Page 57 of Waste
“Although you might believe in ghosts!” David teased, but his eyes were serious, and Shelley made note of that.
“Okay, I don’t believe in vampires, werewolves, ghoulies, and whatnot. Ghosts, however, there does seem to be some tenuous evidence towards their existence.”
“Ah, you’re a lady who needs to see something to believe in it,” David asked.
“Yes, let’s be serious for a moment. If dragons existed, where are their bones? And vampires? What about zombies? Why has one never been captured? I love a good horror story, but I don’t believe in them. Although the film that scares me silly is The Shining.”
“Good old Jack!” David agreed. “That film is a classic for a reason.”
“I agree.” Shelley glanced at her phone. “Thanks for the company, but I’ve got to go. Have a great day.”
“You too.”
As Shelley headed out, she saw David exchange a look with another guy at a different table. The guy shook his head, and David nodded. Damn, there had been two of them. Shelley wondered if she’d fooled them enough. She’d know tomorrow if David turned up.
???
“Here, I brought you this to read. You can keep it. I bought two copies by accident,” David said the next day.
Shelley’s heart sank. She hadn’t convinced him she knew nothing. “Hi and thanks. What is it?”
“A book on paranormals.”
Shelley pushed it back towards David. “I don’t think it’s my type of thing.”
“Aw, come on, you might find yourself opening your mind,” David teased.
“Honestly, I don’t want to be rude, but I really don’t believe in the paranormal,” Shelley said.
David flicked through the book and showed Shelley a picture. “That’s Goody Glover. She was a real-life witch who was hanged at Salem.”
Shelley leaned forward and looked at the picture. “Such a shame; she was probably a scapegoat for something.”
David laughed. “You’re hard to convince. This book doesn’t deal with the fantastical but does tell real-life stories.”
David flicked again, and the book opened to a picture of a man. “Gilles Garnier. He believed he had lycanthropy and was burned at the stake.”
“Damn, that’s nasty!” Shelley exclaimed. She had an inkling of where David was going with this and was prepared when the book fell open to a picture of Ghoul. “What on earth is that?” She wrinkled her nose and frowned at the picture.
“That’s one of the worst. That’s a creature called Ghoul. He eats the flesh of the dead,” David said, his eyes staring hard at her.
“That’s just nasty. I’ve heard the term, but I always had an image of… oh blast… that creepy guy from the Nosferatu film.”
“Max Schrek! What an actor. You thought ghouls looked like him?” David laughed.
Shelley allowed a blush to hit her cheeks. “Yeah. I’m embarrassing myself, aren’t I?”
“No. I get it. Paranormal is really not your thing,” David teased, leaning back. “Max Schrek as a ghoul!” David chuckled.
“Glad I could make you laugh,” Shelley said grumpily.
“Hey, I’m not laughing at you! Just like Max Schrek being a ghoul. He’d have made an excellent one. The idea of it makes me shudder,” David explained.
“You keep your fictional monsters, and I’ll stick to my contemporary ones. Good old Freddie never let anyone down,” Shelley retorted.
“Those damn claws of his. I’ll never forget the bath scene when they emerged from the bubble bath.” David shook his head.
“Yeah, I refused to use bubble bath for months after that,” Shelley admitted.
