by Helen Phifer
‘I’ve never thought of it like that.’
‘But you like the library and that’s probably full of more tourists than New Yorkers.’
‘Yes, it’s stunning. I had no idea.’
She turned so he couldn’t see the smile on her face and went to order. The woman behind the small kiosk greeted Maria with the same amount of cheer that the security guard had shown her. She returned with two large coffees and placed one in front of him.
‘I took a guess and got you an Americano.’
She couldn’t stop the laughter which erupted from her mouth. ‘Sorry, it’s not funny.’
He began to laugh. ‘So what were you coming here for?’
‘I need to do some research on a property.’
‘Can’t you do that at work? Surely you have all sorts of information on the computers.’
‘Not this type of research. I actually come here because I have a thing for libraries; I find them soothing, relaxing and I love reading. I spent hours in here as a kid, it was warm and safer than being outside on the streets. What is this anyway? All we’ve done is talk about me. Are you a stalker?’
‘No, I’m not, I’m just not used to not getting what I want. I guess you could say I’m a bit of a spoilt brat.’
‘And what is it that you want, Mr Williams?’
He took a sip of his coffee, then looked her in the eye. ‘You Maria, only I wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult.’
She shrugged. ‘Are you saying that you thought I’d throw myself at you because you’re the big “I Am”?’
He squirmed and she realized that was exactly what he’d thought.
‘Well, now you know that I’m not that kind of girl, to be honest I never have been. Your money doesn’t interest me. I’ve dealt with millionaires who have battered their wives and lovers to within an inch of their lives. I don’t care if you’re homeless or on the Forbes Rich list, if you treat me with respect I’ll be respectful back. You need to know that you can’t buy me, I’m not for sale. If I like someone I’ll be their friend, that’s it.’
He stared at her completely in awe. ‘So if I offered you a chauffeur driven car and a penthouse apartment in The Waldorf when the renovations are done you’d turn it down?’
She nodded. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’d be crazy not to be tempted. Hell, The Waldorf is my favorite of all the hotels and it broke my heart that they’ve shut it down. But it would be a no.’
He grinned at her. ‘So if I wanted to take you out for a date where would we go?’
‘That would be telling, you’d have to work it out for yourself.’
‘So, can I take you out on a date?’
‘Why? I’m not in your league, I never will be. There must be a queue of society girls lined up to be the next Mrs Williams.’
It was his turn to laugh. ‘Yep, there probably is. I’m not after a Mrs Williams though, I want a woman I can take on dates, have fun with, and enjoy my life with. I just want to have someone to talk to if I’ve had a shitty day without worrying they’ll sell my story to the New York Times.’
‘I can understand that, I suppose being rich can be a right pain in the ass at times.’
‘More than you know. So what do you say, Maria, if I can come up with a date you’ll enjoy, will you accompany me?’
‘If it’s not something horrific. Don’t bother flying me to the opera in San Francisco, I hate opera. Then yes, I suppose I would.’
He looked at her blankly.
‘Pretty Woman. You never seen it?’
He shook his head and she laughed. ‘Forget it, just a joke.’
He finished his coffee and stood up. ‘I have to go, I’m already late for an appointment. May I have your number so I can call you with the details?’
She pulled a notepad and pen from her purse, ripping a sheet of paper out she wrote it down and passed it to him. ‘Nothing too fancy, I don’t like fancy food.’
‘Leave it with me, I like a challenge. Take care, Maria, and thanks for the coffee.’
‘You’re welcome.’
He turned and walked towards the exit. A glimmer of excitement tingled as the butterflies in her stomach got the better of her. It would be nice to have a no-strings-attached relationship, she could go with that. It would do her good to have a bit of fun after work, someone to talk to without having to marry them and be stuck with them for the rest of her life. Frankie would no doubt disagree, but he had his own shitty marriage to sort out. She couldn’t wait forever for him to decide to divorce Christy, although after last night it looked as if the cracks were getting too much for him. She loved him, but it would be too much effort juggling work and a relationship for them both. One of them would have to move departments and it wouldn’t be her. For now, she would let Harrison Williams take her out for some fun and see where it went from there.
