by Dave Ferraro
The first thing she noticed was a layer of sticky blood under her feet. She could taste the copper on the air as she bent over and lightly touched the crimson pool, coming away with a droplet that she briskly wiped indiscriminately on the wall beside her. “Hmph.”
She stepped into the dark abyss of the van a little further and found herself standing before a desk of sorts, with tools and a file cabinet. Luckily, one of the first items she touched was a flashlight.
“Score,” Rachel whispered as the light cleaved into the darkness. She threw the light around the room once quickly, to make sure she wasn’t going to get surprised from any unexpected guests, then she slowly walked the walls, taking in everything she saw. Past the desk and file cabinet were three cages big enough to house adult men. One of the cage doors was thrown open, the restraints within cut through as if in a hurry. Rachel paused before the open cage, searching for any sign of Cameron, but she could only speculate that this had been Cameron’s prison for the drive over the rocky terrain.
The opposite side of the van held chairs fastened to the floor before a series of computers. Rachel couldn’t make heads or tails out of most of the equipment, and her few attempts at bringing something to life were for naught. So she shrugged and continued investigating the space.
Peeking ahead into the front seats, Rachel saw more blood over the steering wheel, glass littered over the seats, and both doors ajar.
The final part of the van was the strangest. A small bed was bolted to the floor, covered with thick quilts. In front of the bed, sprawled over the floor, was a cooler, its contents upended and consisting of juice boxes and a bag of Cheetos. “Odd food choice for a scholar,” Rachel mused. She paused as she sniffed at the Cheetos, her eye catching something caught in the quilts. She removed a stuffed animal from the bed as Shanna pulled herself into the van behind her.
“There’s not much to see over there,” Shanna announced. “Our stuff’s all there. Everyone’s. Weapons, clothes. All abandoned. And there’s blood over the steering wheel.”
“Where Brett was driving,” Rachel observed.
“Yeah. I mean, it looked like a lot, but not enough to get too worried yet.” Shanna took a step toward Rachel and stared down at the blood she walked through. “What did you find?”
“A Popple,” Rachel held up the purple creature whose back pouch could house its entire body. “I haven’t seen one of these in years.”
“Don’t you have Care Bears?”
“Yeah. I love stuffed animals,” Rachel confessed. She smiled back at the other hunter before she gestured to the blood at Shanna’s feet. “The blood’s cold and drying around the edges. We’ve been out for hours. The sun will probably rise in an hour or so.”
Shanna’s eyes bulged. “Seriously? Why didn’t…where is everyone?” She stopped cold when she noticed the cages to her left. She didn’t say anything aloud, but Rachel could feel her guilt and concern from across the room.
“The padlock wasn’t forced open either. Some of the scholars survived.”
Shanna sighed and looked up at Rachel. “Then we need to find them. And our friends.”
Rachel nodded. “The only destination for miles around is that town off of the Sea. They had to have headed in that direction.”
“Okay. Looks like we've got a hike ahead of us.”
“Looks like.”
Chapter Ten
From a distance, the town of Anthemoessa looked picturesque. Shanna could have sworn she was on an exotic vacation if not for the troubles eating away at her insides. Everything was very white and glistened in the first few rays of sunshine, immediately forcing Shanna to raise a hand to shield her eyes. The houses were mostly medium-sized, two building structures with slate roofs, although a few larger structures like churches were topped with blue domes that gave the impression of a glimpse of blue sky through the cloud cover the rest of the town suggested.
“It’s very beautiful,” Shanna breathed as they followed a fence that led along the road into town, made of limestone blocks. “Very bright. Almost like a city in the sky.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Rachel smiled at this. “The houses are all white-washed to reflect the sunlight and keep them cool. Most housing here was built before air conditioning, at least part of the structures.”
Shanna looked back at Rachel and noted sprawling white villas dotting the cliffs. “I forgot that you’re an Archaeologist. You’re probably used to these sorts of sights.”
