Dark Memories (The Phantom Diaries, #2) (4 page)
Read Dark Memories (The Phantom Diaries, #2) Online
Authors: Kailin Gow
As I lay a pair of jeans, a warm sweater and woolen coat on the bed, Kristine watched me with interest and curiosity. From a drawer at the back of the closet, I pulled out a pair of leather gloves and a long, fanciful crocheted scarf. She cocked her brow as I set them on the coat and I replied in like.
“Not quite the elegant couture of
“We’re no longer in Paris, nor in the nineteenth century. Besides, we should see some snow today and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the warmth,” I explained.
“Looks like we’ll have a white Christmas after all.”
She shrugged and proceeded to remove her robe. Before she could expose too much of Annette’s body to me, I left the room and closed the door.
Moments later she emerged and I could not deny my animal attraction to her. How exquisitely ravaging she was. The gleam in her eye reflected her knowledge of this fact.
“This pleases you,
Mon amour
?” she purred. She patted the tight jeans that hugged her curves so perfectly. “I must say, I think I rather enjoy the fashions of the day after all. There is a certain allure to such a garment, is there not?”
“Indeed.”
She turned to show me her backside while she twisted around to admire it herself.
“Hmmm, yes.
Very alluring.”
“Now come and show
Her hungry gaze inspected the length of me.
“I see you’ve also found an interesting way with fashion as well.”
My jeans were hardly interesting, nor was my black sweater. The long black leather coat I pulled over it all, however, was what seemed to awaken her senses. She ran her hand over my shoulder and leaned up as to kiss me.
“Come now,” I said as I backed away.
“New York is fabulous in the early mornings.”
I led her to my garage and heard her gasp at the sight of the collection of automobiles I kept housed there.
“My, my, Eric.
You really have done well for yourself.”
Her eyes lingered on the Jaguar,
then
stared at the 1963 Red Corvette. She gave my motorcycle a questioning tilt of her head.
While Kristine seemed to find the vehicle to be an oddity, I wondered if Annette remembered the night I’d driven her through the darkened tunnels on that bike. I could still smell the sweet fragrance of her hair as she sat before me, her gaze intent on every turn we made. The warmth of her body had pressed me to drive at a reckless speed, so desperate was my need to bring her to my home and be alone with her.
“I have to admit, I’m more than a little surprised. I didn’t think you had it in you to accumulate such wealth.” Her gaze found the sporty silver Mercedes.
I shook the thoughts of that night with Annette aside and concentrated on Kristine.
“I’ve had many years to do so. I’ve also worked hard and made many sacrifices. What you see here is the result of many long nights pouring over the harmonious melody, the most touching lyric and perfect tempo to every song I’ve ever written.”
“I knew you had the talent, Eric, but I had never imagined this. Your love of the opera has finally paid off.”
“Yes, but so has my willingness to delve into other types of music. Opera alone would never have afforded me all this.”
“You sold out?”
“Popular music can be immensely profitable,” I said, refusing to feel guilty for my journey into the world of pop culture. “It began merely as a way to make ends meet. Turned out I had a flair for writing songs people wanted to hear again and again. Some of today’s brightest singing sensations owe their success to the songs I wrote for them.”
I opened the passenger door for her.
“Always the gentleman.”
She brushed against me as she approached the car and got in.
The drive to the
Clouds had already begun to obscure the morning sun and the scent of impending precipitation foretold of the snow to come.
Chilled and clasping her coat tightly to her chin with her gloved hands, Kristine emerged from the car and hurried to my side. “This had better be worth it. On the sunniest of days this city is bleak. With the cold, gray skies, it’s downright intolerable.”
“Let’s hurry to the top before the clouds completely engulf the magnificent view.”
“Top?”
She glanced up.
Amused by her surprise, I smiled and nodded. “
Her skepticism didn’t diminish on the elevator ride up, but once those doors opened, she was unable to contain her delight. With eyes as wide as a child’s and her lips parted in awe, she ran onto the observation deck and quickly looked around. She seemed unable to take it all in quickly enough as her eyes darted from one building to another.
