“Is anyone there?” she asked, putting on her shoes and edging her way around the bench that stood between her and the path back to safety. “I know you’re there, so come out where I can see you?” she said, stalling for time. “We can sit down and….” She was off like a rabbit, .but, sadly, a rabbit in stiletto heels was not as fast as she would have liked. The rustles grew louder as, keeping to the shadows, someone gave chase. He was gaining on her easily. He could take the shorter route through the trees, while she was forced to follow the path. Suddenly, it occurred to her to scream. Screaming like a banshee straight from hell, she rounded a corner and ran into a very solid male form. Adrian.
He drew her into his arms. “What’s wrong, darling? You haven’t seen that thing from the séance who, we were assured, never left the house?”
“No, someone is back there. He chased me! Please get me out of here,” she panted, as her entire body began to shake.
By then, Charlie, Meg and Freddie were headed their way. Charlie reached them first and pulled Rayne into her arms, “For God’s sake, Rayne, are you all right? Has something happened? Adrian…has he hurt you?”
Rayne shook her head against Charlie’s shoulder and began to cry. Meg wrapped her arms around both her sisters and Freddie began to howl in distress. Rayne looked at them, then said, “There was someone down by the lake. He chased me and I took off running. I was almost here, before I remembered to scream. Isn’t that silly of me? Then I ran into Adrian and he brought me here. Oh, look! I ruined my Pradas!”
“Take her into the kitchen, Adrian. There’s brandy in the cupboard over the sink. I’m going to take a look around. Meg, take Freddie inside and stay with the others. I’ll be right back,” Charlie told them, as she drew her 38 revolver from the waistband of her jeans.
Charlie started down the path towards the lake. “All right you son-of-a-bitch, come out where I can see you!” she called. It was quiet…too quiet. It seemed as though the night was holding its breath, then, suddenly, Charlie heard a footstep behind her.
Whirling she trained her gun on the approaching figure. “Don’t shoot! It’s just me,” Meg called. “I brought you a flashlight. Of course you wouldn’t need something as mundane as that, but just in case.”
“Get back in the house, you idiot! I almost killed you,” Charlie hissed.
“I’m here and I’m staying here. Did you see anything?”
“No, just stay close and shut up. I’m still furious with you!”
They followed the path to the edge of the lake. A fish jumped and the rings rippled out in the moonlight. Meg flipped on the flashlight and looked around. “Rayne has as much imagination, as any of us, so she might have spooked herself.”
“Maybe someone did give chase. We’ll check in the morning. It's too dark to see much now and whoever was here is gone by now. We have enough problems with what we know is in the house to have some fiend or pervert out here, too.”
“Isn’t that being redundant? Anyway, I might as well tell you, since we’re talking ‘perverts’ that I received another dozen roses. This time the card read: You are my heart. I threw them out before you could see them,” Meg confided.
Charlie smiled and tugged at Meg’s mop of tangled hair. She must have been fast asleep, when Rayne screamed. “I know you did that with all the best intentions, so I’ll let it pass this once. As soon as this Open House thing is over, I’m sending Rayne packing. I’d do the same with you if you’d let me.”
Meg smiled and linked her arm with Charlie’s. “I live here, remember? I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Charlie sighed tiredly. “Oh, Meg. I have a feeling I couldn’t stop you no matter how hard I tried.”
“Only if you shoot me. And you already blew your chance. Let’s go get a shot of brandy and see if Rayne’s over her hysterics yet.”
It took a while to persuade Adrian to leave, after which the sisters grabbed the brandy bottle and headed upstairs, where they all piled onto Charlie’s bed, since none of them wanted to be alone. Finishing off the brandy, they settled in as well as three…no four counting Freddie…could in a double bed. Needless to say, none of them slept well.
The next morning, Meg and Charlie left a sleeping Rayne, dressed, and headed downstairs. Annie was already busy in the kitchen and seemed unaware of last night’s commotion. She called to them, as they left through the back door, “Don’t be a goin’ too far. Breakfast is in two shakes.”
