Echoes From the Mist by Blayne Cooper Read Free Book Online

she came to a decision. "Kayla," she began, "you’ve been to Scotland before?"
    "Many times," the tall woman agreed.
    "But you haven’t, Ms… Liv," she immediately corrected herself.
    Liv answered, "No. Though what I’ve seen is beautiful. I should have come sooner."
    Sylla grunted her agreement and moved off the sofa to a recliner that faced Liv and Kayla. "Then I’ve got a story just for you." She lowered her voice and her accent seemed to increase exponentially. "Have you ever heard of Mary Kings Close, child?"
    Liv shook her head. "I’ve seen lots of things with ‘close’ or ‘wynd’ in the name but I—"
    Sylla waved a dismissive hand in front of her as though she was shooing a pesky fly. "They’re alleyways between buildings. A ‘wynd’ is a path with an opening at both ends, while a ‘close’ only has an opening at one. Some are so narrow your shoulders scrape the sides as you walk. Now…" She smoothed her dress. "You know that Edinburgh is one of the most haunted cities in the world?"
    Liv looked at Kayla in question but Kayla was forced to nod. That had been her experience.
    " Ay , it is," Sylla assured her audience. "Make no mistake about that. And I’m going to tell you one of our most famous tales, and why so many tortured souls haunt our fair city."
    Both Liv and Kayla leaned forward, resting their elbows on their knees.
    "Before I tell you about Mary King’s Close I need to tell you a little about Edinburgh in the 1660s, the decade before Faylinn Cobb’s birth. Edinburgh was a growing city, even then. It was also a walled city and the large sunken area in front of Waverly Train Station was Nor’ Loch, a filthy cesspool," Sylla hissed.
    Liv opened her mouth to.…
    "Tch." Sylla held up an imperious hand and Liv’s mouth snapped shut. "I’m getting to that. Because Edinburgh didn’t have much room to expand outward, it expanded upward. And we had skyscrapers seven storeys high and packed with living bodies even then. It was a time before modern waste disposal and the streets of the city served as its reeking sewers. People would dump their putrid waste, human and otherwise, out the windows and let it drain down the buildings and into the street."
    Kayla and Liv’s expressions turned sour.
    Sylla nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Imagine…" her voice dropped again and Kayla and Liv were forced to inch a little closer. "Imagine, if you dare, the vile stench of a hot summer’s day. It’s enough to turn the strongest of stomachs. Now, most of this foul matter eventually drained down into Nor’ Loch, the low point of the city, which also happened to be the water supply that was used for drinking and bathing and so on."
    Liv shuddered. "Ewww."
    "In the year of our Lord sixteen and forty-five, the plague came to Edinburgh. Rats brought it. Or to be more precise, fleas on rats. Rats became infected when the fleas bit them. The vile little rodents eat garbage and human waste; the streets were teaming with them. Do you know what happens when someone contracts the plague, Liv?"
    Liv swallowed. "They die?"
    "Oh, yes, they die. But it’s how they die that makes it so remarkable. At first it seems as though they’ve caught nothing more then a cold. They get the chills, a fever, and cough a bit, nothing too serious. Until the second day.…"
    Kayla wrapped her arm around Liv’s shoulders when she felt her partner grow more tense as the tale progressed.
    "On the second day, tiny red dots appear all over the poor soul’s body. Then they can’t hide it. Everyone knows! And they run at the sight of you. ‘Plague bearer!’ they shout. ‘Carrier of the Black Death!’ Tumors form in your armpits and your groin, growing by the hour, dark circles ring the victims eyes." Sylla’s hands flew to her chest. "You begin to vomit blood and your stomach twists with maddening cramps. Enormous, festering boils cover most of your body and fill to breaking point with hot, thick pus. And break they do, sending more