by Aline Riva
“That was so good...I am definitely alive!” as he said that love and victory mingled in his gaze as he smiled.
“Me too,” she replied, still getting her breath back as she shifted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, she put her arm around him and he looked into her eyes, knowing at once that it all made perfect sense – at least, this part did. When the madness of the demon and finding his killer was finished business, he knew who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with...
“Maybe if we went out it might help you remember what happened?” she suggested, “Or we could take a walk around this place first, see if you recall anything.”
“Maybe later, Cherry. Right now I just want to lay here enjoying how you make me feel. I want to think about being alive and being here with you. I'll go down to the office later on, maybe that will help. You said I died there? Oh, that sounds so weird, here I am alive talking about the day I died...that's freaky!”
She slid her hand up his body, rested it on his shoulder and as she leaned in closer her expression softened as she kissed him tenderly.
“Just remember you're alive now and nothing else will happen to you – I'll make sure of it,” she vowed.
Deepest love reflected in his gaze as he held back on many words he dared not speak – like how he feared his memory would not return in time and the demon would come for him and rip out his soul in front of her and drag him down to the depths of hell... It seemed like they faced an impossible task and now had less than four days to complete it. But he said nothing about his darkest worries, instead focussing only on the positive – at least, while they still had time enough left to do that.
“Maybe we should go now,” he said, “I want to get up and get dressed and go down to the office and see if I remember anything. But I want you to come with me.”
“Of course,” she agreed, “I'm not letting you out of my sight, Drake!”
He breathed a relieved sigh on hearing those words.
“I'm glad to hear it,” he told her, “Because I've never been so scared – I couldn't handle this on my own.”
“You won't be alone, I'm with you all the way,” Cherry reminded him, then she sealed that promise with a deep and lasting kiss.
Chapter 7
They had spent another precious hour in bed, wrapped in a warm and reassuring embrace. Then Drake had got up first, saying they couldn't afford to waste more time, but he had glanced back at her and smiled.
“Not that you're a waste of time...I'm talking about the time I have left.”
“I know,” Cherry replied as she got up.
Then Drake went over to the chest of drawers and opened it, looked inside and then closed the drawer and opened another and then turned back to her.
“Where are my things?”he asked, sounding bewildered.
She felt awkward as she pointed to the wardrobe.
“I guess Owen couldn't bear to throw them out – but he had to make room for me moving in. All your stuff is in the wardrobe, sorry.”
“This feels so weird,” Drake said as he opened up the wardrobe to see his clothing jammed on to hangers and packed tightly inside. On the floor of the wardrobe was a carrier bag with stuff from the bathroom inside it.
“Good thing I never kept much here,” he said to her, then started to sort through the tightly packed clothing, pulling out the only jumper in the wardrobe and a pair of jeans. After some searching at the back he found some boots that were heavy enough to handle the snow, then he drew out his thick winter coat that looked out of place next to the lighter summer clothing hanging beside it.
Cherry was already getting dressed.
“You want to go out?” she asked.
“After I've been to the office, yes. If I don't remember much I need to go out, everywhere I possibly can, something has to remind me of what happened that night!”
She put on a t shirt and then a jumper in a shade of grey that was just slightly lighter than than the charcoal shade Drake wore, then as she carried on getting dressed she started to think about how he had been so knowledgeable whilst acting as tour guide.
“How much do you know about soul trading demons?”
“Let me think... “ he zipped up his light blue jeans and put on his boots, “I used to remember so much – I still feel like I'm coming out of a fog... Let me see, Ezaroth was the demon raised by Witch Pepper. She is said to have the power to restore life to the recently deceased – in return for the soul of another. The returned has four days to deliver payment...” he gave a heavy sigh, “At least I can remember the facts now – not that it's any help. I have three and a half days to live if I can't remember who murdered me.”
Cherry was ready to go. She grabbed her coat and put it on as Drake paused by the mirror to run his fingers through his hair.
“Where is my comb?”
“I used it to bring you back from the dead.”
He looked around at her.
“What?”
She smiled apologetically.
“I needed three items belonging to you. The note you left me, your comb and one of your ties.”
“Okay,” he replied quietly, once again the shock of being reminded of his own demise and resurrection had given him the shivers.
They left the bedroom and headed for the stairs, both with coats open for now because the museum was warm – but they both knew how fast the cold would hit when they left. They walked together down the stairway, then along the corridor. When they reached the office he hesitated, his hand hovering above the door handle.
“This is insane,” he said as he shook his head, “I just suddenly thought, what if I remember who killed me? I need to remember - but I'm afraid to know! How do I live with knowing someone succeeded in ending my life, how do I handle remembering their face? What do I do if I suddenly remember it all?”
“Just worry about what will happen if you don't,”she reminded him.
Her words were all he needed to lend him courage. Drake took a deep breath and opened the door to the office.
