The
police pay another visit, this time in reference to the creepy
visitor.
"Oh?"
Drea and Kirk exchanged a look, both wondering if it was anyone they
knew.
"I
did some checking," Eddie Scott said. "Did you know that
your buddy's death wasn't the only weird thing that happened at the
fish market?"
"Really?"
Kirk couldn't help asking, leaning toward the police officer. "What
else?"
"Well,
the entire crew quit a few days ago. They were having odd things come
up missing, then they were being haunted."
"At
a fish market." Kirk couldn't believe it.
"Yeah,
strange howling, odd noises, people seeing things. Your pal Jay
didn't mention this to you?"
"No,"
Drea said with a frown. "He never mentioned a thing."
"I
heard that weird noise like someone pulling a knife behind me,"
Kirk said. "Anyone experience that?"
"Matter
of fact, the first guy who quit. He kept hearing that sound behind
him, even when he was alone. Then he felt a blade at his throat, but
there wasn't anyone there. There was no blade there either,"
Eddie added. "Just the sound and the feeling."
"The
brain can make things seem very real," Kirk said. "Like
phantom pain from a severed limb."
"Oh,
I know," Eddie said. "We kind of pooed that idea, but more
than one person heard the blade behind them. And they hadn't talked
about it to each other, which made it more credible."
"So
the guy quit over that?"
"That
was the last straw," Sandra said. "There had been other
things, break ins, robberies.... Believe it or not, yours is not the
only business persecuted like this. The rental place down the way,
the florist, even Betsy's Cleaning Service."
All
businesses that the caterers used. Drea and Kirk exchanged a look.
The two police officers didn't miss it.
"What?"
Sandra sat forward, concerned look on her face.
"It's
just," Drea paused, wringing her hands. "We know all those
people. We do business on a regular basis with them. I have more face
to face with them than Kirk, but we know them."
"Do
you think we're the common factor?" Kirk asked. "I mean,
that could be coincidence."
"How
often is the florist going to need fish?" Drea snapped. "Of
course it's us! And after that creepy man was in here earlier, how
can you say it's not?"
"What
creepy man?" The police officers chorused.
Drea
told them. She left out her suspicions about his reasons Let them
make their own conclusions. In the meantime, they had an
investigation to conduct and the caterers a business to run.
"He
sounds like a real loose screw," Sandra said. "What could
he possibly want?"
"There's
no telling. It was like he was speaking some kind of bizarre code. I
told him to go away and left the room."
"If
he comes back, be sure to call me," Sandra said.
"Thank
you. It would make me feel better knowing that someone believes me."
"With
all the strange things going on, I'd love to find a quick fix,"
Sandra said. "But I don't expect to be handed to me. If you're
right, if you two are in the middle of this thing—why?"
"Beats
the hell outta me," Kirk shrugged. "Honey?"
"No
idea," Drea said. "I can't imagine why anyone would be
after a couple simple caterers like us. We're harmless."
"Completely,"
Kirk agreed.
"Well,
if you think of anything else, you'll call?" Eddie asked.
"Absolutely.
Thank you so much for coming by," Kirk said.
"Come
by when you're ready to talk menus," Drea said with a smile for
Sandra. "Who's the lucky fellow?"
Sandra's
eyes flickered over to Eddie. "I'd tell you, but I outrank him."
She winked at them and they left together.
Drea
managed to keep her calm resolve for a moment after the police
officers drove away, then it crumbled to nothing.
"Why
is someone doing this to us? What have we done to deserve this?"
"Nothing,
love. It's not for what we've done, but for what we are."
"We're
people. Just like anyone else," she said with a sniffle.
"No,
we're not, boss," Margo said as she walked out of the kitchen.
"Except for Tommy, none of us is normal."
"I
thought that for once we'd managed to find our niche," Drea
said, wiping her eyes. "I thought that for once we'd shown the
world we aren't dangerous."
"Darling,
there will always be those who hunt us simply because we're
different."
"But
we don't hurt anyone! With all the modern advances, we don't even
need to feed on humans unless it's consensual. With our medicine, we
can control the blood lust. It's simply not fair!"
"Life
isn't fair, Drea," Margo said with a tone of concern. "You,
of all of us, should know that the best. Your life was taken from you
long ago, snatched away by a monster. The rest of us, we agreed. You
didn't turn Kirk against his will, nor me either. It was what we
wanted. I would have died without you. The disease that was eating
away at my body, my soul, was cured when you turned me. You and Kirk
can be together forever. And if Tommy ever decides this is the
existence he wants, then I'll turn him too. But only if he wants it.
In the meantime, we have one another."
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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