Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (145 page)

“I’ll try to stay awake, Hon. Wide awake,” I said resolutely. “If I doze off, please nudge me.”

“Okay,” she said, looking at me curiously.

“I
really
don’t want to be dreaming out loud.” I said.

“Okay,” she said again, retaining her curious look.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

We grabbed a cab and headed home from the airport. “Glad to be back, Honey?” I asked.

“I’ll let you know when we get to our house,” she replied.

“I’ll call Kevin tomorrow and find out from him what happened and what he saw at the house,” I said.

The ride took only twenty minutes or so and our cab pulled into the driveway, the house was as it looked when we left and when I opened the door I distinctly felt a rush of air passing us like a frightened bird in flight. We both ducked as it passed but saw nothing.

“Maybe we should stay at a hotel tonight and go through the house thoroughly tomorrow,” Kate said.

I sighed at hearing that and as I did Kate retracted her statement and said, “The hell with this, Teller. This is
our
house and I am tired of whoever is trying to scare us out of it. “Let’s go,” she said resolutely, as she rolled her suitcase into the foyer.

* * *

We were home and it felt good to be there. I went through the house turning on the lights in every room as I did, looking for signs of forced entry or strange occupation. Nothing was unusual.

We unpacked our bags and then quickly got ready for bed and as I was about to brush my teeth I opened the door to the medicine cabinet hanging catty-corner to the mirror over the sink creating a never ending reflection of one another and what I had been told to be a true manifestation of eternity, a mirror, facing a mirror.

I started to brush my teeth but dropped the tooth brush when I saw in the mirror the face of Teresa, the mystic mouthing something but there was no sound. I jumped back, but not taking my eyes off the mirror. Teresa continued mouthing two words which appeared to be “The Church.” She looked directly at me, even as I moved, her eyes followed me. She seemed really intense, and very scary. “The church, the church,” she seemed to be mouthing over and over. Her image faded after about a few seconds and I closed the door of the cabinet.

“Tell, would you mind getting me a glass of water before you come to bed?”

“Sure Honey, no problem,” I said, trying to disguise the shake in my voice.

“What’s wrong?” she said sitting up staring at me.

“Nothing, why?”

“What’s wrong, Tell?” she asked again.

“I just… thought I saw something. That’s all, I stammered.

She threw her legs over the side of the bed and came over to me at the bathroom sink. She put her hand on my shoulder and looked deeply into my eyes with an unspoken expectation.

“Look, Kate… there’s so much going on right now and things are just coming too fast to—”

“To what? Leave me out of this?” She said sharply. “I thought we were being absolutely honest with one another. Tell, come on, what’s going on?”

I took a breath and walked her back to bed where I told her what I hadn’t told her for the past few days, explaining that I wanted to spare her the angst.

“What church could that woman be talking about?” She pulled down the bedspread as she spoke.

“Probably, the Circle of Friends. The one I saw in a vision when I was at Teresa’s home. The one I saw projected in a surreal image on her wall.”

Kate said, “Please refresh my memory. I recall you saying something about a church. Where is it?”

“For some reason, I think it’s in Phoenix.”

“Phoenix? She was puzzled and troubled. “Were you there, when you were in Arizona?”

* * *

“I don’t know. I may have been driven past it on the way out to the desert. The only thing I can say is that I believe I saw it in that vision I had at Teresa’s house. I don’t know… “ I said with resignation and uncertainty.

“It seems like we’re being followed, harassed and yet, guided,” Kate said staring into space.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. This whole thing is starting to make sense — and if we are up against what I think we are up against, we are in deep shit.”

“What does that mean, Tell?” Kate was beginning to shake and tear up.

I put my arm around her. “I know that we are not alone in this, Babe. I know that we are not alone.”

“But, who can help us? The police can’t do anything. I think, they think, that we’re crazy.”

“I’m afraid this is far beyond the power of
any
police.” I lay down. I stared up at her as she continued sitting on the end of the bed. “Come to bed, Kate. There’s nothing we can do about anything this time of night.”

