Paranormal Word Series Box Set (Books 1-3 and Novella)

by CC Solomon

  If he’d been to hell, how did he get out?

  “You’re supposed to be in hell,” Charles growled.

  David let out a snort. “Seems I have friends in high places,” David replied.

  “Like who?” I asked.

  David shrugged. “I don’t know, but when I find out, I’d like to thank them. They brought me right to your door.”

  Who would do that? What kind of enemies did I have that would help him? I instantly thought of Phillip. No, I didn’t believe he was that powerful or conniving. He already had me where he wanted me. Someone from the pack? No, they weren’t powerful enough to break someone out of hell.

  I frowned at David. He was free now, but he was still human. I couldn’t imagine he had enough magic serum left in his system to be a match for me.

  “The prisons are gone now, and we have your scientists. The few who survived. You were better off turning around and leaving.”

  David looked at me with hatred in his eyes. “You are an abomination.” He continued moving towards me. “You are not humans. The world is safer without your kind. I can make it great again…with you gone.”

  David lurched towards me, and before I could react, Charles leaped from the window and flew towards David. Charles wrestled David to the ground, and the pair tussled on the carpet floor for a few moments as I looked on, trying to figure out how to stop the fight without hurting Charles. I threw out my hands and flung David’s body across the room and away from Charles. His head banged hard against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

  I stomped towards David, intending to end this once and for all.

  “Amina?” Charles croaked.

  He didn’t sound good. I turned to my right and gasped.

  Charles lay on the ground, a hand covering his bloody stomach area. Charles coughed, and blood trickled down his chin. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and a pool of blood began to gather around his torso. He looked at me, his eyes full of fear.

  I ran to my brother. “No, no, no,” I cried.

  How had I not seen a weapon in David’s hand?

  I hovered my hands over his wounds, pouring healing magic in him, but nothing changed. He wasn’t getting better.

  “Lisa!” I cried.

  She didn’t come, she hadn’t heard me. I reluctantly got up.

  “Don’t leave me,” Charles whispered. “I don’t feel good. It’s burning.” He writhed in apparent agony.

  I felt his forehead. It was cold and clammy. “I need Lisa’s help. It’s going to be okay, Charles. I promise.” I raced for the window. “Lisa!” I shouted.

  She looked up from the street.

  “I need you. Charles is hurt!” I shouted and then ran back to my brother.

  One second later, Lisa was in the room. She cried out upon seeing Charles and ran to him.

  “What happened?” She cried.

  “David stabbed him. I didn’t know. He’s not healing from the stab wounds.”

  Lisa hovered her hands over Charles, and I joined her again. We poured our magic into him, but nothing changed. I looked to Charles’ face, but he wasn’t moving anymore. His skin was already ashy, lips dry.

  “Charles?” Lisa called. “Baby?”

  Charles’ eyes were seemingly fixated on the ceiling, and his chest did not rise and fall. I touched his neck; no pulse. “Shit, no.”

  I put my hands over his wounds, willing my magic into him. I stared at his face again, nothing. I continued, straining my magic.

  “What’s going on? Why won’t he wake up? Why can’t we heal him?” Lisa cried.

  I shook my head, my mind growing numb. He wasn’t dead. He was hurt. We could fix him.

  “Supernatural poison that I brought with me from hell. They pump it in us. Kills us, but of course, in hell, they bring us back just to do it all over again. One of many tortures,” I heard David explain behind me.

  Lisa sobbed but continued to pour her magic. I lowered my hands.

  “Keep going, Mina. Don’t stop!” Lisa shouted.

  “You’re monsters. And you all deserve to die,” David spat. I heard him rise up.

  David, although still human, was the real monster here. I wanted him dead. I wanted him gone with no trace of his existence left. I wanted him erased away, even if it killed me. I would give the last of my power and life to make David disappear.

