Beginnings: Last Prophecy

by Jennie Andrus

  Normally I could bluff my way out of situations like this, but Perry, Mr. Good Samaritan had already felt me up and knew I didn’t have any visible injuries. I bit my lip. “Um, I had a bloody nose just before I crashed.”

  I’m a horrible liar, and when I panic it gets even worse. That whopper sounded pathetically obvious, almost cartoonishly obvious. If I’d had a nosebleed, there’d be dried blood on my face and my hands. I snuck a quick look and saw nothing on my fingers but a slight brown streak from the pop I’d spilled earlier.

  His eyebrows rose. I waited for him to say something but he just shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Well, then.” He rocked back on his heels. “Is there someone you’d like to call? I’m guessing you’re visiting out here? If you tell me it’s a man, you’ll break my heart.” He winked at me, and grinned crookedly, reminding me of Harrison Ford.

  I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stop the surge of warmth from swirling in my stomach at his playful flirting. “I’m heading to my parents’ cottage. It’s on Chime Street.”

  Perry laughed. “Well then, darlin’, it looks like we’re neighbors.”

  “Neighbors?”

  “Yep, there’s only one house on this street owned by tourists and it’s right next door.” He looked pretty pleased about the news. “Which sister are you? I bet you’re the crazy one right?”

  Lovely. A glimmer of memory ticked my brain and I groaned. Perry Sullivan, object of my youthful fantasies until Maddy had stepped in and done her psychic act. Only two people out here knew about Maddy's visions. Figured I’d find one of them right away. Like an elastic band that had been slowly stretching for weeks, my temper finally reached the breaking point.

  “No, that was my sister, and she wasn’t crazy, she was different. I’d think you, of all people would appreciate that Mr. Unique. Now if you don’t mind, I have to go get some sleep so I can find the damned moose that’s supposed to save my life!”

  He just stared at me for a minute, his left eyebrow raised and his mouth slack, before he shook his head. “Oh right, well, my mistake then. You’re obviously not crazy at all.”

  The sarcasm in his voice was like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. I hated it when I lost it like that. It had been a long time since I’d lost my temper, but I suppose I deserved to let off a little steam. I dropped heavily onto the couch behind me and sighed.

  “Sorry. Maybe I am going a little nuts. I’ve had a crappy couple weeks.”

  “It’s Lottie right? Want to talk about it?”

  Did I? I looked up into Perry’s soft brown eyes and felt the strangest urge to jump into his arms and tell him all my problems.

  “My sister was killed two weeks ago.”

  He cursed and I saw his cheeks turn pink beneath the dark stubble. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

  “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t heard worse.”

  “I remember when she told my father she’d had a vision about me driving Lisa Mullens out to that hotel in St. Johns. Blew all my well-made plans and I never even got out of town.”

  I frowned. “I remember that. Your dad got really mad. Weren’t you twenty-two or something?” I’d always found that weird. My parents had been pretty lenient when it came to sex so Maddy and I had thought it strange that our neighbor’s father showed up to ream him for getting it on with a girl. Obviously things were vastly different in Newfoundland.

  “Something like that.”

  “You could have just told your dad to mind his own business.”

  His eyebrows drew together in a frown. “I could have, but he was right. It was stupid and dangerous.”

  My confusion must have shown, because he shrugged and looked away. “According to your sister, I would have gotten Lisa pregnant if we’d gone.”

  Okay, that made a bit more sense. Still, it was weird for his father to go all ape-shit over it when he couldn’t possibly have known Maddy really could predict the future like that. The man had been out of his mind with anger and I could recall him making threats that involved the use of a sharp knife against his son’s privates.

  “How did your sister die?” His voice was soft and inviting. Tears pricked my eyes and I had to bite my lip to keep them from spilling out.

