09 - Return Of The Witch

09 - Return Of The Witch by Dana E. Donovan Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: 09 - Return Of The Witch by Dana E. Donovan Read Free Book Online
Authors: Dana E. Donovan
wandering through a strange neighborhood at night in the rain, though as often is the case in dreams, I wasn’t getting wet. A block or so away, a dog barked. A few streets further, another answered. Did they know I was there? Could they hear my muffled footsteps drowning in the patter of rain? I turned my collar to the cold and continued my aimless trek.
    Later, ben eath the halo of a streetlamp, I stopped and gave pause to a voice in my head. “Here,” the voice said, and pointed me toward a house. Though I had never seen the house before, I somehow felt oddly connected to it. I walked up to the door. The lights were on inside. Music played softly from a stereo in the living room. I didn’t knock. Instead, I felt along the top of the door casing, retrieved a key and let myself in.
    A black cat greeted me upon entering. It sniffed my shoe, hissed and trotted away. I followed it, grasping at a tethered cloud, floating room-to-room and seeing only her tail as she disappeared around one corner and then the next.
    T he wind outside began to howl. Everything inside grew dull and hazy, the way it does sometimes in dreams. A black void cluttered my periphery, allowing only a narrow tunnel of light before me, squeezing my view down to a pinhole as if peering through a straw.
    I continued to search for the cat, wandering the house and finding myself back where I started. On a sideboard by the front door sat a pile of mail. A letter on top addressed to Miss April Raines of Ipswich Massachusetts remained unopened. I inspected it briefly and set it back down.
    At the end of the hall, I found a bedroom, beyond that a bathroom and a woman showering there. I didn’t recognize her, yet like the house, I felt a connection to her.
    She stepped from the shower, wrapped herself in a towel and walked to the vanity. Condensed droplets of steam wept from the mirror as she leaned in and wiped the glass. Something moved behind her. She pressed the heel of her palm to the mirror and cleared another swipe. The shadow grew larger. She gasped, spun about and screamed, cinching the towel tightly at her breasts.
    A sharp blow cut her on the forehead. She fell back, caught her balance on the edge of the vanity and came forward again. The lights flickered. The mirror shattered.
    I blinked and she was gone. Her bath towel lay coiled at the base of the vanity. Traces of blood mixed with wet footprints amid a strange blue powder.
    I reached down to pick up the towel, but the telephone rang and woke me.
    It was Dominic. He wanted to know how I was doing.
    “Fine,” I told him, squinting for the bright morning sunlight blinding me.
    “I’m at your house . How come you’re not answering the door?”
    I looked around, confident I knew the answer to that one. “I’m not home .”
    “Where are you?”
    “Well,” I took a more thorough survey of my surroundings. “I think I’m at Gloucester Beach.”
    Dominic got quiet, and then came back, “Um m, Lilith?”
    “Ye s, Dominic?”
    “How did you get to Gloucester Beach? Your car ’s in the driveway.”
    I frowned as I contemplated that one. “I’m guessing I flew.”
    “You flew ?”
    “Yeah. Now tell me why you’re at my house.”
    “There’s been another one.”
    “Another what?”
    “Disappearance.”
    “ A witch?”
    “ Ah-huh.”
    “I see. Her name’s not April Raines, is it?”
    “How did you know?”
    “We should talk.”

 
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
    Two hours, one McBreakfast sandwich and a forty-eight dollar cab ride later, I was at the Justice Center with Carlos and Dominic. Ursula was there, too. She looked a bit pensive, and I bet I knew why.
    I walked up to her and pulled her aside so that t he boys couldn’t hear.
    “Urs, are you all right?”
    “Aye, but for want of knowing what wrong I did thee , I am fine.”
    “You didn’t do me wrong.”
    “Surely I have offended thee.”
    “No, It ’s I who have offended you.” I cupped her shoulders and pulled her in

Similar Books

Francesca of Lost Nation

Lucinda Sue Crosby

The Tide Watchers

Lisa Chaplin

While the World Watched

Carolyn McKinstry

The Devil to Pay

Liz Carlyle

Java Spider

Geoffrey Archer

Banker to the Poor

Muhammad Yunus, Alan Jolis