Shadows Fall

by Denise A. Agnew

  He scrubbed one hand through his hair. “At least let me walk you to your car.”

  She teased him. “Trying to get another kiss?”

  He moved closer and reached up to brush his touch over her cheek. “Look, let me get another thing straight. I said I shouldn’t have kissed you. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

  His fingers slipped into the hair at the back of her neck, and he drew her forward. He kissed her, this time more urgently. This was no little peck of sweet affection, but hot and sincere. His tongue sank deep, stroked and brought alive a deep throb between her legs. Her hands went to his waist to steady the world. She met his caressing strokes with her own. Heat sluiced through her body, destroying the cold that had threatened to overwhelm her earlier. She moaned softly, and his assertiveness slowed, gentled. He released her. She stared at him, dazed by the feelings both physical and mental pouring through her.

  “I’m not sorry this time.” His words, spoken in that husky, fine wine voice, sent delightful tremors racing to all corners of her body.

  He made good on his promise and accompanied her to the parking lot. The van with the weird guy in it had disappeared. After she’d strapped into her car and rolled the window down, he said, “Call me when you get inside your apartment, all right?” He gave her his cell number His concern warmed a place inside she didn’t know had turned cold.

  All the way to her apartment, the darkness and cold wrapped around her car. She felt isolated and adrift in uncertainty. She didn’t know what to think. Roarke didn’t want a relationship, but then neither did she. It was better this way. Sure, a kiss or two here and there was nice. Trouble was, it was also arousing as hell. She tried to recall the last time she’d experienced such sexual frustration and couldn’t. Maybe when her hormones had come on strong as a teen. Not since Rick had she’d known this fever. Yet even with Rick, the quickness and fierceness of the sexual need hadn’t been this strong. Maybe, just maybe, she could sleep with him once and be done with the attraction. Maybe it would burn it off and she wouldn’t feel the need for it any longer.

  More important questions must be asked. Had she heard the woman crying? Moreover had she witnessed the bundle of rags turning into a person and charging after her? Disturbed down to the bone, she drove through town until she reached the parking lot behind her old building. She sat in the car for a few moments before finding the balls to leave the vehicle. As she walked, the tall buildings around the area seemed to hover and to lean over her with predatory inclination. Deserted streets taunted her, but they were always empty at such a late hour in Simple. She held her keys at the ready, then hurried through the dimly lit alley to the front of her building. She had to look behind her twice as the sensation of someone following close behind nearly made her run.

  Melissa realized, as she reached for the phone in her apartment, that her heart went a mile a minute. Tonight’s events had worked their slimy way into her psyche and hadn’t released her mind yet. Roarke picked up on the first ring, and she assured him she’d made it inside the building in one piece.

  “Good.” His voice was husky, a liquid caress to her senses. “See any more ghosts?”

  “No.” She kept her tone light. She realized that before she could sleep well she had to know the answers to something. “Roarke, why did you kiss me again tonight?”

  He didn’t speak for a bit, and she wondered if he didn’t know why he’d kissed her either. “You’re a smart woman, Melissa. I know you aren’t coy. And you know I can be blunt. So let’s just lay it on the line. I don’t believe in all this woo-woo stuff you do. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel there’s something hot between us.”

  Wow. She hadn’t expected that answer. “You’re right.” She managed get the next part out. “What are we going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s sleep on it.”

  “Right.”

  They hung up. As she fell asleep that night, her dreams haunted and aroused. Half formed visions of ghosts and unearthly cries mixed with the sensations of hot, erotic lovemaking.

  Chapter 7

  Simple Herald

  * * *

  Several patrons have told the Herald that shenanigans are afoot at Tranquil View Condominiums. The first night, a patron screamed that the devil has possessed Tranquil View and probably the entire town of Simple. The city council and various concerned citizens are saying the haunted house portion of Tranquil View Asylum should be shut down and blessed. The first weekend of the haunted house was well attended according to management at Steele Company and volunteers who manned the event.