  “I—I don’t think I can talk about it.” Something told me if I told him one thing my mouth would just keep on spilling the details of the last two weeks. My head pounded. I knew there were things I should probably do, like call the rental agency and report that I’d crashed the car, but I was too tired to think. All I wanted was a bed. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

  Chapter Four

  It hadn’t occurred to me there would be no power in the house. My parents had hired a woman to come in and clean before our trips out, but I hadn’t thought to do the same. Thick cobwebs reflected the glow of Perry’s flashlight. I also hadn’t thought to call the electric company to have the power turned back on.

  No power, no water, no heat. Lovely.

  What furniture there was looked dull with layers of dust. The thought of cleaning all this brought a hard lump to my stomach. Thank God my mother hadn’t been into knick-knacks and dust collectors. The furniture had all come from garage sales so it was an eclectic collection of old-lady cast-offs and cottage-style pine.

  I shuddered and tossed my bag onto the couch, raising a cloud of dust into the gloomy light cast by Perry’s flashlight.

  “You sure you want to stay here? I have a king-size bed you could share.”

  I rolled my eyes and stepped forward, determined to ignore the swirl of heat his words sent through my stomach. “Do you always come on to women like this?”

  “Only the pretty ones. Seriously, you can’t stay here tonight, it’s gross.”

  That was certainly true, but I wasn’t going to hop into bed with a stranger to avoid dust bunnies. I had enough on my mind without tossing in an affair with a sexy neighbor. But Maddy did say you’d find love. I snorted at the nagging little voice. Love doesn’t mean getting busy with the first guy who makes a pass.

  And now I was talking to myself. Lovely.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s not as bad as camping.”

  He sighed and handed me the flashlight. “I’ll come check on you in the morning. I’ll call about getting your power hooked up too, and pick you up some groceries.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  He tipped my chin up with one finger and grinned crookedly. “It’s all part of the rescue package.”

  “And what do you normally charge for hero services?” Whoa! Was that my voice sounding all breathless and soft? Was I flirting?

  “That’s negotiable. We’ll discuss terms when you’re not ready to collapse onto the floor.”

  He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to mine. While I was still struggling to catch my breath, he turned and left. I thought I heard him curse as he let himself out the door, but I couldn’t be sure. I was too busy trying not to collapse onto the floor.

  * * *

  At first I didn’t know where I was, or why I was waking up in the middle of the night. The dregs of a dream drifted away, leaving me with tingly skin and a longing for a slightly scruffy man with eyes like melted chocolate. Weird.

  Then I breathed in the stale scent of the linens under me, sneezed violently and it all came back.

  I was in Newfoundland.

  With a groan, I rolled over and pressed the light on my watch. It took me a minute to realize I’d slept straight through the day and into the following night.

  It was the night before Halloween. Well technically it was early Halloween morning here, but back in Ontario it was still just a bit before D-day.

  My heart thumped rapidly against my ribs. For the first time I wondered what the heck I’d been thinking. Running away wasn’t going to solve my problems. Sure maybe the killer wouldn’t find me in time for Halloween. Did that mean he’d give up? No. The minute I
returned to Toronto he’d be after me again.

  All I’d done was delay the inevitable.

  But Maddy was never wrong. If she said he’d get me on Halloween, he’d get me on Halloween. Had I given myself a year’s respite or was I deluding myself about being safe here? My head was starting to spin with possibilities, consequences and outcomes, which, when I forced myself to push it aside, didn’t make sense. None of her predictions had ever been complicated. It was just “this is going to happen” then it happened.

  I was probably over-thinking the whole thing.

  I crawled out from the dingy blanket and ran my fingers through my hair. Gross. The amount of dust collected there made each strand feel about an inch thick. I could feel my pores clogging up and there was that strange tickly feeling on my back like I had spiders skittering around under my shirt.

