by CC Solomon
“She sure did,” Henry shouted from the kitchen. “I was just trying to say hi because I thought she was cute. My fangs mistakenly came out because I was nervous talking to her.”
I gasped. “Shayla.”
Shayla leaned back from me and fluttered her eyes. “Uh, self-preservation, honey. I didn’t know him like that. Guilty until proven innocent in this damn world.”
“Sadly, that’s the safer bet.”
“Speaking of trusting people, I have something to tell you.” She gave me a side eye, and I knew it was about to be something on the gossip spectrum.
I eyed her suspiciously. “What is it now? I can’t take anymore.”
She waved her hand in front of her face and grimaced. “You know what, maybe you’ll see it as good news. It’s weird, but so is everything about this world, so who am I to judge,” Shayla went on.
“Tell the woman. It ain’t that deep,” Henry shouted.
“Chelsea and Phillip are a thing,” Shayla blurted out.
“What kind of a thing?” I asked, my mind slowly clouding over in shock.
“A thing.” Shayla’s eyes grew wide.
I shook my head. “Well, that’s a stupid thing because they hate each other.”
“Nope, it’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. They’re an actual couple or something,” Henry called.
“Or something is right,” Shayla snorted, folding her arms. “I can’t figure out why she changed her tune about him. She used to run my ear off about how much she hated his guts and all the ways she wanted to kill him. Then when he started coming around here, healing folks of various illnesses none of us witches could cure, including slowing down those afflicted with this new paranormal illness, things started changing. Next thing I know, I see them canoodling in a corner of a restaurant. We only have so many restaurants here. So, they weren’t even trying to keep it secret.”
“Wait, he’s been coming here and helping people?”
He never said anything about this to me. “I didn’t know he was coming here. That’s why no one’s been reaching out for my help lately. How long has this been going on?”
“Not long. Maybe a month.”
So, they had been together when I saw Phillip last. Why the secrecy?
Henry let out an exasperated sigh. “But I’m confused,” he began, now standing in the entrance to the living room.
“What else is new?” Shayla cracked, winking at him.
“Ha-ha, not confused about you, though.” He gave her an air kiss and she returned the gesture.
“Eww,” I joked. “What were you confused about Henry?”
“Didn’t Phillip have a thing for you?”
I nodded.
“And isn’t Chelsea your good friend?”
I nodded again, trying desperately to ignore a nagging unease in the pit of my stomach.
He shrugged. “Sounds like drama to me. Don’t we have some bad guys to fight now? Who has time for all this?”
We heard a knock at the door. Shayla stood up. “No one has time for this.”
“Well, I don’t care. I have Erik, and it doesn’t matter,” I stated jutting out my chin. However, that queasiness in my stomach grew a little, and I still couldn’t resolve why I was bothered. I loved Erik. He was the perfect man. He’d never hurt me, he was gentle with Brandon, and he was a protector. My mother would be ecstatic for me.
So why the hell was I bothered about Phillip and Chelsea? Was I so vain I thought Phillip couldn’t like someone else? Was it really about Chelsea? I didn’t stress when Mercy showed interest in Phillip. Maybe it was really about Chelsea. Why did she keep it a secret? Why would she change her stance about him?
A few seconds later, as if on cue, Chelsea appeared. She looked beautiful, as usual. With her long strawberry blonde hair and thin frame, of course, Phillip would fall for her if he had eyes. However, was the exact opposite of me, but then again, he was compelled to like me as part of the bond, wasn’t he? Chelsea could be his true type.
“Hey lady,” she exclaimed upon seeing me. She rushed over and gave me a tight hug. I returned it with less enthusiasm. She noticed my less than welcoming hug and pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re dating Phillip?” I spat. My words came out harder than I meant.
She let out a sigh. “Darn, I thought we could work our way to that.”
“Oh no, let’s get this out of the way,” I growled, surprising myself. I really was bothered.