  I turned to him with rage in my eyes. I raised my right hand to the ceiling, outstretched, and pictured him disappearing from this world. As if he never existed. My power tore through me, and searing pain brushed every nerve in my body, causing me to cry out and bend backwards.

  My eyes watered, and my breath caught in my throat. I didn’t hear anything, and my vision blurred until all I could see were shapes. I felt like I was dying. The pain remained but I forced myself to focus it into my remaining power. I thought I would explode from the pressure. Sweat dripped into my eyes, further compromising my vision. I could vaguely make out David’s form only a few feet away from me, and I continued to focus on David, willing his heart to stop. I wouldn’t send him to hell. I wanted to see him die.

  And, as if part of some cosmic joke to my sensitive stomach, David’s body exploded. Bits of his blood, muscle, skin, and other things of which I had no clue, flew everywhere including on me and Lisa, who shielded Charles’ body from most of the gore.

  I collapsed back to the carpeted floor; my body stretched out and unmoving. Nothing would work, no matter how much I willed my limbs to move. I was paralyzed. I could hear Lisa screaming for me as she tried to heal my brother. She needed my help, but I could not move. I could not even turn my head to see her or Charles.

  The next moments became a blur. I heard the voices of Faith, Carter, and Erik. They sounded muffled as if someone was talking through a covered phone receiver. Movements seemed irregular. People walked at a slow pace, yet suddenly appeared from one spot to another. Erik and Faith tried to move me to get my body to wake up, but it would not. Lisa shouted for them to help her heal Charles.

  Phillip poured magic into him. Bill, the best med mage in town, soon appeared. He gave every effort he could. Phillip moved to me, seemingly having given up the fight for Charles. He touched my forehead and closed his eyes, and a warmth spread through me. Feeling returned to my limps with a warm tingle. As soon as I was able to get my body to function, I crawled to Charles to help. I tried to pour my magic into him, but nothing came out. It was as if I was tapped out of any powers.

  I screamed in frustration. My brother was dying, and I could do nothing to help.

  The growing group of paranormals soon stopped their efforts.

  We knew already before starting.

  Charles was dead. We simply weren’t powerful enough to heal an evil magic sent from hell or the wounds that had sliced into major arteries, along with the massive blood loss. But I couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t lose him. My brother. My family. He was all I had left.

  “Amina,” Erik said softly. He put his hands over mine, which were still on Charles’ chest. “He’s gone.”

  I swatted his hands away, continuing on. I willed in my mind’s eye for Charles to wake up and make a funny comment. But he didn’t. He just lies there, unmoving, eyes still aimed at the ceiling and unfocused.

  “No, no, no, no, no, no,” Lisa cried over and over. She grabbed Charles’ face. “Wake up, Charles. Wake up. We gotta go. Come on, come on. Please. Please.”

  I sat back. Nausea swept over me. Erik wrapped an arm over me, and I tore away from him, getting up and running out of the crowded room. I raced to the bathroom and vomited in the sink until I could bring up nothing more.

  I fell to the tile floor and cried until I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to breathe ever again.

  Epilogue

  Phillip was sorry. He’d reasoned that if I hadn’t been in lock up, Charles wouldn’t have been there to free me, thus wouldn’t have been there to fight David. Of course, that would mean I might be the one David stabbed wi
th the poisoned blade instead. However, I’d gladly exchange places with my younger brother if I could.

  I wanted to blame Phillip, but I was still level headed enough to know that it hadn’t mattered where I was. If I were back in the apartment that I shared with Charles, the same thing could have happened. And it wasn’t Phillip’s fault. It was David’s, who I’d killed in the most gruesome of ways.

  When I was able to get up off of the floor, I left the apartment and went back to my own, walking the street covered in David’s bloody remains. I felt Erik walking at a short distance behind me but didn’t acknowledge him. He followed me inside my apartment. I went straight to the bathroom for a shower, and when I got out and dressed, I went to Charles’ room and laid down on his unmade bed. More tears sprang from my eyes, and I let out a guttural cry, hyperventilating in the process.

