by Tom Hansen
She turned left, walking past two more aisles and a woman in her forties with kids in tow before catching a glimpse of Edna's red dress, her black, natural curls pulled into a bun.
"I give that girl any chance to bolt and look what she does." Nancy glanced at her watch, noting the time. She didn’t want to miss their show. It was a good thing they weren’t that far from Edna’s apartment.
"What the …" she mumbled to herself. "Are those college boys?" Edna rarely dated in her age-bracket.
She set her jaw and strode up the aisle toward the three boys and Edna.
She cleared her throat and folded her arms. "What do you think you are doing, young lady?"
Edna had a hand on one of the boy's biceps. Her coffee-color skin was a stark contrast to the boy’s pale-pink arms.
Nancy cleared her throat again, intensifying her glare.
Edna finally turned around. Red lipstick glistened on her big, dopey grin while her dark brown eyes glinted guiltily in the store’s overhead lighting. Wrinkles that she insisted didn’t exist gave her true age away, especially standing next to young men like she was.
"We were just talking."
"Talking?" Nancy could feel her blood pressure rising. "These boys"—she nodded with a curt smile at the one closest to her—"are in their twenties."
Edna sighed, annoyance pouring from her tone. "I know that, Mom."
The sarcasm in Edna’s voice irritated Nancy, but there were better ways to deal with her aged friend’s impertinence. Nancy decided on a humiliation tactic this time.
Nancy's eyes narrowed. She reached out and grabbed Edna's hand, extricating her from the young man.
"I'm sorry, but I need to get her back to the old-folks’ home; she is always wandering out." Nancy gave a curt nod to the confused young man before she started back up the aisle, Edna in tow.
"Why do you always have to harsh my buzz?"
"Do you even know what that means?" Nancy tried to control the eye-roll that her mind begged her to perform.
"I was trying to get a date." Edna spurted out, huffing while being nearly dragged up the aisle.
"With college-age boys?"
"Well yeah, who else?"
Nancy stuck a bony finger in Edna’s direction. "You are three times the age of those boys!"
Edna grinned mischievously. "I know! Isn’t it delicious? If you hadn't come and taken me away, I might’ve had a chance with one of them."
Nancy let out a restrained breath. "Do you even know what time it is? Dancing with the Stars starts in twenty minutes and we are still out shopping."
Edna cocked her head to the side, revealing her gray roots. "Don't worry, we have time. Besides, it's being recorded back at my place.”
Nancy felt the vein in her left temple pulse and took a long breath to calm herself. She tried to think of happy things. "If I have to miss it again this week because you can't keep your skirt on, I swear …"
Edna grabbed Nancy in a bear hug. "Nancy, I say this as your younger, very hot friend. You need a man."
Exasperated, Nancy extricated herself from the hug. "We're not having this conversation now. Besides, I thought you were enjoying being a widow. Thelma and Louise, remember? Now let’s go get some wine to celebrate not having the toilet seats left up in our houses."
She headed back around the corner to look for her cart.
Edna snickered and she ran to catch up as Nancy turned down the coffee aisle.
Nancy closed her eyes and pulled in a long, deep breath, holding it in for a three-count before letting it out. She savored the deep aromas of the various coffee blends and the sumptuous flavors begging to be released into the next cup.
"I could move here. Pitch a tent and just live right in this aisle."
Edna bent down and squinted at the bag of pre-ground store-brand coffee. "I could have had my own tent pitched tonight if you would have just let me have a few more minutes," she mumbled.
Nancy couldn’t help her smile, but still tried to cover it up by slapping Edna’s head with the small notepad for her grocery list. "If I’m the one that needs a husband, then what was that cradle-robbing stunt you just pulled? "
Edna scoffed. "I never said you need a husband. I said you need a man. A real one, in your bed, between your legs. It’s been too long since Richard disappeared."