Chapter Twenty
Maria ran her finger along the lines of the antique book – a history of Greenwich Village in the 1950s. There was a chapter about the house and the murder, which she read, horrified. The wealthy family who owned it had lived a nice, happy life until the day it all turned upside down. Max was right, the newspaper articles and the book confirmed that the murders were very similar. So either they had a geriatric serial killer or a copycat, but how would anyone know about the murder in the fifties? Unless they were a bit of a history buff or had been told about it by a relative. The feeling of being watched settled across her and she lifted her head to see if anyone was blatantly staring at her. The room was relatively empty, which was a first for her. There were a couple of students at the far end both working on laptops with headphones pushed into their ears. An older woman was sat a few rows in front of her, but none of them were looking in her direction. Maria turned to take in the magnificent room and see if there was anyone else trying to hide, but there wasn’t. A shiver made her entire body shake and she felt a coldness envelop her from behind as if some invisible person was giving her an icy embrace. Slamming the book shut she pushed her chair back, scraping it along the tiled floor, the sound filling the air. She jumped up. Her chest felt as if there was a pair of huge arms pressing against it, suffocating her. For a moment she wondered if she was about to have a heart attack and die. It was hard to breathe, the cold band was pressing so hard against her lungs, squeezing her tight. She did the only thing she could think of and began to pray, if she was going to die on her own, here, she wanted God to acknowledge it. She hadn’t been to church for years, even so he wouldn’t abandon her, would he?
Finally, the woman in front of her turned around to stare at Maria with the blackest eyes she’d ever seen. Their eyes locked, with Maria unable to speak, pleading with God to help her while the woman stared straight back at her as if she was looking into the depths of her soul. The shrill ringing of her cell phone snapped Maria’s attention away, and she felt a surge of relief as she gasped and took in a huge mouthful of air. Her oxygen-deprived lungs were on fire. Grabbing her purse she pulled out her cell and began to walk towards the exit. She had to get out of here, away from the suffocating atmosphere and the woman with the black eyes. Shaking, Maria reached the stairs and ran down them, the entrance to the library was full and she pushed her way to the exit. Abe was nowhere to be seen, not that she’d tell him what had just happened because she didn’t know herself. She was either having some kind of medical episode or she had experienced her second strange encounter in as many days. She felt the warmth of the winter sun on her face and she stood to one side for a moment, taking in deep breaths of air. Her chest felt sore, the pressure on it had been so great. Maria decided it might be time to pay a visit to church; it wouldn’t hurt to catch the early evening mass at St Joseph’s. The feeling of being watched wasn’t as intense out in the fresh air, if you could call the traffic fumes that. But she couldn’t shake it off and she didn’t like it. She began the walk back down 5th to head back to her apartment, feeling again that knot of fear in her heart that she had inadvertently stumbled up
on something that she didn’t understand, nor did she want to. Supernatural, paranormal, psychic, whatever you wanted to call it, she had never been remotely interested in anything of the sort. Yet how else did you explain what had happened to her? It was crazy and she would be the first to laugh and twirl her finger at the side of her head if Frankie began to tell her this kind of crap. Maybe she was ill. She could have some disease that was fucking with her mind. Before she even considered telling Frankie, she was going to go for a medical. She’d been due one two months ago and cancelled. Maria called the doctor’s office to make an appointment.
He’d slept in his van the last two nights because it was too overwhelming inside the apartment. The nightmares were too much and whenever he was in there he felt as if every ounce of his energy was being drained, which it was. He had no doubt about it. The creature – he wasn’t going to call it by his real name because he wasn’t strong enough to deal with the consequences – was like some energy-draining power source; thriving off his energy; a vampire.