  “Utter tripe.” Henrietta almost growled the words as she read the paper and tossed it on the front counter first thing Monday morning. “Did you read the paper?”

  Melissa gave her friend a weak smile. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “You were there, right? What happened?”

  In short fashion Melissa had told Henrietta everything, including the scare in the strange room, the basement situation with Jilly, the crying she’d heard, and the kiss she shared with Roarke.

  “Wow.” Henrietta sighed before speaking again. “That’s a lot of activity for one night.” She laughed. “I mean, of the paranormal variety.”

  Melissa chuckled. “Yeah. But I’m not one hundred percent sure which parts were paranormal. That bothers me. I usually can tell.”

  Henrietta shrugged. “Don’t beat yourself up. At least you know the kissing was real.”

  Melissa swatted her friend on the arm. “Shut up.”

  “You didn’t like the kiss?”

  Melissa grimaced. “I liked it too damn much.”

  Henrietta crossed her arms and slanted a smile at Melissa. “Whoa. I think Roarke really likes you.”

  “I don’t think he likes me much at all. I probably remind him of his mother or something. If he thinks she was fruity, and maybe she could see and hear ghosts ...” Melissa shrugged. “I can’t have a good relationship with a man that doesn’t respect my beliefs.”

  “Yes, but he wanted you to call him so that he made sure you got home safe. He must care about you at least a little.”

  “He would have done that for any woman. He’s a decent guy. At least I think he is.”

  “Yes, he’s a decent guy but—wait, what do you mean you think he’s a decent guy?”

  Melissa walked toward the back room, needing coffee more than she needed anything else. “Walk this way. My coffee pot went on the fritz this morning, and I haven’t had a shot of caffeine yet.” Thank goodness for the gourmet coffee pot and good coffee. She got a mug and poured a cup, leaving out cream or sugar.

  “Ahem,” she said.

  Melissa sat in a chair by the desk in the back room, glad it was before opening time so she could savor a bit of time. “What do I really know about him other than appearances? Yeah, he was a Marine. Excuse me—is a Marine.”

  “Eh?”

  “Never say a former Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

  Henrietta wriggled her eyebrows. “Ah, right.” She made an exaggerated sigh. “All those muscles.”

  Melissa snorted a laugh and enjoyed another sip of the strong beverage. “Are you for real? Girl, does your hubby know you talk this way?”

  Henrietta scoffed. “No way. But you know I only look. I’d never touch. My hubby is the love of my life, but I’m still female. I see gorgeous male flesh, and I’m going to notice it.”

  Melissa sighed. “I sometimes wish I was married. Just so this whole dating thing would go away.”

  Henrietta reached for a mug herself and poured coffee. She added sugar. “I thought you hated marriage?”

  “I’ve never been married, remember? I just ... I don’t think it’s for me.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Don’t give me that look.”

  “Well, you know what I think. You can’t throw away a chance at happiness just because of what happened to you ... what ... about fifteen years ago now? Time to put yourself
out there and let the universe know you’re ready. Hell, maybe the universe knows it. You’ve met Roarke.”

  “Henrietta, he’s a skeptic. A big time skeptic.”

  “Opposites attract. Maybe you both have something to offer each other. Maybe you’ve been brought together to teach each other something.”

  Melissa considered what Henrietta had said. Part of her wanted to tell her friend to mind her own business; the other wanted to believe that Roarke could want more than a kiss here and there. She’d felt his arousal pressed against her when they’d kissed. The man wanted her; at least his body did. Melissa didn’t want to think too much about how aroused she’d been, how much she’d yearned to throw away all precaution and have down and dirty, hot sex with the man.

  “Or,” Henrietta said with a wiggle of her eyebrows, “you could just have sex with him and burn it off. Maybe that’s all you need, and after that you can go your separate ways.”

  Heat filled Melissa’s cheeks, but she laughed. “I thought of that.”

  As if sensing that she couldn’t push her friend any farther, Henrietta switched gears. “What creeps me out is that guy in the van you talked about.” Henrietta put her coffee mug on the desk and shivered. “Ew.”

