The Grasp of Nighttide (12 page)

“Oww…” he yowled when Alice stamped his foot. “At least your mom has made sure you have a lot of space. Thank God you didn’t wake up in a cramped up apartment building.” 

An hour or so passed as Alice showed him around. The pool inside the research area was no exception. The fence at the side gave easy access with some improvements she had made. The first time she discovered the pool, she was skeptical whether she could swim. The next time she returned with her swimwear, the watchman spotted her but with the major population in GNRCA being guys she was right in assuming that he wouldn’t mind a girl in a bikini. And even better- if she drowned, he could save her. But there had been no reason to worry after all- she knew to swim like a dolphin. After that the other times she went there before ten in the morning- before the employees arrived and before the watchman shifted his position from the front gate to near the pool. And now with GNRCA closed, the pool was open to her round the clock. 

Then there was the garage which had lots of tools- half arranged and half just scattered about. Derek explained about all the stuff, though Alice didn’t appear to be the least bit interested. 

Last, but not the least- the house- the place where there was nothing to admire. It looked plainer than she had ever acknowledged it to be. The tower- which could serve as an attraction- was shut. He didn’t comment any more than saying that the house was very nicely kept- not a word on even the excess crockery. Then at last he inspected Alice’s room, even opening her closet without permission
.

“Stop,” Alice spoke up, closing the closet herself before his hands could reach for her jet black bikini. “What are you…even..?” 

“Derry!” A shout came echoing in the room. “Derry, you in there?” 

Anna stood outside the front door, trying to scrutinize the wall. “Oh there you guys are. Hi. What is that?” 

“Oh that’s just paint.” Derek answered in a flash. “Come in.” 

Anna strode right in. “The belt on these 
Gucci
 babies are hard to fasten.” She pointed to her lavender high heel sandals.  

Derek smiled and shook his head. 

“Hi baby,” she said and pecked Derek on the cheek, leaving a faint mark of expensive lipstick. 

“Alice, we uh… got to go. See you.” Derek stepped out looking just slightly embarrassed. 

Anna smiled at Alice before locking her fingers with Derek’s. They slowly walked towards Anna’s car, with sounds of only Anna whispering coarsely. Alice felt sort of stiff observing the closeness they shared. 

Steph looked out the window of her boring, rented home. It was past one o’ clock and Derek was supposed to come over half an hour ago as decided. Steph called him in the morning and he said he was on the way to Alice’s home and would come at twelve-thirty.  

Steph was happy to have resolved the tiff going on between them- even though it was a fake attempt. She could do with every bit of information about Alice. Not in a curious way but in a more casual approach and get more out of him as days passed by if needed. Alice could not escape from her again like last night- 

The business man had frozen in place as expected, allowing the car to crash into him. The body had to fall a long way with that ghostly speed, but Steph knew that the invisible- sort of glue force- took time to release the person from where he was standing- giving the impact lesser distance. With that the body was more heavily damaged. Steph looked at it, feeling an urge to touch the blood. She didn’t feel a bit nauseous as she thought she would. Slowly, hesitatingly, she bent to touch it. It felt amazing- not disgusting as she thought at all. John had been right; she could still feel the presence of a demonic force sucking every bit of life from the soul taken. Steph didn’t know herself why she rubbed the thick blood on her palms and smiled. And then she felt something more than the force in the blood. She looked up and saw Alice. Alice looked like she didn’t totally realize what was going on, she looked half asleep but still she ran, making Steph chase her until her house. 

Steph had looked around for her at that hell of a dark place. She’d scanned the house inside out; Alice was there, she could feel it but there was more than Alice present- that Steph was certain of that- not letting her succeed. She had searched the place in frustration for hours, but the dawning sun forced her to abandon the hunt.  Still, it wasn’t as if Alice knew who she was. The blood of the clueless businessman, dry and sticky on her hands, had helped leave a mark before she finally retreated.  

Derek arrived just in time before Steph pinched off the purplish spot on her arm. Nothing could hide the fact that she had failed last night. 

“Hi Steph,” Derek hugged her as soon as she opened the door, and she was forced to hug him back.
 
“Sorry I’m late. Actually…,” he rubbed the back of his head in obvious unease.  

“Alice.” Steph finished his excuse, flat bitterness and acceptance in one word. “It’s okay. Come on in.” 

Derek glanced over the place. She felt conscious all of a sudden, she had been so bothered about last night and the lack of sleep had simply scrambled her mind more, she hadn’t even had a good look around and just realized how messy everything was. She was suddenly starkly aware of how much of a contrast to his obsessive neatness she must seem right now. Rosalie used to clean her room and then Jane used to, but being messy didn’t bother her when she was alone. Other people cleaned up after Steph simply because it bothered them, not her. But as Derek picked up her jeans and skirt from the floor, she knew there were no talks coming before this place looked okay. 

