Mistwalker (2 page)

There was nothing she could do about it now. She was only here for one thing, and it was about time she remembered that. It would take longer to walk back to her rented car at the parking lot on the hill than to go straight to the pub and meet her informant, Marcus. She wouldn’t get there on time anyway. Finding the truth about her mother’s death was more important than waiting in line for a taxi.

“I’ll have to walk it. I shouldn’t be long,” Simone said. “Where do you want meet up later?”

Tammy’s blue eyes searched hers. “You’ve got that look in your eye. Last time I saw it you put Rick Peterson in hospital.” Her brow creased. “What happened here, Simone? Why wouldn’t you be
fine?”

“It’s okay, forget about it.” Simone sighed. “Have you got enough cash to get to the unit?” She pushed her hair out of her face. “How about I—”

“No—” Tammy placed her hand on Simone’s arm.

Simone reached into her bag for some notes. “Or maybe go to the fireworks and pick up a guy?” She laughed.

Tammy waved away the money, a sudden stillness on her face. “I didn’t mean that. I meant, no, I’m not forgetting about it, and no, I’m not leaving you by yourself here.”

“I can’t guarantee y
ou’ll be safe.” Simone looked into her friend’s eyes. “We agreed you’d stay with the crowd.”

Tammy snorted, chuckled a bit, and her eyebrows quirked. In the moonlight, she looked slightly insane with her grey makeup and black costume. “You mean how you insisted?” She smiled. “Yeah, I didn’t agree with that. And you don’t need to guarantee my safety. If this town is as bad as you’re making out, then you’re going to need
my
help. I know you’re kick-ass and all that with your martial arts training, but I’m not stupid. That’s why I’m here, as back up.”

“No,” Simone insisted, emphatically. “Why don’t you—”

“I’ll be all right. I’m coming with,” Tammy said, lowering her voice to that of a confidant. “Stop talking and start walking or you’re going to be late.”

But Simone couldn’t do it. “I’d rather be late than have something happen to you,” she muttered. “You have no idea what this place is like.”

“I would have seen worse, trust me,” Tammy murmured. “I’ll be
fine
. Nothing’s going to go down tonight.”

Simone sighed and grew quiet as she thought about it. She taught others how to defend themselves every day. Maybe she was being too paranoid?
“All right. At least we’ll be together, I guess. But if I say ‘run,’ then you run your ass off. No stopping.”

“No stopping,” Tammy promised with a cheeky grin.

Simone sucked in a breath, blinked away the tears gathering in her eyes and then nodded. She led the way against the flood of people, ignoring wolf whistles and catcalls from men too drunk to follow through on their boasts.

Five minutes elapsed before the passers-by dwindled to a few
stragglers, and a couple of full taxis sped past, disturbing the cold moisture on the street.

Their stiletto boots click-clacked loudly on the paver stone, and the noise echoed off all the huddled curio shops. Their box window eyes stared across at each other in the narrow street, looking tiny compared to the buildings Simone remembered from her childhood.

The street wound around higher, and she turned to study the abbey. Watching and waiting, the imposing stone monument had an eagle eye’s view of the tangled streets below. The cemetery spread before the ruins, headstones like shadowed flags of the dead.

Simone hugged her arms and kept moving.

Tammy stopped to gawk through the tourist shop windows. “I should’ve brought more credit cards with me. This stuff is incredible.” Her warm breath misted up the display window which showcased bones spread over a black table. Glasses of red wine glistened in the orange candlelight, empty chairs askew as if the proprietors would pop back within seconds.

If incredible meant strange and eerie, then Simone agreed wholeheartedly.

Tammy pressed a finger to the glass and sketched a love heart in the mist. “Gotta take a souvenir home for ma and pa.” She turned, sporting a sly grin. “A full length skeleton as a husband. Just think, don’t have to feed him, talk to him, iron his damn clothes…bloody perfection. Sign me up, gorgeous,” she whispered to the dangling skeleton in the corner of the display. “He’d always have a boner.”

