by C C Solomon
Mystic Bonds
A Paranormal World Novel Book One
C.C. Solomon
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Prologue
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
About the Author
CatDog Publications
Mystic Bonds is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
* * *
Copyright © 2019 by C.C. Solomon
All rights reserved; no part of this document shall be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form and by any means without the express permission of the author. Nor may this document be printed or circulated in any form, binding or cover, other than that which it is published.
ISBN: 978-1-7336259-5-1
Created with Vellum
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all my friends and family who supported my dreams. My beta readers, Diana, Montrez and Shay, who gave me so much feedback. My editor, Nina Gooden, for her great eyesight, help, and encouraging comments. Morgan and Charlee who gave me their artists eyes for a cover.
Foreword
To find information on prior books by C.C. Solomon go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J4YAT5E/
Prologue
“That was the worst town visit we’ve ever had,” Charles grumbled as he drove our gray SUV down the two-way street at a snail’s pace, avoiding the rusted cars abandoned haphazardly on both sides of the road.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I replied, leaning my head on the passenger side window.
“They were little jerks. Reminded me of why I hated school so much.”
I chuckled. “You were a nerd back then, I can understand that.”
“Shut it.”
I laughed even harder. “Kids, they were just kids.”
“I’ve never seen that. It’s kind of sad.”
Years of doing bartering in different towns, and this was the first time we’d encountered a village of only children. Well, they weren’t all kids. The eldest were perhaps very early twenties. Just barely what used to be the drinking age of twenty-one. And apparently, people of that age would be kicked out of the town once they turned twenty-two. Ever since the world became a magical nightmare, us survivors were pretty low on trust. It was no surprise that a pool of children, a little under one hundred of them, had decided to come together and form their own more civilized Lord of the Flies. It was odd but they seemed to have structure of some sort.
“They seemed very mature,” I said.
“One of them called me a shithead.”
“Yeah, but you did curse him out before that.”
Charles cut his eyes at me quickly before looking back at the road. “He threatened to turn my head into an actual pile of feces. I mean, could he have really done that?”
I shrugged, still laughing. “He was a wizard so…anything’s possible.”
Charles shivered. “Like I said, that was a town of jerks.”
“Who had a lot to barter with us, so stop complaining.”
“Well, someone else can go next—” Charles suddenly stopped talking.
I turned to Charles. “What’s-”
I didn’t have to ask him what was wrong. It was suddenly very clear. To the left of us, a group of ten to fifteen people were scattered about an open field, seemingly running in terror.
They were running from something.
A monster that charged at them from farther down the field.
It was the stuff of nightmares. I’d honestly never seen anything like it. Not on TV and definitely not in real life.
It was over twenty feet tall. Normal sized, it could have been a dog.
A freaking dog.
It was covered in long, dark-brown, matted fur with a short bushy tail. I’m no dog expert so I couldn’t determine the breed. Maybe a Rottweiler. It had sharp, slobbery teeth and bright, red eyes.
And it roared.
The sound was loud and monstrous. I didn’t have much experience with roars so the closest I could compare it to was a bear. Definitely not a dog. The ground shook with the sound.
Some of the people running shot at the monster dog with rifles. No magic was used. They were regular humans. They didn’t stand a chance. The bullets seemed to only annoy the dog rather than injure it.
I looked back to monster dog and saw it shaking its huge head, the kicking legs of some poor man hanging out of its enormous, bloody mouth. It widened its jaw again and gulped the man whole. It didn’t take time to chew before it moved forward and chomped on its next victim.
I was no hero. I loved scary movies but there was a limit to my fear level. I didn’t like spiders and I’d run screaming, butt-naked out of the house to escape a cockroach or a snake. Yet, something moved me to help. I just thought I could do something.
I thought I could stop it all.
“Stop the car,” I shouted.
“Hell no!” Charles yelled.
“We need to help them! They aren’t paranormals. They’ll all die.”
“Amina…”
“Our parents didn’t raise us to not help where we can.”
“Damn it,” Charles murmured as he slowed the car down and pulled off to the right side of the road. “That thing is going to stomp on this car and then we’re going to be dead.”
“Stay here,” I stated, getting out of the car.
“Yeah, right,” I heard him say as he opened his driver side door.
I jogged across the street and stopped at the edge of the field.
“What are you going to do?” Charles asked, beside me.
“Something,” I replied. I really didn’t know. After all this time, my magic was still confusing to me. I mostly learned about what I could do through trial and error. That and just plain winging it. I would wing it now.
