“Hi, yourself. Sorry I’m late,” Ellie said, sliding onto the bench across from Adele.
“I took the liberty of ordering wine today,” Maggie said. “I hope that’s all right.”
No sooner had she spoken than the waiter appeared with a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine. He poured out the glasses while the women chatted. They looked over the menus and gossiped until the waiter was satisfied he had all the orders.
“So, what do you ladies all think about these murders on the beach?” Ursula asked, her face growing serious.
“I don’t know what to think. A space-time continuum thing, maybe?” Dorothy said.
“Do you all know about how the bodies were found?” Ursula asked.
“Random joggers stumbling across them,” Ellie said.
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean the condition of the bodies. It sounds so weird,” Ursula said.
“I heard they were sucked dry or hollow or something like that,” Adele said. “What do you make of it?”
“I think they’re aliens that washed up. Maybe a spaceship crashed somewhere,” Dorothy said.
“Yeah, like Planet of the Apes,” Maggie said, laughing.
“They might be aliens. I’ve heard that they look human but might not be,” Ellie said.
“Maybe someone is killing people in another plane and they are washing up here,” Adele said. The ladies looked at her.
“Why would you think of that?” Maggie asked. “That’s crazy even for Hermana.”
“Well, the stuff with Devin continues on. We go to that other place, in the painting, when we have sex.”
“What do you mean by that? A dream? A vision?” Dorothy asked.
“No. We really go there. It feels so real. Not like meditation or anything like that.”
“What happens?” Maggie asked.
“Nothing so far. There was a big house one time, but when we went back to look for it another time, it was gone.”
“Did you meet other people?” Ursula said.
“Not so far. There was a woman crying in the house, but other than that, there’s been no one around. We always seem to be in a meadow or woods, so I guess running into people isn’t very likely.”
“Maybe it’s just a matter of time. If there’s that one woman, there’s bound to be others,” Maggie offered.
“Does the woman look human?” Dorothy asked.
“From what I saw, she looked like us. But I never saw her face. She was crying into her hands and her hair was hanging over her.”
“She could look like anything, then,” Ellie said. “It’s hard to know.”
“So we have the theories that the bodies are aliens or people from another world,” Ursula said.
“I guess that’s what we have,” Adele said.
“What about a vampire? Or a werewolf?” Maggie asked. The ladies all stared at her intensely.
“You know what you’re implying,” Ursula said.
“I’m just saying. Who knows?” Maggie said.
“But I think those are ruled out. There’s no blood loss, so that rules out vampires. And they aren’t all shredded up, so that rules out werewolves.”
“And they weren’t drowned, so that lets the mermaids off the hook,” Ellie said.
“Pardon me?” Dorothy said. “There’s no such things as mermaids.”
“But there are vampires and werewolves. I never believed in those before either. So who’s to say mermaids aren’t real, or Bigfoot?” Ellie said. “I mean, really.”
“She has a point,” Dorothy said. “We’re quick to believe in aliens from outer space, but God forbid we consider humanoids from the deep.”
The women laughed and puzzled over the idea of mermaids as the waiter brought over more wine.
Adele found that as she drank more wine, the auras weren’t as bright. After a while, she didn’t have to avert her eyes as much. It was refreshing to look at her friends without squinting. The dim light in the tavern helped a lot as well. St. Patrick’s Day decorations were already up and around, the splashes of green shamrocks added vibrancy to the room.
Adele thought about Devin. She wondered if he had finally remembered his trip to Harmoni.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Ellie asked.
Adele shook her head. “Huh?”
“You’re dreaming. You’re so far away.” Ellie took a sip of wine. “Where did you go?”
“I was thinking about Devin,” Adele confessed in a whisper. The other girls were deep in conversation about the song playing in the restaurant.
“He’s a hottie.” Ellie smiled. “So sweet and polite. He really likes you.”
“I thought so too. But he was rather strange with me. At least, when we last went to Harmoni.”
“Why?”
“He was obsessed with finding the house again instead of just enjoying the adventure of being in a strange place.”
“Men do that, you know. They get fixated or have tunnel vision.”
“You said it. He’s a Taurus, so man, was he insistent.”
“Tunnel vision. See?” Ellie nodded knowingly.
“I was a bit miffed when we got back. So I left. But I feel icky about it.”
“Why? You had a bad experience. Today is a new day.”
“I guess.”
“Besides,” Ellie pointed out, “you don’t even know if he was there.”
“It’s funny you should say that. He said he didn’t remember going.” Adele finished her wine. “Well, maybe I really did dream it that time. I wanted to go so bad, maybe I had a vision instead of going there.” She frowned. “But it felt so real. And that time, it was a bit scary. Maybe because I’d never seen that side of Devin before.”
“Everyone has bad days,” Ellie reminded her. “You know that yourself. Maybe he was freaked out or something and couldn’t remember.”
“I don’t know. I just know I don’t feel good about how I just up and left. Yet I was hurt. He was rude to me and it hurt. He had no reason to treat me like that.”