Phillip, get your ass here, I screamed in my head. I wanted one story from the both of them about how this thing, as Shayla described it, happened.
Phillip teleported into Shayla’s house, and Henry jumped back in surprise. “Great way to make sure we don’t feel safe,” Henry exclaimed. “You couldn’t teleport outside and knock like normal folk?”
Phillip nodded and then disappeared. Soon after, we heard a knock at the door.
“Really?” Shayla muttered walking to the foyer to answer it. Seconds later, Phillip and Shayla returned to the living room. “This was an unnecessary endeavor.”
“What the hell is going on?” I cried.
“See, Henry said that I shouldn’t just pop up. I decided that I—” Phillip began.
“You know what the hell I’m talking about. How did the two of you become a thing? You killed her boyfriend. That doesn’t lead to love.”
Phillip smirked. “But we’re happy now, so none of that matters. You have Erik, and I have Chelsea, it all worked out.”
I put up a hand to stop him from talking and turned to Chelsea. “Chelsea, you are like my best friend. How did this happen, and why didn’t you tell me? I’m kind of hurt.”
Chelsea threw out her hands in front of her. “I know, I know. I should have told you, but the situation was so awkward, and honestly, I can’t quite figure out how it all happened myself. I think seeing this good side of him and knowing the Phillip I first met isn’t who he really is did make a difference. I’m sorry I hurt you. I know you kind of had a thing before.”
Henry started to hum a familiar tune as we spoke.
I turned slightly to him. “Is that the theme to the Young and the Restless?”
“My grandma Ruth used to watch it all the time. Used to watch it with her when I was little. I’m not ashamed. I enjoyed it. Victor was the man,” he replied, hands on his waist.
Shayla turned to him as well. “I thought vampires were supposed to be sexy. What you just said was in no part sexy.”
“Well, that hurt,” Henry said, sitting down, looking playfully dejected.
I looked over to Phillip. “Why didn’t you tell me this when I saw you in Ireland or when we were at Mae’s?”
“You were in Ireland again?” Chelsea questioned.
“Oh, your new boo didn’t tell you? He rescued me from a werewolf attack the other week. Well, it was this woman in Erik’s pack who has the hots for him.”
“See, this is drama,” Henry observed in a faint voice. “We need to go get some popcorn.”
“Shh,” Shayla whispered, slowly sitting down on the couch, staring at the three of us with wide eyes.
“I hadn’t gotten around to it cor-, Amina,” Phillip frowned and looked away from me.
He was going to call me corazon, as he usually did, but I suppose that wouldn’t fly with his new girlfriend.
“Well, I’m glad you saved her, sweetie,” Chelsea said and rubbed his arm, a soft smile on her lips.
Phillip looked over to her and smiled back at her like she was made of gold.
“What the hell is going on?” I cried out again.
Chelsea turned away from locking eyes with Phillip and gave me a patient stare. “Amina, it just happened. I thought I couldn’t get past my anger at Phillip for what he did, but I know better now. He’s healed children. Healed regular humans. He’s kind-hearted.”
“Phillip, did you bespell her?” I asked, giving him deadpan eyes.
He frowned. “Why would I do that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, to piss me off or try to make me jealous?”
He smirked this time. “Why would you be jealous? You have Erik. You made it clear you have no feelings for me, so how is this a problem?”
“With my friend?”
“You two were never together,” Chelsea cut in.
Technically, she was right. I had no ground here. It all still felt incredibly awkward, but the paranormal world was awkward anyway.
Blake, who used to see Phillip dated my brother, who used to have something with Lisa. Faith and Grace were some type of item, even though Felix used to have a crush on Grace.
Still, this seemed to come from nowhere. Couldn’t she forgive him and just go on about her life? And Phillip. How had he moved on so quickly? Even in Ireland, I still felt the same old Phillip who tried his best to woo me.
I shook my head. The whole affair was crazy, but in the grand scheme of it, their relationship wasn’t my business, and it would make things easier for Erik and me. “You know what, if you both are happy together, then I’m happy too.”
