Inheritance (The Dark Gifts) (30 page)

The driver, small in stature and having that weathered look of someone who’d spent the majority of his life working outside, repeatedly glanced in the mirror.  He spoke no English, but the look on his face said volumes.  He didn’t like this fare, and had he not needed the money, he probably would have turned them away.

As soon as he stopped in front of the hotel, he leapt from the seat and quickly emptied the contents of the minimal trunk.  Giving Jason a curt nod, he accepted his pay, and sped off as if his life depended on it.

Pete, loaded down with bags and luggage, watched as the taxi drove away.  “What was that all about?”

Jason shrugged.  “Beats me.  Weirdo, huh?”

Cocking his head to the side, Pete grinned, replying sarcastically, “Welcome to Romania?”

Sarah tugged at Jason’s sleeve.  “Can we get this show on the road?  I’m dying for a hot shower.”

He closed his eyes and sniffed hard.  “Yep.  You need one too.”

“Oh brother,” she answered.  Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she turned and proceeded inside.

Five steps inside the front door Sarah stopped short.  The strange staring man from the plane leaned against the wall beside an ancient looking elevator door, reading a newspaper.  Her body lurched as first Jason, then Pete ran into her, and threw her forward.  Regaining her balance, Sarah glanced back at the now empty wall. 

“What gives?”  Jason asked dropping two suitcases beside her.

“You didn’t?  I mean did you?”

Following her wide-eyed stare, he looked at the elevator door.  “Did I what?”

Shaken, Sarah turned to face them, whispering, “He’s here.  He was just there by that door.  Didn’t you see him?”

Still laden with luggage, Pete moved around the siblings to get a better look.  The light above the elevator showed it was sitting at ground level.  Turning, he said, “There’s no one there.  You really need to sleep, Sarah.  I think you have jet lag or something.”

Stunned, she stood repeatedly shaking her head.  “No.  I saw him.  He was right there.  You guys ran into me, and I looked away for just a second.  When I looked back he was gone.”

Jason scanned the room.  Standing in front of the door, blocking the entrance, they were drawing attention to themselves.  Every set of eyes in the small lobby was on them.  “Come on.  Let’s get checked in.  Too many people are watching now.”

Sarah nodded and followed behind him, carefully keeping her body between Pete and her brother. 

The clerk greeted them with a welcoming smile and a thick Romanian accent.  Grey-haired and matronly, the woman reminded Sarah of old pictures of Aunt Edna.  “Goot ewening!  Velcome!  How many rooms vill you be needing, three maybe?”

“Yes, three would be great.”  Jason answered.

Shoving her bother to the side, Sarah interjected, “You wouldn’t have one room with two queen sized beds, would you?”

The elderly woman’s smile turned into a frown as Sarah finished speaking.  “And you vould be da wife den?” 

Blushing, Sarah stuttered, “N-no, I-I’m--he’s my--”

“We’re her brothers.”  Pete’s voice came to her rescue.  Winking at the lady, he continued, “She’s never been out of the country before and has this irrational fear of being kidnapped by terrorists.”

“Ahhhh.  No, no.  Dis is not a bad thing.”  The woman nodded, giving Sarah an understanding smile.  “You goot girl.  You smart girl.  Stay vith big brothers.  They keep you plenty safe.”  Then looking over her shoulder, her head began to bob again.  “Yes, yes.  Room 418, four floors up.  Has two queen beds, and ve can have a small portable brought in.  This will vork fine, no?”

Sighing in relief, Sarah answered, “Oh yes.  It sounds perfect.  Thank you so much!”

Jason slid his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.  “You need to calm down, kid.  You’ll feel better after you’ve had some rest.”

“Oh yes, yes!”  The woman chimed in.  “Must have sleep and eat.  You need plenty goot food.  Ve have goot restaurant here.  You settle in and call down, ve’ll make something nice for you to eat.”

