by Aleah Raynes
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Visions of Pain
Capissian Order, Book One
Aleah Raynes
Opal Moon Press
Visions of Pain
© Copyright 2017 Aleah Raynes
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Published by: Opal Moon Press
PO Box 224
Middleburg, FL 32050
OpalMoonPress.com
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Cover by Lia Davis
Formatting by AG Formatting
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
About the Author
Note from the Publisher
Visions of Pain
Capissian Order, book 1
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Life changing event is an understatement.
Seventeen-year-old Rylee Baker’s whole life has been filled with half-truths. She knows her mother was murdered, but not why. She has never met her mother’s family and has very little contact with people of her own race.
Everything changes when her Capissian powers wake up and her father moves them to the small town of Narmik Springs, hidden in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’s pulled into a culture she knows little about and a civil war threatening to spill over into the human world.
If that isn’t bad enough, someone wants her dead.
It’s up to Reed, Sawyer, Cal, Kent, and Dalton to help her control her growing powers and ensure she lives long enough to fulfill an ancient prophecy.
Chapter 1
“You do know this college has a boy to girl ratio of ten to one.”
My father’s lips twitched in amusement, but his hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Yes, he knew the gender statistics for two reasons. One, Tyler had gone to the school since his powers awakened at the age of fifteen. Two, the ratio was the same for our whole Capissian race. Very few girls were born anymore. I’m not sure why. Every time I asked about the history of our people, the subject was changed.
Dad refused to tell and Tyler would tease me by telling me it was top secret.
I grew up believing my dad and brother didn’t want anything to do with the Capissians. My mom, however, would tell me our people were at war and we were safer staying out of it. Yet, thinking back, she never spoke of her family. I’d never met my grandparents. Mom said they had died a long time ago.
It wasn’t until Tyler’s abilities came to light and he started going to the Thornehart School for the Gifted did I learn a little more about what made us different from humans.
The humans called us gifted. Some said we were psychics. Some feared us and called us much more colorful names like demons and witches that needed to be burned alive.
I sighed and stared out the window as Dad drove the winding road to the top of the mountain where my life would begin.
College, among people I knew little about, other than we were descendants of angels.
From what I’d found out by snooping through my dad’s things and the little information humans had on us, the school was founded by the Thornehart family as a way to keep the Capissian children safe.
I knew from Tyler it also provided the training we needed to control and strengthen our powers. I was hoping they had a way to get rid of a gift. Or, in my case, a curse.
My dad covered my hand with his and gave a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be so nervous. Everything will be fine. You’ll be okay.”
His tone told me he was trying to convince himself more than me. I just nodded and patted his hand. “I know, Dad.”
It was better to agree with him than to argue. Even though I knew he hid things from me. Like why I was so different from him and Tyler.
I was one of the few to have more than one gift. Neither of which I could control fully. Hence the move to Narmik Springs to be closer to the school. The overbearing men in my life wouldn’t allow me out of their sight for long. So, they were moving with me.
I suppressed an eye roll. No need to let them know how annoyed I was about going to a private school to learn how to control my powers. I’d just graduated high school. I had college apps out and a couple of approvals I had to reply back to, telling them I had to wait another year or two.
I let out another sigh and stared at my glove-covered hands. The thin black leather coverings labeled me as a freak, but I endured them because it was better than crumbling to the floor in pain every time I touched something.
Psychometry. The ability to see the future and past of an object, person, place or all the above. The prediction was more than just a visual. Each time I was sucked in, it was like I was physically there. Everything around me was real. Including any pain the owner of the object endured.
I shuddered and Dad squeezed my hand again and repeated. “It’ll be okay, pumpkin.”
Nodding, I stared at the large complex of buildings as he pulled into the administrative parking lot. Thornehart School for the Gifted consisted of six buildings spread out over five of the fifty acres the Thorneharts owned in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The elementary and middle school buildings were north-northwest of the admin building, which was centered among the group. The high school and college buildings were connected to the east. The special studies, AKA learn to control your powers, building was directly behind Administration.
I exited the car and summoned my backpack from the back seat, then swung it over one shoulder. The summoning was my second gift. The one I liked and could control—for the most part. I could summon things from a distance or another room and conjure items I didn’t even have. The conjuring was the part that got annoying at times. I’d woken up on many occasions with stuff I’d never seen before, like notebooks or other supplies I needed for school but forgot to buy at the store.
