by CC Solomon
Erik walked over to me, and Carter moved towards Charles as Seth continued to the still unconscious gargoyle.
“Stop,” Faith shouted, throwing her hands out. “We aren’t killing them. We can help them. These are our people.”
Seth snorted. “And they have an incurable sickness. I’m not letting anymore people get attacked.” He shot the gargoyle in the head.
“You son of a bitch,” Faith spat, her face twisted in rage.
“Your friend killed a vampire, what’s the difference?”
“She did it in self-defense,” Faith yelled. She waved her hand towards Charles and me. “We have it under control. We can detain them.”
Seth spun around. “Look around. They attacked people. They are too far gone.”
I looked down the street and saw several people wounded on the ground. Others gathered around the injured and poured healing magic into them. The area looked like a scene from a mass assault.
I heard a gun cock beside me. Erik was now beside me and pointing a gun towards my frozen vampire.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You know, Amina,” he replied, not looking at me. “Seth’s right.” And he pulled the trigger.
Chapter 18
I lowered my arm and clutched it to my chest with my free hand, watching as the vampire fell to the ground, a bullet to his head.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said in a tight voice, heated anger rising in me.
I jumped as I heard another gunshot to my right, and Charles’ vampire died by Carter’s gun. The metal orbs dropped to the ground, and Charles opened his hand as the orbs rolled towards him and rose to fall into his palm.
The vampire fell to the ground. His body, much like the other two vampires, desiccated, cracked, and then crumbled into powder in seconds.
“We had to do this, Amina,” Erik stated, turning towards me with hardened eyes. “Phillip, and maybe you can stop it from progressing for a period but you can’t cure it and, as far as I know, you can’t revert it. What else can we do with them? We don’t have the resources to detain the infected. Especially at the rate this is spreading.”
“This could be a bad drug reaction. We aren’t sure what this is yet.”
Sure, it’d been a while now and Mae wasn’t cured, but I could still hold on to some hope that this was simply a drug reaction. Couldn’t I?
Phillip and I together could cure them or maybe even produce a magical protection that worked like a vaccine. This was the very type of thing we were created for. How could we not try?
“I can stop the illness from progressing.” I wasn’t so sure I could, but I assumed if Phillip could do it, so could I. I wondered if any other paranormal being with healing magic could do the same.
“How?” Seth asked, gun still out.
“Because she has the soulmate magic,” Faith answered in an annoyed tone.
“So, you can stop those who get infected from showing signs and getting worse. For good?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
I frowned. I had a bad feeling about his question. “I’m not sure how long it last.”
“So, you could heal someone and it’s only temporary. Delaying the inevitable.”
“Or until we find a cure,” Faith growled.
Seth gave a quick shrug. “Whenever that would be. And then, in the meantime, these temporarily cured people get worse at some undefined time and attack again.”
“We can monitor them.”
“We don’t have the people to monitor the growing number of infected. We have to find a way to stop it from spreading if we can’t cure it,” Diana said, standing several feet behind Seth.
“If we keep losing people, we will be at a disadvantage to the humans,” Seth went on. “The non-gifted had their disease that wiped them half out. Now it looks like our turn is coming, but we’re smarter. We have to make the tough decisions.”
“So, what does that mean?” I questioned.
Erik put a hand on my shoulder, and I glanced up at him at the same time as I heard more gunshots.
I spun back towards Seth in time to see Diana and the other two vampires shoot and kill the victims attacked by the infected vampires and gargoyle. Several town’s people, including myself, screamed out in shock and horror.
“Why?” I yelled, moving towards Seth, but Erik grabbed me by the wrist, holding me back.
“Mother fucker,” Faith screamed and walked over to Seth, punching him in the face. He flew back a few feet in the air and toppled to the ground.
Diana’s people started towards her, but Faith backed away with her hands up in surrender. “I will kill all you fuckers, so back the fuck up.” She shouted. Her tattoos still glowed, framing her in golden light. I wasn’t quite sure where this new magic came from within her, but I understood now that the tattoos were like a power boost for her.
Seth laughed and raised a hand in the air. “Let it go … this time. I love a girl who can spar. If you were were, I’d make you one of my wives. Hell, maybe I could make an exception for you.” He jumped to his feet and rubbed his jaw.
Faith shot him the middle finger.
He pointed an index finger at her. “This is why you aren’t a leader. You can’t act on emotions.” He turned around towards the growing crowd of shocked citizens. “Listen all, this disease is dangerous. It is spreading and we can’t stop it. The only thing we have on our side is to make sure we prevent the infected from hurting and infecting more people. It’s how what’s left of the non-gifted humans survived. It’s what we must do. We must preserve our kind. This is the only way. There is no cure. Prolonging the illness won’t help. We must end it before it starts.”
“That’s not going to work,” I yelled.
He turned to me, a cocky smile on his lips. “Until you and your magic friends find a cure, it’s the only fix. You don’t like it, leave.” He looked at Erik with his icy blue eyes. “Reign in your woman. I won’t say it again.” He then looked over to Faith. “And your friends.”
“Fuck you,” Faith muttered.
