I came out the daze and found myself in front of the boutique. Bright yellow police tape was draped around the Fashion Flower Boutique, the black “DO NOT CROSS,” a repetitive warning. There were no authorities around, so I stepped under the tape and let myself into the store. I was shocked at the mess left behind whoever had broken in sometime during the late evening or night hours. They had knocked over the displays of blouses and dresses. Jeans were littered all over the floor. I stepped over the toppled racks, hoping it had happened after closing. I walked out the back door and noticed more police tape in the small parking lot behind the store. The faint scent of blood lingered in the air. There were a few dark spots of dried blood on the ground. My heart crashed in my chest and my pulse quickened. Along with the copper smell of blood, I picked up the weak trace of a familiar gardenia fragrance and I knew whose blood had been splattered on the ground. I covered my mouth with my hand as hot tears ran down my cheeks.
“Excuse me, but you shouldn’t be here,” a young police officer said, startling me.
I wiped the tears and noticed an unmarked police car slowly driving towards us through the narrow alley.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I came looking for someone and didn’t know this had happened. I gazed over the crime scene before making eye contact with the police officer again.
The young officer’s brown hair was cut short and his eyes were a deep brown color. He rested his right hand on his holstered weapon and his left on his hip as two detectives walked up to where we stood.
“This is an active crime scene,” the detective warned me. He was tall and thin. His once black hair was now almost completely gray.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. I was about to repeat what I had told the officer, but the other detective spoke.
“Did you know the victim?” he asked. The second detective was younger than his partner. He had deep brown eyes under thick eyebrows and his head was bald, but not as a result of alopecia. He was too young to have lost all his hair. He was tall like his partner but built like a professional football player.
“Did you know the victim?” he repeated the question.
“The victim?” I raised my eyebrows. No one had mentioned who the victim was, but I knew. “Yes,” I whispered.
‘What’s your name?” the older detective asked.
“Analey Rose,” I stammered.
“I’m Detective Sam Steel and this is my partner, Detective Chris Zaffino.”
“What was your relation to the victim?” Detective Zaffino asked.
“She was my friend and manager. I work here.” I looked over to the boutique, shuffled my gaze around the alley and then back to the detectives. “What happened to her?” I breathed.
“We suspect a large animal, but it is still under investigation,” Detective Steel answered.
Animal attack? I thought. What kind of animal would destroy the boutique before attacking?
“But we have some questions for you,” Detective Zaffino said. He narrowed his gaze at me, his lips pressed in a tight line as he took a step towards me.
I rubbed my arms with my hands and resisted the urge to step back. I looked away from the two detectives, past the dumpsters with their foul odor to the neighboring red brick building and back to the crime scene. I wanted to walk away from that place. I wanted to run as fast as I could away from the exact spot where Candice Garrett had died, the terrible place where she had been murdered. The two detectives explained that it had been some random animal attack, a bear probably. Their misguided theory was that a grizzly bear in search of food had ransacked the store before chasing Candice out to the alley. That’s what they said but I knew she had been attacked and killed by a red-eyed demon. I wanted to go to Heath. He was the only other person who knew the truth, but I was afraid of learning the truth. The little I did know about the monsters that had killed my friend, deeply frightened me.
“Where do you live?” Detective Steel asked. I found it easier to look at him when he spoke. His voice was softer, and he kept his arms down at his sides. I glanced over to Chris Zaffino with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his brow furrowed as he kept his gaze on me.
“Cedar Grove,” I answered. I looked at my feet and something glinted in the crevice of the cracked asphalt. I inched my foot over it, concealing it from the detectives.
“When was the last time you saw or spoke to Miss Garrett?” It was Detective Steel doing most of the questioning.
“About two days ago. I called her to let her know I wouldn’t be coming in to work.”
“What was your reason for missing work?” Detective Zaffino inquired, narrowing his eyes on me.
“I was sick,” I didn’t know why my reason mattered but I answered the question.
“Thank you, Miss Rose. That’s all for now.” Detective Steel shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and turned towards his idling car.
“We will call you if we need you to come in and make a statement,” Detective Zaffino added.
I nodded that I understood; I didn’t trust myself to speak. I put my hands in my pockets and felt a crinkled gum wrapper. I pulled my hands out, letting the paper fall to the ground. Detective Zaffino’s eyes stayed on me as I bent down to retrieve the trash and return it to my pocket. I shivered as I took another look around and walked away from the detectives and from the murder scene. Saddened by the terrible realization of what had taken place, I made my way back home.
I sat alone in my apartment, grief and sorrow hanging over me like a thick shroud suffocating me. I thought about calling Kami. I had to tell her the horrible news. She knew Candice better than I did and she would want to know what had happened. I tried dialing her number, but my hands were trembling; I didn’t know how to give someone such shocking news. What would I say? I couldn’t even say the words aloud to myself. I didn’t want to accept the painful truth, yet it was what I needed to do. There was an accident and Candice is… I tried saying but my phone rang before I could get the words out. The loud ringing startled me and made me jump. It rang a second time before I realized what it was and fumbled to answer it.