  Strong arms surrounded me, and I felt Erik’s chest against my back. He didn’t speak, just held me the rest of the night until I fell into a restless sleep.

  When morning came, I heard voices in the living room. Erik was no longer in bed, and I got up and headed out of the room.

  Phillip stood in the center of the living room, speaking in a low voice to Erik. Phillip turned to me, and his eyes actually looked pained.

  “I’m so sorry, mi corazon,” he stated.

  I sat down on the couch, feeling weak. I didn’t speak and looked down at my feet.

  “I came by to check on you and let you know that we were able to free the Chicago paranormal prisoners. Some of our people are on the way to the Charlotte one as we speak. We, well, Hagerstown and us, thought it best not to wait around and risk camps relocating again. David had the largest base, so the others were easier to attack.”

  I nodded slowly, feeling foggy. “Thank you,” I said in a weak voice. “Who let David out of hell?”

  Phillip walked over to me and lowered to my level, balancing on his toes and resting his arms on his thighs. “We don’t know. Did you have any other enemies besides David?”

  “Only the people who worked the prisons.”

  “The remaining leaders couldn’t have been powerful enough to do something like that.”

  “They could have forced a powerful witch to conjure him up.”

  “That would take one powerful witch. Or a collective of them. I’ll question everyone we bring in from Chicago and Charlotte.”

  I nodded again. “Why did my powers leave me?” I asked him.

  “I think it’s because you used your mage magic to kill, instead of just control. It happened to me once when we fought that nearby town. Bill was able to bring me back, but he was the only one. Before he got to me, I was paralyzed for an hour. It took several hours before my magic returned,” Phillip explained.

  “So, she can’t kill someone?” Erik questioned.

  “Of course, she can. However, it’s best you use a spell or power words like other witches or do it the old-fashioned way. If you don’t want to temporarily become paralyzed and lose your gifts. You can still do it indirectly, though. Like through mind control.”

  “If I hadn’t killed David the way I did, maybe I could have saved Charles,” I whispered.

  Phillip shook his head. “He was dead before we got there, mi corazon. There was nothing you could have done differently. That piece of shit had to die.”

  “He’s right, Mina,” Erik chimed in.

  “I also came because I want you to know that you don’t have to stay in confinement anymore. You can go wherever you like in town. No one will bother you. The leaders of the various groups will be sending their condolences,” Phillip stated.

  “What about Felix?”

  “He’s still in lockup. I can’t change that before there’s a trial. I’m sorry.”

  I looked up at him. “Anything else, Phillip?”

  He frowned and shook his head. “We’re going to find the people who helped David. Charles was a good man. Despite our differences right now, corazon, I don’t mean you any harm. We’ll find out who helped David, and if there is anything else you need, I’ll make sure you have it.”

  He then stood up and left the apartment without another word.

  “Mae said we were special. That there was a connection between the six of us for a greater purpose,” I stated to Erik. “But Charles is dead now, so how can that be? Did Mae see this coming and not tell us?” My voice cracked, and I felt a sharpness in my chest. I rubbed at it, but the pain would not go away.

  Erik sat beside me and wrapped me in his arms. “I don’t know, Amina. I think she would have told us if she’d known,” he replied.

  “It’s related. I know it is.”

  “What’s related?”

  “Whoever brought David back to kill me. They want to get rid of the six. Stop us from doing whatever it is we’re meant to do. And they’re winning. Felix is locked up. That trial won’t set him free. They’re gonna kill him. Charles is dead. They are trying to pick us off.”

  “They’re not going to win, Mina. We’re going to get Felix free and find out who was behind it all.”

  “I’m going to get stronger,” I sniffed. “No one I care about is going to get hurt again. When we find out who did this, I’m going to destroy them. Just like I did, David.”

