by E.J. Stevens
One end of the wall was little more than a pile of fallen stones, while the other end was covered in climbing roses. The fragrant red blossoms were reminiscent of the ghost’s own signature scent, sans lanolin and darkroom chemicals.
As I approached, trying to look over the wall that towered above my head, the ghost came to sparkle and twinkle beside the rose bush. The golden spirit aura and scarlet flowers made a hauntingly beautiful picture. Cal would love it. With a little help from beyond, I’d found the perfect painting spot.
I set the kickstand and stepped off my bike, slowly moving toward the ghost. It didn’t stray from its spot beside the roses.
I wasn’t sure why the ghost had led me here, but it couldn’t hurt to examine the scene with an artist’s eye. Sometimes when I looked at a drawing or painting after completion, I saw details that I hadn’t truly noticed were there. Perhaps painting would actually help me solve this case and help the ghost find its way into the light.
There was only one way to find out.
Chapter 19
Emma
As usual, Simon was late. I picked at my quinoa and shallot salad appetizer and checked my phone for the bazillionth time. No messages.
This wasn’t the first time Simon lost track of time, but it still hurt. Had he forgotten our dinner date at the café?
Just Veggin’ wasn’t fancy, but I loved this place. It was on the opposite side of town from Mr. Green Genes, the organic, fair trade, non-GMO restaurant where I used to go nearly every day with Yuki. I still like the food at Green Genes, but it seemed somehow wrong hanging out there with Simon. It was Yuki’s favorite place, home of the famous veggie burritos she loved so much. The last time I went there, the food just stuck in my throat. I haven’t been back since.
At Green Genes everything in the place is green—the tabletops, booths, floor, walls were all different shades of green. Here at Just Veggin’ the owners had taken a more lively approach to decorating. Every surface was a different color and the walls were covered in splashes of primary colors, like the result of an epic fruit and veggie food fight.
I turned my attention from the brightly painted walls and focused on the television above the juice bar. The six o’clock news was replacing old sitcom reruns. They’d start with boring local news first, but if I had to wait much longer for Simon I might catch an update on congressional deliberations over new animal cruelty laws.
“Gina, can you turn that up?” I asked the waitress.
It was a weeknight and the place wasn’t busy. I didn’t think she’d mind.
Gina glanced at the empty chair across from me and gave me a sympathetic grin.
“Sure, sugar,” she said. “Want to go ahead and order your dinner or you still want to wait?”
“I’ll wait,” I said.
Gina shrugged and went over to a mug on the juice bar that held the television remote. She turned up the volume and perched on a stool, her purple and green hair matching the iridescent birds painted on a faux-grass canopy above her head.
The juice bar was made to look like a Tiki bar. It was one of the reasons why Yuki didn’t like coming here. The smiling monkeys swinging from the ceiling gave her the creeps.
“This just in,” the female newscaster said. “Wakefield police have issued a warning to all residents to use caution after the report of a missing local teenager. Parents of Sarah Randall, a freshman at Wakefield High School, have offered a reward for information leading to her safe return. A press conference is scheduled later this evening. Our man on the ground, Tom Desker, reports that residents remain diligent as fears of the Graduation Grabber return to Wakefield after a five year hiatus.”
The school pictures of two high school girls flashed on the screen.
“The last case involving the Grabber happened five years ago when Wakefield students Michelle Ouellette and Rose Peterson went missing. The body of Rose Peterson was never found, but police confirmed that Michelle Ouellette was murdered in the same manner as four other teens over a three year period.”
The blond newscaster replaced the pictures of the missing school girls, her tight smile seeming inappropriate as she recounted the deaths of local teens. Why do newscasters always have to look so happy?
“The disappearance of Sarah Randall has Wakefield residents worried that the Grabber may have returned to this small community. Has the Graduation Grabber emerged from hiding? Where has he been and what has he been doing over the past five years? Join us as we explore these questions and more this evening. Be sure to tune in to our News at Ten update.”