With Freddie running on ahead, seduced every now and then by some tantalizing scent, they retraced their path from the night before. When they reached the stone bench at the edge of the lake, Charlie said, “You take that side and I’ll take this one. You know what we’re looking for. Freshly broken twigs, or branches…overturned leaves…and, if we’re really lucky, footprints.”
Both sisters combed the undergrowth on either side of the path and it didn’t take long for Meg to discover what they were looking for. “Someone’s been through here, Charlie,” she called. “Too many leaves and pine needles for footprints, but you can see where someone’s shoe turned them over.”
In seconds, Charlie joined her and examined her find. “Let’s see if we can follow them. You don’t suppose Freddie has any tracker dog in him, do you?”
They watched him bounding, joyfully, after a squirrel. “He’s a veritable blood hound when it comes to….”Meg replied ruefully.
“Cats and squirrels. I know.” Charlie supplied with a shake of her head.
They followed the trail until it came to an end. “This is about where Rayne said she ran into Adrian. Coincidence?” Meg asked.
“Pooh! You don’t believe in those any more than I do. And Adrian likes to hunt, remember?” Charlie replied with a grim smile.
“Only too well. So much for all this just being a figment of another raving Ravynne! How many perverts can one family attract?”
Charlie gave her a pointed stare and said, "I'm not sure it's safe to even ask that question!"
***
The flurry of preparations was finally over and the Open House went off as planned. The house tour itself was scheduled when there was still plenty of daylight for obvious reasons. But most of the festivities were planned for later in the evening outside on the grounds. A dance floor had been set up on the lawn. Japanese lanterns were strung around its perimeter and dangled from the trees. The weather did its part. By the time night had fallen, it had cooled deliciously and the moon added its own touch to a romantic setting.
Meg was fluttering about in a red kimono style dress, she felt made her look taller for some reason her sisters could not fathom, but didn’t tell her so. Rayne was exquisite in a simple black dress that managed to show everything to advantage. She was the poised and elegant hostess, clinging to Adrian’s arm. “You’d think they own this place,” Meg whispered to Charlie.
“He paid for most of this so I don’t mind a bit. Seems our little sister gave his conscience a little tweak. He was feeling guilty about leaving her to ‘almost certain death’ down by the lake,” Charlie replied wryly.
Murmuring her thanks, Meg snatched a glass of champagne from one of the local girls hired to help serve. Everything was catered, since Annie had meant what she said about being in the house after dark. She studied Charlie over the rim of her glass. She was wearing a halter neck midnight blue dress that flowed like water over every curve. Her silver blonde hair was drawn back in a thick coil, emphasizing her long neck. She was breathtaking and totally unaware of it. “I see the band starting to tune up. I’m going to hide from a very persistent somebody whose name I don’t remember. Come find me if Moe turns up.”
Meg melted into the crowd and the band began to play. Charlie found herself moving slightly to the music, as couples began to drift onto the floor. “Is your dance card filled or do you have room for one more?” a familiar voice teased from behind her back.
She smiled despite herself, as Zack spun her around and let his eyes drift over her slowly. “You are
beautiful. You are always beautiful,” he murmured, “Come. Dance with me. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at it.”
She let him lead her onto the floor. She could have stopped him, maybe even should have stopped him, but she didn’t want to. It was as simple as that. Maybe it was the magic of the night; maybe it was his beguiling eyes…his smile. A smile that teased at her memory.
He pulled her into his arms. “Penny for?” he asked.
His closeness was doing all kinds of things to her body that she struggled to ignore. “With inflation, they should be worth way more than that! You’ve been gone for several days?”
“Miss me?”
“As much as you missed me!” she said dryly.
“Really. That much? I did some checking on my competition…Adrian.”
Surprised, she looked up into his dark eyes. “Competition for what?” she asked.