  To my surprise, the bathroom light came on when I flicked the switch. With a mental note to thank Perry when I saw him again, I turned on the shower and watched, fascinated, as the avocado green tub swirled with brown. More than dirt washed down the drain. Little bugs scrambled for safety, but in the end lost the war against the battering water. I felt a little guilty about it. I had no problem with bugs as long as they weren’t in my house. I’m one of those people who usually scoops up spiders and takes them outside rather than squishing them with a magazine.

  Half an hour later I was clean, still dripping wet and wandering around the house naked because I’d realized too late there would be no clean towels.

  True to his word, Perry had come in while I’d slept and stocked the fridge. His choices offered an interesting insight to the man. Yogurt, fresh fruit and no-fat milk. Yeesh. There were eggs, the omega-3 kind that were more expensive but promised added health benefits, a bag of baby carrots, some broccoli and green peppers. A white brick-like thing caught my eye. Tofu? Dear God, my big burly neighbor was a vegetarian? Worse, there was not a single bite of chocolate to be found.

  Well, nobody was perfect.

  A floorboard creaked softly and I froze, my naked butt still hanging out of the refrigerator, and beautifully backlit by the little light that hadn’t worked last time we’d been here.

  “Perry?” I whispered.

  No answer.

  Letting the door shut quietly I moved to the front door. Locked. How had Perry gotten in with the food?

  Another creak, unmistakably a footstep this time. Blood pounded in my ears. The stalker had found me.

  I ran.

  The screen door flew open with a screech of stiff hinges and banged against the wooden frame like a gunshot in the night. The old deck boards bounced beneath my feet as I thundered across them. At the base of the steps I skidded to a halt.

  Under the light of a half-moon, I saw it standing on the lawn. Silver light played over its body, making the massive rack shine like ebony. Overgrown grass caressed its gangly legs.

  Holy crap it was big! I mean I know people call them the giants of the forest, but until you’re only feet away from one, you just don’t appreciate how true that statement really is. Up until now I’d been sure that expecting a moose to save me was foolish. Now, seeing one up close, I could imagine the oddly beautiful creature doing anything. Like Superman and Lassie all rolled into one.

  Well if it was suppose to protect me, it could start now. I sprinted across the lawn and ducked behind its bulk. Maybe ducking wasn’t necessary since it was tall enough to hide a pro basketball player, but I was going on instinct. Hugging to its side I drew in ragged breaths and waited for my heart rate to slow.

  A spicy scent drifted through the cloud of panic fogging my brain. Huh. I’d always thought moose would smell musty, like stagnant water and rotting leaves.

  Now, maybe sprinting towards a moose in the dark while completely naked wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done. In hindsight I’d have to say it ranked up there with some of my dumbest ideas, but I trusted my sister. If she was watching this from wherever it is you go when you die, I hoped she took it as a sign that I really did respect her visions. Then again she was probably laughing her halo off.

  The moose regarded me with appalled shock, as if it didn’t know what to make of this pale creature clinging to his side. Craning his neck further, he pressed his round nose against my shoulder and I had the feeling I was being sniffed. When its nose brushed against my breast I nudged it away. When that nose went a little further south I gave it an annoyed slap.

  “Mind your manners.”

  With a snort, the animal blew warm, misty breath over my stomach and then moved off into the trees towards Perry’s house.

  “Well that’s just great,” I muttered. What the heck was I supposed to do now? Stand out here naked or go back into the house and confront a psycho killer? Not the best options. And darn it, why didn’t I pack a bathrobe? At least I wouldn’t be out here naked and freezing my—

  “Are you out of your flippin’ mind?”

  Turning, I saw Perry stomping out of the forest. I groaned and considered trying to hide in the tall grass, but I’d never been a coward. I crossed my arms under my breasts and turned to greet my neighbor. “Hi, how’s it going?” I called cheerfully, hoping my voice sounded casual, like I walked around naked in the moonlight on a regular basis. I watched Perry’s face contort as he worked through his anger and shock. Actually it would have been funny if I hadn’t been about to die of embarrassment.

  “Don’t you know that moose are dangerous animals? How could you just run up to one like that?”