“I am well traveled,” Rachel agreed vaguely.
Shanna watched the town warily as they grew closer and closer to the first cluster of houses. There seemed to be a ghostly presence hovering overhead. It was eerily quiet. It felt abandoned. There were no people outdoors with the morning sun. Which was perhaps a blessing, as it saved them from coming up with an explanation for their presence in the town. Shanna looked at the terraced balconies and verandahs with a chill, feeling as if people were watching them from behind those narrow arched windows.
There were no cars, as if a mass evacuation had taken place. And indeed, some doors were left ajar, overturned bags and piles of clothes were strewn about here and there. Something was definitely wrong.
Rachel glanced over and met Shanna’s gaze before looking away almost guiltily. They passed the first cluster of houses as they slowly trudged up a small hill, the paved road giving way to a white cobblestone street. Shanna examined their surroundings carefully, noting the baby blue detail on some of the houses and the beds of bright red bougainvillea that cut through the monotony of the colorless town, and added a pleasant aroma to the air. Without a word spoken between them, they approached the crest of the hill where Shanna could hear a hissing noise and subconsciously felt for her cross dagger. But upon clearing the incline, they saw that the hissing was the cooling of two houses, or at least their charred remains. Smoke wafted from them in white streams periodically as something settled within, in wake of the disaster that had befallen the twin shelters. If anyone had witnessed the tragedy, no one had been in a hurry to put an end to it.
From their new vantage point at the top of the hill, they could see much farther than before and knew with a look that the entire town was as empty as that first cluster of houses.
They both stopped walking to take in the scene as ceramic-tiled roofs began to mingle with the slate roofs, and the full effect of the sun could be felt as their flesh tingled with warmth. Rachel was the first to speak after clearing her throat, and in a small voice. “Well, we should check to see if any phones work, at least.”
Shanna found herself nodding. “Valor…maybe she heard from the others.”
Rachel didn’t reply, but led them up to a gray house whose door was thrown open and swung lightly in the gentle breeze coming in from the sea.
Shanna couldn’t shake the feeling of trespassing she had as she crossed the threshold into a tiled hallway and couldn’t hold back the empty “hello?” she loosed, knowing full well that she would get no response. She wished she hadn’t spoken at all, for that small word served to make the house seem that much emptier.
The sitting room that greeted them was in perfect order, stiff furniture used only when guests visited consisted of crisp white sheets thrown over hints of pristinely white chairs, a sofa and loveseat. The coffee table and matching table ends were void of clutter and supported only the minimum decorations, including a bowl of silver and blue potpourri that smelled of soap, and blue lamps hovering over short stacks of silver coasters. A mantle on the far side of the room displayed several pictures in silver frames that Shanna avoided looking at, as if she would make eye contact with the owners of the house and be discovered.
A short hallway gave them two options as to which direction to proceed, but a kitchen could be spied to the left, so the girls quickly made a beeline for the ugly room of orange copper molds that hung close to the ceiling and the gaudy chandelier that dangled over a table with a cheap plastic t
ablecloth, surely not meant to be on display when the same company meant to be served coffee in the sitting room were present.
Shanna spied a phone to the left of the refrigerator at the far side of the room, but Rachel noticed the device first and made a dive for it as Shanna flipped the light switch to illuminate the shadows of the room. To no effect. She flipped the switch several times and met Rachel’s defeated gaze as the other girl fiddled with the numbers on the phone, the cord, anything that could give it a spark of life. But all attempts were in vain and Rachel replaced the phone on the receiver with a sigh and they stared around the room for a moment as they decided on their next course of action.
“We could try another house,” Shanna suggested. “Maybe those fires just cut some houses off from their utilities.”
Rachel nodded slowly. “And we might get lucky and find someone’s extra car in a garage somewhere.”
Shanna shrugged and the girls set off once again to invade the sanctuary of another family.
