by CC Solomon
Chapter 8
I was in a club. It was dark with colorful strobe lights moving about on the dance floor. Smoke emanated from the corners of the large space and people danced to a sexy R&B tune blaring from speakers. A DJ stood on a wide stage on the west end of the room, surrounded by more dancing people.
I passed a wall with a floor-to-ceiling mirror and caught a peek at myself. I was dressed in a red halter dress with a plunging neckline and a slit going thigh high. On my feet were silver, open-toed heels. My hair was big and curly. I didn’t look like me. This was not an outfit I would feel comfortable going out in, not even to the club.
Why was I here? Where was I? Where were the others?
I didn’t know where to go from here. I looked behind me at the velvet-roped entrance that led to the outside and began to walk that way. Whatever was going on, I didn’t think the answers would be in here.
“Buy you a drink?” came a deep male voice.
I knew that voice. I spun around and came face to face with Phillip Leal. A smile covered his handsome face and for a fraction of a second, I allowed myself to find him attractive. But I came back to myself, having fallen for his deceptively kind eyes before.
The mystery was solved. I knew what was going on and grimaced. “Pass,” I replied. I turned to leave. I had to get out of this dream. I hoped maybe if I walked outside of the club, I could disconnect from him.
Phillip reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Please,” he begged, his voice uncharacteristically vulnerable. “Don’t leave.”
I tried to yank my hand away but he held on tight. “Let go.”
“Don’t leave. We need to talk. I’ve tried to give you time but we can’t ignore each other forever. We’re soulmates.”
I tried to yank at my hand again but was still unsuccessful. “What do you want from me? I’m keeping my distance so I don’t upset your power base. Faith and Erik haven’t caused you any trouble.”
“You look beautiful,” he said, still smiling. It was as if he was unfazed by my mood or anything I said.
“Did you dress me in this?”
He gave a quick shrug. “I can’t help what my mind wants. But if you don’t like this…”
I turned away again and the scene began to change. The walls of the club melted, the music fading, and people disappeared. In its place came a dusky, blue sky. The floor was now white sand and in front of me were lit beach bars and far off silhouettes of new people, laughter, and reggae music. Behind me, I heard ocean waves. I looked down at my feet and they were bare. I looked farther up and saw that I was now wearing a flowery, off-the-shoulder, knee-length dress that blew gently in the wind.
Turning to the ocean, I saw Phillip again but this time he was wearing off-white linen pants and a pale-yellow button-down shirt. I wanted to curse at him but the view distracted me. The sun was setting, a half circle beyond the water. Colors of purple, orange, and dark blue shaded the darkening sky. I had not seen the ocean in ten years. I stood still as I watched the sun seemingly disappear into the water.
I walked to the edge of the water, letting my feet get splashed by the cold ocean.
“We’re in Jamaica and one day I’d like to take you to the real thing,” Phillip said behind me in a soft voice.
I tried to ignore him but I couldn’t. I wanted this moment, this dream, to myself. He was turning it into something else.
“I don’t want you taking me anywhere,” I said, my back still to him. “If you want to do something for me, how about you turn yourself in to us? We can lock you up so you can’t hurt anyone else. You’re dangerous. I’m sure you caused Wilford to cheat in Erik’s challenge, Luke to bite Lisa, you killed Chelsea’s boyfriend, and then you charged Felix to blindness and locked me up. Not to mention, you were controlling people and maiming those who disobeyed you.”
Phillip chuckled and stood beside me. “You think I’m the cause behind all your troubles. Do you blame me for David coming back as well?”
I’d thought about that but killing me never seemed to be a part of Phillip’s agenda. “Not yet. So, you’re denying your role in the other stuff?”
He looked down at me with amused eyes and threw out his hands. “You got me. How’d you find out?”
“I’ve been in your dreams. Your subconscious isn’t as much of an asshole as you are.”
“I’m not a bad guy. I just believe in order.”