Do you mean that, Amina? Phillip’s voice boomed in my head.
Yes. You better not be hurting her. She doesn’t deserve that.
She’s your friend. I would never hurt her.
I nodded.
Chelsea rushed towards me and embraced me again, and this time, I returned her hug with equal enthusiasm.
Was I still freaked out by it all? Absolutely. However, if she could help and love Phillip the way I couldn’t, I wouldn’t complain.
It was still weird, though.
“It sure is weird,” Charles said that evening. I met him and Faith back in Silver Spring for dinner at the local diner. It was packed. Sounds of chatter, music from the jukebox, and strong aromas of comfort foods filled the air of the brightly lit space. Felix and Lisa were back at my place on listening duty and watching Brandon. Erik was working late. Crime had risen in our small town since the paranormal illness arrived, and he was tied up more than usual.
“Right?” I exclaimed before taking a bite out of the roasted chicken I’d ordered.
“How do you feel about it?” Faith asked, biting into her pasta dish.
I shrugged. “I guess I don’t care.”
Charles twisted his lips and shook his head. “Sounds like lies to me. You used to have a crush on him when he was haunting your dreams. Then you lived with him for three months. And I know you say nothing happened, but you both are soulmates. You have feelings. You don’t have to tell us what happened over there, but I know it wasn’t just some handshakes and hugs. So, it has to be weird seeing him with your bestie.”
“Look, little boy, I said nothing happened between us in Dublin, so drop it.” Explicit dreams counted as nothing, right? “But something doesn’t feel right. I just don’t get it.”
“I don’t get it either,” Faith began, waving her fork in my direction. “But what else could he be up to? Unless you think Phillip is doing this to test you?”
I frowned. “He can take his test and shove it. Let’s change the subject. How’s the online campaign going, Charles?” I took a sip of my cocktail, willing myself to relax.
“Slow but interesting. I’m collecting stories about what the original soulmates’ henchmen are doing, and it’s bad. Misandre crucified a bunch of resistance vampires in Romania. And then I keep hearing about this demon dude, Alister. He’s wiping out small towns of humans like it’s nothing.”
“What about Joo-won?”
“He does a lot of kidnapping and stealing. Probably to build this army to come destroy us all.”
“These soulmates are not good people. If they were, they wouldn’t surround themselves with guys like this. Gedeyon is lying about what he really plans to do. I mean—” I was cut off by a loud chorus of screams coming from just outside the restaurant.
I shot up and raced to the entrance.
“Mina, stop,” Charles called behind me. “Why is she always the one trying to lead the charge to danger?” I heard him mutter to Faith behind me.
I ran to danger because I was strong enough to fight it. Why else have these powers? Seconds later, they were right beside me at the entrance as we watched with horror the many fights that were occurring on the street.
“What’s going on?” Faith asked.
“Some vamps and a gargoyle are attacking people.” I heard a man shout.
“Are they from here?” I asked. “Did they break the ward to get in?”
Faith moved forward, squeezing through the small group at the door. Charles and I followed her out of the restaurant.
“I know them, well, the vampires,” she replied, face in shock.
“What about the gargoyle?” Charles questioned.
“In his gargoyle form, we can’t tell,” I said.
Some other citizens approached the attackers and tried to pull them off their victims but were finding themselves outmatched. Whoever these attackers were, they were strong. The three vampires were in full bloodlust form, and the gargoyle looked wild-eyed, slobbering, and monstrous, like a primal animal we would meet outside the ward at night.
His legs were thick and muscular, narrowing at the end like a horse, and his feet held three long toes with equally long curved talons to match those on his fingers. His body was thick and corded with muscle. Two large fangs protruded from its mouth down to his chin. His skin was a dusty bluish gray, and he snarled as he swiped and bit at other citizens indiscriminately.
“They’re biting other vampires.” a woman screamed, running past us, hopefully to safety.