Ellie frowned. “You said yourself it could have been a vision that time. Give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“I want to, believe me,” Adele said.
“So just do it,” Ellie said.
Adele nodded. “I will.”
* * *
After about an hour, Adele excused herself to return to the store. She took her time walking back. The day was at its apex, and sunshine was almost peeking through the dull gray clouds. She decided to go back along the beach. Maybe she could feel something or see something.
She doubted she would, but one never knew unless one tried. Even Natasha must have started somewhere.
Natasha’s words about being patient with Devin rattled around her brain. Or, she’d assumed Natasha had meant Devin.
She spun the thought around a bit, wondering who else Natasha could have meant. There were no other men in her life, unless she was about to meet someone new, and somehow she doubted that.
It had to be Devin.
As she neared the beach, she saw a clump of people standing by the shoreline. The waves were high and foamy that day, and a bitter wind blew strong enough to whip around the damp sand. Adele pulled her scarf up to cover her eyes and took a knitted hat from her pocket. She pulled it down over her face, trying to protect her eyes.
Two cruisers were parked in the public parking lot, and one more was partway down the beach. In the summer, there was a makeshift ramp down to the water for vehicles, but in the winter it was just sad. Adele wondered if the cruiser was stuck.
Drawing closer, she saw a half dozen cops, taking notes and asking questions. They were interspersed with a dozen or so people who stood in a circle, and it wasn’t long before Adele could make out the shape of a body in the center.
Her stomach roiled as she walked closer. She kept expecting the cops to stop her, but none seemed interested in her. The glare of the crowd of auras was blinding. When she looked above the people, she saw a glowi
ng golden ring like a giant halo in the sky. She cast her eyes downward, catching glimpses of the body as she stepped forward.
“Do you know this person, ma’am?” A policeman stood in front of her. He seemed so young, no more than a boy. His strong jaw and square shoulders were firmly set as he stared intently at her with blue eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, an obvious sign he had managed to escape Hermana for part of the winter.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him or her,” Adele said as she stepped forward.
“Take a look, please. We have no ID on her and are hoping maybe someone will recognize her.”
“Sure,” Adele said.
The cop flipped open his notebook to a clean page. “I need your name, age, and occupation.”
Adele gave him the necessary information. When she got to the part about running a lingerie store, he cocked his eyebrow at her.
“Custom-designed lingerie? So you likely had people in your store that maybe other people don’t know.”
“It’s possible,” Adele said. “I can’t remember everyone, but I try. Building a respectful clientele takes some doing.”
“Do you ever have disrespectful clientele?”
“Oh, of course. Some Bible Belt tourists are very difficult. I think it’s because they come to town with a chip on their shoulder. They think they’re in Satanville. I don’t even know why they come. And to a lingerie store? Can you say hypocrite or paradox or God knows their reasoning?”
“I also meant, well, showgirls, such as strippers.” The young officer’s face turned beet red, right up to the roots of his sandy-blond crewcut.
“Sometimes I think I have prostitutes or strippers. But I never really know. Most women have an inner bad girl. That’s what I build my business on,” Adele explained.
The officer cleared a way for Adele to observe the body. She stepped forward and gasped.
The sight before her was more horrifying than if the woman had been chopped up into little tiny pieces. And the smell was putrid, rank like rotten fish.
The young woman’s body was all sunken in. There was slight bruising in her face from being hollowed out.
“Is she missing organs or anything?” Adele asked.
“Everything is intact. Just like the others. She’s all caved in, but we don’t know why. She’s not sucked dry of blood. Do you recognize her?”
Adele stared at her. The woman had something in her hair. Adele reached down to touch it, but the cop moved her hand away.
“You can’t touch anything, ma’am,” he said firmly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just trying to see it,” she said.
The officer leaned down closer to look at the woman’s hair. He stood up triumphant. “It’s a rose petal, ma’am. That’s all.”
“From the ocean? In Hermana in March? I don’t think so.”
“Maybe she was wearing a flower in her hair and it fell off,” he said.
“Sure,” Adele said.
“Do you recognize the body, ma’am?” he asked.
Adele allowed herself to closely examine the corpse. The torso had been sucked in, with only the bone structure protruding through the flesh. Pockets of blood were already pooling. Yet something about the face that didn’t look quite right. It appeared human at first glance, but upon closer inspection, Adele realized it could be something else—something either close to human, or some kind of creature pretending to be human.
The creature’s eyebrows were arches, the ears almost elven. Adele wondered if the other bodies had similar features.
“I’ve never seen this... person before,” Adele said.
“Are you positive, ma’am?” he asked, his pen poised for notes.
“Yes. I’m more than positive. But I do have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Did the other bodies have the same features? The eyebrows, the nose, the ears...”
“I’m not sure, ma’am. I wasn’t at the other discoveries. I’ve been away.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And even so, I’m not sure if I would be allowed to tell you. At least until the next of kin has been notified.”
“Has the next of kin been notified for any of them?”
“Not at this point, ma’am. That much I do know. That’s why I asked you to take a look. We’re asking everyone at this point.”