“You locked me up when you saw my powers matched yours. You later attacked me when we got Felix out of that bogus trial.” I turned to face him. “You don’t care about me or order. You care about power. If we join as soulmates, it won’t do anything good for the town. It won’t do anything good for me. You have to be stopped.”
Phillip chuckled again. I wanted to slap him. “You’re not going to stop me, mi corazón. You’re going to fall in line. I have plans. I have to expand. I have to make it ready for them.”
“What are you talking about? Who’s ‘them?’”
“You’ll see. Silver Spring is just the beginning but I need your help.”
“You want to rule this country like some psychotic tyrant with a bunch of crazy followers? Screw that. And there is no way I’m going to allow you to take your barbaric show on the road.”
He gave me a patronizing smile. “I knew you wouldn’t come willingly. You’re stubborn. So how about we try something to fairly settle this?”
“What would that look like?” I asked, squinting my eyes.
“A sort of magician’s battle.”
I crossed my arms, waiting for him to further explain.
“We would compete in a series of tests. Five to be exact. The person who wins the most is the winner and makes the decision on what to do with the loser. And if there is a tie, we’ll have a bonus.”
“What are the tests? And where do they come from?”
Phillip put his hands in his pockets. “One of the witches in my town found an active Wiccan website where witches schedule competitions to sort of show off; prove who’s the strongest. I don’t think these tests are new. They seem to be a combination of tests made from different groups all over the world, over time. Even during the Pre-world. This set of tests is what many magical covens use to pick their leader. Makes perfect sense for us to do this.”
I raised an eyebrow in interest. “Go on.”
“First, you use magics on top of one another. The one with the most spells going at once and still standing wins. Second, break a difficult ward. The quickest to break it wins. Third, you break a curse. Fastest to break it wins. Fourth, follow a certain potion that only a few witches have ever been able to make work. It’s a potion to give life. It only works on animals…for now. Fifth test, you make up your own spell to create something never done.”
That “for now” part was scary. Sure, I’d like to prevent death but the negative possibilities of bringing people back to life gave me the chills. Charles coming back as a vampire was different but still scary. He was going through a process that led him to being reborn. The thought of him coming back any other way was chilling. He would be something else. So would an animal. I bit my lower lip and turned back to the dark ocean.
Sensing my hesitance, Phillip spoke up. “They wouldn’t come back as zombie animals, if that’s what you are concerned about. I can get you the website I looked at so you can become familiar with it all, out of fairness. We can both pick the witches who will put together the ward spells and the curses. They’ll have to have time to find some difficult ones. Ones even they aren’t strong enough to break.”
I had to admit, on the surface the test sounded fair, but I had no idea if I was strong enough to beat Phillip and that was nerve-racking. We were soulmates but it didn’t mean that we were equal in strength. Phillip was surrounded by magic. His mind was always searching for ways to be more powerful. It made sense now why he hadn’t come for me all this time. He was preparing.
Sure, I’d been practicing but I spent a lot of time doing ot
her things like teaching kids. While I’d spent most of the last nine years surviving and dabbling in magic to help me survive, Phillip had been focused on building an empire. He’d been helping to lead Silver Spring for five years.
“What happens with the winner and the loser?” I asked, not turning around to face Phillip.
I heard him sigh. “If you win, I will bow down to you and whatever you choose to do with me. Lock me up, make me follow your command. I’ll step down from running Silver Spring. I’ll put Seth in check. It’s up to you. But if I win, you join me as my partner. As my real soulmate. Not exactly my equal. You will go along with my initiative and you will help me reach my goals. Your friends will stop whatever they are doing and obey me.”
I shook my head and turned to him. “My friends aren’t doing anything.”
Phillip gave me a look of disbelief, his lips twisted. “I don’t believe Faith and Erik are staying in Silver Spring just because they like their apartments and jobs.”
“Erik believes he has a duty to the pack as the third in command and Faith has found a family in Blake’s vampire group. Hagerstown doesn’t allow for paranormal groupings. It’s emotional.”
