Some say he only won the election by cheating. The sad thing is, no one was ever able to prove it, so he still held his position. It looks like he had just been biding his time, waiting for the moment to make a strong move like this. All he needed one was controversial case like the murder of those girls, and he could turn the entire country into a civil war.
That was part of what threw me off about it, though. It seemed too easy; too convenient. And I had been studying paranormal crimes for 10 years as part of my position with the Guard. The facts of this case did not seem paranormal and there was no evidence that pointed toward it being so.
My gut told me it was all a set-up.
But as Vontessa had said, my gut wasn’t going to convince the masses, or bring down a corrupt President. We could think he was guilty all day long, but unless we had some hard evidence to prove it, it meant nothing. Getting that evidence wasn’t going to be easy, when there was an entire government working against us.
I knew what had to be done, and I knew I had to be the one to lead it. We had everyone gathered here from the prison breakout: Vontessa, Kallisto, Vixxie, Lysa, Kane and his boys, and even Feylinn. We discussed the plans over dinner at the diner and as suspected, everyone was on board.
We were going to get ourselves back inside, dismantle the entire prison, and free all the paranormals who were there unjustly. And then, we might be looking at a full-blown civil war in this country. They had not kept their promise to us in the treaty. It wasn’t going to be easy, but this was the first step to making things right.
There were riots on the streets of every major city in America right now. People marched and protested for justice. Some sided with us, saying that locking up all the paranormals indiscriminately was against our Constitution.
Others just wanted somebody – anybody – to pay for what happened to those girls.
Then there was a third group; the ones who followed our President like he was a god himself. And this group was full of hate and prejudice. This group had been looking for a legal way to discriminate us since the beginning of time. They were latching onto this like their very way of life was being challenged – and in a way, it was.
Our group discussed this, the plan, and what we would do to free the others from the prison. It was risky, but not doing anything was just biding time before we would all end up back in there again. We had to do something. That was something on which we all agreed. As we said our goodbyes and parted ways for the night, Kallisto lingered in the parking lot.
“You staying in town?” she asked.
“Yeah, I have a little business to tend to before we kick off this mission. And this place has a lot of memories for me.”
“I can tell,” she said, patting me on the back and lifting her pack. “I’m at the Inn down the road if you need anything.”
I nodded and thanked her. “Kallisto, we’re going back in!”
She groaned before hitching her pack over her right shoulder. “Well, I can’t let you go in there alone and get hurt now, can I? Guess I’m coming with.”
Of course, my bear protector Kallisto would have my back.
We were going to need everyone working together with all of their abilities. How could we orchestrate an undercover infiltration of this high-security prison? We couldn’t just walk up to the gates and take it by force.
It was going to take a smart plan, and I think I had one. I never imagined I’d seriously considering going back to that hellhole now that we had finally escaped. But the only way we could bring it down once and for all, was from the inside.
We were going undercover!
We were going to sneak back into that place and dismantle it from the inside out, right under their noses.
***
Before leaving town, I popped inside our favorite bookstore… but it didn’t look the way it used to back when we came on weekly dates here every Friday night. It was dusty, and some shelves were broken, and it didn’t seem like anyone was keeping up with the place.
It was sad to see, as this had been one of our weekly stops back in the day. We’d get dinner, walk by the pier, talk for hours, and make out under the stars. And we’d come in here, browsing the books, reading snippets to one another, laughing at the covers of the romance novels with all the hunky guys with 6-pack abs, and holding hands. I loved how soft her hands always were.
Walking through the bookstore, which seemed a ghost of its former glory, I felt a tingling sensation come over me. Maybe it was just the nostalgia, but I sensed her. Her.
I saw her from down the aisle and even from behind, I immediately knew it was her.
Athena.
The most beautiful person I had ever known, the one who got away, the one who still held every piece of my fragile broken heart, and she was there, on the aisle we used to browse together for hours on our bookstore dates.
She was there, just a few feet away and I wanted to run to her. I wanted to pull her close to me and tell her everything I felt for her, everything I had thought about her, and how I still told her goodnight every night before I fall asleep.
But my feet were frozen to the floor.
She turned, almost as if she sensed me, too, and we made eye contact.
“Cale?” She sounded as surprised as she looked, which was as surprised as I felt. I came here to visit the ghost of the past, but I walked right into
“It’s you,” I smiled. “It’s always been you. There’s no one else but you.”
A single tear ran down her cheek as I said the words and she ran to me, wrapping her arms completely around me and squeezing me so tight, she lifted my feet off the ground.
And then we kissed.
We kissed and all the world around us disappeared. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Just her. Just us. Just being together.
“I love you,” she said, breaking the kiss for a moment and holding me tight.
This moment: this hope is what had kept me sane in that awful place for over a month. “I love you, always.”
