by C C Solomon
“Pois—” he gurgled out.
I frowned. Pois? Was he trying to say poison? I thought of his attack on me in the pharmacy and let go of the magic strangulation I had on him. “What?”
“I pumped her full of poison. Worse than what I gave you before.”
“I can heal her.” I clawed my hands out again, ready to restart my attack.
David threw out his hand in a stop motion. “But if the poison is magic based…”
“Someone will have the cure.”
“That someone is me. And you can tell your friend waiting in the hall to not even bother, he can’t get in. I had your friend here ward the entrance, which only allowed for you to come through.”
I turned slightly to Felix, who was banging at an invisible wall. I had wondered why he didn’t follow me in the room but was too focused on David and Lisa.
“Let her go and I will follow you out of here. Leave the cure.”
David stood up, jumped down from the podium and stepped up the levels towards me. Every bone in my body wanted to back away but I didn’t. I thought of Phillip. Surely, he was strong enough to break the ward. Why didn’t I bring him with me?
David was now at my level in the middle of the room, right in front of me. He gave me that icy, soul-freezing smile and I grimaced; leaning back. He grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me. It was rough and hard and I pushed at him but he was too strong. He bit my lip hard, drawing blood. I cried out and hit him in the face with my fist but it was as if he didn’t feel me. He shoved me back and I lost balance, falling to the floor on my bottom.
He licked my blood off of his lips. I rolled over and dug my hand in my pocket, touching the syringe and wrapped my fingers around it. David grabbed my legs and flipped me over. He got on top of me, spreading my legs on either side of him, and grabbed my syringe-holding hand. I clasped my fingers tightly over the syringe.
“What do we have, here?” he asked, prying my fingers open. Why had I not bothered to learn a strengthening spell? “Silly girl.”
He grabbed my closed hand and raised it high in the air and then slammed it down with inhuman force to the hard floor.
I cried out in pure agony. Sharp, hot, stabbing pain attacked me. I momentarily gagged as agony washed over me. I had never broken a bone before and there was no doubt in my mind that he had broken many of the bones in my hand. I could already see that it was misshapen and a few bones broke through my skin, releasing blood and throbbing pain. My breathing increased as I sucked in quick bursts of air to control the pain.
David took the now-broken syringe away from me, the liquid spilling over my hand onto the floor. Bits of the syringe stuck out of my palm and I stared in horror at it as a welcomed numbness began to spread over my hand.
“Now, that was uncalled for. I really hated to do this,” David said, sounding nothing close to remorseful. “What was this?”
I didn’t answer him. I just wanted to kill him. Problem was, I wasn’t sure how. It became glaringly clear to me at that moment that I should have spent more time learning how to kill people. Killing wasn’t my thing and I was told it drained the heck out of you.
David leaned down towards me. “If you don’t answer me, I will slam your head into this ground like I did your hand and gut you. I have containers. I will drain you and save your blood in my freezer.”
I scrunched my face in anger and pain. “Antibody for your potion.”
“Ha. Well, aren’t y’all clever? And here I thought you all were a bunch of idiots just relying on your powers.”
I closed my eyes and prayed. I had to focus through the pain and control myself. I wanted to rip David to shreds, but he had control over Lisa’s fate.
“You know what?” David announced. “I think I’m just going to take you and your friend, both.”
I felt something sharp stab me in my arm and I opened my eyes. David tossed a now-empty syringe behind him. I instantly felt nauseous. I was drugged with the same mix of chemicals they had used on us back in the prison to suppress our powers. My magic wouldn’t leave instantly, but they were getting weaker by the moment. Every part of me, including my mind, felt heavy, as if a load of bricks was balancing on my head.
I looked back up at Felix. He pointed to something behind me and gave me the thumbs up. I frowned and looked to the front of the room again and Lisa sleeping. What did he want me to see? I looked back at Felix. This time Phillip stood beside him. He was mouthing something in slow motion. Get him? I couldn’t think. I mouthed the words, “I can’t, Lisa.”
