Viator (The Viator Chronicles Book 1) (8 page)

They continued their walk toward the water. The wind blew harder, smelling of fish and creosote, and they stopped a minute to watch the seagulls swooping over the bay. Two tall men ran past them, dressed in shorts and T-shirts. Erin and Hannah watched them until they turned a corner and were out of sight.

“I haven’t seen them before,” Hannah said. “I wonder if they’re new here.”

“Could be.”

“Runners. That reminds me, you know my friend, Jill? Remember her daughter, Carolyn? The sweet girl who’s on the high school track team?” Hannah said.

“I think so—a pretty, blond girl?” said Erin.

“Yeah. She told Jill she had a dream about you. It was so vivid that she almost thought it was real. I guess you saved her from some big bad monster.”

“Really?” Erin stopped walking; everything around her seemed to stop moving.

“Yes. Isn’t that funny? I wonder why she would dream of you? She was having nightmares for quite a while. Jill thinks it was because she felt too much pressure with school and sports. She didn’t even want to go to sleep anymore she was so afraid. And not getting enough sleep made the stress worse, too. But then you popped into her dream and made the monster go away.” Hannah laughed.

Erin felt shivery and a little weak. “That’s a strange dream.”

Hannah touched Erin’s arm. “What is it?”

Erin kept her eyes on the sidewalk. She shook her head as if trying to shake her thoughts away, but a brief memory of Carolyn on a cliff-face flashed through her mind. “Nothing. It just made me think of my own dreams. They’ve been waking me more often lately. And I can’t get back to sleep. I’ve been so tired I even fell asleep this morning in the shop.”

“This has been going on for a long time.”

Erin looked out over the boats in the marina toward the water and the horizon. A bench was nearby, and she walked to it and sat down. “These dreams started right after the car accident.”

Hannah sat down, too. “That’s right.”

“The vision or dream I had in the hospital before I woke up—where I followed William across the river and tried to bring him back.” Erin’s voice dropped to a whisper. “There was a dark, evil shape that tried to hurt me.” Her whole body shook, and she felt icy cold. Fine drops of sweat broke out on her face.

Hannah looked at her, concern in her eyes. “Erin, it’s all right. It wasn’t real.”

She wiped her face with her arm and shook her head. “Of course not. It was so frightening, though. And even after all this time—just the memory is so scary—it’s as if I saw that creature just last night.” She shivered again and whispered. “Maybe that’s what my nightmares are about.”

“Oh, I hope not,” Hannah said, but Erin saw that Hannah was thinking the same thing.

Erin took a deep breath and stood up. “We’d better head back.”

“You’re right. I’ve got to get started on that cake.”

*****

“I could use some water. Let’s stop here,” Michael said as he and Bruce turned back toward his house on the last leg of their run.

“Got cash?” Bruce asked.

“A little.”

They stopped outside an ice cream and candy shop and paused to catch their breath. The wind picked up again, and some heavy raindrops splattered on the sidewalk. The two men went inside.

“Water and a rocky road cone, please—one scoop,” Michael asked the clerk behind the counter.

“Make mine two scoops of rocky road,” Bruce said.

Michael shook his head as he grinned at his brother. “You always try to outdo me, don’t you?”

“Always.”

“You’ll never be able to.”

“Hah!”

They sat down at a table by the window to eat their ice cream and watch the people outside as they rushed to get out of the rain.

“There’s the two women you noticed by the water,” said Bruce. “They just walked past.”

“Yes,” Michael said.

“What struck you about them?”

“The brown-haired one looks familiar. I think I’ve met her before, but I can’t place where,” Michael said with a shrug.

“She doesn’t look familiar to me.” Bruce stood up. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Michael drained his cup. “Let’s go.”

They ran out the door into the rain.

Bruce said, “There they are again—in the next block.”

The brothers slowed to a jog and watched as one of the women called out goodbye and went into a music store. The blond kept walking. As they ran past, Michael wondered where he had seen the woman.
Small. Dark hair.
Something about her tickled his memory, and he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

Chapter 10

Erin closed and locked the music store’s door and walked the short distance to her car. The clouds had rolled away, sunshine warmed her face and hair, and the breeze smelled like the salty Puget Sound. She breathed deeply and felt a surge of contentment. Tomorrow would be a sunny day, and Matthew was going to have a wonderful birthday. She headed home.

