The 45th Parallel

by Maureen Hands

  “I knew you could make wine, I just didn’t know you could cook too.”

  “Save room for dessert. I have a port style wine infused with raspberry and a rich chocolate cake.”

  “You may have to roll me home,” Helene said.

  “If you are too full to drive home, you can always stay here.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Helene said. As they were finishing their meal, Greg’s cell phone began to ring.

  “Let me get rid of whoever is calling,” he said.

  “Go ahead and grab your phone. I’ll get the dishes started.”

  — •●• —

  Greg picked up the phone and said, “Hello.”

  “Mr. Tilmas, this is Robert West. I’m calling to let you know I will be picking up the deadly nightshade wine tomorrow.”

  “I will have to stay up all night to get that ready,” Greg said in a hushed voice.

  “Then I suggest you start drinking coffee. I will stop by the winery by nine a.m. to pick it up. If it is not ready, I will send her back.”

  Greg’s heart leaped into his throat. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Helene wasn’t listening. “Send who back?” he asked in a shaky voice.

  “Your nightly visitor, of course. Once she gets a taste of you, she can track you anywhere. She knows what you know. She knows what you are thinking. She will know when you have forgotten to sprinkle your magic powder for protection, and she will come. This time, she may not stop until your heart does.”

  “My God, what the hell are you involved in?” Greg whispered angrily into the phone.

  “See you tomorrow at nine,” West said as he hung up the phone. Greg stood frozen. He looked at the clock. It was eight o’clock.

  He walked back into the kitchen as Helene was putting the dishes in the dishwasher and said, “Helene, you better get going. You shouldn’t be out past dark.”

  “What are you talking about?” Helene said. She wondered if it had been another woman on the phone.

  “Can you call me when you get home?”

  “Are you kidding?” Helene said.

  “Please…I just need to know you got home safely.”

  “You invite me over for dinner and now you are throwing me out,” Helene said as she put down the dish she was holding and dried her hands with a towel.

  “I’m sorry, something has come up I need to take care of.”

  “Is there anything I can help you with?”

  “I wish there were, but this is something I have to handle on my own.” Greg said as he handed Helene her purse and walked her to the door.

  Helene stepped outside and stood on the porch looking out at the vineyard then turned to say good night. She would normally be angry by his strange behavior, but Greg had such a tortured look on his face. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew anything about the creature they had seen. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the cheek.

  “This is not how I planned for this evening to end,” he said. Helene paused, and then pushed Greg up against the doorframe. She pressed her body into his and kissed him hard on the lips. Greg was stunned at first, but then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in even closer. When Helene felt his arousal against her leg, she pulled away abruptly. Greg stood against the wall breathless.

  “Thanks for dinner,” she said before turning and walking to her car.

  Greg stood in the same spot and watched her get in her car and drive off down the road. He groaned softly and slid down the doorframe into a sitting position hoping the evening air would cool him off.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Are you working tonight, Kat?” Mary asked as Kat came into the kitchen for breakfast. Kat could tell by the tone of Mary’s voice she would end up doing something she did not want to do as a favor to Mary.

  “I get off work at five, why?”

  “I wanted to see if you and your cousins would go to the new nature trail opening celebration. I have a garden club meeting so I won’t be able to make it.”

  “Not exactly what I had in mind for my night off,” Kat said.

  “Oh you’ll have fun. I’ll take that as a yes,” Mary said.

  “Have you told my cousins about this yet?”

  “Yes, Anna and Helene couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough so they will be joining you.”

  “That’s why you asked me before I had my coffee, isn’t it?” Kat said.

  Mary just smiled and said, “Aren’t you meeting your biking club this morning?”

  “Yes, and that was a very smooth change of subject.”

  “Bring lots of water. It’s going to be in the mid-eighties today. Well, I’m off to the shop. Have a good day sweetie,” Mary said as she stood, kissed the top of Kat’s head, and walked out of the kitchen.

  Kat ate breakfast, put on her riding gear, brushed her teeth, and ran a comb through her hair. She combed her hair out of habit, but she wasn’t sure why since she would be wearing a helmet.

  “Hey guys,” Kat called as she rode up to the group. Everyone turned and smiled or waved. “Has anyone heard from Cole?” she asked.

  “Not a word,” Lisa said. “I left a message with his boss to see if they have heard from him. So far, I have not heard back.”

  “Let’s swing by his house on the way home,” Steve suggested.

  They biked for a while then stopped to take a break by an abandoned field bordered by woods.

  Kat stopped toward the back of the group and rested her bike up against a tree. The other bike club members chatted away, but Kat tuned them out when she began to hear the beat of Indian drums. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and focused. When she opened her eyes, Kat could see the dead woman in the gray dress beckoning her over. Now all Kat could hear was the sound of her shallow breath and her heart pounding with the rhythm of the drums. She thought of Martine’s words, “Do not fear. Allow yourself to see.”

  Kat closed her eyes again, took another deep breath and focused on opening up her mind. When she opened her eyes, her vision was sharper. She began to walk toward the tree line, toward the dead woman she had spent all these years trying to make disappear. As she moved closer to the trees, the sound of her footsteps echoed loudly in her head.