***
“Damn it!” Rachel yelled as she threw another phone across the bedroom of what was probably a sixteen-year-old girl, based on the posters of hard-bodied boy bands and popular American actors. “Can’t anything go right here?”
Shanna plopped down on the teal sheets and sighed. “Rachel, calm down. We just have to keep our heads here and-”
“Calm down?” She turned on Shanna with a snarl. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t screwed up to such epic proportions, we wouldn’t be here, alone, searching for friends that may or may not be dead and dissected by evil scholars, with no way to send word of our predicament to the insane woman who thought we could handle this situation in the first place!”
Shanna looked away. She knew that what Rachel was saying was true, even if she was saying it out of frustration. Their current state was a direct result of a bad decision she’d made. She had to do something to make it right. But what could she do? Breaking into houses at random didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere…
Rachel sat down next to her and put a hand to her head. “Look, I’m sorry. I know this…this isn’t your fault. Not really.” She paused. “It’s Jade’s. For stopping you from tranquilizing the wrong bastard.” She smiled at Shanna apologetically and chuckled. “This is just frustrating. And I’m freaking out a little at being so isolated.”
“Yeah…” Shanna met her smile. “I know.”
Rachel nodded and glanced around the room. “But…at least we’re not stranded in the desert or something. There’s got to be some food here. I’ll see what they’ve got.”
Shanna brightened. “Okay.” She watched Rachel leave the room and stood up slowly, taking in the surroundings. She’d never gotten into this phase: cute boy posters hanging up all over her room, swooning at a celebrity’s posed smile. Disaster had struck her far too young and life hadn’t seemed quite cheerful, or even normal, following that. She envied this girl and her silly little dreams.
Walking leisurely over to a bureau, Shanna opened a drawer and smiled down at the colored pens and sheets of stickers. Something shiny caught her attention from the back of the drawer and she reached back to pull out a small spiral-bound notebook with a holographic silver cover. She opened to the first page as she settled onto the bed once again and half-smiled at the words on the first page: “This is the diary of Anne Notrebko. I curse anyone who dares to read this without permission.” Shanna snorted and turned the page to a day nearly a year ago, filled with sunshine and silly girl crushes on boys from her class.
“I hope you like cold Poptarts, because everything that isn’t spoiled from the lack of electricity needs the microwave or oven. And I think they took a lot with them because the cupboards are pretty bare.” Rachel looked up from the box she was opening and frowned at the diary in Shanna’s hand. “What’s that?”
“A little girl’s diary.”
“And…?”
Shanna shrugged. “Flights of fancy - you know, the usual things little girls dream of.”
Rachel set down the Poptarts and eyed the diary with interest. “No, I mean what led to the evacuation.”
“The…oh, yeah.” Shanna turned to the back of the diary and flipped forward a little ways. “Alright…this is the last entry, from just two days ago: ‘We don’t know where Father has gone. A few days ago, he got up in the middle of the night and disappeared along with other men in town. Some people say they saw the boys walking toward the old lighthouse off of the Mediterranean. I don’t know why they would do that. Some of their wives went to go look for them and didn't come back either. Mom is going crazy. She says people are talking about leaving town. I don’t want to leave. I want things back the way they were. I’m scared.’”
“Disappearing?” Shanna said, looking up. “Creepy.”
“I wonder why the men disappeared first…”
“Because they were the biggest threat?” Shanna suggested.
They looked at each other.
“Well, we have an entire day ahead of us, so we don’t have to worry about anything until it gets dark.”
“But you think we should worry?”
Rachel hesitated. “Remember last night? Things went crazy. That light…who knows what that was.”
“And…and our friends are missing now.”
Rachel opened her mouth, then closed it before looking away.
“We have to find them.”
“We will. Let’s just…think about this.”
Shanna reached for the box of Poptarts and produced two pastries, of which she handed one to Rachel before taking a timid nibble, then setting it down on the nightstand. “Whatever was making people disappear, was near the lighthouse. Maybe we should head down there while it’s still light out.”
