“I bet he’s good,” Melissa said, a gleam in her eye. “I bet he’d wear you out and keep you in bed ’til doomsday.”
“Melissa!” I cracked up, then chugged the rest of my cider. Noting her empty glass, and seeing in my near future a very drunk night due to my new friend, I scooted up to the bar.
The bartender was a young and busty blonde in a halter top so low cut it should have been declared a national emergency. She was whipping out beers with the efficiency of a woman that’d been doing it for a very long time. “Yes, love?” she asked me, glancing up into my eyes as she popped her gum and poured a beer from the tap.
“Two ciders please.”
“Bulmers or Gaymer Old?”
She got me there. I had no freaking clue. “Um, which is better?”
“Your friend asked for Gaymer when she bought,” the bartender said, throwing her finished mug in front of the old man to my right.
“That’s what I want, then.” I gave her a grateful smile for coming through for me.
As I was making my way to Melissa, I saw a familiar face come in the door on a burst of cold air. “Bella!”
The willowy brunette looked up from the Iphone in her hand and smiled, reaching over to extinguish her ever present cigarette in the tray by the door. She wore a hip length black leather coat, belted at her tiny waist, and mile long legs in fishnet tights that ended in bright red, uncomfortable looking heels. Her lips were as red as they’d been last I saw her. Her hair was coiffed and waved like a fifties pin-up girl down her shoulders. “Vale. Pleasure to see you, darling. I was stopping in to see my sister.” She inclined her head to the bartender, who grinned, popping her gum.
I juggled my heavy ciders. “Good to see you, too. Would you like to come sit with me and my friend?” I motioned with one mug to Melissa, who gave a pleasant smile and wave.
“Sure, that would be nice. Let me go tell Briana what I came to tell her and grab a drink, and I will be right there.” She slid past me in a cloud of expensive perfume and up to the bar, all predatory ease and grace.
“Who the hell is that? She’s a knockout!” Melissa hissed when I sat down, sliding her mug across the scarred table top.
“That’s my neighbor, Bella.” I leaned across the table, and Melissa followed suit, turning her ear towards my lips. “She’s a call girl.”
Melissa sat back, gazing up at the two girls. Despite their coloring, they really did resemble each other. “Huh. That’d be a cool damn job, I think.”
I pondered this a moment, then shook my head. “I think it would take all the excitement out of having sex.”
We both locked in on Bella as the crowd parted to let her through, a short glass of clear liquid in her red tipped fingers. People stopped talking when she passed by, eyes following the swing of her hips. She placed the glass on the table and looked around, and my third eye if some poor schmuck didn’t jump to his feet and bring her his chair. She smiled coyly at him, slowly untying her belt and letting the jacket slid from her shoulders. Her slim body was sheathed in a strapless black dress that hung obscenely high on her perfect thighs.
“No excitement, huh?” Melissa murmured to me as Bella took her seat.
“Bella, this is Melissa,” I said, ignoring my sex-crazed friend. Bella reached across to shake Melissa’s hand softly.
“Melissa, it is a pleasure. What are you ladies doing this evening?” She sipped daintily from her glass, a fine imprint of her red lips pressing and remaining to the crystal when she set it back down.
“Just enjoying some drinks and company,” Melissa replied. “Are you really a call girl?”
I reached over and punched Melissa on the arm. “Melissa!”
“Owww!” she drawled out, rubbing the spot. Bella’s tinkling laugh stopped conversation behind her and the three men at that table stared longingly at her back.
“Yes, I am. Vale, I do not keep it secret, I enjoy my job,” she admonished me, crossing her legs in a flash of skin and fishnets. I could swear I got a vision of red panties. “It has its perks.”
Melissa gave me an I-told-you-so look. “I’d love to hear stories! Do you still have sex for fun? Do you have to do weird, kinky things?”