The board was tucked under the front seat, the planchette in his backpack. It was too dangerous but, when he was away from the apartment, he could think much clearer. He was messing around with powerful forces that he had no real concept of, yet he couldn’t stop, as much as he wanted to. It was like some addictive drug. When he wasn’t in the apartment he had more moments of clarity. The time he spent inside it was unaccounted for, he had no recollection of the last day he’d spent in there and this scared him almost as much as the thought of some beast from the depths of hell breathing down his neck and watching him in the dead of night. He lay there in his sleeping bag in the back of the van, sandwiched between his worldly belongings and wondered if he should forget it all. Burn the board and planchette; forget about the house, the creature, the power, the evil, and drive out of the city. He could head towards Coney Island, find somewhere there to park up. He’d always loved the amusement park, the boardwalk and the beach. Then he remembered it was winter, the park would be closed and it wasn’t exactly camp on the beach kind of weather. The voice whispered inside his head, ‘You won’t have to run ever again. Whatever you want will be yours.’ He nodded. How had it found him? It wouldn’t matter where he went, it would follow him. He had no choice but to do as it wished and set it free. He hadn’t realized he’d been chewing his nails until he felt the sharp pain of tearing skin. He looked down at the ragged piece of nail and skin, a thin line of blood running down his finger. It was stinging, he shook it. Not sure what he was going to do next he saw a woman on the sidewalk, laughing at someone on the other end of her cell. He recognized her as the cop who’d been going into the house as he’d been coming out. Afraid to move in case he caught her attention, he watched her. She was pretty but looked as if she wouldn’t take any crap. For the first time in forever he felt a stirring in his loins. She was his type. It was a shame he wouldn’t be hers. He hadn’t thought about women and sex since he could remember. His head was always full of blackness, there wasn’t much room inside it for the normal kind of thoughts men his age had. The voice whispered inside his mind. ‘She will be yours, to do as you please.’ He liked the thought of that. He could take her to the apartment and show her a good time. He got out of the van and began following her, keeping a distance. He needed to know where she lived, it couldn’t be too far away from here. As she cut through Washington Square Park and exited onto Thompson Street, he hung back a little. If she was as good a cop as he thought she might realize he was following her. She stopped at the corner of Sullivan Street and headed up towards Miss Lilly’s, his stomach was groaning. He never felt like eating in the apartment, but out on the street he’d worked up an appetite. Checking that no one was watching him, he began to stroll up to the bakery. He wanted a fresh bagel and coffee, so he could sit and watch from there. He had a feeling she was close to home, and by the time he reached the doorway of the busy shop she was coming back out. He put his head down and waited for her to pass, then went inside. Watching her through the windows she walked across the street to a rundown apartment block. He was a little surprised if this was where she lived as he’d pictured in a nice apartment over on Hudson. Pulling a crumpled five dollar bill from his pocket he paid for his bagel and coffee then sat on the bench by the window which looked onto the apartment block. His mind was working overtime. Was she visiting or was she working? If she was visiting she’d have had two coffees, yet she only had the one. Maybe she did live here after all, which made it a whole lot easier for him. He scanned the building but could see no security cameras. Not sure about the rest of the street, he’d have to check it out when he left. Miss Lilly’s had just become his new place to hang out, and although he didn’t have much money to waste, it was cheap enough. He had no rent to pay, so he could linger with a coffee and look like a struggling student. The area was full of them, the New York University was only a short distance. He unwrapped the foil from his bagel and began to take small bites, an expert at making his food last. As long as he was eating and drinking they couldn’t ask him to leave. He turned his head, it was busy anyway. Lunchtime rush, no-one was paying him the slightest bit of attention.
Chapter Twenty-One
June 1952
‘Em! Em? Can you hear me?’ Mae turned around to the kid. ‘Don’t just stand there, Bill, go get help. What’s wrong with her?’
He shrugged, unable to take his eyes off the pretty lady who was now lying flat out on the chaise lounge. Mae pushed him. ‘Go, now.’