Nancy felt blood rush to her head. She grabbed the nearest box of tea and tried to look like she was studying it with great vigor. She didn’t want to think about her husband just up and disappearing on her a couple days before her fifty-eighth birthday. It was still too soon to worry about a long-term relationship. Even after four years, the police wouldn’t declare him dead, only missing.
“You know it's not easy for a woman my age.”
"And what age is that?" Edna gave Nancy the look again, crossing her chubby arms.
"Oh you can't start with me on that. You're younger than me."
"Only by three years."
Edna had to almost jog to catch up. "I love it when we fight; make-up sex is just so much better.”
Nancy felt her face flush. "You're incorrigible. Children might hear you."
"Psh. Nothing children don't talk about on the playground anyway."
Nancy groaned inwardly while still smiling outwardly. They arrived at the wine aisle. Nancy parked the cart at the end and walked past the white wines, holding her list in her hand.
"Okay, we need a dark red for next weekend, and I prefer something lighter for reading."
Edna reached down for one of the large jug-style gallons of wine on the bottom shelf. "Now isn’t this a good deal?"
Nancy put her hands on her hips. "Edna Maddox, you're just trying to push my buttons, aren't you?”
Edna shrugged sheepishly, reminding Nancy of a naughty, scolded child. "Too on the nose?"
Nancy grinned and nodded her head. She held up her fingers a quarter-inch apart. "Only a little."
"You're right, we're two old ladies. Well, one of us is, anyway.” She winked at her best friend. “And life is too damn short for bad wine. Besides, now that you and I are both officially unemployed, we need to start planning trips." Edna put back the jug of cheap wine.
“Oh no.” Nancy waggled a bony finger at her friend. “I think we need a cooling off period from the last road trip we took. Besides, it wasn’t exactly my choice to take early retirement. It was either that or get laid off. I might still go find myself a new job.”
“Oh, but you can’t! We’ve had so much fun these last couple months.”
She had to admit the time since she’d quit had been fun, but she still worried about paying for bills and ensuring she was setup for retirement. Her husband’s gothic home, long-owned through the family, was certainly a boon, but it was old, creaky, and in need of a lot of maintenance, and that cost money, something Edna didn’t have to worry about.
Edna walked around the aisle and disappeared out of view while Nancy looked across the wide selection of red wines. She loved Cabernet and Shiraz, but lately she had been looking for something … unique.
An odd-looking bottle caught her attention. While most of the bottles had round bases, this one was square, with a deep purple glass. The exterior seemed to be covered in a layer of dust but closer inspection showed it to be frosted stippling. The etched lines cascaded across the bottle, dipping underneath the label and back out the other side. It reminded her of the sea. She pulled it off the shelf, noting it was the only one of its kind. She was surprised by its heft, like the liquid inside was made of more than just fermented grape juice.
Two layers of wax, a deep crimson topped by a milky-translucent white, sealed the top and dripped halfway down the neck. She turned it over in her hands, eyeing the beautiful scrollwork.
"That's some kind of Asian language?" Edna looked over her shoulder then held up two bottles for Nancy's approval. Upon securing the nod, Edna placed them in the cart.
"Chinese maybe?"
The glass felt cool and the dark liqu
id inside called to her, creating a yearning she couldn't describe. She paused and gently turned the bottle on its side to look at the bottom. As some part of her mind expected, there were more of these rune-like characters etched into the bottom of the glass, but no, these were not the same. She couldn't really put her finger on it but they felt … different.
Despite the desire to keep it, Nancy moved to put the bottle back.
“What are you doing?” Edna stood to her side, her hands on her hips.
“I was going to put it …”
Edna grabbed it from Nancy and put it in the cart. The thick liquid inside sloshed with the sudden motion. “How many times do I need to force you to try new things, huh? Get out of your house once in a while. Live a little.”
Nancy smiled halfheartedly as she stood up. Despite their differences, Nancy valued Edna’s friendship. The two had been through a lot.
She felt a bit of a loss as she watched it head down the aisle with Edna pushing the cart.