The guys were now drooling. I elbowed Melissa and motioned to them with my head. Bella, noticing the move, whipped her head around. We couldn’t see her face, but whatever she did, all three boys turned back to their beers guiltily. Curling back around, she took another sip of her drink. “Sometimes, yes. Usually it is just straight I-want-regular-missionary-from-someone-who-is-not-my-frigid-wife type. But, ignore my stories, Vale, who was that charming man I caught you smooching on your porch last night?”
Blushing, I answered, “Brett. He works with me. With us,” I amended, gesturing to include Melissa. “He’s very nice.”
Bella leaned forward on one elbow, cupping her glass in her hand. Her dress slid down her boobs and I prayed I wouldn’t see nipple. “Girl, there wasn’t anything ‘very nice’ about the way you kissed. That was some serious attraction. I am surprised you did not take him inside and make his world shiny.”
I giggled, and damn it, my cheeks still felt hot. Hearing Bella talk, I was remembering the feel of his lips and body. Oh god, I was so lost. “Had a bit much to drink.”
Melissa scoffed at me. “That’s the best kind of sex!”
“I really like him!” I said defensively, straightening in my chair and swigging the last of my beer. “I’ve done the random sex thing. I want it to mean something with him.”
Bella nodded sagely, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her coat pocket and tapping one out of the box in a smooth movement. She placed it between her lips and said, “Understandable, darling. He seems to me, a keeper.”
A bus boy was pushing by our table, dirty dishes in hand, and he did a double take on Bella’s cigarette. “Miss? You can’t smoke in here.”
Bella turned towards him, coiling her legs out and re-crossing them, smoothing a hand down the front of her dress. Cigarette still in place, she replied, “I was not going to smoke it, precious. I just like the feel of it between my lips.”
Breath sufficiently quickened, the poor guy scuttled away. “God, Bella, give the poor kid a heart attack!” Melissa laughed, downing the last of her cider. “It’s my turn. Bella, what’s your poison?”
“Vodka, straight up, lemon wedge. Thank you, darling.” She watched Melissa go. “I like your friend, Vale. Before she gets back, I must share something with you.”
Intrigued, I gave her a nod to go on.
She twirled her cigarette in her fingers. “I am intuitive. By that, I mean I possess a certain, power, if you will, and I am worried about your friend.”
Heart skipping a beat, I scooted my chair closer. “Why? What have you seen?”
“I do not see, darling, I feel. And I feel fear and pain for her. Soon.” Bella’s smoky lined eyes gazed intently at me as she finished her vodka. “You need to protect her.”
I looked over my shoulder at Melissa, leaning on her elbows across the bar, her turtleneck riding up to show a thin line of her back, and an unintelligible tattoo. Chatting with one of the old men, she had put a smile on his face. It’d been a long time since I’d had a friend I cared about; Macy had always been my only confidante. “I will.”
Chapter 12
Hunter went crazy when we stumbled in the apartment at eleven twenty and he saw his friend. Melissa giggled drunkenly and dropped a few pats to his bouncing head. “Hey there, fella, seems you remember me!”
I hit the switch and flooded the room with light. After letting Hunter do his business, I came in, closed the curtains and set the alarm. Melissa was munching on a pack of crackers on my couch, listing slightly to the left. I wasn't even aware I had crackers. “I like your place.”
“Thanks, I love it too.” I rummaged in the coat closet under my stairs and pulled out a couple extra blankets and a pillow. “I’ll go grab you some clothes to sleep in. It gets pretty cold in here at nigh
t. I don’t like heat when I’m sleeping.”
“Me neither,” she agreed through a mouth full of cracker.
I found Addie asleep on my bed, her paws stretched way out in front of her and her head placed squarely between them on the comforter. Her tail flicked, but her eyes didn’t open, so apparently I didn’t qualify for attention. Kicking off my boots, I grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and padded back downstairs to toss them at Melissa. She was setting up her bed on the couch. “Sorry I don’t have an extra bed.”
“Pshaw,” she said, waving both hands at me. “I spend more nights on the couch at Uncle’s house than I do in my own bed. It’s a comfort thing.” She didn’t elaborate, so I blamed the alcohol for strange rants. I told her good night and made my blurry way to bed.