Phillip closed his eyes and touched the ward as Felix continued to yell in silence. I frowned and turned back to David who was hovering over me, smiling. Probably plotting what horrors he would do to me next. I wouldn’t be able to kill David, but at least these prisons were over. I would talk David into forgetting about Lisa. She didn’t ask for any of this.
“Kill him, she’s okay!” Felix cried from behind me. My face froze and I looked back. Phillip was still pressing at the invisible wall but I could now hear Felix banging against the ward.
David looked up and frowned. I had just a bit of my mind left alert. I hadn’t made it up that Felix had said Lisa would be okay.
That’s all I needed.
I looked back at David just in time to see him slam his fist down towards my face and I pushed my hand out, sending him flying off of me and into the air. I sat up and felt the world spin around me; my head throbbed as if a jack hammer decided to do some work on my skull but I pushed through. I dropped my hold on David and he fell to the ground. Before David could get up, I waved my hand at him, as if swatting a fly, and knocked him against the nearest wall. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to be getting much strength to stand up so I remained where I sat.
Sadly, the force did not knock David unconscious. I was beginning to understand that I had no real concept about how much strength the serum gave normal humans. He should have at least blacked out but instead he only rubbed the back of his head as if it was some minor ache.
“You killed Jared. You aren’t going to hurt anyone else,” I yelled.
“Ah, your friend,” David crossed his arms giving me an amused look. “After you and Charles escaped, we had to make an example of a prisoner. Let them know what happens to others when they escape. And he did help you. Actually, we still have some of his blood in storage. We laid his body out on display, just to prolong the reminder. A bit barbaric, I know, but I don’t think anyone was even dreaming of escaping after that.”
He laughed.
“How can you do that to other humans? What kind of monster are you?” Anger overpowered any physical pain. I needed to focus. He had to die.
“You are an abomina—” He began before suddenly disappearing.
It wasn’t like the teleportation. There was no elaborate affair when we teleported. This wasn’t the case here. An array of what I could only describe as glitter encircled his body and a few feet of the space surround him. It appeared like a tornado of colorful confetti and soon I could not even see him anymore. Then, as suddenly as the glitter appeared it was gone, and so was David.
“The hell?” I shouted.
I looked over to Lisa, who was sitting upright with her hand in the air, aimed in the direction that David had been.
“Did you do that?” I asked.
She nodded, her eyes looking slightly glazed over, face devoid of emotion. “He was going to hurt you more,” she said in a quiet voice.
“Did you kill him?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t think. I just didn’t want him to hurt you. He had a gun, he was pulling it out from behind his back. I sent him away.”
“To where?”
“In my mind, I was sending him to hell.”
“Does that really exist?” The pounding wooziness in my head grew.
“Does anything not exist anymore?”
She had a point there. I hoped there really was such a place and that David was burning awa
y now. However, I needed to see his cold, dead body before I’d be fully sure. I closed my eyes and laid back down.
I heard footsteps from behind me and saw Phillip and Felix shouting my name. I cracked open my eye lids slowly. They felt sore and stung. Exhaustion washed over me and I couldn’t sit up even if I tried. I felt like my body was made of Jell-O and wondered if I had levitation powers so that I could float to the car. I couldn’t even crawl at this point. Well, at least I didn’t feel pain anymore.
“You okay, Mina?” Felix asked, face full of concern. He knelt in front of me, his large frame blocking my view of anything but him. His eyes were different now, the bright light having gone, leaving him with normal brown eyes, and his voice was back to normal.
I gave him a weak smile. “I’ll live. Go check on Lisa.”
“Yes, help,” Lisa called. “I may have woken up but I feel like my head is being spun in a blender. He’s in hell, Mina. I know it.”
He nodded and rose. “He lied to you about having the only cure for Lisa,” Felix said walking over to the dazed fairy. “Azrael told me. I can heal her. Azrael also confirmed that this David guy is, indeed, in hell.”
I let out a thankful sigh.
