GBVE: Karmela Johnson

ATTENTION: Before reading, get information about the Great Blog Voice Experiment here.

The topic: “A young woman confronts her parents after discovering she has inherited telekinetic powers.”
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MIND OVER MATTER – PROLOGUE

“No, mom! I’m going to see him and you can’t do anything about it!”

My fingertips tingled with rage and I felt like my chest was about to burst. I was so mad I could have sworn I’d shot up the ceiling and my feet weren’t touching the ground.

Everything else receded in the background. All my fury-filled tunnel vision let me see was my parents’ horror-stricken faces. I shot them both a look so murderous that I’m sure would have killed if I’d only had the power. I wish I did. Telling me I couldn’t see Paolo anymore was crossing the line. I swear to god, this was the last time they were telling me what to do, when to do it, who to do it with. So what if they supposedly sacrificed everything to come to this country? It wasn’t like I was the only one who benefited from that boat ride from Cuba to America.

Suddenly, my dad’s hands flew to his chest. His face turned purple and he began emitting a sickening gurgle.

“Enrico!” my mom screamed. She flew to his side as he slid to the floor. That’s when his convulsions began. The twitch was slow at first, and then it exploded into a full-on seizure that rolled his eyeballs to the back of his head.

My mom lost it. “Marissa!” she screeched, cradling my dad’s head in her arms. “Call an ambulance!”

But I couldn’t move. It was like my feet were glued to the ground. All I could focus on was my dad’s breathing. As if in slow-motion surround-sound, I could hear it amplified inside my head.

Shooosh…shooosh…shooshh…

It was inexplicable. How was I hearing his heartbeat? The swirl of his blood rushing through his veins? His ragged breathing as he struggled for air?

“Marissa!” my mom screamed through my hypnotized state. “What are you doing? Stop it!”

What was she talking about? “Stop what?” I asked over the howl of the wind. “I’m not doing anything!”

But she burst into sobs and gripped my dad’s head tighter to her chest. “Can’t you see what you’re doing to him? Fine, you can see Paolo, just don’t kill your father!”

Don’t kill my…

Suddenly and without explanation. the tunnel vision disappeared. I turned my head around and noticed that things were flying in the room. And I mean, flying. As in the lamps started levitating. The pictures on the walls began spinning. A fierce, cold wind began blowing. And my dad…

“Marissa!” my mom shrieked one more time.

I snapped to. I took one step forward, my feet suddenly mobile again, and everything stopped. The lamps dropped with a crash, the photos stilled, and the wind disappeared.

My anger suddenly vanished, replaced by a terror that shot through my veins. “Papi?” I murmured. He’d stopped moving and was now deathly still. “Mom?” I met her gaze and through her sobs, saw accusation in her eyes.

But what did I do?

“Johanna…” My dad croaked my mom’s name as he grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t…”

But through her tears, she shook her head. “No, we can’t hide it from her anymore. We have to tell her.”

“Not…time yet,” my dad wheezed. “She’s…too…young…”

“No.” My mom’s voice was suddenly firm, her hysteria gone. “I told you something like this might happen. But did you listen to me?”

What the hell were they talking about?” “Tell me what?” I interrupted. “Papi, are you okay? Do I need to call 911?”

To my astonishment, my dad suddenly sat up. After several deep breaths, color returned to his face. And then five seconds later, he stood on his feet and smiled, as if he hadn’t been about to have a major coronary just five minutes ago.

“Let’s get this cleaned up, shall we?” he said, ignoring my question.

“Enrico…” I recognized the warning in my mom’s voice. “We need to tell her. What if she kills you next time?”

“What are you both talking about?” I shouted, feeling my temper rise back up. “Something strange is happening! Didn’t you see the lamps flying? The paintings spinning? And dad, what the hell happened to you?”

“Enrico!” my mom screamed. “Tell her now! Before she does it again!”

“Tell me what?!”

My dad paused and it was obvious from his face that there he was fighting an internal battle.

“Papi? What is mom talking about?”

And then with a resigned sigh, my dad sat down, loosened the collar of his shirt, and looked me straight in the eye. “Marissa, you know what just happened here? With the spinning portraits and the flying furniture?”

“Of course!” I snapped. “How could anybody miss it? But what’s that got to do with me?”

He held a hand up as if in self-defense. “You did that, mamita.”

“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. He took his time wiping the sweat that poured down his forehead. I bit my lip, trying to control another tantrum. I swear, if he didn’t explain himself in five seconds…

He put his handkerchief away and faced her. “I mean, Marissa, that you’re responsible for all that. You see, you have telekinetic powers. You can move things around with your mind—even stop people’s hearts if you wanted to. You’ve had that ability since you turned eighteen, just like your mother and me.”

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To find out more about Karmela’s heart pounding action-adventures and science fiction romance, visit http://karmelajohnson.com. Her first book, The Garrison: Evidence, debuted this month!