyes and turned away with the device in his hand, tapping away at the screen for what seemed like ages. When he was done, he set his shoulders and turned, offering a smile meant to reassure, but it just scared the shit out of me.

  Everything about this scared the shit out of me. Not being able to smoothly answer the questions or understand where I was scared the shit out of me and my gaze darted around the room, looking for an escape route.

  He reached over and picked up a stick that lay near my hand and pressed a red button on the top. I stared at the magic wand in his hand, trying to understand how I knew the button was red, or the fact that it was a button for that matter.

  The door opened and a woman with a white coat came in. She had her hair pulled back and her eyes, her eyes captivated and calmed me. The colors in her eyes swirled as she crossed the distance. The warmth in her gaze wrapped around me like a security blanket and I knew with her I was safe.

  “Chris?” she asked in such a tender way that my heart ached for her. When she sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand in hers, I stared at the union of our flesh, and heat tingled from the point of contact through my form, from my head to my toes and everywhere in between. A living connection between the two of us created a warmth deep in my soul and even though I didn’t remember her, I remembered this overwhelming and pure sensation.

  “Hi,” I croaked and blinked again. That word came from nowhere and the reaction seemed to sadden her.

  Water sprang from her eyes and then the right word popped into my head. She was crying and those glistening drops were tears. I don’t know why, but I sat up and pulled her into my arms. Holding her felt like home and I closed my eyes, inhaling her sweet scent.

  “Jesus, Chris, I didn’t think you’d ever wake up,” she whispered in my ear.

  “Je..sus. Chri..is?”

  She stiffened in my arms and slowly pulled away, the same concern present on her face as the man who called himself brother. She unwrapped from me and put her hand on my chest.

  “Chris, that’s your name,” she said, blinking away the tears. She took my hand and placed it under the ornate necklace onto her flesh. “Valerie. I’m Valerie.”

  I stared at my hand on her chest. Underneath the soft warmth, her heart beat against my hand, echoing my own and I knew this girl had a piece of my soul. It wasn’t from a memory or familiarity, it was as natural as the air and just as essential to my survival.

  And best of all, I knew the word to describe it.

  “Val...er...ie.” I glanced into her eyes. “Lo...ove Val...er...ie.”

  She got the meaning right away despite my stilted speech and her eyes filled with tears. Her hand fluttered to her lips and she nodded before leaning forward and placing a kiss on my forehead.

  A strange tingle encompassed my head along with flashes of pain, of white light, of angels. The tingles cascaded down my body all the way to my toes and another word surfaced.

  I tilted my head.

  “Ha...avad?”

  She let out a musical laugh and squeezed my hand. “Yes. I’m going to Harvard Medical School. I’ve already finished the classroom portion, with straight A’s mind you, and now I’m in my second year of clinical rotations at the Children’s Hospital.”

  She positively beamed, but something didn’t compute right in my mind. Some important piece of information was missing and I needed it to fix this awful dread in my stomach. I glanced at the man again and something clicked.

  “Gr..grace?” I asked and my brows rose. I wasn’t sure the meaning, but it seemed important enough for me to voice.

  “She’s fine,” Valerie said, and while my shoulders relaxed, it didn’t stop the building trepidation. She glanced at the gadget on her wrist. “They should be here in an hour or so.” She picked up my wrist and stared at the same band she did a minute ago and then sighed, meeting my gaze again. “You don’t remember much, do you?”

  I tilted my head and put my hand back on her chest. “Love. I re..mem...ber.” My tongue wasn’t articulating as quickly as I wanted and Tom moved his hands again.

  “I don’t know,” she said, meeting his gaze.

  “Don...’t know?”

  “If you’ll ever regain your memory,” she answered and her eyes misted again.

  I thought about her words and looked around the room, specifically at the pictures covering the opposite wall. “Ho...ow lo...ong?” I pointed to the bed.

  She took my hands and met my gaze. “A little over two years.”

  I blinked, unsure of what that really meant. I’m sure what she said would mean something sooner or later, but right now it had all the sense of what an hour was.

  “Mind fuck,” I said clear as day, pleased that something came out without the halting lilt and she actually giggled.

  “Big time,” she said and leaned in, pressing her lips to mine. Everything stopped, no sound, no sensation other than
her lips on mine and it felt right as rain. When the kiss broke I smiled. The little machine clipped to her pocket beeped and she glanced at the scrolling symbols.