“So soon you forget,” he scoffed. “For the role of Devon, what else? Adrian Adams isn’t his real name, in fact, he has more layers to his identity than an onion, but I don’t think he’s Devon. He does have his fingers in a lot of unsavory pies, though, not to mention where he’s had the rest of his anatomy. Your sister would be wise to hunt elsewhere.”
“My sister doesn’t need to hunt anybody. In fact, while you were off doing whatever it was you were doing, someone apparently hunted her. Chased her up from the lake one night.”
“Was she hurt?” he asked sharply.
“No, quite terrified, but unhurt. She ran into Adrian in the nick of time.”
“I see. Adrian was there. There’s something I should tell you, in case you haven’t noticed, Rayne looks a lot like Breanna. Same dark hair…same gray eyes.
Charlie was stunned. Why hadn’t she seen that before and Meg had been telling her Breanna looked familiar! She felt like all kinds of an idiot!
“And there’s something more. Have you seen the photos of the girls who were murdered?”
“Just on the Internet and the photos…”.also looked like Breanna, she suddenly realized. Where was her brain? She should have seen the likeness immediately, not have to have it pointed out by the very man she didn’t want pointing out anything.
He didn’t have to see her face to know what she was thinking. He could feel her emotions ripple through her body, as he drew her closer still. “Do you still think I’m Devon? It could have been his ghost that Breanna saw at Meg’s séance,” he asked his breath warm on her cheek.
She could smell his scent…feel the heat from his body…feel her own unwilling arousal and she hated herself for feeling any of it. She never wanted to feel anything ever again and yet? “I haven’t ruled it out,” she found herself saying, “otherwise, since you don't think it's Adrian, that only leaves you! Now it appears our dance is over and the rest of my ‘card’ is filled.”
He held her at arm’s length. His eyes were heavy lidded with a potent sensuality that set her pulse racing even faster than before. “Some day you’ll wish you had been a little kinder to me, Charlie. You might need a friend before all this is over.” And with that he strolled into the crowd and vanished.
Meg sidled up and looked at her sister speculatively. “What did he want and why are you two looking at each other like that?”
Charlie scowled irritably and snapped, “Like what?”
“Like he wants to eat you up and you want to let him!”
***
Sitting on a bench close to the front gates, Brittany curled her knees up against her chest. It was getting cold. And it was dark…a whispery kind of dark…and she felt a twinge of regret at leaving the house alone. She had lied to Mrs. Mellon. “Stay with the group until someone picks you up,” she had been ordered. But she told her she was catching a ride with the Brightons. That she couldn’t stay to help clean up because her mother would have a stroke, if she wasn’t home by ten. Not that she would. Her mom was always throwing a fit about something and hadn’t dropped dead yet. Though sometimes she almost wished she would. As it was, she had to lie and sneak around, but if it meant two hours with Jayson before her weekend curfew, it was worth it. And the best part was that there was no way anyone would find out. She had made sure no one saw her slip away.
She shivered. It was much too cold for a summer night. Where was he anyway? He should have been here…it was too dark to see her watch…maybe half an hour ago? An owl hooted nearby. At least, she thought it was an owl. She had never heard one before. In fact, she never realized there would be so many sounds at night. Usually she was with Jayson and they were too busy to notice. Something rustled close by. Why had she come here anyway? This old place had always creeped her out. Creeped everyone out! None of the kids she hung out with would come near here even in the daytime, but then they had that stupid contest and the Ravynne sisters won.
She kinda liked the Ravynnne sisters. They were old, but okay. Except the snooty younger one. She didn't like her very much, but she had to admit she knew how to dress. Looking like her, had to cost a fortune! Probably, way more money than she'd ever have, but with the catering job she almost had enough to get the designer jeans she'd had her eye on for more than a month!
A car’s headlights flashed through the trees, as it left the parking area by the house and swung down the drive. Then another. She could hear the gravel crunch beneath their tires, as they passed and hoped they couldn’t see her. She watched the red taillights disappear through the gates and settled back with a sigh. “Where are you, Jayson? I’m getting really pissed!” she said out loud and “more than a little scared” she added under her breath.