“Let me get that.” Steph was suddenly self-conscious and she picked up the clothes on the sofa and the empty food containers from the table. Derek moved to help her by hanging the jacket and coats on the rack. Steph didn’t need to worry about him spotting the cloak and knife though. After Alice looked at her last night and got away with it, Steph couldn’t take any chances though she’d made sure there was no proof left lying around. Still, Alice had gotten away and that bothered her greatly. 

The house looked cleaner than it had since she inhabited it. If Derek observed the peeled color on the walls and the age of the sofa, he didn’t show it. If he had bothered checking the table he would have noticed a short leg too, even though it perfectly fit in with the rest of the used, mismatched furniture in the house. Steph had never cared much about appearances, if it worked the way it was supposed to, it was good enough for her.  

“Why’d you choose this place, Steph?” he said, his smile gone. “The flat below mine is yours. I have the key too. I must say its top notch.” The hint in his voice has rather obvious and slightly annoying to Steph. As if she needed Derek to take care of her.  

Instead of lashing back in anger, she simply shrugged noncommittally. “I want to live here, and besides I’m not going to be here for long.” She would’ve considered the deal, and ask Jacob to allow her use his flat because Rosalie had stayed there a few times. She had looked at the flats from outside, isolated and beautiful, but the only problem was Derek. It would be hard to carry out her mission with him staying in the same place. “I need some space to figure things out. That’s it.” 

“At least let me make it better,” Derek began, looking around at the shabby small hall and through the open door of the smallest room Steph had ever slept in. 

“No.” Steph flatly said, sitting down. “I like it this way, and I didn’t call you to inspect the house or make things better for me. I might’ve been wrong in thinking about giving our relationship another chance. Why do you assume I need to be taken care of?” 

Derek caved easily, as she knew he would. He carefully sat down beside her, with a worrying look at the sofa, fearful that it might give way. Then he gave that signature smile of his like nothing had changed since the time they were best buddies- and that was a long time ago.  

Derek had been Steph’s only friend from the day he’d joined her new school, a week after she had. It was very exciting news for Rosalie because he was Steph’s first real friend ever.  As time advanced, her widowed mom and Derek’s divorced dad, Jacob Lawson, had also come closer. Jacob was helping Rosalie with the money crisis she was facing, and Rosalie couldn’t help beginning to see him as a knight in shining armor. Steph and Derek had no idea that their parents were involved in just more than the general stuff, and were much surprised when they announced their impending marriage.  

The wedding was tremendous for both of them. They’d be more than friends; they’d be family.  But happiness did not last long for Steph. Steph had been very emotionally unstable since childhood. Any tiny thing could be an issue, school seemed impossible and a problem was like the end of the world to her young mind.  She was the worst in being good company with her short temper and always had to have everything her way. Over time Rosalie grew very close to Derek, pushing her own daughter further away, making Steph feel less and less like a member of the family, and more and more like unwanted baggage from a bygone time.. There was more of Derek all the time. More praise, more attention, and more love being shown to her new step-brother, leaving her neglected and jealous. Of course Derek was an ideal son, but what about her? That had worsened Steph’s behavioral problems, had made her even more of a problem child. She sometimes even wondered if Rosalie considered her evil, like her dad, and finally had given up on her. Jacob always made sure she had what she wanted and treated her same as Derek as much as possible, but he wasn’t exactly the type to talk to kids about their feelings, and most of the time not even available.  

“Steph?” Derek brought her back to the conversation, which Steph had zoned out of. “I was telling you about Alice. Are you even listening?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Steph said, shaking the cobwebs from her head. “So did Alice like the blood?”

Damn! 
So did Alice like the blood art on her wall? 
What was she thinking to even say that much of the sentence? Derek gave a confused stare, trying to make sense of what she wanted to say. 

“I mean, does Alice like that bloody guy stalking her? Ron whatever,” Steph sounded as evenly as she could. 

His look softened, “Doesn’t look like it.” 

“So you and Alice have night plans going sometime?” she asked casually. 

Please say no, please let her be alone. 
 

“Nope,” he replied as she hoped. “Going out with Anna tonight. Diner then… Haven’t thought about it yet. Wanna come? I’m sure Anna would like that. It has been long since you two met.” 