Being on the outside felt damn good. Being in her arms again felt even better. Whatever was about to happen, I just wanted to cherish this moment for as long as I could.
I was home.
Sneak Peak of Book 2: Undercover
There are no words to describe the amazing feeling of reconnecting with my greatest love. She had always been the one and she owned my heart completely. In our time apart, I had dated others, and none of them compared.
No matter how much time I spent trying to forget her, she was the first thing I thought about when I woke and the last thing on my mind as I fell asleep each night. She was my sun and my moon and all of the stars above and I was so incredibly grateful to have her back in my life.
This was a dream come true.
I wish that I could say it all ended when we broke out of prison. Sadly, that wasn’t the happily ever after intended for us.
And although I said I never wanted to step foot in that awful place again, it looked like it was going to be necessary to put a stop to this once and for all. If we wanted to take down the evil that ran this paranormal prison, we’d have to blow it up from the inside out.
That meant infiltrating the prison and making our move at the perfect time and place. It was time to go undercover!
Order Undercover: Paranormal Prison Book 2 here.
Sample of Spookybrook Witch Academy: Year One
As I walked onto campus for the first time, looking up at the tall building looming above me I thought, this wasn’t a campus; this was a castle.
And why had my father shipped me off here anyway? He’d mumbled something about traveling a lot, boarding school, the importance of education… blah blah blah…
It all sounded the same to me – like excuses! He’d been pawning me off to one place or another for 4 years now.
This was what he always did when he didn’t want to deal with me anymore. Ever since my mom died when I was 11, my relationship with my father had been strained. In
fact, sometimes it seemed as if he didn’t want to be around me at all.
These days, the feeling was mutual.
There was a time when I cared, but I was over it. Who wants to waste their life away worrying about someone who doesn’t even care about them?
Not this girl. I had far more important things to do. Like for now, figuring out where the cute boys were in this creepy mansion.
“Vivian?”
A voice from behind startled me out of my daydreams. I spun around and locked eyes with a friendly blond with big, blue eyes. Immediately, her outstretched hand reached for mine.
“I’m Kari, a Year Three at Spookybrook Witch Academy. I’ll be here to show you around campus and to your room. If there’s anything you want to know, don’t hesitate to ask!”
Where are all the cute boys? I thought to myself.
“Umm, hi. Yes, thank you.” Was my actual reply.
Wait, did she say, “Witch Academy”?
Kari looked at me almost as if she could read my thoughts and smiled. “Don’t worry, it will all be explained to you soon. I’ve been instructed to bring you to the Headmaster for log-in before Orientation.”
“Alright, thanks.” I muttered, following this bubbly blond and wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me again.
Keep it together, Viv. You know what happened last time…
We walked deeper past the front gates and directly up to the large entrance to the Academy. It had huge, thick wooden doors and there appeared to be bars that could come down over both the doors and the windows.
The cobblestone brick on the front was well-kept, but obviously old. The windows were clean and sparkly, and the lawn was pristine. In fact, the grounds themselves were huge. There must be acres and acres out here. You just don’t see that much empty real estate around New Jersey anymore. They’ll build up on anything that doesn’t move!
We passed through the doors and entered a huge foyer that was well lit, bright and airy. Tall palms sat to either side and in the wall in front of me was a huge sign that read Welcome New Students to Spookybrook Witch Academy.
There it was again! I was definitely not imagining it. What kind of school had my dad sent me off to this time?
“This way,” Kari instructed and pointed to the left wing that jutted off from the large front foyer. Off to meet another Headmaster. This was not my first time, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this one would be as stuffy and out of touch as the others.
I had been to five different schools in the past three years. My father was growing impatient with my “fits”, as he called them, and I was sick and tired of being shuffled around from one place to another. I didn’t like it any more than he did, but it wasn’t my fault he kept sending me to awful schools!
It seemed that no matter how hard I tried; I didn’t fit in anywhere. And if my own father didn’t even want me around, then why should I care anymore? All of these fancy schools had so many rules and no one ever listened to you. They were all the same.
I’d pretty much given up the notion that the next one would be any better. This would be my life for the next three years, until I was finally 18. Then… FREEDOM!
My daydreaming came to an abrupt halt when Kari stopped very suddenly outside a large door with the title HEADMASTER in large font carved into it. We stepped inside and were greeted by another girl in a school uniform who seemed to be some sort of secretary.
“Hello Ashley! Vivian is here to meet the Headmaster,” Kari told the girl at the desk.
“Oh yes, of course. I’ll let her know you are here.”
Her? Oh, female heads of schools were sometimes the worst. And you couldn’t charm them with your looks or wile them with your tears, either.
“Ashley is a Year Four and the Headmaster’s Assistant,” Kari explained while we waited.
I looked around the very large room. There were paintings on the walls, old ones, and very beautiful ones, but not anything I could recognize. They were tall, hand painted and in golden frames. And the walls were a soft, light grey. There was a very regal feel in here.