As soon as she turned into the driveway, Matt and his friend Jacob ran to meet her from Edna’s house next door.

She stopped the car and opened the door. “Hi, guys.”

Matthew was the first one to reach her. “We’ve got Jacob’s bike here now, but we need your help.”

She laughed. “I’d better let Edna know I’m here first. Can it wait a couple minutes?”

“Oh, sure.”

When they reached the house, Edna swung open the screen door as she dried her veined hands on her apron.

“Hello, dear,” she said. “Gwen’ll be right out—she’s working on a project in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” Erin gave Edna a quick hug. “How’s everything?”

“Very well.”

Gwen came out, and Erin and the children hauled Jacob’s bike to their house. It needed a new tire and some other adjustments, so Erin helped the boys with the work, and it wasn’t long before they were done.

“Thanks, Mrs. Holley,” Jacob said. “See you tomorrow.” He hopped onto his bike and waved goodbye as he left for home.

“We’ll pick you up at nine,” Erin called after him.

After dinner Erin and Gwen mixed up Matt’s birthday cake. While it was in the oven, Erin checked over everything she had prepared to take the next day. She’d picked up little meat pies from Hannah’s bakery, apples, cheese, grapes, French bread and butter, and bottles of juice. With the cake, a thermos of coffee, and some chocolate bars, Erin thought it looked like a perfect birthday picnic.

Matt sat on the stairs and watched Erin add some napkins to the basket. “Is Gary still coming tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yes, he is.” She glanced at him, and then looked back at the basket. She felt like she was forgetting something.

“Do you think he’ll give us a ride in his car?”

“I’m sure he will if there’s enough time,” Erin said. She checked to be sure she had plastic forks.

“Mom, I don’t know about him,” Matt said.

Erin looked at him sharply and her stomach turned over. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Jacob says he’s too smooth.”

“Too smooth? Well, don’t worry—I’m not rushing into anything.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Erin walked over and sat down next to him on the stairs. “I don’t even know Gary very well. We can see how much we like him tomorrow, okay?”

“I suppose so.”

“We’re going to have a fun picnic and bike ride. It’ll be a great birthday. We can do whatever you want.”

Matthew smiled. “Whatever I want? I’ll have to think about that.” He ran up the stairs to his room, and Erin smiled after him. She didn’t want him to worry. She did enough of that for both of them.

After the children were in bed, Erin wandered to the beach, scanning the shadows as she walked. The night was calm, so she sat on a log and gazed at the reflection of the moon on the water. Across the bay Skagit Island was black, but lights glimmered from two boats moored beside it. The water rose in small swells as the tide inched up the beach. She had sat on that same log and watched the same moon so many times with William.

The roar of a car speeding up the road jolted Erin upright, and she turned around to see a black SUV pull into her driveway. She was sure it was Gary. She looked back at the water and the moon for a moment, then got up and walked toward the house, feeling an odd mixture of anticipation and reluctance. Gary had already jumped out of his car and was knocking at the front door. She ran around the house to meet him. “Hi. I wasn’t expecting you till morning.”

“I know it’s late, but I just got into town and wanted to see you.”

“Come on in.”

They walked in the front door and headed into the living room. Most of the lights were off, and the house was dim and shadowy. Gary sank down onto the overstuffed couch, leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling.

“It was a long drive,” he said.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked.

“Yeah. What have you got?”

“Water, Coke, tea, brandy. Or I could put on a pot of coffee.”

“I’ll take a brandy.”

Erin pulled out a bottle from a kitchen cabinet, picked out two small brandy snifters, poured hot water into them and swished it around. She dumped out the water and poured some brandy into each glass. Gary watched her from the couch.

“Here you are.” She handed him his glass.

He raised his glass to her and took a large swallow. He leaned his head back again. Erin sipped hers. “Do you have a place to stay?”

“Yeah, my assistant made a reservation for me at a hotel in town.”

