Immortal Storm (15 page)

“Who’s it from?” asked a voice in the back of the room.

“A gentleman named Percy.” Addison’s elation was written all over her face. She was positively glowing. A chorus of “oohs” erupted through the room.

“An admirer!” The girls continued their chatter but began heading to their areas of the dressing room. Dori stood and smiled at her friend as she watched Addison lean in to smell different flowers in the bouquet. She was snapped out of her peaceful reverie when the costumer ran in barking,

“Let’s go, ladies! I need to get these costumes back to wardrobe. They have to be cleaned and hung for tomorrow!”

Dori happily slipped off the stiff tutu and into a comfy pair of sweats. Addison did the same, never taking her eyes off the flowers. Dori actually chuckled out loud as her friend attempted to pick up the massive arrangement.

“Don’t bother, Addi – you are going to be here all day tomorrow anyway. You might as well leave them. Save your energy, you are going to need it.”

“You’re right Dori. I just can’t believe this!” Addison reached into the bouquet and pulled out two huge tiger lilies. She kept one and offered the other to Dori.

“Thanks. Go get some rest. We need to be ready to open tomorrow!”

When Dori got home, there was a message from Michael on the machine.

“Sorry I’m late. I’ll be leaving the library shortly. We can go out for a bite when I get home. I love you.”

Dori smiled and shook her head at Michael’s not so subtle joke. She never got tired of hearing it. Michael had gone to the library every day after finishing at the gallery. He was searching for any information that would identify Dori’s attacker. He started with the newspaper article Corinne mentioned at the ballet and then traced it back to some local ghost stories that were loosely connected. While she tried to block her memories of that awful night, Michael was burning to discover any information that would help him destroy the monster in the woods.

Dori decided a good, hot shower was in order while she waited for Michael to get home. Her muscles could certainly use it. She lingered under the hot water, allowing her muscles to relax. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall and let the soothing stream work on her lower back. Letting herself go, she lost track of time. It wasn’t until the hot water started to co stdthol that she began thinking of getting out.

Although the fan was on, the bathroom was dense with steam. It hovered and swirled as she moved through it. Humidity clung to the back of her throat as she inhaled the thick air. The mirror was opaque, obscuring her reflection. She moved her fingers slowly through the fog watching as they slipped through. She was eerily reminded of the evil vampire attack once again.

“So what is the antidote to steam?” Dori asked herself. “What possible defense do we have?”

Frustrated, she opened the bathroom door, knowing that with the fresh, cold air the steam would disperse. She thought about that option for a split second, but then realized that the steam wasn’t being destroyed. The less humid air was simply diluting it and allowing it to escape, not eliminating it. Her problem required something more final. Before she could come up with another theory she heard Michael’s voice ring through the apartment announcing his arrival.

A few moments later Dori was ready to go and the two set off into the night. They didn’t need to discuss where they were going; they simply headed in the opposite direction of Pocahontas State Park. They did their part to reduce an overpopulation of deer while discussing Michael’s findings.

“It turns out, there was a large concentration of settlers that supposedly died in Jamestown. Things weren’t documented as well then as they are now, so it’s not clear how many there were, or what was done with their remains. I think they were changed and migrated to the forest where you found them. But if that’s indeed who we are dealing with,
how
did they become what they are? There had to be someone who changed them.”

Dori had never feared the dark, but discussing this in a setting so similar to where she was attacked was making the bile rise in her throat. She stood to leave without responding to Michael and rubbed her arms nervously. It was a habit that developed after she had been bitten so many times. She never thought of herself as weak, but her nerves were getting the better of her. She took a few steps toward where they had left the car and turned back to Michael.

“Michael, can we go home?” Her thin voice wavered, giving her away. Her eyes were pleading.

“Sure.” Michael was pensive. She thought that he might be starting to grasp just how deeply she was scarred by the whole situation. He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. His warmth radiated through her and she was happy to have something between her and the darkness.

“Don’t worry,
Preziosa
. We will get this guy. I will spend the rest of my days teaching you to embrace the night again.”

Dori shivered. She was remembering the monster’s tongue tracing the edge of her face. Michael misinterpreted her sudden trembling and gave her his coat. She didn’t want to explain that the coat couldn’t chase away the cold that clung to her now. Instead she asked him a question that had been plaguing her since the attack.

“Michael, it doesn’t matter who he is, or was. How do you kill something that you can’t touch? When he shifts into a mist, it’s like, well, he’s we“s invincible. He can’t be hurt. He can’t be grabbed. He will just slip through our fingers, like trying to hold water. I just don’t see how we...” Her voice hitched as she tried to inhale. She didn’t need to finish her sentence, though; the sentiment hung heavy in the air.

“Dorianna, I will protect you. You will not be hurt again.” Michael said this with such finality that she didn’t press the issue. He never let go of her as they made their way home. He held her hand until they were safely in their apartment. As they crossed the threshold, the tension she had been holding in her neck and shoulders relaxed and she was finally able to breathe easily.

“I’m going to get ready for bed.” Dori wanted nothing more than to climb under her comforter and drift away to happier places. She went to the bathroom to wash her face. Again she let the water run trying to wash away more than what was on her skin. The hot water did a lot to warm her up and she began to feel slightly more relaxed. Her hands were red from the near scalding water, but she continued to splash her face and neck with it. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the water as it splashed in the sink and ran down the drain. The water had been running so long that the air in the bathroom was once again thick with humidity. A slight knock on the door interrupted her and she shut off the faucet.