  “Ew is right. But it doesn’t mean anything. It was a mask, and it was probably a teenager trying to freak people out.”

  “Probably.”

  The bell above the door tinkled, and Henrietta left for the front. Melissa followed, coffee in hand. She didn’t expect to see who’d walked into the store.

  “Jilly,” Melissa said automatically.

  Henrietta glanced back at Melissa. “This is the Jilly?”

  The young girl’s exquisitely pretty green eyes seemed almost as frightened as they had been the other night at Tranquil View. She stepped farther into the store. She pushed her thick tumble of hair back from her face. In the bright light of day, Melissa noticed Jilly wore trendy clothes like a teenager would. Nothing unusual in that. She wore a ring on every finger, including a pinky ring featuring a pentacle. Black fingernail polish covered her nails. Around her neck she wore a petite ankh. Either she aspired to a little Goth, or she genuinely had some pagan beliefs. Made sense she’d want to come into this store.

  “Jillian Gomez.” Jilly held out her hand and shook Henrietta’s hand.

  Melissa smiled and put her coffee down on the counter. “Jilly, it’s good to see you. Are you feeling better?”

  Jilly smiled, but it was a weak gesture. “Yeah. Um ... I need to talk to you both.”

  “Oh?” Henrietta’s surprise also sounded suspicious. “About what?”

  “About Tranquil View and what I see in this town.”

  Melissa had a few seconds to wonder yet again if Jilly had mental issues, but Henrietta gestured to a chair behind the counter and asked the girl to sit down. “We haven’t seen you in the store before today.”

  Jilly glanced around. She wiped her hands down her jean-clad legs. “Mom would never let me come in here.”

  Melissa had a clue, but she asked the question anyway. “Why?”

  Jilly’s face screwed up. “Because she hates anything and anyone with an open mind and heart.” Her words laced with contempt. “She’s a founding member of the New United Frontier Church on Bedlam Street. The one they built two years ago. She and my father helped build it, but now my father and mother have divorced and dad moved to Pueblo.”

  Melissa’s eyebrows rose high. “Bedlam Street? Someone actually named a street Bedlam?”

  Jilly frowned. “Yeah, why?”

  “Bedlam was an insane asylum in England,” Henrietta said before Melissa could explain.

  Jilly’s laugh was half-hearted. “Yeah, well. That doesn’t surprise me. When Mom and Dad bought the land, they named the street it connects to.”

  Melissa didn’t ask about New United Frontier Church. She’d read articles on them in the Herald. Ultra conservative and ultra bigoted fit their attitude one hundred percent. Racism and intolerance headed two of their agendas around town. Melissa half wondered if Jana Peterson belonged to the church.

  “That’s not why I’m here.” Jilly eyed them both with trepidation. “Mom would kill me if she knew I was here. I cut class.” Sadness in Jilly’s voice couldn’t be missed. A divorce in a teenager’s life almost always caused turmoil. Melissa wondered if the girl’s problems stemmed from that.

  “Oh, no.” Henrietta glanced at Melissa, then back to the teenager. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I can tell that you are the only ones who can help me.” Jilly looked right at Melissa. “And maybe that guy that was with you last night. He was kinda hot.”

  “Old enough to be your father, too.” Melissa smiled. “Roarke O’Bannion.”

  Jilly actually smiled back, removing the haunted element to her gaze. “Yep, that’s the one.”

  “How can we help?” Melissa was afraid of the answer.

  “There’s something really wrong with this town. Always has been. I was born here and I can’t wait to get out. I’m seventeen and I graduate high school this year. That is if I can get out of here in one piece.”

  “Sounds like anyone who lives here.” Henrietta’s amused voice held a weak tone, as if she didn’t believe what she’d said. “I was born here, too.”

  “High school can be traumatic.” Melissa certainly remembered.

  “I can’t wear these things,” Jilly said as she held up the finger with the pentacle. “I can’t wear anything in school like that.”

