Blood Haze (28 page)

She
splashed cold water on her face, hoping to revive herself, but still she felt
nothing. She had to figure out some way to move past this. The problem was, it
felt as if part of her soul was missing. He’d been her other half. She didn’t
know how to make it. She didn’t know who she was now. Drawing in an unsteady
breath, she shuffled into her bedroom and grabbed her cellphone. Quickly,
before she lost her nerve, she dialed a number she’d been determined never to
call again. The phone rang twice before being answered. “Hello?”

“Drew?
It’s… it’s me,” she said shakily.

“Oh,
God! Arabella! I can’t believe you called. I thought you’d never call. Can I
see you?” he said quickly.

“Drew…
I could really use a friend, right now. Can you do that?” she asked dully.

Silence
met her words and she waited for the hammer of rejection to be lowered once
again. “We’ve always been friends, Ara. No matter what, it’s been you and me. I
just got my casts off yesterday. Can we meet somewhere?”

She
swallowed at the tide of emotions his acceptance of her brought. “I’d like
that,” she said softly. “I’d really like that.”

They
agreed to meet at a local Mexican restaurant at noon. She had to try on numerous
outfits just to find something that fit. She arrived a few minutes late. She
found Drew, dressed casually in jeans and a white, long-sleeved dress-shirt,
left untucked. He looked good… familiar. Her heart caught when she saw him.
She’d missed him, missed his friendship. Tears threatened when he hugged her
and she struggled to rein them in.

He
held her tight when her body began to tremble. “God, Ara,” he mumbled against
her ear. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve
missed you too.”

He
pulled back and led her into the restaurant. Once they were seated and had
placed their drink order, he studied her face. “I’ve got to say… you look…
terrible,” he said with a grin.

She
gave him a small smile. “It’s been a little rough,” she admitted. “You, on the
other hand, look great.”

He
smiled at her. “It’s been a tough time for me as well, but I think things are
turning around. I went back to work this week, even though the casts weren’t
off. That was difficult, what with the bulk of my work being done on the
computer,” he said with a laugh, as he mimicked a show of punching computer
keys with the hunt-and-peck method.

She
smiled easily this time. This felt good… normal. Maybe she could move forward.
Not with Drew, no, she knew now that she didn’t love him like that, but maybe
she could move forward with her life. It was at that point she knew she needed
to move away from this place. Start someplace new and fresh.

“So
what are your plans for the rest of the day,” he asked as he shoveled most of
the food she’d left on her plate onto his own. It was obvious, his appetite
hadn’t been affected.

“I
don’t know. I really need to go through Ian’s things from his apartment. Decide
what to keep and what to get rid of.”

“Why
don’t I come help you with that?” he said.

“Really?
You’d do that?”

“Of
course. I’d do anything for you. You know that,” he replied easily.

She
watched the ice in her glass as the cubes swam around her glass of water.
“Drew… it can’t be what it was before,” she said softly.

He
hesitated, in his inhalation of the food. “What?”

“I
don’t feel that way about you anymore. I’ve moved past it. And be honest, it
never was what it should have been. You knew that. It just took me longer to
figure it out. You deserve someone who can love you the right way.”

He
eyed her intently for several long minutes. “And what if I think you’re wrong?”

Slowly,
she shook her head. “That’s over, Drew. We both know it. But I really want us
to be friends. We were really great friends once. I think we could be again.”

He
set his fork down carefully. “Friends?”

She
nodded.

“I
love you, Ara!” he said intently.

“I
know you do and I love you. Just not in that way.”

“I
don’t know if I can do that, Ara,” he eventually said.

She
closed her eyes. She desperately needed a friend, but it was now apparent, it couldn’t
be Drew. There was no going back, she guessed. “Well, you think it over and let
me know. Okay?” she said as she rose from the booth, placing enough money on
the table for her part of the bill.

“I’ve
got it!” he snapped, clearly frustrated by the turn of events.

“I
miss you, Drew. Truly, I do.” With that, she walked out of the restaurant as a
hundred different emotions filled her.

Once
she arrived back home, she immediately set out to do what she’d told him she
was going to do – sort Ian’s things. She plugged her Ipod into the speakers and
turned the volume up loud. Then, she pulled one box after the other into the
living room and began a pile of things to keep and things to toss. It was very
bittersweet; bitter at Ian’s loss, and sweet because she was finally doing
something productive.

As
the house darkened, it surprised her at how quickly the afternoon had gone by.
She glanced at the few remaining boxes in Ian’s room. She told herself she‘d do
one more box today, then finish up tomorrow. One task completed. She felt good…
almost human again. She dragged the last box out and began to go through the
papers which had been crammed in the built-in desk at this apartment.

There
were different types of bills: electric; water; insurance; and his gym membership.
She found several notes her mother must have left for him before she died.
Usually, they were nothing but instructions on what temperature to wash certain
clothes, or a recipe of some kind. It tugged at her heart to see her mother’s
handwriting. She missed her so damned much! She held the paper up to her nose
and tried to inhale her fragrance, but no scent lingered. Sighing heavily, and
stretching to remove the ache in her back, she stared defiantly at the papers
in the bottom of the box. She considered tossing it all in the trash, but
pushed on through her sorting.

She’d
gotten to the very bottom of the box and after coming across an old flyer of a
missing cat, she stilled. There in the bottom of the box was an envelope,
written in her mother’s handwriting, with her name scrawled across it. With
hands that trembled for some reason, she fished the envelope out and traced
Arabella
with her forefinger. Why would
Ian have this?

Taking
a deep breath, she tore the envelope open and read the last words her mother
had left for her.

