Destiny (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

I did a few laps then decided to sit and wait for Sam to turn up. It had gotten quite cool but the bench was in the sun—the one where I’d seen Elizabeth. I wondered if she was there, watching me, even now.

I closed my eyes, and went through the same relaxation routine that Sam had me go through. I wasn’t sure why that was meant to help, but it had worked before so I gave it a try again. When I opened my eyes, she was standing there in front of me, smiling.

I smiled back, not completely sure if I was really seeing her, or if it was just wishful thinking—until she spoke

‘Hi Lili. I was hoping you’d come. I’m sorry if I frightened you yesterday.’ She had the most beautiful British accent—very well-spoken for such a young child.

‘Oh, I’m the one that should be sorry. I feel so stupid—fainting like that. I don’t know what came over me.’ I hoped she could tell that I was sincere.

‘It’s okay. Neither Sam nor I knew what to expect,’ she said as sat down on the bench beside me.

So, ghosts sit. I wondered what else they do.

‘We do just about everything that we did when we were alive,’ she said, answering my unspoken question. ‘Of course, we don’t eat or drink, but most other things we still do.’

I’m sure the look on my face gave away the fact that now I was frightened. She’d heard my thoughts?

‘Yes, I can hear your thoughts. And yes, you do look frightened. I’m sorry. But you needn’t worry. I won’t ever give away any of your secrets … like how much you like Sam. I could hear your thoughts yesterday, before I showed myself to you.’

This was, well, very weird. I didn’t have to speak and I suspected that no-one could hear her but me, so we could have this conversation, in the middle of a crowded room, and no-one would be the wiser.

‘Yes, that’s exactly right. Sam and I have been doing it for years and years, and no-one ever suspects anything. But could you imagine how much attention it would draw, if he were talking out loud in a one-sided conversation. This works so much better.’

I wondered, would he hear her answers now, if he were here?

‘Yes, or at least I think so. Oh, here comes Sam now, we can try it.’

Sam walked up, and I could feel my face blush. My secret thoughts and desires were no longer quite so secret, with Elizabeth hearing every thought as if I were saying them out loud.

‘Well, good afternoon ladies. You don’t know how nice it is to see the two of you sitting here together, chatting as it were,’ said Sam, sitting down next to me.

‘Hi Sam, we were just wondering—when I ‘speak’ can both of you hear me at the same time? I said I was pretty sure it would work that way, but we hadn’t actually tried it before.’

‘Well, I heard that loud and clear,’ I said.

‘Yes, I heard the question, so I guess that’s your question answered,’ Sam replied.

Elizabeth turned and faced Sam.

‘Lili was a bit worried because I can hear her thoughts. But I assured her that her thoughts are secrets between us—just as yours are between you and me. I promised her that I won’t ever divulge anything that she doesn’t want me to. I just thought I’d mention that, for the record.’

Sam looked at me and smiled. I could still feel the heat in my face so I figured he’d be able to see the colour, even in the shadows. I could see that Elizabeth knew exactly how I felt. She looked down at the ground almost as though she was embarrassed as well.

‘We’ve had a nice little chat, haven’t we Lili? But I’ll go now and let you two have some time to yourselves. It was really nice talking with you, Lili. I hope you will come here again soon.’

‘Oh, of course I will,’ I said out loud so that Sam could hear too.

Then she was gone, and Sam stood up and pulled me up off the bench and gathered me in his arms and kissed me. When he stepped back, I looked into his eyes to try to read his emotions. His eyes were sparkling, the dark lashes even more pronounced today.

‘Can I walk you home?’ he asked, offering me his hand to lead me up the path.

‘That’s quite a trick, isn’t it—talking to her that way. Tell me, are there others that talk to you?’ I said, as we made our way up the path.

‘Sometimes. When they’re really distressed, or when they think I can help them with something. But mostly they just sort of walk around mumbling.’

‘So, can you always tell they are ghosts then? Or do they just look like regular people to you?’

‘I can tell they’re ghosts, if I’m looking directly at them. But there have been times when I’ve been deep in thought, and I’ve walked toward them and not noticed. But I tell you what, I notice when they walk right through me. It feels really bizarre when they do that—when you can see them walk through you. You sort of jump, like you expect to bounce off them, but you don’t. It can be rather startling—even though you’d think I’d be getting used to it by now.’

This was freaky. I mean, the idea of vampires, well, they seemed sort of just like people to me now, with strange eating habits. But ghosts—I hadn’t really had time to process them yet. They hadn’t yet made it to the normal category. But I suspected, in time, the idea of talking to a ghost wouldn’t be any more foreign to me than talking on the phone to someone in another country.

‘What are you thinking Lili? Are you regretting meeting me? Hearing all this? Seeing Elizabeth?’

‘No, not at all. I was just wondering how long it would take for ghosts to make it to the normal category in my brain, like vampires have.’

He smiled, and squeezed my hand. ‘So, you think I’m normal, do you?’

‘Well, perhaps normal isn’t quite the right word. But … you know what I mean,’ I said, shaking my head.

