Flee: A Short Story, Copyright 2012 by Alicia L. McCalla
Published By Alicia McCalla
Prequel to the Soul Eater Serial Novel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact the author at www.aliciamccalla.com
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by Noelle Pierce www.noellepierce.com
Edited by Pharside Editing https://pharsidecoedbookclub.com/
Layout and formatting by www.formatting4U.com
Published in the United States by: ffpincolor books, Atlanta, Georgia
Table of Contents
Chapter One - The Funeral Repasse
Chapter Two - The Sucker Punch
Chapter Three - The Hidden Truth
Chapter Four - The Paranormal Serial Killer
Chapter Five - Flee
A Note from Alicia McCalla
Soul Eater Series (Free Chapters)
Breaking Free: The Genetic Revolution Series (Book 1)
About the Author
This is installment two of the Soul Eater series.
Flee: A Short Story is the prequel to Rise of an African Elemental. After the death of her grandmother, Shania Moore, a 27-year old African-American woman, is tormented by her ex-boyfriend and a paranormal serial killer. When Shania falls into a dream realm and connects with an ancient African goddess, her earth magic awakens. Shania realizes that in order to save her daughter’s magical soul, she must run into the arms of the white man who she lied to about having an abortion and stood up at the altar ten years before.
Other Books from this Author
The Soul Eater Series (Urban Fantasy/Supernatural Thriller)
Origins of an African Elemental (1 & 2 boxed set)
Iniko: Villain Novella (1)
Flee: A Short Story ( 2)
Rise of an African Elemental ( 3) (Available Soon!)
Genetic Revolution Series (New Adult SciFi Thriller)
Breaking Free (Book 1)
Would you like the first three chapters of Rise of an African Elemental?
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4-stars for Iniko
“An Intriguing Diverse Story.” --Notebook Blogairy
5-stars for Flee
“I was on the edge of my seat.” --Sandra
5-stars for Flee
“I really enjoyed the Afrikan elements.” –Zani
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am so excited about my new paranormal romance series with African elementals. Special thanks to the Pharside editors for help in building this short story. I’d like to thank Donica Crawford, Sharon Cooper, Delany Diamond, Regina Hackett, Noelle Pierce, and Vershawn Young. Thank you all for your support. I’d also like to thank my wonderful husband, Howard McCalla and my son, Asante McCalla. I appreciate you both.
I’d really like to thank Milton Davis for helping me build a frame of reference for this series in his description of the Sword and Soul genre. I’d also like to thank the Black Science Fiction Society for supporting my work as well as the Georgia Romance Writers.
I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped further my writing career. Enjoy!
CHAPTER ONE
The Funeral Repasse
Shania stared at the wood box on top of the West African chair stool her grandmother left her. She could swear that the Adinkra symbols on the box hummed and glowed. She rubbed her temples. It felt like she should remember something important about the symbols but the memory vanished.
Her attention focused out the front door of her urban farm apartment. She longed to go outside and work in the community garden like she and her grandmother had done many times before. Her hands ached to touch the earth which always brought her comfort.
Shania took a deep breath and realized how much she missed her grandmother. She couldn’t believe that she was gone. Person after person consoled her as they arrived for the funeral dinner. She wanted this day to be over. The intensity of the light from the box grew. Everything in her vision seemed to have a greenish hue. Her hands vibrated. She rubbed them on the back of her skirt. Her equilibrium was off. She wanted to keel over. She wiped her puffy eyes. Could anyone else see that thing glowing?
Shania heard her German shepherd, Thor, growl as she flinched from the smell of alcohol mixed with musty natural oil cologne. Her attention snapped back and her stomach toppled. Not here! Not now! Corbin Mallory, her soon-to-be- ex-boyfriend was next in the funeral line. Her body knotted up as she manufactured a frail smile. She didn’t want him here. There was too much going on.
The box glowed with a vivid intensity comparable to Corbin’s smell. He drunkenly hugged Shania. She quickly turned her face before he smushed it into his lime green Dashiki. But it wasn’t Corbin that Shania envisioned in her arms, it was images of Deacon, her true love.
Shania remembered how Deacon looked like a tanned Viking. Her hands while touching Corbin, recalled the feel of Deacon’s dark hair and muscular body. She could sense Deacon’s deep love. She missed Deacon terribly and that was when guilt smashed into her gut. Remorse taunted her with the lies she told Deacon and convinced her she’d lost him forever. Shania pushed back out of Corbin’s embrace.
Corbin smiled and kissed her forehead. The alcohol combined with natural oil cologne made her want to vomit.
“Shania, can I borrow you for a moment.” Corbin seemed like a gentle drunk around others, but she knew better. With a firm grip, he escorted her away from the receiving line and forced her into a nearby corner.
“Can we talk later?” Shania tried to steer her body away from the confinement. She wanted him to leave. He continued to keep her caged, trapped. She stilled as Thor protectively brushed against her leg like a four-legged guardian.