Arabella,

You
have always been such a bright, shining star in my life. You were the only
person who truly, truly knew what this gift/curse meant. Of all the things I
wish I could have given you, this ‘gift’ wasn’t ever one of them. Selfishly,
I’ve been happy to have someone share in it with me.

If
you’re reading this letter, then everything I’ve tried to do has failed and
both Ian and I are now gone. I’m so sorry, my beautiful Arabella, that you will
have to face the evils out there alone. And make no mistake, there is evil out
there. It lingers in the air and pounces when you least expect it… and I was
expecting it. I’d seen it coming, long before it came. I tried to stop this
chain of events, tried to keep everyone safe, but apparently, I’ve failed.

Be
careful of who you trust… and who you love. Things aren’t always as they
appear. There are things in this world you aren’t aware of yet, but the time is
coming when it will be revealed. I discovered these things at Night Shade. Stay
away from there, it is filled with evil. My prayer is that you find this letter
before you stray onto those grounds. I’ve seen things from there, my killer
lives within its walls. Promise me, you’ll never cross its threshold.

That
being said, there is one who is not the same as the others. If you find him -
trust him, he will save you. He is the only one who can. Be safe, my darling
girl. Be strong. I’m with you every day in your heart.

                                                              
  
I love you, Mom

She
didn’t know how long she sat there with the letter grasped within her hands.
What did her mother have to do with Night Shade? What did she mean,
her killer lived within its walls
? Could
Lynx have had something to do with her death? She huffed in frustration, she
wished her mother would have just told her what had happened. No, it couldn’t
have been Lynx. There was no way, he’d be a killer. A jerk, maybe, but not a
killer. While she couldn’t see Lynx being a killer, she could certainly see
Nicolas Rogan being one.
 
But why would
he kill her mother? Well, there was one way to find out. She’d go and confront
them.

Rising
quickly before she lost her nerve, she gathered her purse, cellphone, and keys
and headed out to her car. She sat for a moment. What if something happened to
her while she was at Night Shade? Who’d even miss her? She scoffed at the
notion. Jamming the car into reverse, she drove through the darkened streets
thinking about her mother’s note. It’d been so cryptic. She didn’t understand
it at all. Evil? What evil was there? She’d find out soon enough!

She
was surprised to see Night Shade lit up brightly and vehicles lining the drive.
She had to park way down the lane. Where they having a party of some kind? She
got out of her car and wavered momentarily. What if Lynx was with someone else?
Could she really endure that? She shook off the thought. This wasn’t about
them, it was about her mother and finding the truth.

She
had to walk about a quarter mile up the lane to finally reach the house. It
seemed that almost everyone from town had been invited to this party. Everyone
with the exception of her. What did she expect? She moved to the front door and
wiped her sweaty hands against her thighs.
Here
goes nothing
, she thought.

Quietly
at first, then harder, she tapped the antique knocker against its metal plate.
When she got no answer, she tried again. Again, no answer. Anger began to build
up inside her. It heated parts of her that had been dormant for weeks. A quiver
of nerves almost had her turning around, but instead, she grasped the doorknob
in her hand and twisted. The door opened with a heavy creak.

She
walked in slowly. The house was silent, eerily so. She stood still and listened
intently to where the big crowd of people could be, but still she heard
nothing. She stepped forward and almost called out, but suddenly shut her
mouth. She placed a foot on the bottom step of the staircase, but hesitated.
Where could they be?

She
remembered the dining room where she’d eaten breakfast. It would have been big
enough to hold a large number of people. She began making her way in that
direction. The double-doors to the dining room were closed. She wrapped both
hands around the doorknobs and twisted. She blinked against the black-spots
which appeared in front of her eyes. Weird images began to appear. People
dressed up in long dresses and black-tie tuxedos. They were masked, laughing
and dancing around the room, as music swirled around them. She shook her head
and swiped at the small trickle of blood under her nose. She couldn’t do this.
She didn’t want this.

She
pushed the doors opened expecting to see people circling the dance floor.
Instead of the happy gaiety she’d expected, she saw death. Piles and piles of
it. Involuntarily, she opened her mouth and screamed. Fear flooded her body
making her immobile. She glanced around frantically, begging for someone to
explain the broadband of destruction. But there was no one left alive. Her legs
gave out underneath her and she crumpled among the bodies, at least a hundred
of them. She knew she should back out of the room and run, but she couldn’t
move. Her heart pounded as her eyes took in the morbid scene around her. “God,
oh God!” she whimpered over and over.

To
her left, a door opened suddenly and Nicolas Rogan appeared. He was dressed as
the others in tuxedo and black-tie. He seemed to be searching for something and
then his lips curled cruelly when his eyes fell on her.

He
slowly shook his head. “I almost didn’t recognize you the day we met. My apologies
for that. You won’t remember, but we’ve met before. The day your mother died.”

“It
was you?” she whimpered.

He
straightened his jacket and walked closer to her. “It was me, what?” he asked.

“You…
you killed my mother?”

He
gave a dismissive shake of his head. “She was going to expose us. I couldn’t
allow that!”

“You’re…
you’re a monster,” she gasped.

He
smiled evilly. “I am, am I? Well, let’s just see who you consider the real
monster.”

He
snatched her arm cruelly and forced her up with her arm shoved up behind her.
Fear caused her legs to feel like noodles and she struggled to remain upright.
He propelled her forward nearly effortlessly. He forced her up the marble
staircase. Was he taking her to Lynx? Please dear God, let that be the case.
Lynx would save her from this monster… wouldn’t he? Maybe he’d known all along
about her mother… maybe, he’d been part of it.