“Who’s the Graduation Grabber?” Simon asked.
I jumped and nearly toppled my banana flax smoothie.
“Oh em gees, Simon!” I said. “Don’t do that. You scared the heck out of me.”
He grinned, his scar jumping as a laugh rumbled deep in his throat. The sound made my cheeks go warm.
“You’re cute when you’re scared, love,” he said.
“Well, of course I freaked a little,” I said, pointing at the television. “You just snuck up on me while they announced the Graduation Grabber might be back.”
“The Graduation Grabber?” he asked.
He slid into the empty seat across from me and stretched out his legs, leaning back in his chair. His body language was relaxed, but I saw his eye twitch before raising a brow at me. Simon was a werewolf and wolves were always protective of their pack, and their mate. If Simon thought I was in danger, he’d do anything to keep me safe.
I can take care of myself, but knowing how Simon felt made me feel all warm and happy. It was good to know that even with the Graduation Grabber in town, I was perfectly safe. Even if the Grabber was a total freak who liked to kidnap and murder high school girls the week before graduation.
“The Graduation Grabber is the name the press gave the guy they think abducted and murdered all of those girls,” I said. I was talking too fast and my hands danced in the air like over-caffeinated butterflies. With an effort, I shoved my hands under my legs and tried to slow down.
“How many girls?” Simon asked, suddenly serious.
“Six girls went missing, two each year around graduation,” I said. “They were all high school students and female. But only five bodies were found. The police think Rose Peterson was the sixth victim, since the Grabber always abducted two girls each year and she went missing a few days before graduation. But her body was never found.”
“And now one girl, a high school student, has gone missing in Wakefield a week before graduation,” Simon said.
My bag started ringing and I jumped. Talking about the Graduation Grabber was making me jittery. Maybe we should just order dinner and change the subject.
“Yes, that’s why the media is speculating about the Grabber,” I said, distracted. I pulled out my phone and checked the screen. It was Calvin. “Sorry, I have to take this.”
Calvin was pretty upset when I saw him last. I had just dropped the bomb that Yuki might be suffering from PTSD and her behavior was getting more erratic. I could still remember the fear in her eyes when she froze in front of the supply closet today at school.
Maybe Calvin had an update. I could use some good news right now.
Chapter 20
Calvin
I drove to Yuki’s in a cloud of worry and indecision. Emma seemed convinced that Yuki was suffering from PTSD and needed help. And Simon’s angry outburst still rang in my ears. I needed to be reassured that Yuki was okay, that we were okay.
But the house looked empty.
I pulled the truck alongside the potting shed and jumped out. The windows were dark, like a skull’s empty eye sockets staring at me as I rushed up the front steps. I knocked and rang the doorbell, but the sounds echoed inside without a response. No heavy boots clomping down the stairs. No happy shout from Yuki’s room.
I went back down the steps and knelt in the mulch beneath an overgrown evergreen bush. My hand finally found the plastic hide-a-key and I had to choke back
a laugh. The Stennings didn’t have a dog, but Yuki had picked the dog poop shaped hide-a-key with the logic that no burglar in their right mind would touch it.
I retrieved the key and rushed back up the steps, jamming it into the lock. The door hit the wall as I thrust it open, eyes looking in every direction. No Yuki.
“Yuki!” I yelled.
No response.
I stuck my head in the kitchen, but it was empty. Running back through the living room and up the stairs, I peeked into her parents’ bedroom and the guest room. Nobody was home. I knocked one more time on Yuki’s bedroom door and pushed it open with a creak of the hinges. The bed lay empty.
My earlier worry that Yuki may have fallen in the bathroom returned and I rushed across the room. The door to the bathroom hung open, towels hanging on their rungs, shampoo on the shelf above the tub. Nothing was out of order, but the room was empty.
Yuki wasn’t home.