“Spread the word, everyone,” Seth called out. “Report all infected and attacked. We can show no mercy if we want to survive. This is a matter of life or death for our kind, and I didn’t come this far to die.” He looked back to me. “Bring your soulmate back to town, pronto. The two of you, and whoever else you need, gotta produce a way to test to see who is infected within a week. I’m reasonable, so I’ll let you start Monday.”
“A week? That’s hardly enough time. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“The humans in the government towns came up with a test for their Sickness. Start there,” he replied with a condescending tone before turning away.
We regrouped back at my place. All our appetites were ruined from witnessing the mass killings.
“What the hell did we miss?” Felix asked looking around at our solemn faces
“Where’s Brandon?” I walked to the guest room, leaving Charles and Faith to recap the night’s horrific events.
I peeped inside and found him sound asleep. I sighed, filling with emotion as I stared at his peaceful little face. He’d had a tough time, crying every night for his mother. Usually, I slept beside him, as that eased his sadness. This time he might be my comfort. I felt sick to my stomach after what I witnessed, but seeing him helped just a bit. I closed the door and walked back to the living room.
“We lost, what, damn near ten people just now? In the span of thirty minutes,” Charles said.
Faith nodded, her perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed together. “Pretty much. It didn’t have to go down like that. Especially with those poor people who were attacked. They weren’t even sick.” She looked at Erik. “I can’t believe you all did that to them. That was so fucked up.”
Erik leaned back on the living room wall, face not showing emotion. “You aren’t out there dealing with it. We don’t know how it spreads and if we take chances, people die.”
“We could put them
in a magic based sleep until we know. We could have put the infected in the same state. Your way is destructive. I can’t believe you agree with Seth.”
“We don’t know if this is a drug reaction, and we don’t have the resources to take care of a growing number of infected and possibly infected in a sleeping state.”
“Sure, we do. We have almost twenty-five hundred people here. If we don’t want to spend the resources to take care of our own, then how are we any better than the people we’re going to be fighting? What are we going to tell those people’s families? Are people disposable? We’ve all already lost so many.” I closed my eyes, feeling sick inside, but the image of those people being shot in the head played in my mind. I’d seen a lot of death, but I would never get used to it.
Lisa sighed, a hand to her cheek. “Amina is right. And if Seth’s killing all the infected, then why is Raya still prancing around? What makes her exempt?”
“He doesn’t know,” Erik whispered. “Yet. Carter and I are keeping an eye on her, and Phillip put a spell on her to slow the progression.”
I didn’t like him keeping an eye on Raya, but I understood. She was no friend of mine, but I didn’t want her dead. Seth would kill even her if she showed signs of infection. I suspected no one was exempt. I tried to ignore the fact he was working with Phillip and had failed to mention it to me. There were more important matters now.
“If she starts showing again, we’ll get her out of town.”
Just like Mae.
“You think Seth would really kill her?” Lisa asked.
Erik nodded. “In a heartbeat. He only loves himself. We’re all up for sacrifice. Man, woman, and child.”
“What if one of us gets infected?” Felix asked. He gazed around the room again, his face scrunched up in a confused frown.
It was a good question. I had somehow avoided it. Or I was infected too, and Phillip had just stopped any signs from showing. For all I knew, I was a threat to others. The thought I could spread the disease worried me at night.
“You aren’t sick, Amina,” Faith said from the dining area table. “So, stop worrying.” She rubbed her head, looking a mixture of exhausted and disgusted. I felt the same way. It was like she was reading my mind. Wait, was she reading my mind?
“I need for everyone to stop reading each other’s minds,” I replied. “It’s freaking me out.”
Faith shrugged.
“But thanks, though. I hope not.”
“Well, I don’t know what I would do if any of you were infected,” Lisa said. “I know I couldn’t kill you. Even you, Charles.” She gave my brother an evil glare.
Charles, who had been slumping in his chair with a gloomy look spread over his face, sat up. “Why was I pointed out?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
Lisa jutted her chin out and turned from him. It was safe to say she was still angry about him biting her. Not that I could blame her.
“But if it comes to that,” Erik began. “If any of us are too far gone—”
“We freeze you until we find a cure,” I cut him off.
“How are we freezing people and expecting them to live? Is there a cryogenic mage out there that I don’t know about?” Charles muttered.
Erik looked at me with serious eyes. “If I get sick then you need to leave me. Or kick me out. Lisa can banish me.”
I looked away from him. I was not abandoning any of them. It would have to be unfixable for me to do such a thing. “Ok, if you’ve gone too far.”
“No, as soon as I show signs or if I’m attacked by an infected kick me out.”
“Uh, I was attacked by a possible infected, and you’re still with me. How could I leave you?” I looked around the group. “We aren’t abandoning each other.”
“Even if it could put the group in danger?” Lisa inquired, biting the corner of her bottom lip.
I narrowed my eyes and zoned in on her. “If you banish anyone because you think they’re a threat without discussing it with the group, I will rip your hair out of your head strand by strand.”
Lisa’s eyes widened, and she touched her head. “Well, that went left really quickly.”