Adele shook her head and took another look at the shell before her. No matter who the person was, it was sad to be found like this. To have a life end as strangely as this.
“How do you know she wasn’t drowned?” Adele asked.
“She wasn’t. None of them were. There’s no water in the stomach or sign of drowning. They were all found on the water’s edge, perhaps washed up, but not drowned.”
Adele nodded. She didn’t think they’d been drowned either.
“Could they have been dropped from a height? Like a big bird picked them up, carried them a ways, lost its grip and dropped them?”
“Good Lord, lady.” The officer scratched his head. “You’re going to have me doing a lot of thinking tonight.”
“Sorry. Just trying to consider scenarios.”
“It’s easier to stick to reality.”
“Yes, it is,” Adele said, turning away from the body. She pulled her scarf over her nose to mask the smell. “Is that it, then?”
The officer nodded. “Thank you for your time. And suggestions,” he said with a smile. Adele smiled back, though with her scarf in her face, he wouldn’t have seen it.
Adele trembled as she walked away from the clump of curious onlookers. The smell of the body was in her scarf, and she unwrapped it to shake it out. The wind was cold on her face, and she turned from it, walking sideways through the damp, sloping sand. She went back to the road and turned down the alley towards Devin’s loft.
She wasn’t used to seeing dead people, much less any like that. She didn’t know whether she wanted to cry or throw up.
She arrived at Devin’s doorway and knocked. She could hear music from the other side. She waited and looked for a doorbell. There didn’t seem to be one, so she knocked again.
And waited. And waited.
She kicked at the door a few times, certain the music was blocking her efforts at announcing her presence.
No response.
Finally, she put her hand on the doorknob. To her surprise, it turned easily. She knocked loudly as she eased the door open.
The smell of rose incense filled the air, and the music playing was mournful sitars and lutes. Devin’s back was to her as he stood before an enormous easel. She was too far away to clearly see what he was painting, but the colors were dark and dreary.
“Devin?” she called, letting herself in. She shut the door and stood in the hallway. “Devin?” He didn’t turn around. She assumed he was standing too close to the speakers to hear her.
As she drew closer to the painting, she saw Harmoni in ruins. Black, shapeless faces stretched out in rictus howls, eyes glowing yellow slats. In the corner of the painting stood a faceless couple, watching the turmoil swirling around them. High on a hill was the partial rendering of the house in decay.
“Devin?” She put her hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t respond. He continued to paint with one hand, his other slowly stroking his large erection. His eyes were glassy and far away, staring only at the canvas as his brush methodically swept colors across it. He paused only to scoop up more paint from the tray on the little table beside him. His aura mimicked the colors of the painting. Blacks and purples and blues swirling with flashes of gold and smidges of green.
“Devin?” The brush kept swirling, his hand kept pumping. Adele shook her head.
It was all just too much. The body and now this. She turned and walked firmly out the door.
She didn’t know how she was going to teach her class that night. She wondered if Devin would show up for it.
She went home, undressed, and crawled into bed. Perhaps a nap would soothe her jangled nerves.
* * *
By the time she arrived at class, she had managed to pull herself together somewhat. Her nap consisted of about a half hour of tossing and turning and another half hour of browsing through magazines to check out the latest lingerie fashions. She had to get her summer orders in soon or they wouldn’t arrive on time.
She took a shower, made some coffee, and ate a half pound of cheese with crackers. She felt more like herself. But not great.
Water would make her feel better. She grabbed a couple of bottles from the fridge and opened one up. She forced herself to drink the entire thing.
Okay. Maybe I’ve just been dehydrated, she thought.
She pushed the image of the dead girl on the beach from her mind and considered what she should teach the class that night. Maybe they should try something sensuous and sexy. That might be just what her frazzled nerves needed.
* * *
Adele was just about to start her lecture when the door opened and Devin scurried in.
“Sorry I’m late, everyone,” he said as he found an easel and started to unpack.
“No worries,” Adele said. “We’re just getting started.”
Adele glanced over at Devin periodically as she spoke about using color and texture to create sensuous auras around a person in a painting. “Tonight’s exercise is to make your auras ooze sexuality out of the canvas and to the viewer.”
“How on earth are we going to do that?” Madeleine whined. “I can barely capture colors, let alone make them sexy.”
“You can do it, Madeleine. Just imagine the paintbrush is touching your lover’s flesh. Imagine what colors he emits as you elicit different sensations in him.”
“When you put it that way...” Madeleine grinned.
Adele paced around the room as the students worked. Devin smiled at her, his face so innocent that she knew he had no idea she had seen him that afternoon.
She continued on past him, not meeting his eyes or looking at his canvas.
When she had circled the room once, she went to her desk and pulled out a sketchpad. She was going to draw her own version of an aura of sexuality. She looked around the room. Several of the students’ auras shined too brightly for her eyes and she had to look away. For a few of them, she was able to watch their auras change from everyday life colors to undulating, vividly bright colors.
Pisces: Teacher's Pet Page 13