“Everything all right in there?” Michael’s voice was soft, but she could detect his concern.

Grabbing a towel, she began hastily dabbing her face and neck. “I’ll be out in a ...” She couldn’t finish. She was looking at the mirror above the sink. The chords in her neck were standing out; she had dropped the towel and was gripping the edge of the sink with both hands. Her knuckles were white and aching. Her breath was caught in her chest and it seemed as if even her heart was choking on what she saw there.

“Dori?”

Her scream cut through the early morning and Michael was in the bathroom instantly. He saw her, still unable to look away from the mirror. His arms wrapped around her, trying to shake her from her terror. Michael then focused on what it was that was causing her panic.

A message had been traced on the foggy mirror. It was made by dragging a finger across the surface of the misty glass. The water had run in drips from the bottom of some of the letters when it had been written. She thought the drips ironically looked like tears. The message was simple but the threat was clear. She was far from out of danger.

“I can’t die. You will.”

In another second Michael had covered her mouth with his hand, muting her screams.

“Dori, it’s okay. I’m here and I will keep you safe. Nothing is going to happen. Calm down. Dori, listen to me.” Michael continued to whisper to her, eventually speaking in Italian. His murmuring gradually soothed her and although she quieted down, he couldn’t quell her panic.

“We can’t stay here, we have to go. Now! Grab your keys, we have to go!” She couldn’t spend another minute here if that monster knew where she lived.

“Michael, how did he find us? How did he get here? We have to go.”

“Dori, wait.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes full of incredulity. She couldn’t believe that Michael wasn’t trying to escape as quickly as she was. So much for protecting her. His passivity stunned her so completely that she couldn’t form even one of the thousand questions racing through her mind.

“Dori, I know this is hard for you to hear, but I don’t think we need to run right now.”

Dori raised her eyebrows and tried unsuccessfully to swallow. Still speechless, her eyes spoke volumes.

“I think the threat is gone. If whoever this monster is wanted to harm you tonight, he would have already done it. He wouldn’t be leaving you messages. He is trying to scare you and apparently it’s working. No. Th threat is definitely gone. Take your coat off.”

Dori continued to stand there in disbelief. Michael wanted to stay here. She felt as though she were coming unhinged. She searched his eyes trying to find something that would anchor her in the world which was now spinning around her like a whirlpool. The spinning was threatening to take her down with it. She felt as though her grasp on reality was precarious at best.

Michael reached out to her and helped her out of her coat. He steadied her as he pulled off her sneakers one at a time and set them silently on the closet floor. He took her tenderly by the hands and pulled her into his embrace. She was still having a hard time believing he intended to stay here, knowing that her attacker had been here earlier.

“
You are safe tonight, Ballerina Girl.
”

She trusted this voice. With Grandma’s reassurance, she walked silently to the bedroom, buried herself under the covers and lay perfectly still. She waited for sleep to claim her, but it never came. It was probably for the best; she was certain she would have been plagued by nightmares.

While she lay in the dark, her mind darted between thoughts. She felt invaded for a second time. That monster had been in her home. He had been in the very bathroom where she had showered only a few hours ago. Then it occurred to her that his message could be interpreted two ways. It could simply be taken at face value for the threat it was, but it was something else as well. When she had been alone after her shower she had asked no one in particular how to destroy steam. This message was his answer. That meant that he had been there watching her when she was all alone and vulnerable. He had been that close to her, in the actual steam that caressed her naked body, and she had no idea. Her stomach twisted and she had to run back to that same bathroom where she was plagued with dry heaves.

Michael came for her after a few minutes. Undoubtedly, his ability to sense her whereabouts had awoken him. Her stomach eventually settled down and he helped her up. Her clammy hands wrapped around him and she let him lead her back to bed.

“Why, Michael? Why?”

He had no answer fad it neor her. Instead his arms encircled her waist and pulled her into the safety of his embrace. Neither of them spoke; they didn’t need to, their fear was tangible. She watched the minutes tick by on her alarm clock. She decided to get up when she saw the first signs of daylight. There was no use in pretending to be resting while staying still was making her uptight.

She got ready without going into the bathroom and tiptoed back to the bed to kiss Michael goodbye. He was awake and the expression on his face was tortured and full of guilt. His eyes revealed a vulnerability that she wasn’t used to seeing. She knew he felt terrible about not being able to better protect her. She wondered what her face told him. She didn’t linger long enough for him to comment; instead, she turned and headed toward the ballet.

Due to her early start, she was one of the first to arrive at rehearsal. As she approached the dressing room the smell of Addison’s immense bouquet was spilling out into the hall. She had forgotten just how fragrant those flowers were. She stepped into the room and turned on the light.

She didn’t think her strung-out nerves could handle much more of this. Addison’s bouquet was indeed there, filling up the counter, but flanking it was an additional bouquet of tiger lilies. There was a third bouquet of tiger lilies waiting for Dori as well. Frozen in place, she realized that was the same type of flower that Addison had pulled out of the original bunch. That meant that someone had been watching. Someone knew which flower she and Addison had taken home. She had a sick feeling that she knew exactly who that someone was.

Dori stood there for a while, just staring at the wall of flowers opposite her. The card in her bouquet seemed to grow as if it were beckoning her. She finally took the dozen steps across the dressing room and reached out for the card.

“I’m watching.
”

Her trembling hands dropped the card and it flitted to the floor. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, trying to make sure that this was real. The face looking back at her was tired and filled with worry. Was no place safe for her?