I reached out towards the scene with my hands, to do what I couldn’t tell you. But I was at least fifty feet away. I wasn’t thinking; just desperate to stop this monster from eating any more people.
“Stop! Please!” I screamed.
A sharp, head-splitting pain ripped through my brain causing me to lose balance. I had to steady myself with outstretched arms. The front of my skull felt like it was breaking and my vision blurred momentarily. My knees grew weak and I stumbled a bit. Charles caught me before I hit the ground and steadied me.
The disorientation felt like it lasted for minutes but logically I knew it was less time. Pain always came when I used magic at that level and although I knew it was coming, it never failed to knock me back.
The monster stopped just inches away from an older, white woman who had fallen on the ground. Nightmare dog turned its head, which was the size of a monster truck, towards me.
“Sit!” I shouted. It was actually more of a question but I said it with force so that counted for something.
And the
dog sat! However, the head-splitting pain also returned. A wave of nausea came as well but it was not long lasting.
Having this momentary diversion, the woman got up and ran to a man nearby who was aiming a rifle at monster dog. The monster didn’t move its attention or cloudy gaze away from me.
“What are you going to do now?” Charles asked.
“Going to send it back to hell where it came from.”
How I planned to do that, I actually didn’t know but I decided to think logically. It listened to me when I told it to stop and when I said for it to sit so… “Die.”
A barrage of pain attacked my whole body, like every nerve was set on fire. I keeled over and cried out.
Fido tilted to the side and then toppled all the way to the ground with a room-shaking thud. Its eyes stayed open but were now glazed over in a death stare. It’s black tongue hung out of its mouth and legs became stiff.
He looked dead to me.
The pain vanished as quickly as it had come.
I fell to the ground from the shock of it all.
It was a pretty uneventful battle.
“Is it? Is it dead?” called a man off to our left.
“Yes!” I shouted back. I sat upright and supported myself with my right hand.
“What are you?” asked the woman I’d saved from being dinner.
“I’m a witch.”
“You’re very strong,” said the man beside her, his eyes wide.
I shrugged modestly. “I’m okay.”
“You controlled it just with your voice. That’s more than okay,” said a black woman. She squinted her eyes and walked towards us with cautious steps.
“She’s a rockstar,” Charles boasted.
“We could use power like yours,” said the man on our left, walking forward.
“We’re already part of a village but if you need our help, we’d be happy to—”
“Barter,” Charles cut in. “You can’t be doing all these unpaid services, sis,” he whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“We don’t need to trade,” said the black woman. “We just need your blood.”
“Say what—” Charles didn’t finish his sentence. I heard the sound of a gunshot from behind us. Charles arched his back and dropped to his knees.
I spun around, my hands out to attack with my magic. A bullet hit me in my shoulder and I soon felt a sharp blast of pain spread through me. I stumbled forward but lost my balance and fell to the ground. My vision clouded and I saw several boots walk forward before darkness washed over me.
Chapter 1
I wasn’t sure where I was. It was dark. Night time. I was outside in a small park surrounded by streets, sidewalks, rowhomes, and what looked like a couple of mom-and-pop restaurants and bars. I was in a neighborhood. Perhaps in the city. What city, I couldn’t be sure. Nothing unique to identify my surroundings popped out in the dark.
I sat down on a bench at the perimeter of the park under a lamp post. I looked ahead across the grassy field at a red, neon “Open” sign on the front of a bar sandwiched between houses. Music played off in the distance.
There was life around me. I could feel it, like a minor static on the skin. However, no one was outside and I heard no buzz of human chatter. I couldn’t tell how late it was. It was certainly too late to be sitting outside alone. Yet, I didn’t get up.
It was summer, I think, by the feel of thick heat on my skin and the way I was dressed. I had on an all-white, A-line, spaghetti strapped dress that stopped at my knees. On my feet, I wore simple light-brown colored sandals that matched closely to my skin tone. My dark, brown hair was out in its natural curly state, grazing my shoulders.
I looked like bait for a predator.
A distant roar, like the sound of a lion, got me to my feet. I spun around trying to locate the origin of the noise but had no such luck. This was a city; the roar of a lion didn’t match the surrounding. Then again, neither did me standing out in the dark.
“It’s just someone’s TV playing too loudly,” I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself. I wasn’t cold but I was certainly creeped out.
I was being naive, borderline stupid. Why was I out here? Could I be waiting for someone? Why didn’t I know?