“Analey,” Kami sobbed before I had the chance to say anything,
“Oh my gosh, it’s Candice.”
“I know,” I said.
“Animal attack. She’s, she’s dead,” Kami said in between sobs.
“I know.” I wanted to say something to calm Kami down, but I couldn’t think of what to say.
“They said something attacked her and all the blood drained out of her body. Oh my gosh Analey, all her blood.” Kami’s voice was panicked. “I just can’t believe this happened to her. I thought she was safe. I did everything to keep this from happening.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. Kami wasn’t making any sense. “How could you have known something like this would happen?” Now it was my voice that had the high-pitched panic sound.
“What? No, I didn’t know. I mean that I had warned her that sometimes bears come into town and she shouldn’t be out alone at night,” Kami said.
The police officer I had spoken to at the boutique was being interviewed on the news channel and he agreed with Kami, it was safer to avoid being out alone after dark. They were right but one thing they got wrong was it wasn’t an animal that attacked Candice. The monsters were real, and they were in Shadowmist.
“I don’t feel like being alone right now. Can I come over?” Kami asked.
“Sure,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood for spending the evening alone either. Every creaking noise I heard or the howl of the wind made me jump. I was constantly looking over my shoulder even in my small one-bedroom apartment. Ten minutes later, Kami was knocking on the door. I let her in, and we held each other in a tight embrace.
“It’s so terrible,” Kami said once we were sitting in the living room.
I handed her a tissue. “I still can’t believe it’s real. What kind of animal do you think would do that? I know they said it was a bear, but
I can’t imagine a grizzly doing that.”
Kami kept silent as she stared at her hands folded in her lap. I didn’t think Kami had heard what I had said. I was about to repeat the question when Kami spoke up. “I can’t think of any animal capable of doing that.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying it wasn’t an animal attack?” I pushed her for an explanation.
Kami shrugged her shoulders and walked to the window. “There is something dangerous out there, but I don’t think it’s an animal.” She stared out the window to the street below.
“What else could it have been?” I asked. “A human?”
“I’m sorry, Analey. I don’t know what I was saying. Of course, it was an animal.” Kami smoothed her coral sweater as she sat back down on the couch. She picked up the remote and turned the television to a sitcom. I wanted her to explain what she meant but I could see she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. We watched the show until Kami fell asleep curled under a blanket on one end of the couch; I sat on the other end.
I didn’t fall asleep as easily as Kami. Imagining what Candice must have gone through kept me up most of the night. I was also dreading doing what I knew I had to do, call Kian. It was no surprise I hadn’t fared well in the area of relationships. Friends had been limited to a few at the orphanage and Erica was my best friend. Heath and I spent time together and talked until he was adopted and later sent to juvenile detention. But romantic relationships had been non-existent. Although Kian was what most women wanted, he wasn’t what I wanted. He was the most attractive man I’d ever met, and he was nice, but I couldn’t feel more from him. I hoped, at best, we could stay friends. I rehearsed what I would say to Kian. Over and over, I repeated the words in my mind, but they sounded like lame excuses. I finally decided I would just tell him the truth. But the truth was that I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown and I was afraid he would end up like Candice. No, I would have to produce a better version of the truth, a slightly bend of the truth. I would tell him I wasn’t ready for more than a friendship and if he couldn’t accept it then I couldn’t talk to him anymore. I felt somewhat satisfied with that and stood up from the couch and walked to my room. I was going to try to get some sleep, but I saw my jacket hanging over the edge of my bed and remembered the gum wrapper. I pulled the shiny object out of the crumpled piece of paper. The diamond earring gleamed in my hand. I held it between my thumb and index finger, studying it from all angles. I assumed it was a real diamond, maybe half a carat, as I cupped it in my palm and closed my fingers around it. A numbing sensation started in my fingertips, spreading over my hand and I squeezed my eyes shut. I tightened the grip on the diamond as the room began to spin and the murderous visions came into view.
ten
Icried out then put my hand over my mouth. “No. Please no.” Hot tears stung my eyes and I wanted to scream out. I sobbed into my hand trying not to wake Kami. “Oh Candice, I’m so sorry.”
I cried until my throat ached and my eyes were red and swollen. Kami and the others were wrong, it wasn’t an animal, but I was wrong too.
It wasn’t human.
“Heath,” I said aloud. He must know about this but if he didn’t, I had to tell him. Shivers spread over my body. I wanted to tell Kami and Kian the truth, but they wouldn’t believe me. I couldn’t believe it much less admit it out loud to another person. It was just another bad dream. I told myself. That thing that I had seen or thought I had seen in my vision could not be real.
It was impossible.
“It was an animal attack.” I repeated to myself, “just a gruesome bear attack.”
It was early morning, the sun hours from rising, but it would be impossible to go back to sleep. I laid in my bed staring up at the ceiling forcing myself not to think of Candice, but there wasn’t much else to think about.