As the door swung open, he stepped inside and Cherry followed. Drake went to the middle of the room and looked about – saw the desk over one side, the sofa and the coffee table on the other. It was exactly as he remembered it, like he had never been away.
“It looks the same.”
He went over to the desk, pulled out the chair and sat down then unlocked a drawer and quickly searched through paperwork.
“No, it's all in order... nothing missing...nothing new that shouldn't be here...” he got up from the desk, “I'm getting nowhere! I'm not remembering my own death, I'm seeing the room where I spend a lot of time taking calls and doing paperwork. It's just the office.”
Then he turned his head, looking to the coffee table.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A table,” he replied, “What do you see?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Very funny...I mean, what did you think about, there was a look on your face just now?”
He looked to the table again,watching as the light reflected off its polished surface. As he walked over to the sofa, he studied the leather seating, wondering what the hell he was looking for – it was just the sofa that had been in the office for years...
“Drake?”
He gave no answer as he sat down, remaining strangely silent as he looked to the window expecting to see a darkened sky but instead the day was a mix of blue and drifting snow clouds as the sun shone brightly on to the snow covered world outside.
“It was dark.”
Cherry made no attempt to move closer, to distract him in any way as she watched his eyes switch from the window to the table. He studied its surface, fleetingly seeing an empty mug with just a drop of tea left at the bottom, it was just tea...
“Too much sugar.... I think there was too much sugar in my tea.”
He looked up from the table.
“Well I'm sure one sugar too many didn't kill you.”
He placed his hand on the table, looked about the room, trying to spot the smallest hint of a memory sparking to life – but there was nothing.
“I can't remember. I think I was in here on my own – maybe that's before I went shopping. Or after when I came back...I don't remember feeling cold. I would have been freezing if I'd just come in from the snow.”
A sudden realisation hit her. It was a tiny victory, but enough for hope to shine in her gaze.
“You remembered the note you left me! That was after you'd been shopping, you'd put the shopping away and you left me the note. It is coming back to you - just in a different order!”
He had looked about the room again, then he turned to her and his face paled.
“I think it happened right here...I died right here...where I'm standing.”
She looked at the rug, recalled the place where Owen had turned to as he tearfully recalled Drake's collapse. He was standing right in that same spot...
“You didn't die there, you collapsed there. You died two days later. Now think! What happened, Drake?”
He looked down at the floor, then shook his head.
“I feel as if I died here – the last thing I remember was falling to the floor. But before that – I don't know.”
“Owen was with you when you collapsed. Do you recall him being here?”
He blinked. For a moment he was back there, not in the office but at the main entrance:
The skies were darkening and the snow was falling and she was on the doorstep smiling.
“Hi!” Melody said warmly...
He felt an instant spike of anger as he recalled the heartache she had caused in his life.
“I recall opening the door to Melody – that must have been earlier – she was so pleased to see me. I wasn't glad to see her. I don't remember any more.”
He went over to the office door and opened it, filled with the sudden need to get out of the room where he had collapsed.
“I need some fresh air,” was all he said, then he buttoned his coat and walked off towards the main doors of the museum.
“Wait for me!” Cherry exclaimed, hurrying to catch up as Drake quickened his pace, suddenly filled with the need to get out of this place fast and see life and the world beyond the museum walls once more.
As the door closed behind her, Cherry paused to lock it as she stood there outside the building, her boots sinking into deep snow that sparkled as it caught the sunlight. For now no more flakes fell but the air was crisp and sharp.
“Drake!” she called, her breath forming an icy cloud in the air.
He stopped and looked back, well wrapped up against the cold in his long, thick coat.
“I need to walk, I want to keep moving, it helps me think,” he called back.
“You can wait five minutes!” she said, zipping up her coat and pulling gloves and a hat from her pocket. He stood there in the snow and waited while she wrapped up warm, then she trudged through the snow to meet him at the place where the parking area opened up to the street and the road that led along the promenade.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I don't know.”
Drake turned his head, looked to the now calm sea that reflected a mix of blue and grey as winter sun caught on its surface. Today the theme park that overlooked the water was alive with visitors wrapped up against the cold but enjoying the three day Christmas time event that saw the place open from morning until ten pm, the snow had forced some of the larger rides to shut down, but the smaller children's rides were still moving, looking colourful as carousels swirled and rides rose and dipped as they went round and round. A few brave souls were walking along the other side of the road close to the beach and the iced breeze as it breathed gently across the sea, the brightness of the sun was reviving after the stark chill of the leaden skies of days just passed, but it held no heat and the snow clouds were gathering once more.
“Let's go into town,” he decided, “It's full of life, I need to feel that and maybe I'll remember something, too.”
She took his hand and they walked on. The Christmas lights were colourful even in daylight with the bulbs yet to shine in multi colour as they headed towards the place where the road turned off and went up hill and led to the town centre.
