Warm Food Cold Body

by S. Y. Robins

  Lorna ran back to the village, her feet flying faster than they had since she’d been a teenager and she ran to Sadie’s house, open tonight for a Halloween costume contest. She wasn’t dressed up but she went in anyway. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 9:30. She snuck back into the room that had been William’s office and used her mobile as a torch to see the chimney with. Pulling out the brick she was astonished to see the ring sitting there pristinely shining in the light of her mobile.

  Taking the ring out Lorna set it on the desk sitting there, looking down at it for a moment. This insignificant piece of metal, enamel and a ruby symbolized the hatred, the murder, and the love that had cost Sadie and Brian their lives. This is what had made William hate Brian so much. Hopefully now that was done.

  Checking that the way was clear Lorna stepped out of the room. She stood guard for a moment then reopened the door to check that the ring was still there. When the light of her mobile revealed an empty desk Lorna walked back in. The ring wasn’t there, it hadn’t rolled onto the floor; it was simply gone. Wondering if she’d imagined it all Lorna exited the room once more, heading to her own home a bit bemused. She’d expected a twinkle of light at the very least, a bright burst of stars, an ancient scream to reverberate through the village, anything but the utter silence and normality that greeted her as she opened that door back up.

  “Well that was just a total let down young Jack. Nothing. We got nothing for our efforts! Let’s check the website though shall we? Come on, give Mummy a cuddle and let’s check on Sadie and Brian.” Lorna said as she settled on the couch.

  Lorna was not a happy camper when she looked at her laptop. Picking up her phone she saw she didn’t have a signal on that either. The internet and the phones were out!

  “Well, if that’s their big 'wooooooo' moment I’m still disappointed!” Lorna told Jack with a laugh. She closed the laptop and went to bed knowing it could be minutes or hours before anything happened with the internet. She restarted the last audiobook she’d been listening to and let it calm her racing mind. She wanted to lay there and think about the possibilities of what may have happened but knew she had to get to sleep; otherwise she’d be useless tomorrow. That and she wanted it to hurry up and be the next day with all of the technology she was used to working as it should do. With Jack curled up at her head Lorna finally fell into dreamless sleep, a smile still playing around her lips. She hoped she’d accomplished something wonderful.

  The next day the technology that kept Lorna so connected with the world was still off. Frustrated and feeling an urge to pace, Lorna bundled Jack into his basket and trundled up the hill to the pub. Everything looked the same, nothing had changed, and her memories were all the same. Trying to stave off disappointment Lorna looked towards Sadie’s house when she got to the top of the hill. The house hadn’t changed either. Tamping down on her urge to scream in frustration Lorna went into the pub and found Mildred sitting with a cup of tea and the morning paper at a table.

  “You’re up here early, too many sweets last night?” Mildred asked with a smile.

  “No, I barely even noticed it was Halloween except for my trip to the circle. I guess that was a waste of my time. But I saw Brian anyway so it wasn’t a completely useless trip.” Lorna responded going through to the bar to get a cup of coffee.

  “You did what? With who?” Mildred called over to her, a perplexed look on her face.

  “The Nine Ladies, I went up last night to try and help Sadie and Brian.” Lorna said carefully, hope finally starting to rise in her chest.

  “I still don’t know what you’re on about but if that’s what floats your boat, missy, have at it. Who are Sadie and Brian? You haven’t mentioned them before.” Mildred said shaking her paper out before going back to it.

  “Sure I have, Sadie and Brian, the ghosts…” Lorna trailed off; hoping Mildred still had no clue what she was talking about.

  Mildred looked over her reading glasses at Lorna with a concerned look. “Lorna love, I believe you need a holiday. Or perhaps I do, did you just say ghosts or did I hear you wrong?”

  Lorna allowed a grin to break through before responding, hope growing full bloom in her chest now. “I’m only teasing you, Mildred. I went to the community centre for a bit then spent the night passing out sweets with Jack. How was your night?”