Tyler exited the Administration building and headed toward us. My heart beat a little faster at seeing my brother for the first time in months. When I entered my senior year of high school, Tyler moved in with his team. It was also the time Dad applied to teach at Thornehart. I’d suspected they were getting ready to rejoin the Capissian people.
My suspicions were confirmed when my own powers came to be and Dad said we’d be moving, a
gain.
When Tyler reached me, he lifted me into a hug. “Welcome to Thornehart, little sis.”
As much as I wanted to visit with my brother, I also wanted to get the test over with. I stepped out of his embrace, straightened my spine, and advanced toward the building. Today was my testing day to see what my weaknesses and strengths were. Considering I didn’t have a handle on the psychometry, I’d most likely be placed with a team to learn and train how to build some kind of control over my abilities.
The part I dreaded the most was testing my psychometry ability. Test how it made me curl into a ball, crying on the floor.
Something nagged at the back of my mind that my team might already have been picked. Again, neither one of the guys were saying anything. I didn’t bother to question my father. He wouldn’t tell me anyway. He’d been so secretive since my powers woke. I had the feeling either he couldn’t tell me until I met my team, or he was living in denial of what my future might hold.
It made me doubt my trust in my own family and scared the hell out of me. I hated walking into the unknown.
I knew teams stayed together well after the training period. Tyler was still with his team working for the Capissian Order—the governing body for our people.
He’d told me on several occasions that he protected the race from evil. He used his big-brother-protecting-little-sis tone. Seriously, I wasn’t a child anymore. Sure, I had six months until I was eighteen, but that was far from being five.
Beside me, Tyler waited and Dad paused before asking if I’d be okay. I nodded, relieved when he gave me a kiss on the head and walked toward the elementary school building where he taught.
Once Dad was out of listening distance, Tyler said, “I arranged for a shield to be there. He’s Drew’s brother.”
Drew was one of Tyler’s teammates, his best friend and his lover. I’d met Drew a few times, but never knew he had a brother. I nodded, understanding a shield was slang for someone with psychovector—the ability to create force fields.
“His name is Reed.”
I glanced at him then. With a heavy sigh, I pushed my legs to move. “Let’s get this over with.”
I felt like a baby having Tyler walk me in. The waiting area of Administration had about ten or so students in the room. Several round tables were scattered about in front of a large mahogany desk. A girl about my age sat behind the desk, typing away at the computer. Her red hair was pulled into a long ponytail with thin ringlets framing her face.
A sudden awareness rippled up my spine. Turning to my left, I met the stares of five guys gathered at a table. Their energy seemed to call to me and I had to fight the urge to go to them. Odd.
A nudge in my mind had me shoot Tyler a glare. He shrugged and pulled out of my thoughts. My brother was telepathic and abused his power on me on several occasions.
Glancing back at the guys, I couldn’t help but notice each one was handsome in his own way. Then again, Capissians tended to be easy on the eyes. And these guys were the elite of handsome.
The blond caught my attention as he gave a short nod, making me glance at Tyler, who returned the greeting. Catching my gaze, Tyler urged me to the front desk. “The blond is Reed. That’s his team.”
Oh. I really didn’t know why Tyler told me, or why he said it through clenched teeth. Was it because he caught my reaction to them? Whatever. I just wanted the test to be over so I could go to our new home and desensitize myself. Again.
At the desk, I offered the girl sitting behind it a smile. “Rylee Baker.”
“Yes. Ms. Daniels is waiting for you.” She pointed me to a set of double doors to my right. “You can just go on in.”
“Ry.”
I turned to my brother’s unasked questions and shook my head. He didn’t need to be there. There was nothing he could do once I was pulled into the vision. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”
He glanced at the group of guys as if they were some kind of threat, then back to me before nodding and leaving.
Finally. Alone. I straightened my shoulders and walked through the doors.
Ms. Daniels looked to be Tyler’s age, maybe a year or two older. She lifted her gaze from the folder she’d been studying and smiled. It was warm and inviting and I instantly relaxed. A part of me knew she might possess the ability to control my mood, but I didn’t care.
“It’s so good to finally meet you.” Ms. Daniels stood and held out her hand.
Finally? What did that mean? Ignoring my questions, I shook her hand and to my surprise she didn’t blink twice at my gloves. Right. Everyone at Thornehart was special. I’m not alone anymore.
“Have a seat, please.” Ms. Daniels jerked her gaze to the door.