Taking the offered key, Jason nodded.  “Thank you.  That’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Warily exiting the elevator, the three looked around.  A sign on the wall showed 410-420 were located in the hall to the right.  The boys moved ahead, carrying the heavy bags.  Following as closely behind as possible, Sarah stayed on their heels.  Maybe they didn’t take this seriously, but for hours now warning bells had been going off in her mind.  Whoever he was, he was dangerous.  She was positive of that.

***

Throwing the crisp white sheet on the floor, Sarah stretched.  After her attempt to stay awake for three days, the sleep had done her good.  Rested and feeling capable of handling the next set of problems, she rolled on her side.  Jason lay on the bed next to her small cot, reading a map.  “How far away is it?” 

“Not far, just a few miles.  I’ve already spoken to the desk clerk.  The problem isn’t finding it, the problem is finding someone willing to take us there.”

“Are you serious?”

He nodded.  “This is an area steeped in superstition.  According to the clerk, no one goes to Hoia Baciu Forest by choice.  Except, of course, the local UFO and ghost hunters.”

“Oh no way!”  Sarah laughed as she rolled her eyes.  Sitting up, she wrapped her arms around her knees and solemnly gazed at her brother.  “Jase?  You don’t think there really are aliens, do you?  I mean if we’re real and all those other things are real…”

Shaking his head, he smiled.  “No.  I don’t think they’re real.”

Lips pulling to the side, she nodded and laboriously pushed her body into a standing position.  “Ugh!  I feel like crap.”  Noticing the empty bed beside Jason’s, she asked, “Where’s Pete?”

Avidly scouring the map, he answered without looking up.  “Went for a walk.  Said he needed to stretch his legs.”

“How long has he been gone?”

“I don’t know, maybe an hour.”

Frantic, but not knowing why, her mind immediately sought Pete’s.  Although she remained conscious, her mind drifted and floated out around the room
, encompassing the entire hotel.  Spending so much time in close proximity had allowed her to connect with her brother and Pete in a very unusual way.  She could sense them now, even when they weren’t in wolf form.  The psychic bond she had with Jason had grown stronger, and the same type of bond was developing with Pete.  He couldn’t speak back to her yet, but she was able to talk with him in short intervals.

An overwhelming sense of a relief filled her as she found him standing just outside the entrance to the hotel, leaned against the wall with one foot propped up against it.  He took a drag from a cigarette, threw it on the ground, and headed back inside.  Sarah smiled as she shut and locked the bathroom door.  He was a good pup.  Even though she hadn’t said a word, she knew he’d felt her presence and was returning to the room.  She could always count on her Pete to be there for her.

For just a moment, sadness filled her.  If life were fair, Pete would have been Shad.  She’d probably never feel the same feelings for Pete, but considering what was out there she could be paired with a lot worse.  If she had to pick between him and any other guy, she’d pick him every time.  Because unlike any other guy, Pete would--and could--kill for her.

***

Shad heard the click of a gun hammer locking in place.  A deep voice followed directly after.  “Don’t move.  Stay right where you are.” 

Moving slowly, hands raised in the air, Shad began to turn around.

“I said don’t move.  Don’t turn, don’t flinch, don’t breathe.  Get it?”

“I get it.  Look, not moving.  What’s going on here?”

“You tell me.  Why you running around poking your nose in business that don’t concern you?  You a cop?”

Without turning, Shad smiled.  He was in the right place.  Miraculous as it was, he’d finally found the person the Masadas had come to see in Gravenhurst.  “No, I’m no cop.  Actually, I’m looking for my girlfriend, her brother, and another friend.  I heard they came up here to see you.  I heard you could help people like us.”

The man’s voice became snide.  “You heard wrong, kid.  I’m not in the business of helping no one with nothing.  Besides, people that know me wouldn’t dare speak my name.  You’ve been nosing around asking questions about those three and got my attention.”

“So you have seen them then?”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.  Ain’t no Sarah been here, ever.”

Shad spun to face the man catching him off guard.  “I didn’t say her name was Sarah.”