  “It was just fine. I went to bed early even. I guess everyone was out with their children. Daniel held everything down just fine.” Mildred said going back to her paper.

  “That’s great. I hope the phones come back on soon. They’ve been out all night.” Lorna said, looking down at her phone again.

  “Eh, it makes it quieter when they’re out. They can stay out for all I care. Oh, who’s this handsome young fellow coming now?” Mildred asked, standing up to go behind the bar.

  “Good day, what can I get you?” Mildred asked the handsome blonde man as he came in. There was something familiar about him but Lorna couldn’t place him in her memory.

  “I’m looking for a lady named Lorna; I was told she’d be here.” The man said, shocking Lorna.

  “That’ll be her sitting over there, would you like a drink?” Mildred asked.

  “Just a coffee or tea please.” He said coming to stand in front of Lorna. His look conveyed excitement, curiosity, and shock.

  Probably quite similar to my own, Lorna thought, looking up at him.

  “May I sit? I have a rather odd story to tell.” He said.

  “Yes, of course, how may I help you?” She asked. Lorna just knew this had something to do with Brian and Sadie and her excitement had her all but bouncing in her seat.

  “Well, first my name is Lorn and my grandparent’s names were Brian and Sadie. They both passed away this year, my grandmother only last month.” Lorn stopped speaking when Lorna gasped. When she didn’t say anything he continued.

  “I was instructed by their solicitor to give you this letter, on this date, at this time. So here I am. How did you know my grandparents?” Lorn asked.

  “I’ll explain once I’ve read the letter. May I see it now please?” Lorna knew she was being rude but could barely contain her excitement or her impatience to see the letter. She held her hand out as he dug into his coat pocket.

  Lorn placed the letter into her hand with a smile that turned into a grin when Lorna giggled before tearing the sealed envelope open.

  Dear Lorna,

  Our dearest Lorna, we hope this letter finds you well. If all has gone as planned our grandson Lorn, named for you by his mother, will have brought this letter of explanation to you. We owe you our very lives. We don’t know at this point if you’ll remember us but we have hoped that you will. We remember our other lives and how they turned out so we hope you do as well. To ease your mind, if what we suspect is the case and you do remember, placing the ring on William’s desk worked. Obviously.

  Lorna, it is Brian writing this part. I felt you were owed an explanation. I stole the ring, or intended to. You see, life was so hard I wanted to have something in case my family needed it. Sadie’s father had long been harassing my father and we all knew he had money. I snuck into the house one night and attempted to steal the ring. Someone woke up and scared me however. I dropped the ring and could not retrieve it from where it had fallen under a radiator in the office. I was able to move it into that hiding spot you found it in as a ghost so you could replace it for Sadie’s father to find.

  It actually appeared magically before his eyes just before he went to search Sadie’s room. He was so befuddled he sat there until well after my original time of death. Then he just disappeared. We still don’t know what happened to him but he wasn’t missed. Sadie could never forgive him for killing me in our other life. *It’s Sadie here, and Brian’s right, I never could get past my father killing the man I loved.*

  We married soon after Halloween night and have obviously lived happily ever after. Times were hard, of course, but we had a very long life of marital bl
iss with children, a home, and each other. We could not have had that without you. We told our daughter, Lorna, about you, and she named her son for you, the woman that actually gave her life, that gave her parents life. She will probably be along soon to say her own hellos.

  As for the ring, why did I never just tell Sadie where it was or that I took it? Well, embarrassment and shame are the simple answers. I never expected my father to show up the next day or for William to accuse him. Then I met Sadie and I feared if she knew it was me that stole the ring then she might reject my courtship. I couldn’t face telling her. If I’d known what it would cost us I would have simply told her but how was I to know. In the end, we’ve lived two lives. Well, almost two, we’ve lived far longer in this one. And by the way, our grandson is a doctor and he played a very familiar song for me one day. A song about a man in love that hopes the relationship lasts out the year. Sound familiar? Sadie has a few words now but my final words to you are thank you, Lorna, and see you on the other side.