  She heard Steve from the bike group yell after her, “Where are you going, Kat? Do you have to go potty?” But his voice was muffled by the pounding of the drums, her labored breathing, and the crunching of the grass under her feet.

  The woman in gray continued to wave her over. She had never noticed the small flower print on the woman’s dress before, or the dark bloodstains on her skirt. When she was within ten feet of her, the woman in gray looked down into the tall grass and pointed with her white finger. Then she vanished. That’s when Kat smelled the pungent odor of decaying flesh.

  Kat turned her head to the spot in the tall grass where the woman had been pointing. Cole was no more than two feet away from Kat. Although his flesh was starting to rot, it was undeniably Cole. His blackened lips were frozen in a scream. Kat covered her mouth and began to back away.

  “Kat, what’s the matter?” Steve called as he put his water bottle back in the holder on his bike. Steve jogged over to where Kat was standing.

  “Oh my God, somebody call the police,” he yelled to the other bikers.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  By the time the police arrived and they had answered all the questions about how they found the body, Kat was an hour late to work.

  After finding Cole, the last thing in the world Kat wanted to do was to go to the GLCG trail opening, but sitting home alone did not sound like an attractive option either. Kat knew one of those creatures was responsible for Cole’s death, and she had an overwhelming feeling they were running out of time.

  “I don’t think this will last past eight-thirty or nine. They will cut the ribbon, take some pictures and for those who want to, there will be a hike,” Helene said when they picked Kat up after work that night.

  “Th
at will be our cue to slip out,” Anna said. “Are you doing okay, Kat? I know you didn’t know Cole real well but that must have been horrible.”

  “I can’t get the image of his face out of my head…and that smell…it was awful.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” Anna said as she parked the car in the lot by the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Kat had not been here since her run in with the hellhound. She had a strong sense of dread as they got out of the car.

  “Looks like they have a decent turnout,” Helene said.

  As they approached the crowd, Kat could see the realtor, Monica Harding, and Robert West passing out small cups of wine. Monica spotted them and waved them over.

  “We have some wine donated from a couple of the local wineries. Would you like to try some?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Kat said thinking the wine would help calm her nerves. Robert handed Kat a small, clear plastic glass of wine while Monica poured two more for Anna and Helene.

  “Are you ladies sticking around for the hike later?”

  “We will stay for the ribbon cutting, but we have to leave after that,” Helene said.

  “We are only supposed to give everyone one glass of wine, but if you would like more, just let me know,” Robert whispered.

  “Thank you Mr. West,” Anna said.

  “Call me Robert.”

  “Is John Warren going to grace us with his presence this evening?” Monica asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Helene said.

  “Oh well, at least his winery donated some of the wine for this event.”

  Kat and her cousins stepped aside as a line for wine started to form behind them.

  “Mmmm, I like this,” Helene said as she took a sip. “How is your wine Kat?”

  “It is actually a little bitter, but it’s drinkable.”

  “Don’t tell Greg that, he will be highly insulted,” Helene laughed.

  “Hello Kat,” she heard someone say. Kat turned to the direction of the voice and saw a tall, nice looking man standing behind her. His hair was blond but streaked with strands of white. He looked familiar but she could not place him.

  “I’m Jerry Nelson. I met you at Muldoon’s with Dora, Robert, Denise, and Rose.

  “Oh yes, nice to see you again.”

  “John tells me you might be stopping by my office next week to look at his parents’ file.”

  “He mentioned it to me but I didn’t know we had a specific time set up.”

  “Well you are welcome to come by anytime. I’m in and out a lot but my assistant will be able to help you with anything.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that,” Kat said. Her mouth suddenly felt extremely dry. She finished her wine and then went over the wine table to see if there was any water. Dora was helping pass out the wine now.

  “Would you like more wine Kat?” Dora asked.

  Kat cleared her throat and said, “Actually, I came over to see if you had any water.”

  “Here you go,” Dora said as she handed her a small bottle of water.

  Kat opened the bottle and drank it down but it did little to help with her dry mouth. She felt a wave of nausea but it passed quickly. Great, I must be getting sick.

  “I want to welcome everyone to the Lighthouse Trail Opening,” Kat heard Robert West saying.

  Kat tried to focus on what Robert was saying but his voice faded away as her vision blurred. She closed her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision but when she opened them again, she was standing alone in a clearing in the woods. It was nighttime and large red moon illuminated the trees making them appear to be stained with blood. She could hear the leaves on the trees quivering though the air was still.

  Kat saw the man in wolf skin emerge from the woods and step into the clearing. His glowing eyes focused on Kat, a predator stalking its prey.

   •●• 

  Anna and Helene watched the ribbon cutting and then surveyed the crowd.

  “I’m getting those feelings again,” Anna said.

  “What feelings?” Helene asked.

  “Hate, indifference, hunger and darkness. The same feelings I was getting at the Full Moon Celebration.”

  “Where could they be coming from? We know almost everyone here,” Helene said.