Without warning, the haunting sensation of being watched overcame me. It was as though one hundred pair of eyes were on me, watching me. I held my breath, listening through the quiet house for any evidence that someone other than Kami was in the apartment, but it was silent. I left my bed and walked into the living room. I looked for Kami on the couch, but she wasn’t there. I checked the kitchen, the bathroom, and the fire escape; there was no sign of her. I found a note on the end table.
I went home but I didn’t want to wake you. I will call you later.
I put the note down as I felt the hair on my neck stand on end. I could feel someone or something behind me. My heart pounded in my chest; I was afraid to turn around. I thought about running or screaming but fear paralyzed me, and I broke out into a cold sweat.
I felt a cold breeze flow past my ear. Turn around.
“No, please, no,” I whimpered as I became aware of the possibility of what was standing behind me.
Turn around. The cold whisper demanded again, and I turned around.
A knock on the door woke me up. I contemplated ignoring it and going back to sleep, but then the knocking starting again.
“Okay, I’m coming,” I called out as I got out of bed and checked my reflection in the mirror. I picked up a brush and ran in it through my hair before gathering it back into a ponytail. I trotted to the living room and looked through the peephole. I saw Kian standing on the other side of the door, his hands in the pockets of his black slacks.
“Kian, hi. I was about to call you,” I said stepping aside to let him in. I closed the door and secured the lock checking it twice.
“I am so sorry about your friend. Are you okay?” Kian put his arms around me, and I could feel my emotions rising but I pushed them back; I didn’t want to cry anymore.
“Yes,” I lied. I was not okay. I was scared and sad. I wriggled myself out of his embrace and stood with my arms crossed over my chest. “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” Tears pooled in the corner of my eyes.
“I get it, but you don’t have to go through this alone.” Kian took a step towards me, but I put one hand out, stopping him from coming closer.
“Please Kian, just go. We can’t see each other anymore.” I rushed the words out. It wasn’t what I had intended to say to him. The words came out and I couldn’t stop them. Kian stared at me for a moment, then shut his eyes briefly and shook his head. I turned away from him, not wanting to see the hurt in his eyes. I liked him, I really did but the truth was I couldn’t let whatever this was, go any further. I knew he wanted more and all I wanted was to be his friend.
“Analey, turn around,” Kian said.
I felt a cold shiver ripple through my body. “What, what did you say?”
“Please turn around and look at me.”
I did as he asked, and I turned to face him. There was a worried look in his expression, his brow furrowed as he drew his bottom lip in between his teeth. I averted my gaze to the floor. I was a coward and I didn’t want to look into his blue eyes. The silence was unnerving as I waited for him to say something, anything.
“Can I ask why?” Kian finally spoke.
“Things are just too complicated right now,” I said. I wanted to explain more but I wasn’t able to form the words on my tongue. What else could I say? That I was worried he would end up like Candice or that I was afraid I couldn’t feel more for him. Or worse, that I was scared to death of falling in love.
“Okay, but I will always be here for you,” Kian said. He didn’t say anything else and neither did I. We stood in silence a moment longer then he walked out the door.
I hadn’t felt more alone as I did the moment the door closed behind Kian. I was sure he and Kami would never speak to me again and Candice was gone. Tears filled my eyes and this time I didn’t stop them. I slumped down to the couch and put my head in my hands. I thought about Candice and then realized I wouldn’t be able to return to the boutique. Suddenly, normal life problems like being unemployed worried me. I called the bank to check my balance.
“One hundred and fifty-two dollars,” the voice on the bank recording said. This alleviated my anxiety for the moment
. I had enough to make it through the week, but I would need to find a new job. I pulled on a pair of black slacks with a pale pink blouse. The air was cool, so I grabbed my black fleece jacket on the way out the door. I walked to the center of town where most of the businesses were located.
The manager with the glazed over eyes at the little diner told me he had no need for another waitress, even though a Help Wanted sign rested against the window. The answer was the same at the hardware store, the grocery store, and the drug store. The only success I had that day had been that I hadn’t seen any red-eyed monsters. Their absence didn’t stop me from constantly checking over my shoulder or avoiding direct eye contact with every person I passed on the street. I decided to make one more stop before heading home.
The library was not on my way home. I had to take the bus and walk four extra blocks to get there. I was hoping I wasn’t wasting my time and end up at another dead end.
When I got to Arthur Mist Library, the temperature had dropped, and I rushed into the building out of the cold. The same woman sat at the circulation and she greeted me with the same blank expression as everyone else had. I was about to turn around and leave when I forced myself to approach the desk.
“Hi, um my name is Analey Rose and I, er, was wondering if you were hiring.” I put my hands on the waist high oak desk as I waited for her answer.
The librarian looked at me and it seemed as if she was looking through me. “No, we don’t have anything available,” she said. There was no expression in her eyes, nothing.
Edge of Forever: The Death and Life of Analey Rose (The Immortal Souls Book 1) Page 8