*********
Another night, another Hunt. The accompanying rain beginning to beat at my bedroom window. I had my TV on, but the sound turned off, watching some strange British game show in the dark. They were louder here than in the Temple and it blew my mind I’d been able to sleep through them for the first week I lived in Quicksilver. At work, I was able to blow off the howls as wind, the hoof beats as knocking trees, and the barks as normal dogs in the forest. Here, every sound was amplified, and I was no longer sure I could disbelieve my own ears.
With a sigh, I rolled over and pulled the other pillow out from under Addie, who yowled angrily at me. I’d probably have a hairball in one of my favorite shoes tomorrow. I put it over my head and closed my eyes. The howling was muffled. Hunter who was curled against my side and snoring softly, snuffled and pressed closer.
I had no explanation for the sounds. It didn’t make sense to me for something so obviously mythological to be real, but then I also couldn’t comprehend a serial killer that was smart enough or equipped enough to broadcast such noise over the entire town. That was as stupid an idea as the Hunt being real. Where Theresa and Dane, and even my sister, would have easily digested the idea, I found it hard to do so. Scary, to do so. But, there was no explanation beyond the supernatural.
This revelation struck me like lightning and I shivered, my heart thundering in my chest. I kept my eyes closed, trying frantically to remember if I’d closed the curtains to both my bedroom windows.
A few moments later, I heard a creak from the stairs and I froze, until I recalled that Melissa was in the house. “Vale?” Her whisper barely came through the pillow I held to my ear. Pulling it off my face, I blinked at her standing at the top of the stairs next to my TV.
“What’s up?” I asked softly.
She looked embarrassed, arms dangling at her sides like a child. With a sheepish grin, she held her palms out and up. “Can I sleep in here with you?”
I laughed. “Yep. Just make some room for yourself beside the animals.”
Lifting up the other side of the covers, she slid in next to Hunter, who rolled over and shoved his nose in her neck, making her giggle. “Thanks,” she whispered, snuggling down into the pillow I handed her. “I’ve lived here for long enough you’d think I could handle it by now.”
Her face popped in and out of view as the glow of the television screen faded and brightened. Staring at her facing me across my dog, I shook my head. “No, no one could get used to this.”
*********
It was raining when I woke up. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted through the air, tickling my nose. I shuddered in anticipation, pushing back the covers. The apartment had grown colder than usual over night. I threw an old hoodie over my T-shirt and slipped my bare feet into my Spongebobs before padding downstairs with a yawn.
Melissa was curled up on one of the bar stools, one knee tucked into her chest.
She smiled at me from over the newspaper, taking a long draw from her coffee mug. A white Apple laptop sat on the counter at her elbow, the screen saver a collage of photos appearing and disappearing. “Morning.”
Just pouring a cup of the dark brew was enough to wake me up. I dropped in a couple packets of sweetener and a dab of milk before joining her at the table. “Morning. What’s the news?”
“Nothing interesting. Unless you want to know about the city’s funding for the library.”
I shook my head, taking another life-giving drink of caffeine. “You hungry? I make mean omelets and toast.”
“That’d be great.” She folded up the paper and slid it away, crossing her hands on the countertop. “I have some updates on my research. I had my laptop in my car and brought it in when I woke up.”
I pulled the eggs, cheese, and bell peppers from the fridge while Hunter sniffed mournfully into the cold air. “Okay, update me.”
“I did some digging into Edward’s past.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, setting a knife and carving board in front of her with the peppers. She started chopping while I cracked four eggs in a bowl.
“He has a long history of domestic violence.” She leaned forward eagerly on her elbows, almost knocking over her coffee cup, the knife pointing at me. “Once, he put a woman in a coma.”
“You’re gonna poke someone’s eye out,” I joked, tapping the knife with my whisk. Whipping the eggs, I processed what she had told me. “Hmm. Edward though? That seems so unlikely.”
Melissa shrugged, draining her mug. “You can never know someone. Not really.”