  “I have to go, but I should be back before everyone gets here, okay?” She palmed my cheek.

  I took her hand and put it on my chest, forcing the question out. “Lo...ove Chri...is?”

  She stared at her hand and then my eyes and I swallowed with the sudden understanding her answer to my question was where the dread originated. If she didn’t, I might as well crawl back into the nothingness that came before this room.

  She leaned close and kissed my cheek.

  “Yes, Chris. I still love you. I always will.” When she pulled away, I bit my lip and nodded, fearing the sting in my eyes.

  She caressed my cheek and smiled. “I have to go now, okay?”

  “O...kay.”

  The minute she left the room an emptiness filled me like the other half of my soul was now gone and I looked at the man. “Valer...ie?”

  “Ya,” he said.

  I searched for the words. “Come...back?”

  He folded his hands in his lap and nodded. I got a whiff of a memory from him. He’d had to relearn how to communicate, too, and my gaze dropped to his hands and I closed my eyes.

  “Sign?” I said and popped my eyes open.

  “Ya,” he said and pointed to his mouth. “No tongue. I had to learn sign language. It was a bitch not being able to talk.” he thought. “But at least you didn’t have to wait for me to go through the pains of trying to spell shit out with my hands.”

  I nodded but didn’t really understand and then I put my hand to my chest. “Chri...is.”

  He nodded and put his hand on his chest. “Tom.”

  The connection to the first time he referred to the name clicked and I said, “Tom. Bro...other.”

  “Ya,” he said aloud and took the seat. “Do you understand what brother means?”

  Before I had a chance to tell him no, I didn’t, the door opened and a man wearing the same type thing Valerie wore walked in.

  “Hi,” I said and he glanced at the chart in his hand.

  “Welcome back, Mr. Ryan,” he said.

  I put my hand to my chest. “Chri...is,” I forced the word out.

  His gaze traveled from mine to Tom’s and Tom’s hands started speaking their language. The doctor nodded and took the pen out of his pocket, scribbling on the chart before focusing on me again.

  “You’re brother said you’re having a problem remembering things and difficulty speaking. That’s quite normal for people waking from extended comas.” He approached and did the same thing with my wrist that Valerie did. “Since you seem to be awake now, I can remove some of the tubes attached and we can see if you can walk, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said and shrugged.

  He checked a bag attached to the bed and then looked at me. “You’re going to feel a little pressure,” he said and then folded the sheets back. He pulled on a pair of gloves and handled me, gently pulling on the tube that seemed to be growing out of me.

  Pressure, holy fuck, it was more like a burning fire line. “Oww,” I said and then was rewarded with relief when the plastic thing disappeared. He straightened the sheet back into place and snapped the gloves off.

  “Not the most comfortable of things, I’m sure, but it was necessary. I’m going to leave the I.V. in until we see how you do with food.” He pointed to the bag.

  “O...kay,” I said.

  “Do you think you can get up?”

  “U...p?” I asked, not sure of what he meant. The fact that I should know this stuff just added a low level of frustration.

  The doctor sat on the edge of the bed and then straightened. “Up.”

  I nodded and swung my legs over the side of the bed. He put his hand out for support and I stared at it a second before pushing off the bed myself. My feet landed on the floor and the chill of the tile seeped through my socks. I straightened like he had.

  His brows creased. “Take a step.” He showed me what he meant.

  I did as he asked.

  “Another.”

  I took another step and he flipped open the chart, scribbling again. Without any more direction, I started to cross toward the pictures on the wall, but I was stopped by something in my arm. I stared at the tube holding me to a minimal distance from the bed. It ran from my arm to the bag of liquid.

  “Out?” I asked, pointing at the thing and meeting the doctor’s gaze.

  “Not yet,” he said and went back to scribbling.

  Irritation flushed through me and I stared at it again. “Pft,” I said and yanked the blue connector. The tube separated and I dropped the end onto the bed, crossing to the wall and tracing the pictures with my fingers.

  “Mr. Ryan, we need to put the I.V. back in,” the doctor said and I met his gaze, shaking my head. He stepped toward me and Tom put his hand up, stopping the doctor. Whatever his hands conveyed, the doctor gave a curt nod and left us alone.

  Tom stepped next to me. “Damian’s kids drew those for you.” he thought and I met his smiling gaze with no reference point to understand his commentary. “Grace did this one.” he pointed to a vibrant angel drawing.