I listened for the animal call again, yet heard nothing but the music from the bar across the street.
I sat back down carefully; my bottom on the edge of the bench. The music was comforting. Odd noises didn’t sound so bad when you had the base line of an old, 90s-era song playing along with it.
Or so I told myself.
Something electric suddenly pricked the air around me. Goosebumps peppered my arms and made the fine hairs stand up. I heard a shuffling behind me to my left but didn’t turn around, too afraid to see the source of what I assumed was the animal roar. The sound grew closer. Footsteps or paws crunched grass. A shadow appeared on the sidewalk where my bench and I rested under the street light. It was human shaped.
“Mind if I sit next to you?” The voice was deep, male, soothing, and familiar.
I looked to my left at the source of the voice. A few steps in front of me now stood a man, perhaps in his late twenties, although age worked differently nowadays so one never really knew how old another person was exactly. He had a pleasant smile on his face and kind, light-brown eyes, honey-colored skin, and short, wavy, black, hair faded close to his scalp. He wore dark jeans and an untucked, white button-down shirt that covered his just shy of 6-foot, athletic frame. On his feet were black and white Converse that gave him a boy-next door appeal. He was very attractive and his smile, with full lips and the world’s nicest white teeth, made his face almost glow.
He smiled like he knew me, like he had all the answers and was excited to tell them to me. Ease settled in.
“Uh, yeah, sure. I’m sorry, do I know you?” I asked.
He sat down beside me.
Close.
I could smell his cologne. Like sandalwood and summer rain on grass with a tinge of something sweet. It was intoxicating.
He didn’t answer, just tilted his head as if studying me. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before. Are you in business school?”
I shook my head. “Law school.”
He nodded slowly. “Platinum Gym, maybe? I go there a lot.”
I tried not to look him up and down but it was evident from how his clothes laid on his body that he was fit.
However, I had no gym membership of any kind. I shook my head.
He squinted his eyes. “Dating app?”
I cracked a smile. “Now that’s entirely possible.”
He stretched his hand out to me. “My name is Phillip Leal,” he said. “I’m sure I must have swiped up for you. Well, back when that kind of thing existed.”
I chuckled, shaking his hand. His hand was warm and surprisingly soft. “I’m Amina. Langston,” I replied.
“Ah, Amina, Amina, yes, that name sounds familiar,” he called out, slapping his forehead lightly. “Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
There was just a charm oozing from him unaided by even words. I’m sure I blushed and was thankful it was dark and that my almond coloring was deep enough to hide it.
“So, what brings you out in the park, looking like bait, along with me?” I asked.
“Would you run if I told you I didn’t know? Sometimes things get fuzzy here for me.”
“You aren’t the only one. Maybe both of us got hit on the head.”
Phillip turned away and leaned back on the bench, staring up at the night sky. “Let’s help each other then. Do you live in the area?”
Did I? I didn’t know for sure but the park felt familiar. “Yeah, I think so. Where are you from?”
He smiled again. “I’m from Philly but originally from the Dominican Republic. Came here when I was five.”
Two places crossed off my list of where in the world was Amina. “So, we know who we are just not where or why we’re here.”
He gave
me a lazy smile that made my stomach twist. I felt like a 13-year-old with her first crush. It was those damn eyes. They seemed to connect with me, showing a genuine interest that made me feel…beautiful. “How—”
He was cut off by another roar, still distant but just as distressing. It didn’t sound quite like a lion like I first thought. A bear? I looked at Phillip. “Please tell me you heard that. Hey, do you think maybe there’s a zoo around here?”
“It’s not from the zoo but nothing can hurt us here.” His voice was soft and fell over me like a protective blanket. “I remember, I remember,” he whispered more to himself than me.
I sat back on the bench. Nothing made sense. Here I was in the dark with a stranger and not bothered by some random, scary, animal noises. Maybe I was drugged and didn’t know it.
“I know it all seems crazy but it’ll make sense soon, it always does. You just have to remember.” Phillip sat up straight. “I don’t always remember. At least not at first. I have to keep talking and then everything starts falling into place. I just need to ask questions. How’s your brother?”
Clearly, I was losing my mind as well because I didn’t recall telling him about my family. If we were close enough for him to know about Charles, then why couldn’t I remember him? Who was this guy?
I squinted my eyes again and turned; fully facing Phillip. “I’m so confused. Have we talked before? I just don’t remember.” Statement of the night.
His smile left and his eyes went serious. “You have a brother named Charles. He’s got powers too.”