  Hiya, Lorna, it’s Sadie now. I finally managed to get a necklace like yours! I had no idea I was going to have to wait so long for it! You have my eternal gratitude and love for the gift you gave to Brian and I. Without you none of this would have been possible. We moved to London and have left a house there for you, if you’d like to ever get out of the country. I expect you love your home there but the house will earn you a few pennies if you should ever need them. Did Brian mention our grandson is a doctor and a really incredible young man, almost as incredible as you?

  All our love throughout time,

  Brian and Sadie

  Lorna put the letter down, looking at the man once more. Yes, he had Sadie’s beautiful blue eyes and Brian’s jovial smile. She smiled at him, her heart swelling with joy and love for the people she’d only briefly known. They’d had a happy life and for that Lorna was happy.

  “You’ll have to tell me all about their lives, Lorn. In return I’ll tell you how I know them and why you and your mother are named for me.” She said, knowing the statement sounded odd.

  “You’re that Lorna?” he asked, astonished.

  “Yes, I am. I met your grandparents at the beginning of the month, only they were younger than you are now. I take it they made their lives in London then?” Lorna asked.

  “Yes, they moved there soon after my great-grandfather disappeared. We have no idea what happened to him but if my grandparents’ story is real, and wow, seeing you it has to be, then it could have been anything really. Wow. Can I buy you dinner this evening? Would you mind if I bring my mother?” Lorn asked before his face turned red. “An odd request but I think you’d love to meet her, she’s a lovely woman.”

  “I’d love to. We all have a good deal to talk about I think. Let me just help Mildred with this crowd that’s oddly starting to form and we can discuss it further.” Lorna said before going over to help Mildred with an unexpected rush.

  Looking back at the young man, the perfect blend of Sadie and Brian, Lorna thought that true love did really exist after all. He was living proof. Maybe it was time to give love one more chance. Smiling over at Lorn she knew it was time to give love one more chance. It had just walked into her life.

  The End

  Wicked Vampire

  Cozy Mystery

  About the Book

  Sina Wheeler is your typical woman, living with her roommate, working from home, and trying to make it day by day. A regular at the Druid’s Grove Sina has a few unusual friends, including a witch named Oona, but her best friend is her roommate, Gia. And Gia may just be a vampire. Or a Goth sunk so far into the lifestyle that she’s harming herself. Sina dismisses Gia’s behaviours and pale appearance as a phase, after all, her friend lost her parents at an early age. Who else would have the right to be depressed and into darkness?

  Sina is pretty sure her dismissal of the pale skin and Goth look is all wrong when she finds Gia squeezing a steak for dear life in the middle of the kitchen one night. Can Sina save her friend? And will the help come from a doctor trained in medical problems or Oona, the all-knowing witch? Sina is facing a battle for her friend’s life that may turn into a battle for her own. Can she win against something she has no understanding of?

  1

  Sina Wheeler moved into the raised dais at the Druid’s Grove pub and sat beside her friend. Lately Gia, Sina’s best friend forever, had started to become lethargic, quite pale, and to the point of being rude she was so listless. Take tonight for instance, Sina thought, Gia didn’t even react when Sina sat down, she just kept staring into the flames of the fire that was burning in the fireplace.

  “I’m so cold.” Gia said in a low voice, her words giving the impression that Gia meant far more than her current perception of the temperature.

  “Yeah, you’re taking the Goth thing a bit too far lately, matey, why don’t you order some liver from the pub and get some iron in your system?” Sina asked as she looked closely at her friend and roommate. The pale translucence of her skin wasn’t from makeup, as Sina had suspected, but the actual colour of Gia’s skin.

  “Indeed, you’re having liver and onions tonight my friend.” Sina said as she went to the bar and ordered a meal for Gia and a cider for herself.

  “You either eat this or you’re off to the doctor.” Sina said to the young woman paying her exactly zero attention. “Come on now lovey, we’re 28 years old, aren’t we getting a bit old for vampires and castles? Look at what you’re doing to yourself.”