  I had a power now that I didn’t understand. However, I wouldn’t take it for granted. I would grow in strength. I would find whoever our enemies were, and I would kill them.

  Continue Amina’s journey to find her enemies in

  Mystic Journeys

  Mystic Journeys

  Paranormal World, Book Two

  By

  C.C. Solomon

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to all my friends and family who supported my dreams. Thank you to my beta readers, Judi, Krystal, Danielle, Eva, Heather and Analisa. Your time and feedback are truly appreciated. And another Thank you to my editor, Nina Gooden, for her great eyesight, thoughtfulness and passion.

  Prologue

  When my mother first got sick, she didn’t ignore it.

  She knew, as we all did, that she had caught the strange flu that many non-gifted humans were catching. The world called it the Sickness and it hit her out of the blue. She’d survived for years after the supernatural wave had taken over our planet. With the wave came nightmarish creatures and landscapes, humans with paranormal abilities, and a disease that would kill a large portion of the world’s population.

  We know now that the Sickness was brought to our community by a child we’d taken into our fold. The little girl, no older than eight years old, hadn’t shown symptoms at the time. Days later the familiar pattern of the disease began to show up. A week later, the child passed away. My mother, who was serving as a town teacher, most likely caught it while teaching around the child. She then proceeded to unintentionally pass it on to my father when she was in the earlier stages of the illness.

  “I know he gets on your nerves, but you look out for your brother when I’m gone,” my mother said one evening. She was sitting up in bed in the house that I shared with her, Dad, and my younger brother, Charles.

  She was five days into the Sickness and looked much better than others I’d seen. Although my powers could not cure the disease, I was able to stall some of the effects for a short while and at least make her more comfortable.

  My mother’s eyes looked tired but the full face of makeup she had on helped cover the dark circles underneath. She wanted to look pretty for my father because they were going to have a bedside dinner date later on. Her hair was starting to fall out so she had it expertly wrapped in a colorful silk scarf that I had found during my scavenging. I’d gotten her wigs, but she didn’t like any of them.

  The world had changed and the supernatural had taken over everyday life, leaving electricity and technology down. Finding any mundane items were now bordering on rare as resources dwindled.

  It took nine years to discover that my powers fell into the category of life mage. I was essentially a witch who could
control any living and earth-based thing or element. Charles had a gift of magic over electricity and technology which, for obvious reasons, was in high demand. Our parents had no such gifts, which made them highly susceptible to the Sickness as “regular” or non-gifted humans. The Sickness didn’t kill magically-gifted humans and, therefore, we were the ones often going on trips outside of our town to find resources or trade with other communities.

  “Mom, please stop talking like that,” I said, running my makeup brush over a shimmery gold eyeshadow in a palette I was holding. “Close your eyes,” I instructed her as I scooted towards the bed to do her eyes.

  My mother closed her eyes and I dusted the shadow onto her lids. The shimmer brightened her honey-colored skin, much like my own. “Perfect,” I said, admiring my work before putting the eyeshadow palette away in my makeup pouch.

  “Amina, listen to me,” my mother said, opening her eyes. “You and your brother must stay together. I don’t know how long your father has if they don’t find a cure for this. Not to mention, I don’t know how he’ll manage without me. The man can barely put on his own drawers.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Mom!”

  She laughed and it soon turned into a long bout of coughing. I gave her a hand towel that lay on the bedside table. She continued to cough into it. When she pulled it away, I noticed a thumb-sized amount of bloody phlegm on the towel. She frowned and folded the towel before placing it back on the bedside table. I grabbed the glass of water on the table and she took it, taking several gulps before speaking again.

  “Watch out for your brother,” she continued, her voice hoarse. “I know he’s only a year younger than you, but he isn’t as mature. Don’t tell him I said that.” She gave me stern eyes and I smiled, nodding. “And you don’t let this world steal your joy. That’s one thing Charles seems to be able to hold on to. Even after all the pain he’s been through.”