Phillip came into view, perched on my other side, inspecting me. “Who is Azrael?” he asked.
“An angel,” I replied.
He cocked an eyebrow. “I won’t ask…for now. Where are you hurt?”
I looked to my damaged hand, which I could begin to feel again, and Phillip followed my gaze. He lightly placed his hand on top of mine and in seconds, I felt a wonderful heat radiating through my hand and just a mild ache as bones quickly reshaped and cut skin drew together. Moments later, I was able to flex my hand without so much as a cramp.
I looked up at him. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Same as Lisa. We should go find the others. Think I’ll be able to sit up without passing out?” I asked Phillip with a slight smile.
“You have to stay back with the others, mi corazon,” Phillip stated. “I’d heal you all the way but I’ll need to preserve powers.” He gave me an innocent smile with raised eyebrows. “I can carry you to safety.”
I struggled to sit up and the stabbing head pain came back. Looks like I was very much not out of the woods. I sighed. “Leave me here with Lisa and Felix. We’ll meet up later. Go kick ass and shit.”
Phillip reached over and wiped what I would assume was blood from my lips with his thumb before leaning towards me and kissing me. It was light and quick. As if he were giving me a quick kiss goodbye before heading off to work. He moved back and winked at me before getting up and walking away.
Before I could ask him why he kissed me or ponder how odd that act was, my body began to relax. A blanket of soothing comfort came over me. I wanted to relish in it and fall asleep. It was like I had just come in from the cold into a heated room. It felt cozy and inviting and I wanted to stay in this feeling. I lay back down on the floor, feeling my eye lids grow heavy and my body almost float. A welcomed sleep soon took over.
Chapter 25
I woke up back in my apartment in Silver Spring. No place felt exactly like home, but this was becoming close to it. I sat up, yawning and stretching. I felt surprisingly good. Like I could get up and go for a jog if it weren’t raining outside, which I could tell it was by the beating of heavy water drops on my bedroom window to the right of me.
I smelled pancakes and bacon. I was alive, comfortable, and about to eat that great-smelling breakfast, I hoped. All was right with the world because breakfast meant that things were okay. It meant that Charles was fine and that we had won the battle and rescued everyone. I put a lot of pressure on breakfast.
Getting out of bed, I walked to my ensuite bathroom and took an equally inviting hot shower. I was already clean and I could only assume either someone had done a cleaning spell on me or washed me in my unconscious state. For modesty’s sake, I was hoping for the former. I let my curly hair air dry and threw on some jeans, a red T-shirt, and black high-top Converse sneakers before leaving my room.
I found my brother in the kitchen with Lisa, making breakfast.
“Hey, lovebugs,” I stated.
They turned to look at me with smiles on their faces.
“Charles, I won’t even ask how you got bacon,” I said, walking into the kitchen. Meat of any kind was super expensive in this new world and due to the popularity of the pig, bacon was always a special treat. There was a small farm in town, but still meat was scarce. Humans weren’t the only beings that liked to eat pigs, cows, and chickens now.
“Hungry?” Charles asked, putting a stack of pancakes on a plate and passing it to me.
I accepted the plate. “Thanks.”
“Wait up.” Charles turned and used tongs to gather several strips of bacon off of a plate on the counter and faced me again, dropping the strips on my plate.
My mouth drooled. “You’re my hero.”
He winked at me.
“I made fresh orange juice too,” Lisa stated, carrying a pitcher of juice into the dining room. Charles filled more plates and we followed Lisa out of the kitchen.
“How long have I been out?
“Just since yesterday afternoon.”
“Hmmph. I think Phillip put me under a sleeping spell.”
“Oh, I know he did,” Charles snorted. “He claimed it was to help you heal. Which, I guess it did. You look better. If you didn’t, Phillip and Erik wouldn’t have left here.”
I cocked an eyebrow as I cut into my food. “What do you mean?”
“They’ve been in and out of here since yesterday. They only just left an hour ago because they had to take care of the influx. Talk about tension in this place. They both really like you, Amina,” Lisa replied before taking a sip of juice.