She found herself thinking about the stories she’d heard: The missing Breanna Hensley…the murdered girls. But that was when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, she chided herself. Nothing ever happened in Merritsville now. Sometimes she wished it would. Something big! Something important! More important than winning a stupid contest that everyone seemed so excited about.
She heard voices up at the house…the slam of car doors…and headlights coming her way. The catering van passed her and sped through the gates. That was her last chance, if Jayson didn’t come through. She could hitch, if she had to, though not many people came this far out this late at night.
Something stirred close by. A something she could sense more than see. She flipped open her cell phone and punched in his number. He wouldn’t like her bugging him again, but she didn’t care. She was really scared now. Maybe she should run back to the house, but it was a long way. Better to head for the street and wait for Jayson there. Everyone was gone by now and no one would see her and tattle to her mother. “Dammit, Jayson, you better pick up or…” Then, thankfully, she heard his voice, “Hey, I ran into and…”
She never heard the rest. Her cell phone clattered to the ground, as the blow caught her on the back of her head and she slid into utter darkness.
***
He crushed the cell phone with his heel, then looked down at his prize, lying in a pool of cold moonlight that had fingered its way through the thick tangle of trees until it haloed her head. She looked like an angel. His angel. He had hit her harder than he’d intended. There was blood….lots of it, but he knew head wounds always bled a lot. But he couldn’t risk leaving a trail for someone to follow. Maybe the police had smartened up, since the last time he’d been hungry.
He picked up the cell phone pieces and shoved them in his side pocket, then kicked some leaves over the drops of bright blood that glistened wetly. Tearing off a strip of her clothing he bound it around her head and surveyed his handiwork. She was still breathing…shallow, rapid, breaths. He didn’t want her dead just yet.
She moaned and he nudged her with his toe. She lay quietly then. Reaching down he scooped her up in his arms. She was heavier than she looked, but, then, he was older now. What had been so easy a long time ago was not so easy any more and it was a long way to the cellar, if it was still even there. Maybe it had been bulldozed for some little ranch house that looked like every other one. He should
have checked ahead of time. Prepared. Made sure everything was ready, but she had been an opportunity he couldn’t resist. Like Rayne had almost been. He laughed. She had been faster than he had thought, especially in those shoes! But she had been so very beautiful. Dancing in the moonlight. Dancing for him.
He found himself whistling, as he slipped through the dark on paths and trails he’d thought forgotten. He felt like a boy again….eager…hot…swollen with desire. She stirred slightly and he looked down at her face. She was beautiful and the right age. He didn’t have the white dress. It was with Breanna, who he never thought to see again after he buried her. But there she was…at the séance… looking for Devon.
They shouldn’t have been there that night…following him…spying on him. Didn’t she realize he had done it all for her? So he wouldn’t be forced to violate her, though she tempted him in a hundred ways she didn’t even realize. Or perhaps she did?
But the others had done nicely. There had been nothing to stop him from doing what he wanted to them…no inconvenient conscience to rear its ugly head. But then, maybe he had never been overburdened with one of those anyway. Maybe that was his peculiar blessing. One he didn’t pass on to his son.
Bah! Son! It was laughable really. A sissy boy! He had wanted a son who had his passions, his strengths and, instead, he had sired two daughters! But Devon's body made a useful tool and this one would satisfy all his needs, even without the dress, which would have looked so very pretty on her.
He sighed. He was getting tired, but he couldn’t stop. Almost there. Even this body was not as strong as he needed, but it did his bidding. Devon had been stupid. It had been a mistake to kill him and release him from that pathetic shell he limped about in for so many years. Now he was free to do what he wanted and he would never be caught. How could anyone catch him? He was as intangible as fog….the wind…a wisp of smoke. They might catch Devon, probably would, but there’d be others. Pathetic Devon deserved to be caught!
A Haunting at Hensley Hall (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery) Page 16