The furniture was old, but elegant. It wasn’t like the stuff you’d find in your grandmother’s living room… if you had a grandmother. I didn’t, but you still get the idea.
“The Headmaster will see you now,” Ashley told us, and Kari nodded and began to walk toward a second door.
I followed her in to come face-to-face with the most beautiful tall redheaded woman I had ever seen. She was stunning!
She had a pale, creamy complexion and long wavy auburn locks that came down nearly to her butt. She had piercing green eyes, like those of a cat, but they twinkled in a way that seemed both mischievous and friendly at the same time.
“Hello Vivian!” this knockout of woman greeted me instantly. “I am Headmaster Lily. Please take a seat.” She pointed to some red upholstered chairs in front of her desk.
THIS was the Headmaster?
Kari was already seated next to me and nudged me gently to follow suit beside her.
Still stunned, I realized the Headmaster was talking to me and this would be a very good time to start listening. The last thing I wanted was to make a bad impression on my first day.
“As I said, I am Headmaster Lily and I run this Academy with my sisters, Rose and Orchid. We are witches, and so are you. That’s why you’re here. I understand this may be new and overwhelming news to you, but I assure you, it will all make sense in time. You are in good hands here and that’s why we are here to help.”
I was a witch? She was a witch? Was I being Punked?
“Uh... yes. Th-thank you,” was all I could manage in reply.
“Fantastic. Well, we are very happy to have you here, Vivian. You are a very special person and we are proud to call you part of our new family.” She had such a friendly face and it felt genuine, but I couldn’t help but feel weird about it all.
There wasn’t anything special about me, unless you considered having a knack for getting kicked out of private schools and make your dad ashamed a special skill. But I was thinking that wasn’t it.
Our meeting was short after that and it was time to get to know more about this new place that I would call home, at least for the end of the school year. The Headmaster gave me a schedule and shook my hand before saying goodbye.
Then, it was off down the halls with Kari to tour the school.
Kari continued the tour in the Herbs and Potions Wing where we saw exactly what you would imagine – bottles of tinctures and potions, herbs and other plants growing in a beautiful atrium, and bubbling cauldrons of mysterious mixtures.
There was a smell, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. It was sort of flowery and fruity at the same time.
This put my old lab class to shame. This was otherworldly even.
I don’t even know what is happening here…
“You will soon,” Kari replied.
OMG, she was reading my thoughts!
“I’m so sorry,” she blurted out. “How rude of me! You probably haven’t been taught how to block that yet. Well, no worries. It’s one of the easiest spells to learn. I’ll help you later. For now, don’t worry. Let’s finish the tour and then we’ll get to the basics.”
From there, she took through more long winding hallways and down other designated wings of the school. I learned that there are eight different Magic Types and that the students were sorted by Houses, based on their Magic Type.
The Types included Illusionary, Incantation, Alchemy, Psychic, Elemental, Telekinesis, Healing, and Nature.
“Which one am I?” I impulsively blurted out, still reeling from the shock of all this.
“Great question!” Kari replied. “So, some of us have an idea before we come here, based on our natural abilities, but no one knows for sure until it’s chosen in your Day 1 Exam. Sometimes people end up really surprised!”
Great, I have to take an exam on my first day here…
“It’s not that bad, really. It’s more
like an assessment. You don’t have to study for it or anything. The whole point is to determine your underlying witch abilities.”
She wasn’t even bothering to hide that she was reading my mind anymore. I was really going to have to learn that protection spell she mentioned. My own brain wasn’t even safe in this place!
“And on that note…” Kari added. “One more stop in the tour and I’ll give you your handbook and we’ll get you protected.”
“Oh great!” Finally. “Where’s the last stop?” I asked.
“Dorms!” Her face really lit up at that answer. “I can’t wait to show you to your room! Come on, come on.”
With that, she motioned me to follow and we went out the big wooden doors to the main building, across the grassy way that we had first come up and off to the left side of the property, to another long building.
This was just as elaborately decorated as the main building and they seemed to be connected through a side wing, but we were headed toward the big, double wooden doors right on the front.
A sign above the entrance read “Laveau House”.
Laveau? I thought.
“Named for the famous witches,” Kari answered. “Oh, that’s right, you haven’t had any Witch History yet. No worries, you’ll learn all about them soon. Basically, just know that they were bad-ass, and our dorms are named after them.”
Then she led me through the doors and down a long hallway with many other doors off the left and right sides of it. It was surprisingly well lit inside. In fact, everything had a light, airy feel to it.
I was expecting a dark, dank atmosphere from the castle-like appearance of the buildings on the outside, but this dorm was actually quite cozy and modern inside.
“Okay, so you’re in B19. That’s Hall B, Room 19.” Kari explained as she walked briskly down the hall.
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