“It’s bullshit,” Phillip spat. He usually kept his cool and this show of emotion made me more than uncomfortable. “I only let them stay because of you. I don’t trust them. There are very few people I trust. I’d like you to one day be one of those I do trust.”
“What if I didn’t want to take this test?”
Phillip raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Well, then I win by default. And it would not be pretty. I’d lock up your friends. Or maybe even kill them. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll kill them. And then we’ll head to Hagerstown and kill your friends there, too. And no one’s coming back like your brother, Charles, because I’d take their heads. And I will keep you in a coma. I gotta be honest, I freakin’ hate that option.”
My blood ran cold. He would do all of this. I had no doubt. Suddenly the reality of my situation hit me hard. I was not a strategist and I was taking our situation for granted. A mash-up of thoughts entered my mind but I was too afraid to separate them out. He would possibly know. We were soulmates and I, foolishly, hadn’t considered that he could read my mind. I wasn’t safe to think anymore. No one could tell me their plans until I figured out a way to effectively block Phillip. The others would hate me, especially Erik.
Phillip tilted his head and touched my cheek with the palm of his hand. I tensed up but I couldn’t move. It was clear to me that he controlled this dream. Or rather, I wasn’t focusing my powers enough to match his strength.
“I don’t like to threaten you, mi corazón. I don’t want to fight you at all. If you don’t want to do the challenge, then just give in to me. If you’d just agree with what I am doing, everyone would be okay. I’d maybe even allow you to take out Seth. Carter and Erik are more civilized and could run the pack just fine. Let Erik go be with Raya.” He looked at me with mock pity. “They are a better fit, you know that. And you and I can be together. We have chemistry. Remember our first kiss?”
I wished I didn’t. When we’d finally seen each other in person, it had been an almost animal attraction. I’d had to fight to stay apart from him. Now that memory made me sick.
“It would be perfect,” Phillip continued. “I would treat you so well. Give you everything you’d want. Your brother could even join the vampires. Blake would like him. We’d be one, big, happy family. We’d make this country, this world even, a better place. With paranormals at the top.”
He leaned in as if to kiss me and I stepped back into the water, finally breaking free from his control.
He moved closer to me again. “So, what do you say?”
I looked away from him, to the glowing lights of the island bars in the background, wishing I was really on vacation sipping a rum punch and dancing to a reggae tune. Maybe one day it would be possible again.
I looked back to Phillip and his honey-brown eyes gazed at me in amusement. “I agree to the battle,” I stated.
Phillip nodded. “We can meet in two weeks. In the real world. We’ll have a dinner with your side and mine, and then battle the next day, either in Silver Spring or a place in between. We can agree to that later.”
I grew panicked. No way would I be ready in two weeks. “I need two months to prepare.”
Phillip tilted his head again. “Amina… I can’t.”
Of course, he could. He just wanted to battle me while he thought I was still too weak.
“Six weeks!”
He shook his head slowly.
“One month, then!” I cried. I knew showing my fear would only motivate him to stand his ground but I had to fight him.
“Well, no one can say I’m not a generous man. One month.”
I stifled a sigh. That was better than two weeks but I had no power here. It was either go for it or let him do what he wanted and kill my friends. Hagerstown wouldn’t be able to beat Silver Spring. Although Hagerstown had more people, Silver Spring was a paranormal-only city, while Hagerstown was a mixture of non-human and paranormal with the numbers towards non-gifted humans being in the majority.
I nodded, accepting Phillip’s offer.
“Let’s seal this deal with a kiss and I’ll follow up with a proper offer via email tomorrow.” Phillip smiled.
I frowned. “Absolutely not.”
Phillip gave me a lazy smile, eyes half closed. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
I backed farther into the dark water, going deeper until the water was at my waist. I wanted to hide in the ocean and disappear or wake up. I gave him the middle finger with both my hands.
Phillip remained where he stood, looking on at me with that self-satisfied smile. “This is going to be fun, Amina,” he shouted.
I turned from him and continued on until I could no longer walk and had to swim. I closed my eyes in the darkness and then pushed my head underwater, letting the ocean overtake me.