“He’s obviously not with a woman now. Have you spoken to your uncle?”
“Yep, and he has nothing but good to say about his little boyfriend.” She rested her chin in a hand, watching me pour her chopped peppers into my egg mixture. I whipped it once more and dumped it into the sizzling frying pan. “Could be he has a vendetta against women. Maybe because of his generation. He was forced to hide that he was queer and took it out on girls.”
I didn’t answer. Something about her most recent theory just didn’t click with me. “I don’t know, Mel. It doesn’t make sense. He’s so grandfatherly. And happy. Did you dredge anything up on Jordan?”
“No, I hit zilch on an internet search. I have other avenues I can explore when I get back to Uncle’s.”
We were silent as I finished up breakfast and dropped a steaming plate of omelet and toast in front of her. She took a bite before I’d even sat down beside her, and groaned. “This is good.”
“Thanks.”
We ate a few bites each before she spoke up again. “I also Googled Nikolas. He won a few awards in Russia for writing a couple articles for a national magazine. Know what he wrote?”
I made a noncommittal noise, mouth busy with egg.
“True crime. Research articles on serial killers. Their methodology, victims, reasons. Apparently, he’s pretty good. Smart, too.”
“Mel, just because the boy likes to write and finds the sociopathic tendencies of killers interesting, doesn’t mean he is one himself.” I crunched into my toast, chewing at her.
“I know, I know, look, I’m grasping at straws. Something is going on. Someone is killing us off.” She paused, digging at her eggs. “I don’t want to be next.”
A chill shot down my back as I remembered Bella’s warning. I shook it off.
“When are you seeing Brett again?” Her tone changed to light and airy and she took a bite of her demolished omelet. I noticed she was picking out and eating the peppers first.
The phone rang, startling me. I reached over, plucking it out of the charger. “Yeah?”
“Hey, Vale.” My eyes widened and I shook my head at Melissa. It’s him, I mouthed at her, grinning. She wiggled her shoulders suggestively.
“Brett, hi. What’s going on?”
“Look, it may be a little forward of me, but I’d really like to see you again. Would you like to go to my parents’ house with me today? They’re out of town for a few days and I’m driving in to check on things.”
I pushed the mute button. “He wants me to go with him to check on his parents’ house. They’re away.”
“Do you want to go?”
“Hell, yes.”
; “Then tell him yes!” she said dramatically, flinging her hands around. I rolled my eyes at her theatrics.
“I’d love to,” I told him after clicking off the mute. “What time?”
“I’ll pick you up around two, is that fine?”
“Yeah, definitely.” I hung up with a smile on my face. Melissa was giving me a knowing look. She pointed at me with her fork, which I promptly silenced with my own. Sword play done, she grinned at me.
“You’re gonna sleep with him.”
“Quiet, I am not.” I went back to my eggs, crunching into a fresh sliver of red pepper, relishing the taste on my tongue. That led to the feel of his lips, and what his skin could possibly taste like. That train of thought was not helpful.
*********
After Melissa left, I clicked Hunter’s leash in place and took him out for a walk. The rain had slowed to a crawl, easily deferred by my big black umbrella. My knee high Wellies laughed in the face of the trickle. I listened to the click of my dog’s toenails on the asphalt over the pitter patter of raindrops, thinking about what Melissa had told me that morning.
It didn’t jazz with me that Edward or Nikolas could be capable of murder. What was it about super-people that caused us to have such messed up or eccentric lives? I was lost in my thoughts when an ancient black Renault rolled to a stop beside me and a handsome, smiling face appeared from behind a rolling window. “I was just coming to get you.”
I glanced at my watch. “Wow, I didn’t know it was so late! Mind taking me and Hunter back to the apartment?”
I dropped Hunter off with a full bowl of water and food, grabbed my purse, and a few moments later we were cruising down an overcast country road to the crooning of Bruce Springsteen. Brett was laid back in ratty blue jeans and a white long-sleeve cotton shirt. And, of course, his requisite cowboy boots. “How was your night out with Melissa?”
The Temple Page 11