She turned back to her friend whose face was now the color of alabaster. Mae bent down to listen and see if she was breathing. She was. She then started gently prodding her to get a reaction but there was nothing – she was like sleeping beauty. Breathing, but unconscious. There were tiny beads of perspiration on Emilia’s forehead. Billy barged through the door making Mae jump. He had Beatrice the wardrobe mistress in tow. She took one look at the girl on the chair and shook her head.
‘She’s passed out. Has she been drinking?’
Mae looked at her. ‘I don’t know, I don’t think so. She doesn’t smell of booze.’
Beatrice went to the tiny sink in the corner of the room and filled up the small glass that was balanced on the shelf above it. Walking back to the chair she threw it over Emilia’s face. Mae gasped. ‘I can’t believe you did that.’
Beatrice shrugged and pointed at the casualty whose eyelids were now flickering. ‘It worked didn’t it. Sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind, kid.’
Mae grabbed a dry washcloth and began to pat Em’s wet face. Her eyes opened wide and she stared at Mae confused.
‘Where am I? What happened?’
Beatrice spoke first. ‘You passed out, kid, have you been drinking?’
Emilia shook her head, then gulped. ‘No, I haven’t. I feel terrible.’
‘Well then, you need to start eating more, skinny is not worth dying for. What if you passed out in front of a bus? Bang, end of story. Look after yourself eh?’ With that the older woman turned and walked out leaving them all looking at each other. Emilia pushed herself so she was sitting upright.
‘I’m sorry, Mae, I only wanted to tell you how wonderful you were.’
Mae laughed. ‘Jeez, you gave me the fright of my life. Look, my hands are shaking.’ She held up her hands which were trembling. ‘Can you stand? I think we should get you home.’
Emilia tried to stand, her legs were as shaky as Mae’s hands. Mae grabbed one arm and shouted to Billy. ‘Grab her other arm, we’ll walk her out and get a cab.’ He did as he was told, gently taking hold of her between them, they marched Emilia out of the backstage entrance. Billy ran to the front and hailed a cab, then ran back and helped Mae walk her to it. Emilia let them help her, she felt so strange she had no idea what was wrong with her. Mae ran around to get in the other side and she pushed the window down. ‘Thank you, Billy.’
He nodded a small smile on his lips. ‘I hope you feel better soon, Miss.’ Then he turned and raced back to the th
eatre. The cab driver was watching them in the rear view mirror.
‘Where to, ladies?’
Mae leant forward. ‘West 10th Street, please.’
Emilia placed her head back against the cool leather of the seat, even though it was warm in the cab she was icy cold. Her head felt as if it was all a mess inside; she wanted to go to bed, to curl up in a ball and sleep. She watched as the busy streets passed by in a blur. Mae was chattering away, but she couldn’t concentrate, the words didn’t make sense. As the cab turned into the street Emilia felt her heart begin to race. Something was wrong and she didn’t know what. Mae pointed to the house and the cab pulled over. Mae paid the driver and got out, running around to Emilia’s side she threw open the door and leant in to grab her arm.
‘I’m okay, I think. You can leave me now. Thank you.’
Mae shook her head. ‘No, you’re not. You look dreadful and you can’t stand on your own two feet without swaying. Clarke wouldn’t forgive me if I left you on your own. Hell, you might not even make it down the steps and through the front door.’
They walked arm in arm to the sidewalk and down the steps. Before she could ring the doorbell the front door was opened to a worried looking Missy. ‘What’s the matter, Miss Emilia?’
‘I feel a little funny, I just need to lay down for a while.’
‘Should I call the doctor?’
Mae said. ‘Yes.’ At the same time Emilia said. ‘No.’
Missy looked at Emilia. ‘No, thank you. I’ll see how I am after I’ve had some sleep.’ She turned to Mae. ‘Thanks, Mae, I’m fine now.’
‘If you’re sure.’
Missy nodded. ‘She’s sure. I’ll help her up to bed.’
‘Is Clarke home?’
‘He went to a dinner a few hours ago and hasn’t returned. Do you want to wait for him in the library? He’ll be back anytime.’