“How can you just go to sleep, Tell?” She was as burnt out as I had ever recalled seeing her and it was worrisome.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

We awoke in the morning to the doorbell’s ring. I went downstairs tying my bathrobe and opened the door to see Kevin Maroso standing there with a slight smile on his face uttering, “Welcome back, California Kid.”

He came in following me to the kitchen, surveying the house as he did. “How was your trip?”

“Strange. It was a very strange evening, too.”

“Strange seems to the word du jour for you my friend. What happened?” he asked.

“Coffee?”

“Twist my arm.”

I turned the start switch on the coffee pot, which I had prepared before going to bed. It was a habit I was glad to have developed, even though the evening prep was sometimes trying when I was sleepy.

“We are being followed by something or things. It’s a long, troubling story and when the coffee’s done brewing you will hear it… that is, if you want to.” I gestured for him to have a seat and then continued, “Tell me, what went on when you spotted the veiled ones here?” I asked.

“At first, I thought I was seeing things, then, I thought it was a lawn gnome. Little, it was just like a gnome that was veiled but when I turned around and came back, of course I realized it wasn’t that. So I called you immediately.” He sat down across the table from me.

“It wasn’t there when you came back. Isn’t that what you told me on the phone?” I prodded him expecting the answer.

“It was gone, but as I told you then, I thought that I saw someone looking out from behind the curtains. So I called you and the rest is—”

“History,” I said with resignation in my voice.

“Well that’s what happened. The cops went in like gangbusters but found nothing. Have you noticed anything unusual in the house?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I have. Remember the image that showed up in the pictures you took of me when we were in Arizona?” I asked.

“Yeah. It was that mystic you had consulted with at one time. That was…” He drifted off in thought.

“Weird,” I completed his thought.

“Unexplainable,” he corrected me as he returned to the moment.

“Good morning.” Kate greeted us as she came to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. “What’s new with you, Kevin?” She sat at the table with us as she spoke. She looked a bit perkier than she did the night before falling asleep. She sipped her coffee before saying, “Tell me Kevin, what did the person looking out from this house, look like?” She put her right knee in her hand after putting the coffee mug on the kitchen counter and pitched her head a bit waiting for his answer.

“Oh you heard that part of the conversation from outside the room?” He paused and then, “It was veiled and, er, empty–looking I guess,” he said.

“Empty… that’s a good description Kevin.” I continued, “That is the feeling I seem to get whenever I’m around those things. Empty… and hopeless.”

“They, or what they seem to be, scare the living shit out of me.” Kevin blurted.

“Me too,” Kate agreed.

Kevin’s comment was so on the money it put me on a train of thought that took me back to the first time I saw one of them. Excusing myself I headed for the bathroom with a sudden urgency commenting, “Nature’s calling,” as I left the kitchen.

Kevin chuckled as I closed the bathroom door. Bending over the sink I threw some water on my face. The shower curtain seemed to move a bit as I dried my face. Before I would sit down it became necessary to check to see if there was anyone or anything behind it, as I was easily spooked these days. There was no sound or movement. I took a deep breath, grasped the curtain edge and quickly pulled it aside. Nothing was there. “Probably the air circulator,” I thought out loud.

“Welcome back,” Kate greeted me as I returned to the kitchen.

“Kotter?”

“Huh?” asked Kevin

“You wouldn’t know, before your time,” I responded.

“So… huh?” chuckled Kate.

“Come on you guys, so I’m showing my age. Can’t I even have that as the privilege which comes with age?” I complained.

“No, you can’t… and if you got that privilege granted, how do you think people would think of me?” Kate was somewhat sensitive about her age. I wasn’t.

“So are you ready for the coming out party on the project?” Kevin asked before sipping his coffee.

“I haven’t really been giving it much thought, what with everything else going on.” I was beginning to realize what a grouch I was becoming as I said those words.

“It might be good for you to put your energy and thoughts into this and maybe that will help ease some of that internal tension.” Kevin counseled me and went on, “I have been staying close to the team and have been of some help to them in areas where I wasn’t thinking I’d be.”

