She had spoken to him.
It was her voice.
Why had she not revealed herself before? Why did she wait through a year of his suffering? Is that what she wanted? Or was there … was it…
Nausea crept through his chest, causing him to stumble, his hands reaching for a nearby rock.
He steadied himself and latched onto a nearby tree, breathing heavily.
He’d been running. It felt like hours now.
Surely he must be almost there. Surely it could not be so far.
If only she would speak to him again. Reassure him. Let him know that he was nearly there.
But no voice came.
Bastian trudged on, the wind blowing in his face, the bristling rain dampening his brow. He had never felt so weak before. So powerless.
Is this what she was doing to him? Or was it from before…?
And…
Phillipa –
He must reach the Prudence before she could get to her.
Perhaps… Perhaps it was too late…
Bastian edged through the waving branches filled with leaves and found himself standing at the open gateway to his palace. He was so stunned and jubilant at the same time, he dropped to his knees and let out of a cry of laughter.
His eyes moved around the palace’s exterior, and up towards the tower where he had seen her.
A figure in red moved away out of sight.
“Prudence!” Bastian called out. “Prudence, I’m coming!”
He dragged his knees off the ground and bolted through the courtyard to the palace’s entrance. He passed underneath the archway and pushed through the double doors. He ran through the carpeted corridor and climbed a set of steps at the end. He passed through several passage ways until he reached the door to the tower, and the set of spiraling stairs leading up.
Once he’d reached the roof of the tower, he pushed open the latch and hoisted himself through.
Climbing to his feet he stared at the ledge, his mouth open with shock.
A blonde haired woman wearing an all too familiar red dress stood there looking out across the island, her back towards him.
“Prudence,” Bastian whispered. “You’ve come back to me.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A white door in the clouds. It was standing there. It was waiting for her.
Christine’s eyes drifted through the nothingness of the atmosphere. Such warmth, all around. Everything was suspended. At ease. She could take as much time as she wanted.
Her eyes moved to the door again. It was for her, she was sure of that.
She looked down at her feet and saw she was wearing soft, silky slippers. Below her the ground was transparent. It was there. It existed. But she could see all that lay beyond it.
The door.
Her fingers were reaching for the handle.
She turned the knob slowly and pushed it open a touch.
Nothing surprising. Nothing to cause alarm.
She was still in the same place.
The door had no walls around it. None, that she could see.
Her friend was waiting on the other side. She was sitting on top a solid white platform, not quite looking at her, but not looking away either.
Christine walked to the platform and sat beside her.
“I should have known it was you,” Christine said. “Have you been waiting long?”
Prudence smiled. “Oh no. Not long at all.”
“Are you sure? It feels as though … it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“We’ve just both been busy,” Pru said. “You have your life. And I have mine.”
“I know that,” Christine replied. “But … I’ve been worried. I…”
“You don’t have to worry about me though. You know I’m fine without you. I always have been. We can’t stay friends forever.”
Christine inhaled deeply.
“Did you have a nice wedding?” Pru asked.
“You – you know about my wedding…?”
“Of course. I’ve seen all the pictures. I wish I could have been there.”
“I wish you were there too.”
“It doesn’t matter though, because you’re happy,” Pru said. “You’re happy, I’m happy. Everyone is okay. Just look around you. Do you see anything to be afraid of here?”
Christine looked around. In the distance she could hear chimes.
“No.”
“Are you ready to say goodbye?”
Christine hunched over. “Goodbye? Goodbye to what?”
“To me. I’m gone you see. Gone forever. But its peaceful here.”
“I can see you. You’re not gone.”
Pru touched her back. “I’m just trying to help.”
Christine stood up. “I don’t know if I can leave you here. By yourself. You should come with me.”
Pru lay down on her back, outstretched. “I can’t. I’m too happy.”
“I… I…”
“Just let go, Christine.”
“No, I –”
“Let go for both of us.”
“Is that what you want?”
Pru nodded.
“Well, alright.” She straightened herself. “You really are okay here, aren’t you?”
“How many times do I have to say it?” Pru giggled. “Run along then.”
Christine bowed her head. “Goodbye.”
As she turned back to the door, she realized that of course – she was dreaming. She hadn’t woken yet. It was so strange that she would see Pru this way, in these conditions. Maybe … maybe Pru was dead? Is that what this was –
Christine stopped at the doorway. She could feel herself waking.
She turned around to look at Prudence one last time.
“HELP ME CHRISTINE!” Pru screamed at her. “HE’S FUCKING LYING TO YOU! YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN –”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Christine sprung upright in bed, a tortured squeal exiting her throat. The horrifying depiction of Prudence and her wretched expression faded before her eyes into the darkness of the room. Beside her, Raymond reached over and turned on the lamplight, sitting up in bed with her.