But that didn’t make any sense. Yuki had said she couldn’t hang out after school because she had to stay home and finish her homework. Since she didn’t drive, it was unlikely that Yuki would have just walked off. If she needed something from the library, she would have called for a ride.
Her behavior didn’t make any sense. But wasn’t that what Emma had been talking about? PTSD could cause erratic behavior. Was this another symptom?
Was I too late?
Maybe Emma would know what to do. She had read the library books and journal articles. Plus, maybe she’d seen Yuki in town. It was a long shot, but I was running out of ideas…and starting to panic.
My wolf was already struggling to break free. I took a few controlling breaths before dialing Emma.
“Emma, I need your help,” I said when she picked up. “Yuki’s missing.”
“Oh my God,” Emma said. She muttered “it’s Calvin” to someone, probably Simon. “Are you near a TV?”
I grunted the affirmative. Yuki had a small television perched on the edge of a vanity table, but it was rarely used. The TV was covered in black scarves, boot laces, and knit arm warmers. I started brushing these aside.
“Turn it on, and sit down,” she said. “You’re going to need to see this.”
I grabbed the remote, covered in pink and black smiling skull and crossbones stickers, and hit power. The screen on Yuki’s TV came to life. She only got three channels on her bedroom television, but I didn’t have to go channel surfing. A news alert was scrolling at the bottom of the screen and two tearful parents were standing at a podium pleading for the return of their daughter.
It wasn’t Yuki’s parents. Thank God.
The news took a moment to sink in. The Graduation Grabber had returned to Wakefield. He’d already abducted one girl and, if things went like the events of five years ago, there would be a second girl soon.
“Emma?” I croaked. I coughed trying to clear my throat. “We have to find Yuki.”
“I know,” she said. “I can’t believe she’s missing.”
“She told me she’d be home working on homework,” I said, trying to lasso my stampeding thoughts.
“I’ll check the library,” Emma said. “Yuki said she was doing homework, right? She’s probably there. I’ll call Gordy and Katie on the way. If Katie’s working, she can start searching the library before I get there.”
“Is Simon with you?” I asked. Emma had mentioned a dinner date.
Yes,” said.
I could hear her teeth hit together as she bit off the word. She didn’t like me bringing up Simon, but I needed his help. If we couldn’t find Yuki here in town, we’d need to track her scent in the surrounding mountain foothills and forest. There were few wolves as skilled at tracking as Simon.
“Good, put him on,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll call if I find anything,” she said.
“Fine way to spoil my dinner date,” Simon said. “If I didn’t know better, mate, I’d say you lot planned this.”
“Give me a break, Simon,” I said. I sighed and ran my free hand through my hair, tugging so hard it was surprising I didn’t have bald tracks along my scalp. Simon was always exasperating, I figured he was the universe’s way of testing me, but this was getting ridiculous. As Yuki would say, he needed to get over himself. “Yuki’s missing and the Graduation Grabber is in town. If Emma were in the same situation, I’d be at your side, man, asking what I could do to help.”
“Touché,” he said. “What do you need?”
“I need you to be my eyes, ears, and nose on the street,” I said. I stared out the window, coming up with a plan. “I’ll check the west side of town, you take the east. Try to catch Yuki’s scent.”
“And if I find her?” he asked. “What then? Emma seems to think the girl’s gone off her rocker.”
“Improvise,” I said. “Just keep her safe.”
Chapter 21
Yuki
The collapsible stool I brought with me felt like it was becoming a permanent part of my butt and my right foot had fallen asleep. I should probably get up and stretch my legs, but I didn’t know how long the ghost would remain positioned by the stone wall.
I leaned down to reach into the satchel holding my art supplies where it sat beside the stool and pulled out more paint. I grabbed the palette knife with tired, aching fingers and scraped the colors together until I had more of the red needed to finish painting the scarlet roses that climbed the stone wall.