“Such as?”

“What media rounds might work best for getting the word out and creating some buzz.”

“What media, Kevin?” Kate asked as she shifted in her perch.

“PBS, the Science Channel, George Noory. These venues are where inquiring minds seem to go for this genre of information.”

“Did they take your advice?” I asked.

“They will,” he responded with a strange confidence. “I’m planning on heading over to the site later today. Do you want to ride with me?”

“I guess so.”

“Don’t show your enthusiasm, Tell. Why… you might actually… smile,” he commented.

“I
should
be more into it Kevin, I know that; but what we’re dealing with really has my full attention. And that’s the way it is for now, and who knows how long.”

“I don’t think it will be too much longer,” he said.

“What does that mean?” Kate jumped in immediately.

“I mean how much longer
can
something like this go on?” he shrugged. Kevin acted like he resented being challenged.

He seemed a bit uncomfortable with Kate’s question, but having been around him enough, I was coming to realize that he was a creative genius and those folks don’t well tolerate those of us known as the ‘Great Unwashed.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Kevin liked driving fast, and as we were on the way to the project site he was speeding like a wannabe Formula One driver. I sat in the passenger seat, feeling somewhat tense but trying my best not to show it. He gunned it as we passed a Volkswagen bug and its senior citizen driver who flashed me a dirty look as we went whizzing by him and back into our lane.

“I just got the fisheye because you’re driving like a friggin’ madman.”

“What’s a madman drive like?” he asked.

“Like you.” I responded hoping he would get the message without my whimping out and begging him to slow down.

“Come on Teller, you’re showing your age, man.”

“Better than showing my blood, I think.” My snippiness did absolutely nothing to alter his speed.

Then It seemed as though just when we were about to break the land speed record we rounded the bend by the cemetery… and sitting at the front gate was the car that I had seen the night I was driving home from the site. As we approached it, thankfully, Kevin slowed down to a reasonable speed. We both saw the woman in the veil who was walking toward the gate.

“That’s her,” I blurted, pointing her way.

“That’s who?” Kevin looked at me curiously.

“The woman in the veil!” I pointed at her with both hands.

“I can see that,” he said in mocking reassurance.

“She doesn’t look weird to you?”

He looked me up and down, as if measuring me and said, “Here, look in this mirror. That’s weird, my friend.”

“Stop here for a second. I want to see what’s under that veil.”

“And maybe get arrested while you’re at it?” He laughed.

“You don’t think this strange? She looks like she walked out of a Humphrey Bogart movie or some Nick and Nora Charles film.” I was struggling with his non-reaction but then I realized that our age difference gave him a different point of reference.

“Okay, so you think she’s a bit unusual. I’ll admit you don’t see many western culture women in veils.”

“Especially one which is covering the face of a woman who might not even be there at all,” I said, thinking nevertheless that maybe I might be overreacting to this.

Kevin stopped the car behind the veiled woman’s car. I jumped out and told him, “I feel like I’m still moving. How fast
were
you going?”

“I’ll never tell,” he said, smiling as he nodded in the direction of where the veiled lady had gone. He got out of the car and grabbed my arm saying, “Let’s go meet this lady. You’ll have a chance to tell her how much her veil disturbs you.”

“You don’t get it, Kevin. Look at that car. What make is it?”

“A Mercedes. I can tell by the emblem. See.” He said exhibiting pride at his knowledge of cars while pointing at the emblem on the hood.

“Oh, yeah. Notice the condition?” I asked.

“Pretty good shape.”

“What year would you say it is?”

He looked the car over before saying, “I dunno; they never change the look of these cars.”

I got a start when I looked at the license plate. It had no renewal date and there was no state indicator.

We started into the cemetery. Looking around I didn’t immediately see her. But after a few momentsI thought I saw her standing by a gravesite with her back to us. It was a woman standing motionless and I started toward her, trying to cover the forty or so yards separating us… but no matter how fast we walked, or how far, we never seemed to get any closer.