RED HAZE: A Werewolf Story for the 21st Century by Ian Redman Read Free Book Online

cared for. We have both been ordered not to ask questions, just to give you the best medical care available. Simple as that! Now, I have a phone call to make.” Piper cursed under his breath as Doctor Ramirez walked over to the door and looked at his watch. “All being well, you should have a visitor within the next four to five hours, so get some more sleep, or would you like some breakfast?”
    “Yes, thanks, I am hungry.”
    “Leave it to me,” said nurse Clarel.
    “After breakfast,” the Doctor continued, “I want to examine you fully, then you can relax and await your visitor.”
    Swiftly, Doctor Ramirez left the room, with Nurse Clarel offering Piper a fresh glass of ice-cold water, which he enthusiastically gulped down. “Thanks.” Piper smiled at her as he lay back on the soft white pillows. So many questions to ask, he thought…so many damned questions. He closed his eyes.
     
    That same morning, thousands of kilometres away in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, fifty one year old Anna Friid was preparing for her usual day at the Van Gogh Museum.
    Situated at Paulus Potterstraat 7, the famous, popular museum, houses the world’s largest collection of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings. For over eight years Anna had worked at the museum as a tour guide, thoroughly enjoying taking the daily throng of visitors on walks around the exquisite paintings adorning the walls of the building. Her oratory was always vibrant and colourful, just like the paintings she adored, and both the staff at the museum and the tourists loved her. As Anna walked nimbly through the museum’s entrance doors, she heard her friend and work colleague calling over to her.
    “Good morning Anna, have you heard from Jon yet?”
    Zara Milt, a lively, bubbly twenty one year old, with thick-rimmed glasses and flowing red hair, was referring to Anna’s only son, now twenty-eight, who worked at a solicitor’s office in Lucerne in Switzerland.
    “Yes, his letter arrived today Zara.”
    “Oh, how wonderful!”
    Anna’s face was awash with excitement. Jon had invited his mother to stay with him for two weeks at the end of April. She was delighted, so too, was Zara, for Anna had lost her husband just over three years ago. Now, time spent with her son, and at the museum, meant so much to her.
    “We must talk a little later Anna,” Zara said, “but I think we have our first customers for the day.”
    Quickly Anna turned around to see a small group of tourists standing at the front door, with Zara instantly noticing the tall, striking, well-dressed man with blonde hair, standing within the crowd. With a warm smile on her face, Anna unlocked the cloakroom door next to the reception desk. At the same time, blushing embarrassingly as the blonde haired man gazed fixedly in her direction, Zara welcomed their first visitors for the day.
     
    Approximately fifty minutes later, the phone on Anton Actie’s desk began to ring. Actie was the main Political Editor for the much read and respected Dutch daily newspaper, “De Telegraaf”. Taking another sip of his luke-warm coffee Actie picked up the handset, the extension number reading ‘0’. He sighed, knowing it was the receptionist and the first of many phone calls throughout the day.
    “Yes!”
    “Anton, a call for you.”
    “Who is it?”
    “I don’t know. He wouldn’t give his name, but he says it is important that he speaks to you.”
    “Find out who he is first Julie. You know I have my rules about talking to people like this, I am just so busy.”
    “Yes but…he sounds foreign, okay, hold on.”
    Actie kept the handset close to his ear and took another sip of coffee.
    “Anton…”
    “Yes?”
    “Again, he just says he must speak with you, apparently it is important. He sounds a bit…strange!”
    “Okay, put him through,” the coffee cup landed in the waste bin. “Anton Actie speaking, how can I help you?”
    “Listen carefully. I represent the European Muslim Freedom Fighters. Our war