“What is it?” he asked, touching her shoulder. “Bad dream?”
Christine turned to him, shaken. “It was Prudence.”
“Prudence? Where?”
“I … I was sitting next to her…”
“In your dream?”
“At first she said everything was okay and I should say goodbye. We … just go our separate ways. It was so weird. In the dream I knew I was dreaming, and I thought this is trying to tell me something – trying to tell me to move on –”
“Okay, okay,” Raymond said. “Just… Calm down. You don’t have to get it out all at once.”
Christine turned to him. “But then I looked back at her and her whole body had changed. She was like a completely different person, but it was still Prudence.”
“Okay…”
“She was screaming at me. Crying for help.”
“Well, it’s … it’s alright now. It was just a dream.”
Christine shook her head. “No.”
She pulled the cover off the bed and stood up. She hurried to the closet and began to get dressed.
“What are you doing?” Raymond asked.
“It’s like she was trying to give me a message,” Christine said. “Like she’s in danger, or –”
“It was just a dream, darling,” Raymond interrupted. “Come back to bed.”
“I can’t. I’ve got to do something.”
She rushed into the bathroom and ran the cold water. She splashed it in her face and then picked up a brush to comb her hair.
Raymond stood at the edge of the doorway.
“Would you please tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
“I don’t know!” Christine cried, slamming the brush onto the counter. “But I can’t just sit here anymore. Prudence is out there!”
Raymond stepped into the bath
room and closed the door behind him.
He stood there, blocking her pathway.
“Please move,” Christine said, marching towards him.
“Not until you start thinking rationally.”
“Raymond!”
The pair struggled a moment, before Christine collapsed, sobbing. Raymond got down beside her.
“I can’t do this,” Christine said. “I can’t keep still.”
He pulled her into him and held her.
“These are terrible times, I know,” he said. “But you’ve got to keep it together. You’ve got to stay focused. You’re smarter than this.”
Christine pulled away from him, to look into his eyes. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see her.”
“In the dream?”
“I don’t care that it was a dream!” Christine shouted. “With all the crazy shit going on? I believe that was Prudence. And she needs our help.”
“But we have been trying to help her. There’s nothing we can do. We don’t know where she is.”
“She … she said something…”
“What?”
Christine pulled a tissue from the counter and leant against it, dabbing her eyes.
“What did she say?” Raymond repeated.
“She said ‘He’s fucking lying.’ God, I can still hear her voice.”
“Who is lying?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think about it. I … Maybe it’s a clue.”
“Well,” Raymond said softly, “if this was real. And Pru really did mean to say it … She must mean Bastian was lying.”
“About what?”
“About what he said to us today. That he was looking for her. That she wasn’t with him, but with Reese.”
“Reese?” Christine looked up at him.
“That’s what he said.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“Well, that’s what I heard.”
“Why would she be with Reese? That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, he’s lying so it doesn’t matter anyway.” Raymond stood up. “The point is, with Reese watching the maze, we’re doing everything we can to find Bastian. There’s nowhere else we can go. Nothing else to follow up.”
“I know, I know,” Christine muttered.
“So … can we just … go back to bed now…?”
Her face felt cold. Dead.
Her hands fell.
“Okay,” she nodded.
Raymond switched off the bathroom light and closed the door behind her.
He went to his side of the bed, and she went to hers.
They both sat down.
“Unless,” Christine said suddenly.
Raymond peered over at her. “Unless what?”
“Unless it was Reese who was lying,” Christine whispered. “And not Bastian…”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It was after midnight. Reese’s motorcycle sailed across the empty freeway till it was just a blip on the horizon. He passed underneath a bridge. Through the inside of a tunnel. The streetlights made the rain glitter.
The bike’s tires came to a slow as they rolled up to the top of his driveway, and into the open garage. He climbed off the seat and took his keys out, discarding his helmet to the floor.
He pointed his keychain at the opening to the driveway and the roller door came down. He entered the house.
The lights were all out. He stood in the centre of the kitchen, surrounded by the darkness, his ears prickled and listening. Nothing. Just the wind outside.
He bent down to the fridge and opened it, pulling out a beer.
There was some guilt in this now. Some belief that perhaps he should have stayed by the maze longer. It didn’t seem as though the vampire was coming, and he’d already waited and waited and … Of course he knew what had happened. Elliot had broken his patience.
Reese twisted off the beer’s cap and tossed it into the sink. He walked through the kitchen’s opening out into living area, whereby he moved his hand across the wall to find the light.
Once on, he could see his couch was undisturbed. He looked towards the direction of his bedroom a moment, something occurring in the back of his mind. He then gave a snort and switched on the T.V.