Erin switched on a table lamp and sat down in the chair opposite him. “Everything all right?”

He gave a short laugh. “Just great.” He looked away, then glanced back at her. “It was a rough day.” He drained his glass.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, it’s really boring. Why don’t you tell me about the plans for tomorrow?”

“Sure. The ferry takes about an hour and a half to get to Orcas. Matt and I already loaded our bikes on top of my car—there’s room for yours and Jacob’s too. Gwen’s will have to go in the back. Once we get off the ferry, we’ll drive to the state park and to the top of Mt. Constitution—there’s a great old lookout tower there, and the view is amazing. Then we’ll go have our picnic and ride.”

“Sounds perfect.” Gary leaned toward her, resting his arms on his knees. “Do you do this often?”

“Only once before. It was a lot of fun.”

He stood up, stretched his arms towards the ceiling, and walked to the living room window. It was dark in that part of the room, and Erin was struck by how bright his blond hair was even in the shadow. She felt an urge to smooth her hands across his back. He turned around and grinned at her. “Are your kids here?”

“Of course. They’re in bed.”

He nodded. “I’m beat. I’d better go. We’ve got an early start in the morning, right?”

“Right.” She stood up and walked over to him.

He bent down and kissed her lightly. His lips were smooth, and he tasted like brandy.

She stepped backwards a half step and said, “I’m cooking breakfast in the morning—you want to come? It won’t be anything fancy.”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” he said. “What time?”

“Eight o’clock?”

“I’ll be here.” He walked to the door and let himself out. Erin followed him outside and looked at his SUV.

“New car?” she asked.

He shook his head, “No, I’ve had it. I needed to drive something that would carry my bike. Unfortunately, that means no rides in the Porsche for the kids.”

“They’ll be disappointed, but there was nothing else you could do.”

“Next time. See you in the morning.”

He climbed into the SUV. Erin watched until his taillights disappeared, and she shivered in a sudden cold breeze. She glanced around, scanning the shadows under the trees, and dashed back into the house, her skin covered in goosebumps.

Chapter 11

Erin dropped ten feet into the darkness below, curled up, and landed in a crouch on the floor of the cavern. She gasped. Her breath lingered as a cloud of mist in the bitter cold air. Up above a crow cawed, and then was silent. She stayed motionless for a moment, listening. The only sound was a slow drip, drip, drip of water far away, in the further confines of the cave.

She rose, and as her eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, she was aware of a deeper blackness against the wall in front of her. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and her stomach twisted as she smelled the sick stench. The mortifer turned, its cold gleaming eyes piercing as its hatred smashed into her. Three more stood beside it, black shapes in the dark, and their icy hunger reached out toward her.

In one smooth motion, Erin drew her sword, lunged forward, and sliced across the first of the mortifers. It jumped back, but her blade pierced through, and it collapsed in the darkness with a long shriek. It dissipated like a heavy mist, flowing out into the surrounding murkiness. The others stepped closer to Erin with their swords drawn and staffs raised; their blades glinted like ice.

“Leave this place,” she commanded.

They laughed at her, hollow and mocking. “You have no power here.”

“Where is the man?” she asked.

They laughed again. “We have eaten him. There is nothing left.”

She stepped forward bracing for the attack, but her arm was grabbed from behind, and she was pulled back. Her head struck the stone wall, and she hit the ground. She tried to force herself to her feet but froze at the sight in front of her, and she could only watch.

A tall man dressed in black was attacking the mortifers with fury, his sword cleaving them, destroying them before their weapons could reach him. A fifth shadow had been hiding low in the darkness beside her, and the man whirled around and sliced through it. Its wail filled the cavern, its bitter cold flowing across the floor like hoarfrost. The man leapt in front of Erin and swung his sword, splitting the next in two, and its screech echoed as its darkness dissolved in the cavern. Another shadow struck the man with its staff, knocking him to the ground. He rolled and scrambled back to his feet, but it lunged toward him, flashing its long sword. The man blocked it and swung his own sword through the shadow’s face as it screamed and fell backwards into the darkness of the cave. The last mortifer turned and fled, and the man followed it like the shadow of a phantom.