I squinted at the ghost’s golden aura. That was strange. I pinched the bridge of my nose and rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands. The ghost seemed to be glowing brighter.
Blinking, I examined the colors on the canvas and compared them to the scene in front of me. Oh, the ghost wasn’t glowing brighter. The clearing where I sat was getting darker. I looked up above the treetops and confirmed that the sun was sitting lower in the sky. I’d have to work more quickly if I wanted to complete the painting before dark.
I didn’t really want to be out in these woods after nightfall. I was a long way from the well-groomed trails near the park entrance. Riding my bike on these trails would be foolish in the dark. With my luck, I’d end up head first in a thorn bush or hit in the face by a low branch.
At least I’d brought flashlights. Ever since our adventure in the caves, looking for a missing werewolf, I never left home without one, or three. That night still gave me nightmares. The caves were dark and confusing, but we eventually found the missing teen, and a psychotic werewolf killer. A chill crept up my spine making me shiver.
I grabbed a flashlight from my bag and held it tight in my fist.
We had helped bring the killer into custody. He remained a ward of a pack therapist, living in the werewolf equivalent of a halfway house. There was nothing to be afraid of. No psychotic werewolves out here.
Just me and a smelly ghost.
Chapter 22
Simon
“Troublesome girl,” I muttered.
I wiped a piece of stinking refuse off my custom leather boots and dropped the soiled handkerchief into a dumpster. Most werewolves disdained material things, preferring a simple back-to-nature lifestyle. I shuddered at the thought. I may enjoy a good run through the woods while in wolf form, but as a man I appreciated the nicer things in life.
Unfortunately, the residents of this street seemed to have an overzealous appreciation for cheap wine and fast food. The place reeked of grease and garbage.
I was in another alley. This one ran behind the Gas N Gulp, Douggie’s Fried Chicken, and Wok On In, a Chinese takeaway. I searched beneath the piles of damp cardboard boxes and plastic milk crates, but all I found was a cockroach and an old coat soaked in urine.
No Yuki. For that, I was grateful. I may be mad at the girl, but I didn’t want to find her here in the alley strung out on drugs or the latest victim of the Graduation Grabber.
I was, however irritated that while I searched for Yuki, Emma was left unprotected. I wanted to be by her side, keeping her safe from this killer. But Calvin had reque
sted my help in the search for Yuki, and Emma had insisted on looking for her in the library.
At least Emma wasn’t alone.
I had waited for her to meet up with Gordy and Katie before beginning my search for Yuki. They promised to stick together. I had to trust that there was safety in numbers. Otherwise I’d become insane with worry.
I swallowed the howl that rose up in my throat.
Emma would never forgive me if I let her best friend die because I was too worried about her own safety. They may be fighting at the moment, but Emma’s worry for Yuki was real. I suspected that if something happened to Yuki now, Emma would never forgive herself for allowing her friend to suffer the after effects of her abduction alone.
No, I had to find Yuki before anything dire could happen to the girl. Knowing Yuki’s luck, I better hurry. That girl attracts trouble like I attract women.
I exited the alley and ran to my motorcycle. I needed to ride to the outskirts of town where I could shift into wolf form. Trying to catch Yuki’s scent in a sea of sweating humans, vehicle exhaust, and rotting garbage was getting me nowhere.
I kicked the bike into gear and hit the throttle. It roared and jumped out into traffic, leaving a strip of black rubber behind. I wove between cars and around trucks hauling boats and campers. I cursed at the summer traffic that came early with this week’s heat wave.
At the next light, I used the empty turning lane to pass half a dozen vehicles waiting their turn. Horns blared and more than one driver sent up a one fingered salute. I rode on without responding in kind.
I didn’t have time to waste.
Chapter 23
Emma
The library is my favorite place in Wakefield, but today the shadows between shelving, and behind desks and work tables, felt ominous. I never realized just how many places there were to hide, or disappear.