Simone laughed, and a cold wind trickled across her neck. She shivered, smelling the damp that signalled oncoming rain. “Let’s hurry. I want to get a good spot on the beach before the fireworks kick off.”

“We’ve got no hope. The beach will be packed. Doesn’t bother me though as long as there are guys cruising around.” Tammy’s gaze locked on Simone’s. “I’m bringing someone home tonight.”

“As long as we get home…and I get the information I need, you can do whatever you like. Or should that be, whoever you like.” Simone laughed again and brushed the strands of red hair from her eyes. “But, let’s run to this pub. We’ll get there faster. We’re a little late.”

Tammy forehead wrinkled, and her eyes narrowed.
“Let’s what
?”

“Run.”

“You’re outta your mind,” Tammy breathed. She kicked out a six-inch spiked boot from beneath the train of her corpse bridal costume and pointed for emphasis. “See these heels? If I run
anywhere
in them, I’ll break both my bloody ankles and my neck. No thanks.”

“Are they hurting your feet? Take them off.”

“Uh-uh. I don’t know what could be on the ground.”

“Stone.”

Her friend huffed and walked on with smaller steps. “Don’t panic. You’re going to make it.”

“Well, I think we need to get—”

A shadowy silhouette slipped from the cloak of darkness between the buildings, then melted into the night. It happened so fast, Simone blinked, unsure if she’d seen correctly. Usually, there wasn’t much she missed.

“Tammy.
Stop.”

The wind grabbed the sound of a muted shout of triumph, twisting it higher, until a different cry, one so pain-filled that Simone flinched,
then tapered off into a tortured moan.

A sliver of white burst from her mouth, and she grabbed Tammy’s arm. “I want you to turn back now. Don’t worry about me.”

Muscles rippled and jumped in Tammy’s arm. Simone lifted her fingers, confused. “What’s up with your arm?”

Tammy frowned and pulled back.
“Nothing. Someone’s up ahead. We must be on the right track. Damn, you’re skittish. I got your back. I told you, I’m not leaving you alone.” Tammy didn’t bother leaning closer or lowering her voice. “Maybe it’s people walking back from that pub you’re after. They’ve gotten into a fight. I heard broken glass.”

“Did you? I didn’t. Be careful. Follow me,” Simone said. “We’re going back.” She turned around for the centre of town, and the darkness opened up in a yawning pit. Why wouldn’t her feet move? If they headed back to town, they would be safe, but she wouldn’t get the information on her mother that she needed to fill in the gaps of her memory. What had happened that dreadful night twenty years ago?

Who killed her? Yet if they continued, another terrifying scene could come to pass—one Simone had barely lived through and never truly escaped.

The vacant pavement on both sides of the narrow street hemmed them in with the fading glow from a few cracked streetlights. Cold, wet sea mist surged down the empty street. “We have to go back,” she whispered, more to herself. “Maybe I can meet him another time.”

Tammy nudged her against their secluded spot. “What in another ten years? Don’t worry; it’s probably some trigger happy idiot playing peek-a-boo in a ratty trench coat. Keep going or we’re not going to make it.”

“I can’t take you there. Something’s wrong.” 

Tammy growled, “Yes, you can, and you will. So there was a bit of shouting. It doesn’t matter.”

Simone sighed, unmoving. “I don’t know.”

“I mean it, Simone. You’ve been waiting ages for this chance.”

She sighed. “Can’t remember the last time you did as I bloody told you.” Simone shot Tammy a wry look and shook her head.
“Should’ve known you’d be stubborn as all hell. Stay behind me.”

Tammy laughed.
“Yee-hah.” But her clutch strap broke, and the bag struck the sidewalk, filling the gutter with lipsticks and coins. “Dammit. Wait up, hon. My ID’s on the ground. Damn cheap costume gear.”