“This will only take a minute.” Corbin flashed his inebriated smile. He was handsome, tall, biracial with russet-colored skin and jet black hair but looks weren’t everything. Shania reflected. His addiction to alcohol, clinginess, and stalker ways were out of control. And Shania knew she didn’t love him--not like she loved Deacon. She couldn’t remember why she lied to Deacon and stood him up at the altar ten years ago. Two of the Adinkra symbols on the box, the Akofena war swords, clinked and crossed as they danced in vivid colors.
Then, she heard her grandmother’s Swahili words. “Nkonsonkonso.” [We are linked in both life and death.]
The words she heard next were the heart symbol. “Nya Akoma.” [The symbol of patience and endurance.] She remembered her grandmother explaining what the symbols meant but her memories were out of focus, unreachable.
Shania felt Maddy Lynh’s hand on the small of her back. She relaxed. It was good to have her best friend here during her time of need. Maddy flew-in from Atlanta and had been by her side since her grandmother’s passing. Shania loved Maddy and missed her. They’d been friends since high school.
Eyeing Corbin, Maddy whispered in Shania’s ear, “Is everything okay?”
“I’m okay. It’ll only be a minute.” Shania gave an anemic, sad smile. She reassured her and watched Maddy head back to the guests.
Shania could barely think or talk without crying. Her grandmother’s death was hard especially since her parents had been murdered when she was young. Now, it was just Shania and her little girl Lydia, Deacon’s child. She’d never told the m
an. Guilt ripped through her again. Why did she lie to Deacon and tell him that she had an abortion ten years ago? She couldn’t remember. There was a wall inside her mind blocking the memories. That glowing box was doing something to her. She scrunched her forehead and rubbed her temples even harder.
Corbin pulled her into his messy moment.
“Shania, I know this is a difficult time but I had to see you.”
Shania bit down on her lip. This relationship with Corbin had gotten out of hand. From the onset everything about them being together was wrong. Her heart pounded. She didn’t want to talk to Corbin. She felt sorry for him because he was struggling with alcoholism and she wanted to help.
In a pitiful, lonely moment Shania had sex with Corbin because she seemed incomplete without Deacon. After ten years, she didn’t even know if Deacon remembered her but what she felt for him was strong, unbreakable. But that weak moment with Corbin resulted in an unwanted pregnancy that she knew she could not keep.
Shania’s insides shook. She thought back to a few days before her grandmother’s death, Shania did the unspeakable and had an abortion.
Corbin kissed her forehead again. He reeked like a bad brewery.
“I know you pregnant with my baby.”
CHAPTER TWO
The Sucker Punch
Shania’s stomach somersaulted. Thor growled again. Shania bent down and rubbed his back. Thor had been a puppy when she broke up with Deacon. Thor had a twin, Hercules, who went with Deacon. The separation had been painful for the twin dogs. They both squealed and whined. She flinched at the memory.
She couldn’t deal with this. She hadn’t told Corbin about the abortion. She hadn’t told anyone about the pregnancy. How did he know?
“I want to make you an honest woman. I’d never abandon you like Deacon.” Corbin smiled while forcing her into an upright position. He grabbed her hand and cradled it into the center of his sweaty palms.
Shania wanted to pull her hand back and wipe it clean.
“I know the only reason you broke up with me was because your grandmother stood between us. Since she’s dead, I’m going down on one knee to ask you to marry me.”
Corbin’s tall body went down and he looked up at her like an enraptured child.
Shania couldn’t speak.
The Adinkra symbols became a blinding light and she shielded her eyes. Tender memories of Deacon flooded her mind, his smell, his lips, and his kisses but there was something else, danger. Her pulse drummed.
She couldn’t be with Deacon because something bad might happen. Her memories flooded back confused, jumbled. She couldn’t figure out what it all meant.
Corbin tugged her arm. “Will you marry me?”
Shania heard gasps behind her. Someone whispered, “Is he for real?”
This was all moving too fast. The Sankofa Adinkra symbol danced, floated.
Her grandmother’s words rang in her ears. “SE wo were fin a wosankofa a yenkyi. [It is no taboo to return and fetch it when you forget. You can always undo your mistakes].”
Shania’s body pulsated. Her vision turned green. It felt like the forces of Earth pushing through her soul. She drew back and shielded her eyes. Earth magic awakened. The urban farm apartment complex shook.
Her guests gasped.
“Was that a tremor?” Someone asked.
“In Detroit, couldn’t be.” Another voice spoke from in the room.
Corbin hadn’t moved.
His words grabbed Shania as the sweaty grip on her trapped hand tightened. “I know you love me. I know you want me. I know you need me.”
The complex stopped shaking. Shania looked down on Corbin.
“Please, get up.” She pulled him. “I can’t do this now.”
Corbin stood close to her face. “You are mine and I will have you. I don’t care if you still love Deacon.”
Thor pressed his body closer to Shania and she stroked his coat.
Shania compressed her lips. She knew that she may never have Deacon again but she knew that she couldn’t marry Corbin. It wasn’t right.
She looked him in the eye and straightened her spine.
“I don’t love you. I’m sorry but I can’t marry you.”
Corbin’s smile turned grim.