“Can we not threaten our friends?” Felix requested. He leaned into Charles. “Maybe she is infected.”
“Maybe. Or I could have a bit of trauma going on from being sent to Europe for three months with a man who I formerly wanted to kill,” I spat.
Felix threw out a hand towards me. “Or that. I think it’s probably that.”
I eyed Erik and then looked to the rest of the group. “We stick together. No matter what. Okay?”
They gave a mixture of agreements and head nods.
“Now, next thing.” I looked to Charles. “What the hell are your shiny balls?”
Felix coughed, and Faith patted him on the back. “I think I heard that wrong,” he choked out.
Faith shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You heard that right, crazy pants. Get your mind out of the incestuous gutter.”
Charles gave Felix a shocked face. “Dude,” he whispered, shaking his head before turning to me. “I’ve been working on some magic tech weaponry with some pals here in Silver Spring and in Hagerstown. Human and mage. Some people in Hagerstown were already working on something to help protect themselves against bad paranormals, but magic-infused weaponry is helpful for everyone.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged. “Most of our inventions were still unworkable. Magic and technology are very incompatible, as we all know. We’re trying to find workarounds. The orbs were the first to work. It only incapacitates people, gifted and non-gifted, but it’s a start.”
“It’s helpful as hell,” Faith stated.
“Well, keep up the excellent work, Charlie,” I said, smiling.
“Just doing my part in this horror show we now call life,” he leaned back.
“I just wish we could stop this before we end up losing everyone in this town. And I’m no scientist; how can I make a cure or even come up with a way to test for the illness or magic drug?”
“We’ll pull a good team together to help you,” Erik said.
“It’s a magic-based illness, so it’s less about science and medicine. You know magic, Sis. You teach it,” Charles added.
Faith nodded. “Yeah, magic keeps growing, and there are people who are studying it,” she added. For the first time, I’d noticed her eyes and tattoos were back to normal.
“How’d your magic grow?” I questioned, looking at her arms.
“Your magic grew?” Erik asked; he looked over to Faith with curious eyes.
Faith pursed her lips and looked at her short nails. “Yep. I noticed a week ago when I was working out at the gym doing an especially vigorous routine.”
“People still workout?” Lisa whispered towards Felix with an upturned lip. “You can just magically lose weight or get toned, can’t you?”
Faith stared at her in open mouthed confusion before responding. “Okay, I just cannot talk to you right now. That is so lazy. Anyway, as I was saying, I was exercising. Running uphill on the treadmill, to be exact.”
“Eww, running,” Lisa whispered.
Faith stared up at the ceiling. “And then my tats started glowing on me and boom. I felt this amazing rush like I could climb a mountain. Did my best time on the treadmill.” She raised her hands in the air as if just winning a race.
“But how can that happen?” I asked. “It’s just ink, right? You’re a succubus; how can that affect tattoos?”
Faith shook her head. “It isn’t supposed to. It could be that I evolved somehow as part of The Six or the tats were magic to begin with, and I wasn’t powerful enough before to activate them or something.”
“Who would give you magical tattoos and without you knowing it?” Erik asked. “Did the same person do all of your tats?”
“Two people have worked on me over time. All my tattoos came during the Pre-World. And the two people who did my tats worked at th
e same shop.”
I nodded slowly. “Are y’all thinking what I’m thinking?”
“What is in the vegan nachos on the diner’s new menu, and who is ordering that craziness nowadays?” Felix replied, shaking his head.
“What? No.”
“That’s a good question, though,” Charles agreed, pointing a finger at him.
“It might be magic based. It might even taste better than the vegan substitutes from before,” Lisa said, rubbing her chin.
I opened my mouth in shock. “Are we really talking about this? I’m glad everyone can be in such care-free moods after a bunch of people just got shot.”
The trio lost their smiles. “It’s either this or get even more depressed,” Charles muttered.
I lowered my shoulders, not knowing what to say. Charles and Felix were our go-to guys for lightening the mood. This new world was tough. Who was I to tell them how to endure it all?
“You guys, I’m saying that maybe the people who did Faith’s ink might be behind bringing us all together. One of her tattoo artists could be the person or know the person that put the spell together to combine us, and they magically positioned themselves to be the ones to do her ink, to ready her for this moment.”
Charles shook his head, then wagged a finger at me. “I don’t think anybody in this room was thinking that,” he started.
“That was upsettingly made clear to me,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
“But it makes perfect sense. See Sis, this is why you were going to law school. You’re a thinker.” He tapped his head.
Erik cleared his throat, getting us back on track. “Faith, do you think those artists are still alive?”
She shrugged. “It was in New York, and I have no idea. I seriously doubt they just went back to doing tattoos at the old shop. Half of New York City is a wasteland.”
“Ok, well let’s bookmark that for later. It’s worth an investigation,” I replied. “Maybe Phillip can help. Maybe do a locator spell using your tats.”
“Where the hell is that asshole anyway?” Faith looked at me. “Doesn’t he pop up whenever you’re in danger? I’d say you were in danger this time. He didn’t show.”