“Are you all right? Here.” Simone stopped and scooped up some coins, but a gust of wind pushed her back before she could grab more. The shop signs creaked and clanged furiously on their hooks, and the gust chilled the sweat on her face and hands. The air smelt intensely of rain at first, and then it became dark and cold.

Too dark.

Baffled, she looked up.

The fog coalesced. Solidified. Shoulders formed, solid arms appeared from nothing, and a man’s crisp, white shirt fluttered in the breeze.

The streetlight slashed yellow rays across his face. The light was pure gold, angelic. And all at once, he was there.

Simone blinked once, twice, her fingers numbed, and she heard the
ting, flutter,
and
roll
of coins hitting the ground. The taste of old pennies filled her mouth. An insistent, buzzing voice in her head screamed at her to get up, step back, but her knees stiffened, her palms hot and damp.

The wind outlined grey tailored pants that moulded powerful legs. She looked up…and up…to a massive chest and broad shoulders.
His face. Oh, dear Lord, his face. He tilted his head, and two silver eyes pierced the half-light.

Stunned, images of the stained-glass windows at the church filled her mind. Pictures of winged creatures descending the heavens to pounce on sinners and take them to the fiery depths of hell, but instead of horns and black wings, he wore a three piece suit and a wicked grin.

Chapter
Two

She should be running.
Run, run.
But…but he’d appeared
. Out of nowhere.
She couldn’t run from that. The flesh twisted above her elbow. “Ow! What?” she snapped, and rubbed at the stinging spot on her arm.

“Pay attention,” her friend whispered. “Tell me you saw him appear from thin air. I’m not imagining that.”

They’d been drugged. No other explanation. A costume didn’t give you the ability to materialise, especially not blood-spattered pants, a white dress shirt, and an expensive coat.
Wait.
Her focus sharpened and lowered.

Her stomach dropped
in an icy rush.
Blood spattered dress pants?
Yes, tiny dark dots of an unmistakable colour flicked all over his dark grey pants. The empty shops and huddled apartments stood as the only sentry to their imminent attack. They had the numbers—two against one—yet Simone could tell by his build, his very presence, that she’d need every bit of her training to be the victor in a fight.

Steely resolve flowed through her system, pushing out the fear. Her heart pounded, but she adjusted into stance. Rarely was she without a weapon, but thankfully, she didn’t need one to survive.

He glided forward silently on the pavement, hovering a clear inch above the ground. His black polished shoes glinted in the light until he was a foot away from her.

“Wha…?” Simone gaped.

“Oh shit. Shit!” Tammy said. “Couldn’t figure it out. Damn. Don’t bother running.”

Simone turned slightly to her. “What’s—”

Tammy muttered, “Do whatever you can to survive—”

“Look into my eyes.
Heed
what I say.”

His voice, oh, it embodied smooth and luxurious. The vibration harnessed some kind of unknown tremor; it filled the crevices of shadows, empty streets, alleyways, echoing in Simone’s heart. A voice like that could cloak the sun and make a person believe it was night.

She backed up, her jaw working.

Another dark figure loped across the street toward them, but his progress was slow and determined. He moaned a sound she’d heard long ago. A certain pitch that she thought was hunger.

Instantly, a horrible sense of déjà vu overtook her. Butterflies disintegrated to ash inside her stomach. It was happening again; right here in Whitby where she’d once lost everything.

“Tammy, go! Don’t wait for me,” Simone said, determination burning in her heart. “I’ll handle this. Go.”

The heat of Tammy’s body remained still, positioned steadfastly behind Simone’s.

She spun around. “
Go
.” She waved a frantic hand in front of Tammy’s face, and then gave her a frantic push in the opposite direction.

“You must hear me.
Look
. Heed me.” The man who stopped them loosened the knot of his tie, and then he stepped to the side. He slid one hand behind Simone’s vampire mask and tossed it to the pavement.

He stiffened before her body could form a reaction.

His glowing gaze widened and stared straight into hers, his lush mouth parted in complete shock. “It is you.”