He pulled her close. The alcohol on his breath could’ve incinerated the room. The guests at her grandmother’s funeral made shocked sounds.
Corbin used his height and weight to intimidate. “You won’t make my child be a bastard like Deacon’s. You will marry me. Now say yes.”
Shania felt Thor’s hackles rise as he growled ferociously. Shania froze. Her heart panicked. How did Corbin know about Lydia’s father? She’d only written her thoughts in her private diary.
The Akofena war swords clinked, again.
Her grandmother’s voice whispered... “The swords mean courage, valor, and heroism.”
Shania slightly shoved Corbin back to give herself breathing room. “No. I don’t love you and I’m not having your child.”
Corbin stumbled and looked confused. He rubbed his hands along the sides of his legs. “Girl, stop playin’ wit me.” He pointed in her face. “I know you pregnant.”
His eyes pleaded with her.
Shania’s shoulders shrunk. She looked around. Everyone stared. She didn’t know what to do. Tears welled behind her eyes. The death of her grandmother and aborted child had taken its toll.
“I’m not pregnant, anymore. I-I saw a doctor the other day.” Shania allowed the tears to roll. She could see Maddy heading towards her to offer support.
Before she knew it, Corbin sucker-punched her with a force that made her teeth scream. Thor lunged and tried to clamp down on Corbin’s leg but missed.
“You whore! You’d rather give your body to the white man instead of me. I guess being half-white isn’t good enough for you!”
Help couldn’t arrive fast enough as Corbin closed his fist and cold cocked her again. Shania’s body crumbled to the floor as she witnessed the tip of Corbin’s pointed Stacy Adam’s dress shoe raring back to kick her in the abdomen.
Maddy screamed and the male guests tried to hold Corbin back.
Shania closed her eyes and braced for the impact.
CHAPTER THREE
The Hidden Truth
Shania heard a ferocious growl and Thor leapt for the kill. She saw Thor tear into Corbin. She winced as canine teeth punctured muscle and bone. The man screamed, backing away. He held his bloody arm as the men in the room forced him towards the door. Thor almost went back for more but Maddy calmed him down.
“Shania, this isn’t over!” Corbin yelled. “I’ll find a way to take Deacon’s child, the way you took away my child.”
Shania scraped the food on the plate into the garbage disposal. She took a deep breath and allowed the pain of Corbin’s punches to subside. Her lip was busted and her entire body felt sore.
Shania tried to push the victim inside down. So much was wrong with her life. She wanted a change. She wanted happiness. She wanted love. Maddy came into the kitchen and sat down.
“Shay, I know it’s been hard but now that Nana’s gone, I think you should stay with me in Atlanta.”
Shania’s back stiffened. She didn’t want to cry. She was afraid that if she moved to Atlanta, she might run into Deacon.
“I-I don’t think I can. There’s so much for me to do in Detroit.”
Maddy moved in a little closer. “I love you like a sister. I’d be worried if you stayed here. Corbin will kill you or my little goddaughter. I’d feel much safer, if...”
Shania allowed the tears to flow down her face. Her world caved in.
“I’m such a miserable failure. I can’t do anything right.”
Maddy helped her to a chair. “It’s okay, Shay.”
Shania allowed the grief to overwhelm her. How was she going to make it without her grandmother? She loved Detroit. She loved her urban farm apartment complex.
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She loved teaching the students in her Master Gardening class as a Professor at Michigan Urban University but something was missing from her life--Deacon. She missed him but to move to Georgia after all these years just didn’t make sense.
“I’ve got to stop crying. Lydia might wake up. I don’t want to scare her.” Shania’s crying simmered.
“It’s okay. I closed her door. I’m glad you didn’t allow her to attend the funeral and dinner. She’s a tough little one but it was a hard day.” Maddy rubbed Shania’s back.
“Shay. Is it true? Is Lydia Deacon’s child?” Maddy’s asiatic eyes pierced her soul.
Shania buried her face in Kleenex. She couldn’t believe that all of her secrets were exposed.
She blew her nose. “Yep, it’s true.” Shania allowed the words to hang in the air on a hook.
“I see.” Maddy leaned back in the chair.
Memories flooded back.
There was something buried inside. She knew somehow that her grandmother had something to do with this but things were hazy. She pushed the chair, stood up, and found a glass to get some water.
Maddy looked thoughtful. “Now I understand why you never wanted to visit me in Atlanta. But Shay, you’ve got to tell the man that he has a child. This-This isn’t right.” Maddy’s hands slapped the table.
Shania took a gulp of water. She knew it wasn’t right but something inside her memories told her that it would be dangerous for them all to be together. There was a warning--something of power and magic.
Shania clinked the glass on the counter.
“I-I know but I can’t bring myself to tell him.” Shania rubbed the palm of her hand.
“You still love him, don’t you?” Maddy looked sympathetic.
Shania couldn’t say anything. She did love him.
“I stood the man up at the altar and told him that I had an abortion. I don’t even understand why. I was young, stupid.” Shania’s insides churned as she tried to remember how she allowed the love of her life to walk away.