Thinking about that made me a little light headed. I was not up for the challenge of telling someone that I could not give them my heart. I didn’t want to cause that kind of pain.
“You mentioned an influx? What’s that about?” I asked.
Charles put his fork down. “Most of the folks we rescued from the prison came here. After being imprisoned by humans, the thought of going to a supernatural-only town was enticing, I guess. I don’t blame them, although the Colonel is good people. Except, Chelsea’s not going.”
I pursed my lips, remembering how Phillip cruelly murdered Oliver. I wouldn’t make light of that, regardless of how I felt about the man. Oliver had been Chelsea’s love and Phillip had flat out ignored our pleas.
I grabbed a piece of bacon and chewed it in mini bites. It wasn’t over. We could work together with Hagerstown to find the other prisons. And with teleporting, I could easily see Chelsea, although a two-hour drive wasn’t too bad either, assuming no trolls or other scaries showed up.
“So, which guy are you picking?” Lisa asked, a look of excitement on her face.
“I feel like there are so many other, more important, things to talk about. Such as finding the other two prisons or honing in on this power of six.”
“Probably and we’ll talk about it later but romance talk now, please, and thank you,” she stated, wiggling in her seat.
Charles shook his head and she gave a little giggle before tilting her head on his shoulder briefly.
I rolled my eyes. “They’re both good guys.” I began.
“Phillip’s fine,” Lisa cut in. “Like he seems cool and he’s super cute. But Erik really likes you. He’s a great guy and he’s been through so much. He deserves happiness.”
“What has he been through?”
“He had a daughter. Seven years old.”
My mouth fell open in shock. I’d only known Erik for a little over a month and a half but how had I not known about a family? “What happened to his daughter and, I’m assuming, wife?”
“He was divorced.”
“Damn, how old is he?” Charles asked with a mouthful of pancake.
“That ques
tion wasn’t urgent enough for you not to finish chewing,” I responded.
Lisa sighed. “Yeah, he got married and had a kid young. He was pushing thirty when the world went to pot so he’s almost 40 now. I love this age delay for paranormals thing. That’s my favorite part, I think. He barely looks a day over 30, so you wouldn’t know how old he is. Anyway, I think the ex-wife died of the Sickness or something. His daughter died too. She was a werejackal like him but she didn’t survive the change.” Her voice took on a hushed, saddened tone. “Apparently, children don’t fare well with the change. Like fifty percent don’t make it.”
I shook my head slowly, feeling an overwhelming sadness. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to lose a child. That pain had to be unimaginable.
“His daughter got stuck in mid form and it was very painful. He didn’t tell me any more after that but I think he helped her transition on, if you know what I mean.”
I touched my chest, feeling nauseous. He had the right to be angry forever. To see your child in a permanent state of pain and then to have to take her life as her only way out… My eyes began to water and I touched the corners of my eyes to prevent the tears from falling.
“Don’t tell him I told you both all of this. He only told me because we were on the road together for a while. I didn’t trust him at first and I think he opened up to me to calm me down. And in case you’re wondering, he and I never had a thing. He’s a beautiful man but we aren’t each other’s types.”
“I figured that out when you fell for my unmuscled brother,” I cracked, dabbing at my eyes with a cloth napkin.
“Hey!” Charles cried. He reached for my plate of pancakes and I moved it away.
Lisa shook her head. “I’m only telling you because Erik deserves good. I wouldn’t want to see him getting hurt,” she stated.
I stared at her. “He won’t get hurt by me,” I said with confidence.
Phillip asked me out to dinner a few nights later and I decided that since he’d help free my friends and heal me, dinner would be all right. Dinner with Phillip turned out to be dinner at his apartment with a personal chef. I was nervous about the location at first, but then thought better of it as anyone, namely Erik, seeing us out might get the wrong idea. Of course, I hadn’t told Erik that I was even going out with Phillip but I would tell him as soon as this was over. As I promised Lisa, I had no plans to hurt Erik.