  “What if they are in animal form? They could be anywhere,” Anna said in a hushed voice. “The ribbon cutting is over. I think we need to get out of here before the sun sets.”

  “Where’s Kat?” Helene said as she looked around the crowd.

  “What is she doing?” Anna asked.

  Helene followed Anna’s gaze to see Kat standing over by the wine table staring blankly toward the trees. They walked over to her and took her by the arm.

  “Kat, let’s get out of here,” Helene said.

  Kat turned toward them, her eyes vacant and unseeing. “They can only feed by the light of the moon.”

  “Kat, are you with us?” Helene said softly.

  Kat closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them again, her pupils were dilated. “Where am I?” she asked.

  “The Trail Opening Celebration,” Anna said slowly.

  “Can you take me home?” Kat said, in a voice barely audible.

  Anna and Helene got Kat to the car. Kat told them she saw the same vision that she had seen at the Full Moon Celebration.

  “What does it mean?” Anna asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kat said, sounding exhausted. “I think I just need to go to sleep.”

  Mary was already home when they dropped Kat off. Kat said good night, took something for her headache, and went to bed. After she turned off her light, she broke out in a cold sweat and began to shake. In the darkness, Kat thought she saw a figure hunched over in the corner of the room clutching a cane. She turned on the light, but there was nothing there. She could feel the bindings loosen again as the thing in the box pushed against the lid. She slept with the light on all night.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Although Kat tried to act as though everything was fine, the dark circles around her bloodshot eyes gave her away. Since the night of the trail opening, Kat’s waking visions and nightmares grew steadily worse. At this point, she was averaging about two hours of sleep a night.

  “Are you all right Kat?” John asked, cautiously touching her arm.

  Kat jumped and pulled away from him. “Oh…I’m sorry. You startled me. I’m just not getting much sleep…very bad dreams.” She didn’t want to tell anyone she thought she was losing her mind. That the insanity she had kept locked up inside the box was starting to leak out.

  John tilted his head and looked at Kat with concern. “This seems to be getting more difficult for you. Do you think going to Jerry Nelson’s office to look through his file will make it worse?”

  “No…maybe it will help. It’s just that I used to have control…” Kat trailed off. Anna had picked Kat up that morning to take her to John’s house. Kat was afraid she would have a vision while behind the wheel.

  “Let me go tell Martine and Helene we are leaving.” John left the kitchen and went out to the deck.

  Martine and Helene sat in Adirondack chairs facing Lake Michigan.

  “How is the flying coming?” John asked.

  “It’s getting a little easier, but I still have to work on it. I just don’t understand how it was so easy to find Patrick the day he broke his leg when we were kids,” Helene said.

  “A loved one in trouble is like a homing device,” Martine said. “They will pull you toward them.”

  “Keep an eye on Kat, John. I am worried about her,” Helene said.

  “I am worried about her too. I am going to take her down to Jerry Nelson’s office so she can go through the files on my parents’ disappearance. I hope this doesn’t make things worse for her.”

  “Maybe she will have a breakthrough and things will start to get better,” Helene said hopefully.

  “I hope so. We should be back in a couple hours.” John turned and went back into the
kitchen.

  “Good luck,” Helene called after him.

  Kat sat staring out the window toward the lake with wide eyes. She had been watching the woman in the gray dress walking out of the water toward the house. Her neck and wrists were slit and oozing black blood.

  “Kat, do you see something out there? You look frightened,” John said.

  “We better go. I’m ready,” Kat said. She let John take her arm and lead her out of the house to the car as she tried to ignore the images of gore that crept into her vision.

  They drove down M22 toward Traverse City and pulled into a six story office building on the outskirts of town.

  “Jerry’s office is on the sixth floor. While you are going through the file, I am going to go down to the second floor to talk to an investment advisor, unless you would like me to stay with you,” John said.

  “I’ll be fine,” Kat said in a hollow voice. They parked, went inside, and took the elevator to the sixth floor. Jerry Nelson’s office was nicer than Kat expected. The P.I. business in Traverse must be booming. A large-busted blonde with a low-cut blouse sat behind the receptionist desk. Her bright pink lipstick matched her nails.

  “Well hello handsome.” She batted her eyes at John. “Long time no see.”

  “Hello Irene. Is Jerry in? He should be expecting us,” John said. Irene gave Kat the once-over and turned back to John.

  “Why don’t you have a seat in the conference room and I’ll let him know you’re here.” Irene stood and motioned for Kat and John to follow. They walked down the hall to a large conference room. The room had a long wood conference table surrounded by plush black leather chairs. There was a wall of windows on one side offering a view of Grand Traverse Bay. “Let me know if I can get you anything,” Irene said suggestively as she winked at John.

  “Thanks Irene,” John said. Irene closed the conference room door shut as she left the room. There was a file in the middle of the table labeled Warren. John pulled out a chair and motioned for Kat to sit down. John sat in the chair next to her and slid the file over.

  John took a deep breath and opened up the file. “This is a copy of the search and rescue findings from the Coast Guard. This is a timeline that describes the three days prior to their disappearance.”