Although his voice was deep and resonating, the man was short, squat, and balding.  He had the look of a wizened, bent over professor.  “Shit,” he said briefly looking at his feet, then raising his eyes to meet Shad’s, asked, “You sure you‘re not a cop?  You have to tell me if you are.  If you tell me you’re not that’s entrapment and no charges will ever stick.”

Shad smiled and shook his head.  “I swear I’m not a cop.   Not even close.  And believe it or not, Sarah is my girlfriend and she’s in trouble.  She didn’t want me involved, but I need to find her and protect her.  It really is life or death.”

The man huffed out a sigh and lowered the gun.  “Okay.  I believe you.”  Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he began wiping his sweat covered face.  Stopping only long enough to notice Shad staring at the gun in his free hand.  “Oh don’t worry about that,” he laughed, tossing it on the desk.  “It’s not even loaded.  I don’t even know if it works.”

Exhaling, Shad rubbed his hand over his face.  “So can you help me find her?”

Thoughtfully watching his face, the man replied, “I don’t know if I should.  If the girl didn’t want to be found--well, they paid a lot of money for--you know, services rendered.”

“I can pay money too.  How about I pay you for services rendered on the services rendered.  Would that work?”

Thin lips slid into a large toothy grin.  “Well now.  I think that might just be all right.  After all, if a pretty young thing like that’s in trouble, it’d be my civic duty to help her, right?”

Head bobbing in agreement, Shad answered, “Oh yeah, absolutely.  I mean what kind of person would you be to let an innocent young girl get hurt?”

“Exactly.  Now there’s just the small matter of the fee…”

***

The three watched as yet another taxi driver sped off leaving a dust trail behind him.  Difficult as it was to find someone to bring them here, it was impossible to find someone who would stay.  A steep grassy hill in front of them was all that stood between them and the forest.  Brogan was supposed to be somewhere inside.  When asked how they would find him, Daniel had answered, “Don’t worry about that.  He’ll find you.  All you have to do is get there.”

Now here they were, wondering what in the world they were doing there.  “Well?”  Pete said.

“Let’s get moving.  That driver will be back in six hours.  We have to find this guy before then,” Jason said moving up the steep incline.

The view from the top of the hill looked like something out of a horror movie.  Trees sprouted up in all directions at odd angles.  Some twisted and turned around each other, while others grew up just a short distance before turning sideways, like skeletal fingers coming out of the ground.  “Freaky,” Sarah said.

“Way freaky,” Pete agreed.

Making their way down the hill into the weirdly growing trees, they immediately felt ill at ease.  The hairs on their arms and necks stood straight up as if some weird electric current infused them. 
Hoping to dispel some of her nervousness, Sarah took a deep breath.  It didn’t help.   She turned slowly, scanning in every direction for the eyes she felt watching her.  “You guys feel that?”

“It’s crazy weird.  I think I’d rather be a wolf right now,” Pete answered.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jason agreed.

“Well me either, but do we want to meet this guy naked?  I really don’t, but I don’t feel safe right now either,” Sarah said.

Both men nodded. 

“Let’s just move on.  Once we get inside, if we still feel off we can shift.”

Sticking close together, they moved into the trees.

***

Sweating profusely, Sarah smacked the insects attacking her arms and neck.  “I am being eaten alive!  This is ridiculous.”

Jason peered at his watch.  “Okay guys, it’s been three hours.  We’re going to have to head back or we won’t make it in time to catch the driver.  He’s only going to wait for us for five minutes. What a colossal waste of time.  We should have listened to you, Pete.”

Facing away from them, Pete stared off into the woods. 

“Hey, earth to, Pete.”  Jason said.

Raising his head, Pete sniffed.  “You smell that?”

Glancing around, both Sarah and Jason stuck their noses in the air and breathed in deep.  Jason’s head jerked to the north.  “Smoke.”

“Yeah.  Wood smoke, like a camp fire.  Who’d be camping out here?”  Pete said.

Sarah’s gaze darted between both men.  “Well?”

“Well what,” they answered in unison.

“Well, we need to go see what it is.  It might be him.”