  I winced. “I um, have a way with animals.”

  He threw his hands up into the air. “And everyone thought your sister was crazy! You got a death wish, lady?”

  Now would be the perfect time to explain that I was actually trying to get myself out of a death sentence, but I didn’t know if he’d believe me. At this exact moment I didn’t think my credibility was too high.

  I was starting to shiver, and was feeling pretty foolish now that I had time to think about what I’d done. Having someone else point out my stupidity didn’t help.

  He hesitated a second then shrugged out of his flannel shirt and helped me into it. His hands were warm against my arms. Amused, I watched his hands tremble as he tried to do up the buttons. Finally he looked up at me and ground out something that sounded like “Bugger it” before he kissed me.

  His arms drew me in tight and I realized just how strong this man was. Desire licked through my stomach, my breasts began to tingle and I felt a singe of something shoot straight to my loins. I finally understood what real hunger was.

  It was like drowning, or jumping out of a plane. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced in my life. The daring dreams from my youth had nothing on the reality of this man’s lips on mine.

  His hands slipped inside the half-buttoned shirt, hot as flames on my chilled flesh, and just that simple touch on my waist made everything in my body flip over. He didn’t push, didn’t demand anything, but that simple kiss felt like a branding, a claiming. Dear God!

  After a few minutes he shuddered and carefully set me away from him. He drew in a ragged breath and ran his fingers through his hair. My gaze was drawn to his shirt where a moose in a tuxedo stood with a martini in one hoof while pointing a gun with the other. Along the bottom of the graphic it read “The Moose Who Loved Me”.

  Something clicked in my brain. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to trust an actual moose. This was the second shirt I’d seen Perry wear that showed a moose on it. Could Maddy’s prediction have been less literal than usual? If that was true then I’d done something very, very stupid tonight.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. I don’t know what it is about you, Lottie.”

  “Maybe you have a thing for crazy women,” I commented, still reeling from the combined shock of Perry’s kiss and the realization that he may be the key to my survival.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy. You scared the hell out of me and I didn’t deal with it very well.
” As he spoke he dropped his forehead gently against mine and closed his eyes. My heart melted. I loved that forehead-to-forehead thing.

  “Oh, I’d have to argue with you there.” I grinned.

  An animal-like growl came from his throat and he closed the distance between us again, but to my disappointment, he simply pulled me into his arms. “Christ, I need to get a grip before I throw you to the ground and have my way with you a dozen times.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I squeaked against his chest. His laugh rumbled out, making both our bodies tremble.

  “You’re a fine one, Lottie MacElwain, but it’s too dangerous. Go inside and put on some clothes.”

  “I can’t go inside. There’s someone in there.”

  His head came up. “What?”

  “You don’t think I ran out here naked on purpose did you? I got out of the shower and heard footsteps.”

  His eyes hardened, grew more intense. “Stay behind me.”

  A little confused about the sudden change in him, I followed, though I didn’t expect we’d find anything. Half the town could have tromped into the house bearing welcome-to-the-neighborhood casseroles and I wouldn’t have noticed. The intruder would be long gone.

  There was nobody in the house. Surprise! We searched every room and found nothing but dust and cobwebs.

  “Could have been a mouse,” he suggested when we were back in the kitchen scrambling eggs and making toast for a very early breakfast. We’d had to scrub the counters and wash all the dishes. Thankfully, Perry had included dish soap in his grocery shopping.

  “It wasn’t a mouse,” I grumped, slopping milk into the bowl of eggs. “Maybe it was you. How’d you get in here with the food, anyway?”

  His head whipped around so fast I heard a soft snap. “I wasn’t sneaking around in your house, and I picked the lock when I came with the groceries. You might want to replace the knob. It was pathetically easy to get in here.”

  I hadn’t really thought it was him. He’d have made more noise, as big as he was. “What were you doing wandering around outside in the middle of the night?”