As they walked along they were alone on the wide entrance, a sloping area that led upward and into the town centre. In the distance they saw shoppers wrapped up against the cold, families with children either heading for the Christmas tree in the middle of the town, or pausing to throw snowballs.
Other shoppers were alone and braving the cold to buy last minute gifts. The snow had put off the usual heavy crowds and the spaces of white between the people who were out in it made the place look bigger, blank and in a strange way, kind of ghostly. Only the bright lights and Christmas displays in store windows served as a reminder that this place hadn't become bleak and almost a ghost town in the wake of the heavy snow.
The only pair of eyes that watched them as they climbed the slowly rising pathway to the town centre was a large snowman, its body bulky and its surface bumpy as if the hands of at least fifty kids had put it together with many snowballs. Its head was round and fat with button eyes and it had a small carrot for a nose, no mouth and twigs for arm, short twigs that stuck out at odd angles, one pointing left, the other pointing to the ground.
“I'm thinking about the book and what it said about reviving the dead,” Drake said as they went on, “We can't be sure all of the details are correct – this thing about four days, it could be fictional. The demon may not even be a creature residing at the Devil's side – there are said to be many lower realm dark energies that can do a lot of stuff - but it doesn't mean they are all powerful. There was a mention in the translation about energy, power, carried by the resurrected until the demon receives payment. It's thought to be some kind of residual power left over from the life restoring energy given by the demon...”
He stopped walking and so did Cherry, they stood by a takeaway place that had the shutters down and he shrugged.
“Where is this power? I feel alive, certainly – but I'm bloody cold out in this snow, I'm feeling very human and I don't have a trace of power about me – I'd know if I did. So maybe that part isn't true. If that's the case, a lot of it isn't to be believed. It could mean this demon is gone. Maybe the only truth of it was the ritual summoned a lower realm, minor being that can restore life. Maybe I have no fear of death hanging over me.”
“We can't be sure,” Cherry shivered despite her warm winter clothing, “It's not something to gamble on. We still have to find your killer.”
“And coming here makes me feel safer because it looks busy in the town – normal life. I want to be a part of normal life again. But I'm not recalling anything about the night I died, not yet.”
“That could take a while to come back, we both know that.”
He looked into her eyes and his gaze was filled with deepest love.
“If these are my last days on earth, I've got extra time I wasn't meant to have and you to thank for that. I can't regret anything. I'm not accepting that I could die because I want to fight that - but I'm trying to be calm about the possibility. I don't want to ruin what could be my final hours, not when I'm with you and we have still time to be together.”
Her heart ached as she nodded, but held back tears as she knew instantly he had made perfect sense – they didn't know what powers she had tinkered with, that old book was full of spells and rituals and all claimed great power owned by the entities that could be raised from the depths. But how much of it was true was known only by the witch whose bones had long since turned to
to dust...
“Whatever happens, I'm with you,”she promised,” And I have no plans to let go of you a second time! It hurt enough the first time around...Why is the snowman melting?”
Her expression had changed to one of alarm, her sights set over his shoulder. Drake turned around sharply, staring at
the odd sight of the snowman surrounded by snow that showed no sign of melting – yet its head was dripping, water ran down its body as it grew and the water droplets seemed to be reshaping the snowman into something else – something tall and slender with folded back wings...
Its head jerked back, sending a shower of ice scattering to the frozen ground as hair white as the snow fell to its shoulders and it took on the shape of a female. This time the demon was wearing white, the snow becoming its flowing gown as it blinked and buttons fell to the ground and it turned its head towards them, eyes wide and black, as it revealed sharp teeth and gave a snarl.
“So soon?” Drake said in panic as he looked wide eyed at the creature, “Give me time, please! I can't remember who killed me, not yet!”
The demon extended a slender arm, opened up its hand and made a beckoning movement with long fingers that suddenly crushed into a fist.
“No!” Drake gasped, folding his arms about his body as he doubled over in pain and he felt that long, bony hand wrap about his soul and tug, “Not yet!”
His words had been spoken louder this time, now his eyes blazed with defiance as he glared at the creature from hell.
“I will feed you!” he stated, repeating,“Give me time!”
Its black, emotionless eyes reflected nothing but darkness as its hand opened up releasing him and he fell to the ground heavily, gasping for air as the creature became as mist and sunk into the snow that covered the ground.
As he reached for her hand, Cherry helped him up. Her face was white as the snow that was all around them as she looked to the spot where the snowman had stood – now it was an empty space covered by smooth, untrodden snow, just a carrot and two buttons punctured its surface.
“Are you alright?”
“I am now,” Drake told her, giving her gloved hands a squeeze in reassurance, “It felt like it – she – whatever it was – tried to rip out my soul. I could feel its hand squeezing inside me, ice cold...” he paused, looked about the quiet street as up ahead the sound of children playing in the snow echoed, carried on the chilly breeze from further up where the Christmas tree stood in the middle of the square.