  Pushing her own naturally dark hair out of her grey eyes Sina looked over at her mate once more. Gia was still muttering about being cold and her brown eyes were completely vacant. Gia also had a scarf tightly wrapped around her neck.

  “Surely you aren’t that cold, Gia dear. Let’s get this scarf off of you.” Sina said as she made to unwind the scarf.

  That’s when Gia hissed at her. Gia actually hissed!

  “I know you didn’t just hiss at me!” Sina exclaimed, pulling her arm back, shocked at her friend’s behaviour.

  Gia just stared mutely into the flames muttering about how cold she was. Sina was becoming irritated with her friend’s behaviour and her irritation grew to full on anger as the food she’d ordered for Gia just sat going cold and untouched on the table.

  “Gia! You really need to snap out of this? What is wrong with you? For a week now you’ve been diving into this funk you’re in.”

  Sina paid their tab and ushered Gia out to her car, wondering how Gia had even managed to get there in the first place. Sina’s friend staggered on the way to the car and seemed unaware of her surroundings; surely muscle memory couldn’t have gotten her up the hill to the pub to sit by the fire?

  The short drive down to their shared home was uneventful but Gia refused to get out of the car when Sina went to her side to get her out. Gia just kept repeating that she was cold and held her hands out to the vent of the car’s heating system. Sina realized that as soon as the car cooled off again Gia would probably get out of the car peacefully so she waited.

  As soon as the cold air started to penetrate Gia’s clothes she started moving. Sina took her into their warm home, steered Gia to her bedroom, removed her shoes, and tucked Gia under the duvet.

  “Cold.” Gia stuttered out.

  “I know, sweetie, I know.” Sina sat on her friend’s bedside and held Gia’s cold delicate hand. What was she to do in this situation? Gia didn’t have any family to call for help and Sina’s own parents were away in Majorca until Christmas on holiday.

  Sina relaxed as she heard soft snores starting to come from under the duvet and went out to the sitting room of their tiny house to think things through.

  Going to the kitchen she looked for something cold to drink but only found the remains of a very bloody steak and two bottles of what looked like very thick wine in the fridge. The writing looked to be Cyrillic or some other language and as she tipped the bottle she noticed that whatever was inside coated the inside of the bottle.

  “Ug
h!” Sina said out loud. “That has to be some rubbish Gia brought in, what is it?”

  Sina looked at the liquid for a few more moments then put it back in the fridge. Probably some posh Goth absinthe or some other weird stuff. Sina finally settled for making a cup of tea and sat down at her table to wait for the kettle to boil. Thinking over the last couple of weeks she realized that Gia had been going down for a while now.

  That scarf appeared one morning when Gia said her throat was sore. She’d put the scarf on then and Sina hadn’t seen her without it since. And Gia had started losing weight and growing paler at that point too. At first Gia had blamed her sickness for it but over time she’d grown quieter, reclusive, and deathly pale.

  Sina went in to the sitting room again and turned the telly on. She flipped through her satellite provider’s list of available programs and saw that one of the film options was Dracula. Sina paused her scrolling and gaped at the title.

  No. Surely not. Looking towards Gia’s bedroom Sina scoffed at her own silliness but still selected the film. As she watched the film she kept glancing at the bedroom door over and over. The hiding of the neck, the lack of energy, the hissing. Then there was the anaemia Gia seemed to be suffering and that weird glop in her fridge. Could it be possible?

  Sina saw the part where garlic was brought into the room of Dracula’s victim and tried to convince herself not to grab some from the kitchen and take it in to Gia. She was still reprimanding herself as she pulled out a bottle of dried minced garlic, took the lid off, and carried it to Gia’s bedroom. She even tried to tell herself to turn around and leave the room as she stalked in quietly and stuck the bottle under Gia’s nose. None of that worked however and Sina ran from the room in panic as Gia sat up, hissing at her friend with the noxious smelling bottle.