  Melissa grabbed her coffee and took a big gulp. She had a feeling she’d need all the caffeine she could get. “What’s wrong with Simple?”

  “You haven’t lived here long, have you?” Jilly asked.

  Melissa sighed. “No.”

  “Why did you move here?” Jilly asked.

  Melissa wondered if this was all a game. “I thought this was about you needing our help.”

  Jilly pouted a little. “It is. Okay, I’ll cut to the story.”

  She looked at the floor and went silent, as if building the suspense in a scene from a horror movie. Maybe this kid had watched one too many sequels to Scream.

  “It’s like this.” Jilly rubbed her bejeweled hands together. “My mother and father are really religious. At least, dad used to be. But I think he realized the church they built is going off the deep end and that’s one of the reasons why he divorced my mother. But I knew from the time I was little there was more out there to life than a narrow view. I’m a Wiccan, but I can’t tell my mother that.”

  “Does your father know?” Henrietta asked.

  “I told him a few weeks back. His eyes are opening up, I think. He’s more tolerant now than he used to be when he helped mom found the church. Anyway, I can’t tell Mom. They’d have a damned exorcism or something.” Jilly’s tone became petulant. “They think everything is caused by the devil. It’s the devil this, the devil that. Well, some weird shit is going down in this town now, and it’s got me wondering if maybe they were right all along. I mean, I never believed in the devil until ... .” She drifted off, her eyes almost wild with fright. “I’ve done protection rituals for myself. I’m hoping that keeps whatever is going on away from me.”

  Melissa’s attitude toward the girl shifted, as if the girl had looked right inside her and made her recall life as a teenager with all its resulting angst. A teen’s world, so defined by family, community, and friends could make the teen wonder about possibilities in life. It could cause rebellion, to prove something to their parents. Jilly’s eyes were haunted with something far deeper and complex than normal teen problems.

  “Good for you ... on the protection rituals,” Melissa said, testing the girl’s authenticity. “As long as you know what you’re doing and aren’t leaving a circle open. You have to close a circle. You know that, right?”

  Jilly nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve studied these things for years. I know I can’t let anything come in from the other side.”

 
Still skeptical about the girl’s skill, Melissa found her concern rising. “Tell me what you’ve done in the way of rituals.”

  Jilly looked at Henrietta, her gaze cautious. Henrietta pulled a pentacle on a chain out from under her smock. She always wore the small symbol, but hid it under her shirt most of the time. Now she cupped her hand around it. “You can trust us.”

  After Jilly explained what she’d done and how she’d done it, Melissa sighed with relief. “Good. It sounds like you know what you’re doing.”

  Jilly smiled, but it was full of teen doubt. “I hate it that adults never believe me.”

  “We believe you.” Henrietta released her grip on her pendant. “But a lot of young people try these things without knowing what they’re doing. We want you to be safe. Now, what’s been happening in town that you’re afraid of?”

  Jilly threw Henrietta a hard look. “You know. You’ve seen the signs. Simple is cursed.”

  “So you believe in the devil now because you were creeped out at the haunted house the other night?” Melissa asked.

  “No. You don’t understand. “Jilly rubbed her face and gave a very heavy sigh. “I don’t actually believe in the devil. But when I felt ... when I felt that evil at the haunted house, all the old training from the church came back. I just started screaming about the devil without thinking about it.” She sighed. “Weird stuff is happening all around town. There’s been all these robberies where nothing is taken and the cops can’t find evidence of who did it. There have been two murders in the last month on the outskirts of town.”

  “Those guys killed each other,” Henrietta said. “The paper said it was road rage.”

  Jilly shrugged. “Both of them were near Bedlam Street and my parent’s church. Don’t you see?”

  Melissa looked into the bottom of her empty coffee cup and longed for more. She looked up at Jilly. “If anything, I give more credence to the solar flare that happened last month. A huge coronal mass ejection, or whatever they call it. One of the biggest in years. Who knows what kinds of things something like that can do to people even though we’re protected by atmosphere. And it doesn’t help that people believe everything the paper says.”