Rachel nodded slowly. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea. And we can keep checking a few houses on the way down there and hope for a working telephone.”
A cat suddenly skulked into the room through the open door, causing Shanna to jump involuntarily.
Rachel laughed as the feline leapt onto the nightstand and stuck her moist nose close to the discarded Poptart, smelling the pastry with eagerness.
“Poor thing must have been left behind in the mad rush to leave this place,” Rachel said, moving to pick the creature up. But she didn’t pick it up. She froze.
Shanna wasn’t sure why Rachel stopped, but she was immediately alert to the distress on Rachel’s usually calm face. “Rachel? What’s wrong?” She stood up and watched as Rachel tried once more to pick up the cat. But her hands went through the creature, who merely bristled and began to lick the Poptart as if it hadn’t registered their presence at all.
Because it hadn’t.
Chapter Eleven
“What…” Shanna croaked, her mouth unable to form any more words.
“I don’t believe it,” Rachel muttered, running her hand through the cat again. She did this a few more times and the cat looked back and glanced around, licking its mouth greedily, before resuming its feast.
“It doesn’t see us,” Shanna observed. “What…maybe it’s a ghost cat.”
“A ghost cat?” Rachel looked up at her, then back at the animal. “Well, that would be a first for me.”
“And maybe this is what caused the evacuation…and the disappearances.”
Rachel looked skeptical. “A cat?”
Shanna blinked, then laughed. “No, something with ghosts. Something paranormal scared the men when they went to investigate.”
“Scared them enough to make them leave their wives and children? Is anything scary enough to do that?” She glanced over at the cat again as it began to lick its paw. “And this ghost is far from scary.”
“Well…maybe whatever happened here killed everything that was alive and the event was so traumatic that their souls linger on Earth as…” Shanna let her voice trail off at Rachel’s smirk. “Well, it could be…”
Rachel sat forward on the bed. “Look, it’s too early to start hypothesizing. This ghost cat may have nothing to do with whatever’s going down in town. I think we should move on, like you suggested, to the lighthouse, see if we can find any clues.”
“But it stands to reason that this isn’t a coincidence,” Shanna gestured toward the animal again.
“I know, I know,” Rachel muttered, standing up, “But nothing that I can think of makes sense right now. So, let’s take note and see what answers this town has to offer.”
It was another hour before they set off on their trek toward the beach. They decided that they should bring some provisions and packed a few knapsacks they found with food, water and blankets. “Just in case we want to stake the place out,” Rachel had reasoned.
The sky had darkened in the interval that they had been indoors, an ominous line of angry clouds pushing in from the Mediterranean, blocking out the cheerful rays of sunlight. Instead of deterring the girls however, it made them more determined to set out at once, only pausing to rifle through a few closets for umbrellas. It was still rather warm even without the full effect of the sun on the landscape. A discouraging wind increased in intensity as they followed the limestone fence all the way through town, bringing with it a few sprinkles of rain that gave them a taste of the storm to come.
“It looks like it’s going to be a bad one,” Shanna observed, staring up at the clouds that seemed to grow darker with each passing minute. “Maybe the evacuation was for a hurricane coming this way.”
“There’s no hurricane coming,” Rachel assured her. “It’s just a storm. I checked up on the weather before we left.”
Just then, the clouds opened up overhead and a sheet of rain fell on them, causing Shanna to let out a shriek and duck in the doorway of a church while Rachel struggled to open an umbrella.
“Maybe we should wait and see if it lets up,” Rachel suggested after a moment of watching the road get pelted.
“We might even have to buckle down in someone’s house for the night if it keeps up,” Shanna agreed, pushing the door of the church open and peeking inside. “Not even locked.”
Nudging the door open a little further, Rachel stepped within and glanced around at the high ceilings and elaborate ornaments, pausing on the figure of a half-naked wax Jesus Christ upon a cross that glistened in the dim light from the windows. The sight made her shiver for some reason.