  “Gr...ace?” I ran my hand along the waxy surface.

  He nodded and his smile faded. “I’ve got a little girl now, too.” he thought. “Her name is Hannah.”

  “Han..n...ah?”

  His eyes swam in a sheen of tears. “I wish you had been awake when she was born.”

  Tom turned away and I grabbed his arm struggling for the right word to say and then the light bulb went off. “Con...gra.” I closed my eyes, frustrated that I was having so much difficulty. I focused on the word, concentrating. “Con...grat...tu...la..tions.” I smiled and opened my eyes.

  He pressed the tips of his fingers to his lips and brought them down into the palm of his other hand. Thank you resounded in my head. A layer of comfort settled over me as I stared at him. I still didn’t remember anything, but I felt the kinship in his heart.

  “I’m so...rry I...” I couldn’t think of the right string of words that came after that and I looked at the ceiling for a little help. “There?” I glanced at him and bit the side of my lip.

  He didn’t speak, instead he pulled me into a hug. I awkwardly patted his back and when he pulled away, he crossed to the window and wiped his face. Glancing one more time at the wall, I sighed and headed back to the bed, climbing in and looked at the dripping tube.

  “Help?”

  Tom turned and I held up the tube. He reached and pushed the red button again.

  A few minutes later a nurse came in and her eyebrows arched at me sitting up in the bed. “You’re awake,” she said and I nodded without rolling my eyes at the obvious. I held up the IV lead in one hand and showed her the base plug in my hand, raising an eyebrow, hoping she’d know what the hell I was trying to convey. My thoughts seemed to be coming together more, but the trigger to my mouth was still shoddy at best.

  She seemed to recover and crossed, her gaze moving to Tom’s back at the window.

  “Well, since you seem to be moving, maybe we can get you cleaned up? Would you like that?”

  “Cl...ean?”

  She paused and Tom turned, I met his gaze and he gave me a slight nod. She’s asking if you want to take a shower. It’s probably not a bad idea.

  “Okay,” I said. I seemed to have mastered that word and my assent pleased her.

  “We can leave that out until we’re done,” she said.

  “We?” I blinked as she helped me to my feet.

  “Well, I can’t leave you in there by yourself,” she said in a perfectly reasonable tone.

  I glanced at Tom for help, but he just smirked and turned back toward the window.

  “I...my...self,” I said with a little more force and stepped away from her.

  She studied me standing on my own and then met my gaze. “I’ll let you wash yourself, but I need to be in t
here with you.”

  “N...no.”

  “I,” Tom said pointing to his chest and crossing the distance. He spoke with his hands.

  “If something happens,” she started to argue and his hands flew through another explanation I didn’t understand.

  She looked at me. “Your brother will stay with you in the bathroom and I will wait just outside the door. Does that work for you?”

  I nodded and trudged into the room she pointed to and stared at the open stall and the dials on the wall beyond the entrance. The logistics of taking a shower seemed foreign and I glanced over my shoulder at Tom.

  He sighed and closed his eyes sending me a picture of what he did in a shower. It seemed reasonable and I peeled the hospital gown off and pulled the paper undergarments off as well as my socks, leaving it on the floor and stepped inside the shower stall, waiting.

  Tom reached beyond me and touched the control. Pull and turn this way for hotter water, he thought and hooked his thumb toward the entrance, and that way for cooler water. He pointed toward the back of the shower. He picked up a bottle. Shampoo for your hair. And after putting that down, he pointed at the small square bar. Soap for your body. Got it?

  “Thi...ink so.” I said and waited until he stepped away and then pulled the knob, turning it toward the entrance. Warm rain fell from the spout, but it got hot enough to scald and I realized I was turning the knob the wrong way and quickly dialed it the other way. I was rewarded with frigid water. Shivering, I slowly turned the dial back until the water hit the perfect temperature.

  I stepped full under the stream, closing my eyes and letting the water pound my face and chest. Sensations returned along with a glimpse of another shower at another time. My eyes shot open and I tried to force the memory. The penalty for trying to pull blood from a stone was the slam of vertigo. I reached for the wall and Tom’s hand grabbed my wrist, giving me a steadying hold.

  I sent a weak smile in his direction and repeated the hand gesture he used to say thank you. He gave me a nod and released his grip with his eyebrows rising in a question. I nodded. I would be okay as long as I didn’t try to pry my mind open with brute force.