One of the bloodlust vampires, a male in dirty, tattered clothes, leaped into the air, preparing to pounce on the woman.
“Stop,” I yelled, hand out.
The bloodlust vampire fell to the ground on his feet and froze in place, hissing. He looked at me from the corner of his blood red eyes. His face held a mask of terrifying hatred that sent chills down my spine. I could control him, but it was more difficult than usual. Usually, such a command would barely break a sweat on me, and I now had the ability to control a room full of people. Yet, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to sweep my magic over the other attackers. This bloodlust vampire was already squirming against my power, much like the vampire at the school had.
“How is he moving?” Charles asked.
“Your right,” Faith screamed behind me.
I turned just in time to see one of the other bloodlust vampires, a woman, charge toward me. I raised my free hand and commanded her to stop, but she kept moving. She didn’t even pause. Charles moved in front of me at lightning speed and backhanded the vampire, sending her into the wall of a nearby building.
“My powers aren’t working right.”
“No, this drug is crazy strong,” he headed towards the female vampire who was already beginning to rise.
He reached in his jeans’ pocket and pulled out two small metal orbs about the size of golf balls. He threw them in the air, and they hovered on either side of the woman’s head. She stopped, frozen in mid move.
“What is that?” I called.
“Little help here.” Faith shouted.
She was on the ground pushing up against the gargoyle beast who snapped at her face with his large mouth. His wings, previously folded in, were now expanded, displaying an impressive wingspan of five feet. His eyes were full black, and he snapped his razor-sharp teeth inches away from the side of Faith’s face. If it weren’t for her succubus strength, he’d have defeated her by now.
I lifted my free hand to stop the monster, still struggling to maintain control of the vampire I had frozen, but my control barely did anything to stop the gargoyle. Although he moved some inches away from Faith, he pushed against my magic as if he were pressing against an invisible wall. How could he do this?
Then something I’d never seen before happened.
Faith’s skin glowed a warm yellow. No, it wasn’t her skin that glowed. It was her tattoos. She had ink that spanned from he
r neck to her feet, and the exposed skin on her body that was covered with colorful and detailed markings lit her from within. Her eyes were glowing as well. No longer were they the almost violet color I’d come to know. Now they were ablaze like mini flashlights.
Faith sat up and pushed both her hands out. The gargoyle fell back against the concrete street and slid on his bare bottom, landing against a light pole. Faith stood up in one swift move as the gargoyle got back up and charged at her. She jumped several feet high and kicked the beast in the head, sending him up in the air and out of eye distance into the night. In a blur of movement, she disappeared. Seconds later, the body of the gargoyle came sailing in from the sky, and crumbled back down on the pavement. A blur that was Faith reappeared in front of him.
What in the entire hell?
Shouts beyond Faith caught my attention, and I turned to see two people, a male witch and a female elf, face off with the final bloodlust vampire. They jointly poured magic towards the female vampire and suppressed her movement.
“What do we do with them?” Faith called out to me.
I didn’t want to kill anymore. I felt bad enough about killing the vampire at the school. While I was killing, Phillip was healing.
“Maybe we can heal them,” I shouted.
“They are way past the stage Raya was in,” Charles yelled, “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“We can try.”
The sounds of sirens came from close by, and seconds later, two magic powered sedans with rotating blue and red lights appeared in front of us. Seth jumped out of one of the cars with the raven haired second in command of the vampires, Diana. Well, now she was the head of the vampires with Blake gone. Two other people, a man and a woman I recognized from the vampire group, exited from the back of the car. Erik and Carter got out of the second car.
Seth walked over to the witch and elf. “Back up,” he ordered them.
They quickly did as they were told. Seth looked down at the female vampire who still struggled against the invisible magic hold, swiping her arms out towards Seth. He pulled something out of his back pocket, a handgun, and shot the vampire in the head without hesitation. Diana, unfazed by the killing of a member of her vampire brood, knelt and whispered something, a prayer.