I turned, following her gaze to where the guys in the waiting area entered the room. My eyes locked with the bald one until his dark stare was too much. Their power reached out to me, circling as if testing me. Sending Ms. Daniels a glare, I asked, “What’s going on?”
If they didn’t tell me, I’d slip my baby doll flats off and touch the tile floor with my bare feet. And risk the wrath of whatever evil lurked in the room.
“Rylee, these are your kidetos. I invited them here because it would make things easier if they sat in on the testing session.” Ms. Daniels came around the table and stared at them. I couldn’t tell which one she was silently reprimanding, but the whole group relaxed and sat at the table next to ours. “Reed is one of three at Thornehart who has the psychovector ability. Since your brother asked for him specifically…”
She trailed off, and I rolled my eyes. Leave it up to my brother to give me bodyguards. Because that was what they were. Kidetos was Capissian for guardians. Sometimes he and Dad acted like I was some princess who would be abducted by the evil queen any moment. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I sat, noting that Reed was in the chair closest to me. A strange electrifying energy arched between us. I had to force myself to stay where I was instead of moving my chair closer like I wanted. I didn’t understand what seemed to be a connection to these guys.
“The first set of questions is basic information, then we move to the uncomfortable power testing to gauge your strengths and weaknesses.” Ms. Daniels clicked her pen and glanced down at the sheet in the folder. “State your full name and your parents’ names.”
Ugh. “Ryland Hope Baker. My mom was Zoey Miller. My dad is John Baker. I have an older brother, Tyler Baker.”
I threw Tyler’s name in for the team’s benefit. But by the lack of response, I guessed they already knew. I glanced at them again. The one with the shaved head and piercing in his eyebrow stared at me. There was no emotion, just an intense command for respect.
Reed hadn’t moved. The other three around the table looked bored.
“What is your power?” Ms. Daniels broke my assessment of the guys.
I hesitated. Why didn’t she know I had two? Was it uncommon to have more than one? I wished my dad would had answered my questions about our people’s history. “I have two.” I swore the guys stopped breathing. It was too quiet in the room, so I rushed out what my gift and curse was. “Summoning and psychometry. The latter is what I have issues with.”
I held up my glove-covered hands to demonstrate my point.
“What are your visions like?”
I snorted. “Visions? Is that what you call them? I get sucked into the past or the future. I can smell, taste, see, and feel everything going on. And I mean everything.”
Wrapping my arms around my middle, I caught movement from the guys. I ignored them and continued. “The first time I had a vision, I was in school. The guy next to me dropped his pencil and I picked it up for him. As soon as my fingers touched the pencil, I was suddenly somewhere else. I was confused at first. Then a large man was coming at me with a leather strap as thick and wide as his arm. He beat me over and over. The pain…”
A hand covered my arm and I glanced up and met the brown depths of one of the guys. After a moment, I felt a sli
ght pressure in my mind. Oh, no you don’t. I covered his eyes with my hands. “I don’t want to forget.”
He was a mindbender. I wasn’t sure how I knew, other than the nudge in my thoughts was similar to Tyler’s when he used his telepathy on me. But unlike Tyler’s power, the mindbender’s ability was heavier. It had more force behind it because he wasn’t sampling my thoughts, but taking them. I knew he was trying to ease the pain, but I still wanted to be asked first.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked. But you were shaking…Sorry.” He glanced over his shoulder, then back at me. “I’m Cal.”
“Rylee,” I whispered, embarrassment rising. His hand still rested on my forearm and the warmth from it traveled to my elbow.
Cal was handsome, and when he smiled, I caught the hint of dimples. His brown eyes had flakes of gold and the inner ring of his irises was green.
A throat cleared, drawing my attention to the bald guy. His features were similar to Cal’s, but sterner. Brothers? He frowned before he spoke. “We don’t need to test the psychometry. Move on to the summoning.”
I could kiss him in that moment. My relief must have shown in my face because he gave me a short nod as if saying “you’re welcome.”
Ms. Daniels lifted her gaze to Cal’s brother and pursed her lips. “It’s part of admissions. I’ve been given strict orders to test all her abilities.”
The bold guy crossed his arms, staring at Ms. Daniels. “Then call in Kyle.”
“He’s not available.”
“Then it can wait. She can’t start classes for a few months anyway.”
Ms. Daniels lowered her gaze and nodded. “Very well. Tell me about the summoning.”