Edna stopped and turned around, a look of annoyance on her face. “Well, we going or what?”
Nancy turned onto Edna's street. Right outside the entrance to Edna’s posh renovated loft was a large moving van. Two men and a woman were hefting a couch into the front door. The lamplight overhead cast elongated shadows into the street. Why were people moving in this late at night?
“Now how am I supposed to get in?” She glanced down at the time. Three minutes until the show started. They were pushing it as it was, and now the moving van blocked the entrance to the underground parking lot.
“Just pull up in front of the alley. We can move the car after the show.” Edna pointed to the alley a dozen feet ahead of the moving van.
Nancy hesitated for a moment, pondering the legality and the sensibility of leaving in front of an alley before finally going for it, parking and turning off the car.
As soon as her hand left the dangling keys, an overwhelming feeling washed over her, like someone whispering directly into her head. “I need to go down the alleyway.” Her own words surprised her, as they sounded otherworldly, like someone had taken control of her voice for a moment.
Edna looked at her quizzically. “What are you talking about?”
Nancy tried to shake the intrusive feeling that had come and gone. “Sorry … I don’t know, I just had a sudden desire to go down the alleyway.”
Edna narrowed her eyes, leaning forward a bit. “Is this related to your dreams? You refuse to tell me what the woman keeps saying to you every night. Are those still going on because if they are I know someone …”
She trailed off as she looked at Nancy's eyes wide with shock.
A small squeak escaped Nancy's lips.
"What's …"
Something large, orange, and heavy slammed into the passenger door, hurling Edna toward the middle of the car. Nancy’s heart raced. The back of her hand hit the steering wheel. Pain shot up her arm. She tasted blood in her mouth.
The large shape jumped onto the hood of Nancy’s car, cutting off the lamplight streaming in through the windshield.
It was a gigantic cat with large, dark stripes across it’s back. The weight of the massive feline lurched the car downward, stressing the shock absorbers. Streetlights cast oddly beautiful wave-like shadows on the hood of her car. Its tail swished back and forth in graceful but jerky, agitated strokes.
Edna sneezed, then hiccuped.
Nancy gasped. What the hell was a tiger doing in downtown Madison, Wisconsin? Her mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. “Oh, God!” She remembered the headline on the newspaper: the vicious deaths of late. A shudder ran up her spine, but she set her jaw. She wasn’t going to be the next victim.
The large cat looked at both women for a long moment then opened its mouth and bared its teeth before lifting its paw to its mouth to lick.
"Lock your door.” Nancy’s could barely hear her own voice over her thundering heart.
Both women locked their doors. The cat eyed Nancy. Her heart froze. Something deep inside her chest tugged, like a distant memory trying to rise to the surface. You have nothing to worry about. Nancy shuddered again.
The large cat turned away, continuing to groom itself.
Edna craned her head up an inch to look at the cat. "We should call someone."
Nancy nodded, slowly. “Yes, please do.” Her voice was distant, methodical.
"My purse is in the backseat."
"Can you reach it?" Nancy didn't dare take her eyes off the beast.
Edna rooted around with an arm behind her, trying to reach her purse in the backseat while keeping her face forward. "I don't think so. Can you honk?"
Nancy pursed her lips, thinking through her options. Suddenly she came upon an idea. She turned the key a click, grabbed the turn signal, and twisted.
The wipers sprang into action, squeaking along the outside of the windshield. A half second later, the sprayers kicked in, wiper fluid spewing all over the glass.
The cat looked up again and bared its teeth at the women. With a swish of its tail and a squeak of the shocks, it jumped off into the street and bounded through Central Park before disappearing into the night.
Nancy and Edna sat in silence for a while, the elevated breathing between them eventually calming down.
When they dared a glance at each other, Edna was the first one to lose composure. She roared with laughter. Nancy followed immediately after.
They settled down after a minute of nerve-calming hysterics and, after a careful look around the car to ensure the cat was truly gone, dared venture out. Nancy stood watch while Edna reached into the backseat to get at her cell phone. That was when Nancy heard the moan from the alleyway.