Pleased to finally see her appreciation of the city I’d come to love, I stepped up behind her. “Over there is
strolled
the streets and taken in the various aspects of a culture I’d never known.” I pointed out various spots that had marked my life here.
“And over there is Greenwich Village where I spent a few years collaborating with some rather free-spirited people on a few psychedelic and groovy songs.”
I guided her around the deck. “There’s our gift to the new world,” I said, proudly pointing to the Statue of Liberty.
“Ah, yes,” she said with a smile. “I do recall hearing about the regal statue
“The Brooklyn Bridge, the Garment District,
Soho
, Times Square.”
“You seem to know the city well.”
“I do. Although much of my time here has been difficult and lonely, I have come to feel in tune with this city. Granted, it will never be
Paris,
there is still a vibrancy and exuberance that is forever exciting.”
“Do you miss
“Every day.
But it’s not
It was difficult keeping that sentiment out of my songs.”
I’d naively compared the two cities in one of my earlier works. “Americans are very fond of this great city. Listening to a song that gave favor to another didn’t appeal to them much.”
Sadness played on her eyes a moment before she directed her gaze at the ground between us.
“I imagine after everything I did to you, you didn’t miss me much.”
“Actually, I did.”
She seemed genuinely surprised and a childlike grin tugged at her lips as she brought her gaze to me. “You did?”
“Yes.” Though the confession was initially meant to appease her, I remembered my early tormented years here. Although she had ruined me, ruined my life to such an extent that I had to run clear across the Atlantic, I had missed her dearly.”
“How horrible it must have been to be so far away from home and completely alone.”
“Yes, but I ultimately became involved with an opera at the Met and my life turned around.
For all the money my foray into pop music had brought me, nothing made me feel as alive as I did when I wrote or heard opera.
However, it is when you arrived in New York that I finally found real purpose in my life.” The words were uttered before I realized I had spoken them to Annette.
She gazed at me, her eyes filled with sorrow and joy. For a moment I felt certain it was Annette looking at me.
“I remember this place.” Her voice was small and strangled.
But in an instant Kristine regained control. “Silly thing, thinking she can overpower me.” She brought her hand to the cheek that had once bore so many unsightly scars. “She is immensely touched by your story, as am I.
My poor Eric.
You are magnificent in your pain. Your pain becomes you; it drives you, moves you and allows you to render such splendid music to a world that hardly deserves your genius. Where would you be without such pain?”
I scanned the horizon that was quickly being swallowed up by the increasingly dense clouds. The gloom of the skies mirrored the darkening in my soul. The acute pain of the past returned. The wounds I had thought healed, reopened and festered.
Heartache and betrayal.
Treachery and deceit.
It was all this beguiling wench was capable of…this Kristine.
Chapter 3
“This is all very good and well, Eric, but I’ve grown weary of walking the hard concrete of your city in these boots. And the snow is only making it worse. I think I’ve seen enough of
We walked up Broadway, perused the shops of 5
th
Avenue and took in a scrumptious late lunch. I had one more delight to share with her. I led her to
She beamed and again I felt it was Annette who was smiling at me. “I came here once.”
Yes, it was indeed Annette.
“Shh,” Kristine hissed in irritation an instant before turning to me with a brilliantly seductive smile she’d so practiced.
“Oh, Eric.
How wonderfully romantic.”
“The first snow in
Nestled comfortably in the crook of my arm, she sighed. The clip clop of hooves and huge snowflakes made for an enchanted afternoon. I held her close and was relieved to sense the tensions in her shoulders dissipate.
Annette’s brief smile and quickly silenced comment at the sight of the horse-drawn carriage let me believe there was a possibility of overcoming Kristine’s hold on her by way of the happy memories she had here in New York.
Better yet,
Her childhood home, her parents, her city.
Kristine had had years to hone her powers.
She’d had years to plot out this devious plan of hers. She’d had years to ferment the hatred she had for the Aragons into a demented and demonic obsession.
I only had one day to try to find a way of circumventing her extraordinary powers.
I was cautiously optimistic regarding the effects of a trip to