Chapter 9
“You can’t battle him, Mina,” Erik stated the next morning, pacing back and forth in my living room.
I heard a knock at the door and I got up from my gray suede couch and walked to the apartment door. I looked out of the peephole and saw Chelsea and Henry, both wearing sunglasses, and let them in.
Chelsea was carrying a plastic bag of something. “I brought donuts from the bakery,” she announced.
“Please tell me you got the apple crumb one,” I stated, feeling my stomach rumbling.
“Of course, my dear,” she stated, walking to the glass dining table, near my kitchen, and putting the bag down.
I went over to it and found my beloved donut. “I might as well eat all the delicious donuts while I can.” I bit into it and moaned inappropriately.
“You talk like you’re going to lose,” Felix observed, bending over and grabbing a red velvet donut from the bag before sitting back down at the table.
“You talk like you’re going,” Erik glowered from across the room.
I sighed, chewing the donut before speaking. “Erik, we don’t have a better option. And I thought you’d be behind me, since you like to battle all the time.”
Erik rolled his eyes. “That’s different. We can maintain the course—”
“It’s not different and we can’t!” I cried. I coughed suddenly as a piece of donut caught in my throat. I refused to think about the possible karma there since I didn’t need to raise my voice.
Charles sat up. Clearly, he’d been sleeping. He’d been slouched down in the red love seat near the couch, sunglasses on, trying to stay awake, since this was his usual bedtime.
“You all don’t get it. Phillip knows what’s in my head,” I continued. “He knows we’re trying to take him out. He’s been letting this go on out of amusement! And so he can ready himself for this stupid challenge he’s only giving me a month to prepare for.” I sat back down on the couch and put my donut in a cloth napkin on the dark, rectangular coffee table.
> “Why didn’t you tell us you were still communicating with him via dreams?” Faith asked, her eyes neutral. I couldn’t tell if she was mad or disappointed, since her body language seemed at ease. She was sitting backwards on a dining room chair, resting her arms on the back of the chair.
“Because there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. I didn’t want to worry you even more.”
“You could have jeopardized everything, Mina,” Erik stated.
I nodded. “Yep, I know,” I replied. “I’m a liability. Maybe I should just forfeit and turn myself in. Give him what he wants.”
“So he can lock you away forever?” Charles said, sliding back down in his seat. “Fuck that, sis, he’s not getting what he wants. He’s not going to lay a hand on you.”
I sighed and smiled at him. It was good to know Charles still cared about me. I was beginning to wonder. I looked around the space. “If you’re going to try something, you have one month to do it, and you can’t let me know about it.”
“Maybe I can help you put up some type of block against him,” Felix offered, mouth full of donut.
Most of the time, Felix was in another mindset when he was at his full strength and didn’t even remember what he did. He had a guardian angel, Azrael, who only spoke when he or she wanted to, and barely gave Felix any information.
Felix, sensing my doubt, spoke further. “If you’re soulmates, that’s spiritual. That’s my arena. At least I think so. Maybe I can do something to build a psychic wall. I know I couldn’t break your bond, but maybe I can help weaken it. I’d have to ask Azrael because I have no clue how, but they said they liked you and will do what they can to make sure The Six stays together. And that includes locating Lisa.”
“Felix, do what you can, please. But if we don’t come up with a plan that is guaranteed by the end of today, I’m continuing with this deal.” I turned, looking to everyone. “I can’t hide from Phillip because of our bond so there is no running. You guys can, though, and as long as you stay away from me you’ll be fine.”
Henry put out his hands and smiled. “I may be new to the gang here, but I’m pretty sure no one’s going to leave you,” he said in a soft southern accent. He was a good guy, always seemingly on chill mode. He was a shade under six foot, with long dreadlocks that he mostly kept in a low ponytail. I placed him at early- to mid-30s, with a constantly pleasant and smiling face. Because he was paranormal, I knew he was much older. “You’ve got the vampire support here, that should count for something. Let my guy Felix help you and we’ll right this whole thing.”