Ten minutes later, and halfway through the beer, Reese could hear his phone vibrating on the kitchen bench behind him. He got up and walked over to it, his eyes narrowing.
Elliot.
Reese drank the rest of the beer in one long swig and then walked away from the bench with the phone in his hand. He stopped outside the sliding door leading out to the back. He unlocked it and shoved it open, then shut.
“Hello?” he answered the phone in a soft voice.
“Reese?” came Elliot’s distorted reply.
“You have dialed me.”
“Are you still at the maze gardens?”
“No,” Reese said, looking around. “I decided to call it a night.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“What is it?”
“I just heard from Christine. She reckons she knows where to find Bastian.”
“What?” Reese said quickly. “Where?”
“She says she wants to group together. In person. It’s time sensitive.”
“Well, where is she?”
“At her house. I’m heading over there now, and picking her and Raymond up. I think they want to come round to yours. If that’s alright.”
“Here? She wants to come here?”
“Is that a problem?”
Reese hesitated. “No. No, it shouldn’t be.”
“Your partner isn’t around?”
“No…” Reese said faintly. “No, he isn’t…”
“We’ll see you in half an hour then. Take care.”
Elliot hung up.
Reese remained where he was for a few minutes. He didn’t even notice the rain.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Christine was the first one out of the cab. She hurried up the driveway using her arm as a shield against the rain. Raymond joined her on the porch shortly after. The motion sensor light had switched on, but there was no sign that anyone was coming to the front door. They waited for Elliot before proceeding to knock.
After a dozen seconds or so the front door opened and Reese greeted them. He led them through to the lounge room which was amicably clean and tidy, if a little sparse. The lights stopped here, shadows steeping into other areas of the house.
“Sit down,” Reese said motioning to the couch. “Can I get anyone a drink or something?”
Christine shook her head. Raymond looked as though he was going to say something but stopped short.
Elliot appeared to have not heard the question.
“Has something happened?” Reese said walking over to the far window, drawing the blinds. “Something I’m not aware of?”
“We have some things to talk about,” Christine said stiffly.
“I know, that’s why you’re here,” Reese said with his back to them. He put his hand on the sliding door to make sure it was locked.
“Can I use your bathroom?” Raymond asked.
“Of course.” Reese turned around. He walked over to them, his face expressionless. “There’s a bathroom down there.”
Raymond stood up and looked over his shoulder. “Down there?”
“Yes. On the left. Near the end of the hall.”
Raymond followed his directions.
Christine glanced over at Elliot.
“What is going on?” Reese said through his teeth. “Where – where do you think Bastian is?”
“I was lying,” Christine confessed. “I don’t know where he is.”
Elliot exhaled. “I’m sorry, Reese.”
Reese shrugged. “Then what is it?”
“When did you last see Prudence?” Christine asked.
Reese blinked. “When did I – what are you –”
“Answer the question.”
“The same night as anyone else. I explained this already. There was a sch
eme hatched for Pru to steal Bastian’s wedding ring. That would sever his hold over her. I took her back to the house and…”
“And what?”
“And that was all.”
“So for all we know, she never even went back to Bastian?”
“What are you getting at, Christine?” Elliot piped up. “You think Reese had something to do with her disappearance? Why on earth would he –”
“I don’t know!” Christine shouted. “Call it a sixth sense. I have a funny feeling about what happened that night and I’m not sure we know the full story!”
Reese folded his arms. “I understand the importance of covering all bases. I do. Whether we want to accept it or not – it’s pretty clear what happened to Prudence.”
Christine swallowed. “What?”
“Bastian’s killed her. I’m sorry.”
Reese’s eyes flinched a moment as the toilet flushed down the hall. As Raymond could be heard moving about the bathroom, his attention shifted back to Christine.
As if it had never left.
“Can I take a look around?” Christine asked, standing up.
“Why do you want to do that?” Reese replied.
“To see if she’s been here. If … if she’s still here…”
Reese seemed agitated.
“Just let her look around,” Elliot said. “You don’t have anything to hide.”
Raymond reentered from the hall. “What’s going on?”
“I asked him to see if I can look around,” Christine said, grabbing his hand. “He hasn’t given his permission yet.”
“So you just flat out accused him?” Raymond murmured.
“Reese?” Elliot persisted.
“Very well,” Reese sighed. “You know, I thought … I thought you guys were my friends…”
He walked past them down to the kitchen, going to the fridge for a beer.
Christine put her hand into the hallway and found the light switch.
“Make it quick,” Elliot said quietly. “And then apologize.”
They both nodded.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Prudence wasn’t under the bed. She wasn’t hiding in the spare room at the end of the hall, or at the back of the bedroom’s cupboard.
Vampire's Eternity (Vampire's Valentine Book Four) Page 3