The last sentence was true. One time she had met Anna was when she came up there with her new family that included Jacob and Derek. Anna had a big collection of dolls which she kept telling Steph about. One day she showed it- ten proper dolls sitting on her enormous bed. Steph eyed them in sadness, wishing she could have them. Derek later had made sure Steph got twelve dolls that were even better. She could recall him smile seeing her joy. She had kept those dolls for a year before throwing them in the trash. Yes, not giving them away but throwing them away, and making sure Derek saw her do it so he could know how much she hated him. He never mentioned a word about that. He didn’t throw a rage like she would’ve if anyone threw her gift away like she did. He was a good person from the very beginning .Bad, but good. Whatever. He could not be forgiven. 

“I’ll pass, thanks. Kinda tired.” Steph turned off the memory and yawned. “I will get some sleep now.” 

“Okay. You rest.” He got up. “Let me know when we can meet again. I’ll keep calling. And let me know if you need something.” 

***** 

After a short nap with dark dreams, Steph awoke and decided to take a walk. She wandered the small town for hours, taking special note of what life looked like ‘downtown’ in a place like this. New York was nothing like this, the pace was different, the smell, the atmosphere, there was something slower in the air here. She liked it. New York would prove harder for her mission without being noticed, this place was a piece of cake. A homeless, shabby old man curled up near the wall. She and Rosalie were on the verge of being homeless once after John had died, Steph remembered. Jacob and Derek were a help at that time but not all were so lucky to be helped by people they knew. This man looked like one of those unlucky ones. Steph watched as some coins clunked in the food can in front of him and a lady laid down her shawl. It took a lot out of him to not shiver in the cold with the thin material he had on. He took the shawl and folded his bare feet inside of it.  

Steph fished out the money she had from her bag. Eight dollars. That wouldn’t make his life. That is when Steph caught the store selling lottery tickets. She knew what to do. She had never been able to buy her mom a ticket back when they’d needed the money when she was little, but now she could buy one. She bought a ticket and stood in front of the man who looked at her with sad and scared eyes that melted her heart. 

Instead of just handing it over, she sat beside him, “I don’t have much to offer except this ticket.” 

“Thank you,” he puffed a cloud of frost.  

“What’s your name?” Steph asked. 

“Finn” he replied with a raspy voice. 

“What happened to you?” 

“You want to talk to a homeless bum like me?” He let out a surprised laugh and Steph nodded in concern “I got a problem in my leg and lost my job. The doctor said I need treatment but I didn’t have that kind of money. I lost my family with the cash. My son, my daughter-in-law said they’re disgusted of me. They won’t let me meet my grandson.” 

Steph never cried, but her eyes stung with the hurt in his voice. She wanted to hug him and say that things will change for him, but instead laid a hand on his shoulder.“ What would you do if you won the lottery?” 

“I’d clean up and become presentable. Would buy a bottle of wine, some gifts and go to my son’s home. Guess they’ll let me meet my little Mathew then.” His eyes turned numb to teary.  

Before she knew it, Steph had come out of her comfort zone telling him jokes and talking to this man who had lost everything. The man laughed and laughed and Steph knew it wasn’t because she was funny, but because the jokes were stupid. He kept suggesting that she leave him and get out of the cold, but Steph refused. She was not moving until the results were drawn because he shouldn’t miss them. 

Meanwhile she told him about her life a bit too, not too much just the general stuff of where she was born and how New York was.

When it was close to time for the lottery numbers to be drawn, Steph led the man for the results. He had difficulty walking, but Steph wanted him to see with his own eyes. As the conclusion was drawn, Steph was confident they’d won without even looking, but to behave like a normal person she actually compared. All five numbers matched, the prize was 1.4 million dollars. Finn jumped a few feet high and then promptly held his leg in pain. But the pain was nothing compared to the happiness
,
tears of joy ran down his face.

“I don’t want the whole amount,” he told Steph. 

“Well, I don’t want any of it,” Steph said. “Now please, take care of yourself and don’t show your son and daughter-in-law any mercy for what they did.” 

“They are my family; I can’t stay mad at them for long. In fact I’m not even mad at them anymore! How could I be? This is the happiest day of my life!” 

Steph thought that was stupid and shook her head. The whole forgiveness thing was stupid. She never knew how to forgive and the unforgiving nature was in her blood. Evil blood carried evil qualities. 

“Steph, I don’t know what to say to you,” Finn said holding both her hands. “Stick around. People need to know about how you changed my life.” 

“Do me one favor in return,” Steph said glancing around. The person at the register was excited as well but attracting attention could be bad for her, “Tell him that I just helped you to the store. Don’t let anyone know about me. That will get me into trouble.” Finn suddenly looked at her differently. Who was this strange woman who had bought him millions but didn’t want anything in return? Steph suddenly realized how bizarre she must appear and how reckless it was to risk her mission on a moment’s weakness of pity for this stranger.