Chapter Two
“I think we need an ambulance!”
“What?”
Nancy pointed as she walked past the hood of her car. There on the white hood, pooling in the furrows of the dents and scrapes from the beast’s claw marks, was blood glistening a sickly red in the streetlight. She took a couple steps past the sidewalk and stopped at the entrance to the alley. Her stomach tensed and she reflexively pulled her hand to her middle.
The air hitting her face was warm and musty, like a swamp. Appliances dumped their steamy air into the alley and filled the background with an eerie hum.
There was something else, a presence. Despite the din of the alley, Nancy could feel it, like a tugging on her heart, calling her. She couldn’t ignore it.
“I think I heard something.”
Edna nervously scanned around. “What are you talking about? Did the cat come back?”
Nancy took a hesitant step into the alley. What was she doing? This wasn’t her. The most adventurous thing she did on a Monday night was watch television. Her most wild nights involved an entire bottle of wine and her best friend laughing, or maybe a good book. She couldn’t get the notion that a tiger was loose on the streets of her hometown out of her head. The gruesome deaths in the news suddenly made sense and she wondered why no one had mentioned that it was a loose tiger.
“You’re not going in there.” Edna screeched, her voice raising an octave. “There could be another one of those … things in there!”
“I’ll be fine. Just call 911.” Nancy couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was no anger in the alley. Only pain. Something in her gut told her the tiger was gone, no longer a threat. She needed to find the source of that pain.
“Oh no, if you’re going to get yourself killed, I’m not going to stand here chitchatting on the phone.”
Nancy took another step before Edna’s arm looped in hers, concern wore Edna’s expression and Nancy smiled back grimly. “I’m fine. I just want to look. Morbid curiosity?”
It seemed to satisfy Edna, but Nancy knew it was more than that. There was something waiting for her around the corner. She was being pulled to this. Someone called her into the darkness.
The walls enclosed them as the hum grew louder.
Nancy got to th
e corner and turned.
The alley opened onto a perpendicular street, lined with the back doors of dozens of shops. A white 1962 Chevy Malibu was parked just inside the alley. Nancy recognized the car as one her father had lusted over when she was a teenager. Lamplight streamed in the other side, illuminating the car and the grisly scene before it.
A body lay crumpled against the driver’s side of the car, slumped over at an acute angle on the ground. Dark red splotches marred the white paint job of the old sedan. Nancy had the foreboding feeling that more blood lay on the ground, disguised in the muck and shadows.
Edna let out an audible gasp. Nancy’s stomach lurched, spewing a little bit of bile into her throat. She swallowed it down, along with a disgustingly sweet copper taste in her mouth. She wanted to turn and run, but she felt compelled to investigate. She shuddered, thinking about her dreams since Richard had left. There were too many similarities. She shoved the thoughts out of her head.
“Hurry Edna.”
Edna nodded, eyes wide at the scene before them. “I’ll wait for them at the street.”
Edna dialed while Nancy turned back to the scene. Again, she wondered what she was doing. Why was she the one investigating when Edna was the adventurous one? She fought to keep the growing sense of loneliness at bay. She was exposed, and every shadow seemed to conceal a threat.
Something rustled to the side of her. Nancy jumped, startling herself with how on edge she was.
A tiny kitten mewed at her as it took a step out of the shadow. Its fur was matted and dirty, obscuring the white and black spots. It was barely taller than her ankle, and seemed too emaciated to be able to stand. It paused and shook something off its paw.
“Dear heavens!” Nancy clutched her chest with her hand, feeling the thumping of her heart. “You scared me to death. What are you doing here, little one?”
Nancy bent down to touch the cat but stopped before getting too close. Its little tail shook as it mewed again.
“I can’t do anything for you right now. You’ll have to wait.”
Nancy took a few more steps toward the woman. The kitten followed behind her.