Page 63 of Air Of Mystery
“Hey!” Gabriella grabbed my arm to steady me. “Are you okay?” She led me straight to a cushy loveseat in the lobby and gratefully, I sat down.
“Give me a moment,” I said, pressing accept. “Hello?” I said into the phone.
“Skye? I don’t know if you’ll remember me. This is Corrine Thompson I live across the street from that Victorian on Henry Street.”
“Yes of course, Mrs. Thompson,” I said. “I remember you.”
“Great. Call me Corrine.”
“Okay, Corrine it is,” I agreed. “Is something wrong?”
At my words, Gabriella sat beside me and leaned closer. I obligingly tilted the phone so she could hear the conversation.
“I think something bad is going on over at that old house,” Corrine said. “Originally a young couple moved in, but then another person moved in with them. Now, I consider myself pretty open-minded, but the new man? He’s creepy. We’ve only seen him a handful of times, but there’s something sketchy about the way he acts with the young couple. It’s almost like they are subservient to him.” Corrine sighed loudly. “I know this makes me sound like a terrible busybody, but…”
The tone of her voice was concerning me. “Tell me what has happened that’s upset you?”
“Well, I haven’t seen the young couple that lives there indays. The last time I did I was in my front yard planting mums, and I saw the woman outside. She was sort of staggering around her yard. I ran over to see if she was hurt, and the womanwas pale with these bruises all over her arms, and several more were visible on her neck. She seemed disoriented and her eyes kept darting back to the house as if she wasn’t supposed to be outside. It was so odd!”
Bruises on her neck,I thought and shuddered, despite myself.Like a vampire attack?My stomach dropped again. Sunny’s visions were turning out to be dead on the money. I’d thought predator, but it seemed that we were both right. “Corrine, do you think the woman was being physically abused?” I asked softly.
“I offered to take her to a shelter,” Corrine continued, “but she ran away from me and went back indoors. That was three days ago, and I haven’t seen her since. My husband told me the couple is probably into drugs, and that I should mind my own business; but I think something is wrong! It all reminds me of when you and your sister rescued that poor girl—Sophia—from that house. I’ll never forget that. I’ve never seen a child so badly treated in all my life.”
“I’ll come,” I told her. “I’ll be there within an hour. In the meantime, stay indoors and keep your kids away from that house.”
Corrine laughed a bit nervously. “Not a problem, I’m sort of afraid to walk over there by myself. I’ve started to a few times, but I get this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach and I can’t.”
“You did the right thing calling me,” I assured her. “Please, stay off of that property.”
“Do you know what’s really going on over there, Skye?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve been working with a psychic that I trust, and she recently...pinpointed the issue.” It was an evasive answer, but I didn’t want to frighten the woman any more than she already was.
“Is there anything else I can do to help?” Corrine wanted to know.
“What you can do is to keep an eye out. But stay on your own property and let me know immediately if you see anything or anyone else that doesn’t look right.”
“Done,” she said. “I’ll absolutely keep watch.”
“Perfect,” I told her. “Thanks, Corrine.”
I ended the call and sat for a moment, going over in my head everything I’d learned.
“Skye?” Gabriella said.
“Itisa god-damn vampire,” I muttered to myself, as I secured the laptop case strap back over my shoulder.Or some type of one.“Well, there’s something you don’t run into every day.”
“Skye?” Gabriella repeated, touching my arm to get my attention. “Do you need help?”
I focused on her. For a moment I thought about asking her to come with me, but Gabriella had children. I wasn’t about to put her in a potentially dangerous paranormal situation…so instead I simply said, “No thank you. I don’t need help.”
“You sure that’s a good idea, you going to that house alone?” Gabriella asked.
“I’m out of options and out of time, Gabriella,” I said, rising to my feet. “I’ve been trying to get a message to the Guardian unsuccessfully for months about the paranormal issues at this location on Henry Street. I asked my grandmother to contact them—but she refused.”
Gabriella stood with me. “Althea refused? Why?”
“At this point it doesn’t matter anymore.” I grabbed my rolling suitcase handle and started for the exit. “I can’t wait any longer for the Guardian. So, it’s going to have to be me.”