I quickly moved across in front of him, letting him come up from behind me, then pulled his arms tightly around me and stood there, just breathing in his musky scent. Being with him felt more than ‘normal’—that word didn’t even begin to describe the elation I felt when he touched me, or the wholeness that came over me at moments like this, when his arms were around me. It was as if some portion of me had been missing, and had now returned to make me whole again.

We walked the rest of the way home in silence, then when we got to the apartment, he looked down at me with a grin on his gorgeous face. ‘Oh, I nearly forgot. We’re going to The Grampians next weekend. Claire has spoken and, as far as Tom is concerned, her wish is his command.’

~~***~~

Monday morning Debs left early for her day at the museum which gave me the whole day to myself. I was sitting watching one of the morning programs, thinking about Sam and wondering if I would see him today, when I was startled by the door buzzer. I answered it, assuming it would be a package delivery or something, but was pleasantly surprised to hear Sam’s voice. He’d decided to take a chance that I might not have plans, and wondered if I’d like to go for a drive over to a place called Williamstown.

He drove us over the Westgate Bridge and then along a road called The Strand that ran beside the bay. The houses here were a mixture of old and new, with spectacular views across the water back to the city. We reached a roundabout and drove past an area filled with shops and restaurants, but Sam didn’t stop. He continued driving around to a road called The Esplanade which took us to a small beach that was all but deserted on this cold Monday morning. Sam parked the car and we got out to walk along the water’s edge.

We walked hand in hand, not speaking, just enjoying the morning sounds: the gentle waves rolling onto the sand, and seagulls calling out in their screechy voices. The air was fresh and clean, but the wind had a real bite to it. When eventually I could no longer control the shivering, Sam led me back to the car.

We drove back to The Strand and Sam asked if I’d like to go into any of the shops. I hadn’t done much in the way of gift shopping, so he patiently watched as I walked up and down the aisles of the shops searching for little things that I could bring home to Mom and Raye. I even got some postcards to send to the friends that I’d all but forgotten.

He dropped me home around three, and after he’d gone I sat in my room to write out the postcards I’d bought. I tried to think of clever things to say about what I’d done and seen so far, but all I could think about was Sam. How wonderful he was, and how he made me feel, and how different he was from David.

With David, everything had always been about him: where he wanted to go, what he wanted to do, and when he wanted to do it. David had wanted to marry me; wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together. And while I had been dragging my feet a little, if Mom hadn’t suggested this trip to Australia, I wonder if I would have married him? I suddenly felt a rush of gratitude—toward my Mom for coming up with the idea and pushing me along, and toward myself for having had the courage to actually do it.

~ C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN
~

I walked into the bar just before five. I stood near the door, searching, but it appeared Claire hadn’t arrived yet. I still couldn’t believe I’d allowed her to talk me into coming. I wasn’t a drinker, and I felt like a complete outsider.

But as much as I’d dreaded walking in by myself, no one seemed to take any notice of me. I went to a small table toward the middle of the room, and sat facing the door so I could see her soon as she arrived. As I sat there, watching the place fill up, I wondered if everyone could tell I didn’t belong.

I hadn’t been sitting long when I began to get the feeling that I was being watched. You know, the one where you can almost feel eyes burning into the back of your head. I looked around, but everyone looked engrossed in their own conversations and no one seemed interested in looking back at me.

I decided to ignore the sensation, and started examining my fingernails for something to do. But the sensation refused to go away. I slowly lifted my head, staring straight ahead. There was someone in my peripheral vision, just off to my right. I moved my eyes ever so slightly, keeping my head as still as possible, and the person became a little clearer, but the room was fairly dim so he was hard to make out. I was pretty sure it was a man however—one dressed in dark clothing.

I moved my head just a fraction of an inch further, and now I was certain it was a man. And something about his shape reminded me of Sam. I quickly turned my head to face him, planning to ask whether he’d followed me, but when I turned there was no one there. After that, the sensation of being watched disappeared.

If anyone had been watching me, their attention shifted along with everyone else’s in the room. The murmur of voices stopped, and every head seemed to turn in unison to look at the three gorgeous blondes who stood there surveying the room. All three were dressed in black from head to toe—short skirts, low cut tops and tall leather boots. They looked like they could have been back-up singers for some raunchy band. All they were missing was the wind machine to blow their hair away from their faces.

After a few moments, two of the girls made themselves at home at the bar, and were instantly surrounded by men. The third, Claire, came over and sat at the table with me.

‘Hey, Lili. Glad you made it. Have you been here long?’

‘Not really—just a few minutes.’

‘Well, we really need to sit at the bar with Holly and Steph. We won’t get any action over here. Come on,’ she said, grabbing my arm and dragging me up to the bar.

As soon as we sat down on the little bar stools, Claire ordered us drinks; a margarita on the rocks for her, and something called lemon squash for me. She was right about the men. Claire’s friends were surrounded by them, and within a few minutes, two very nicely dressed businessmen joined us. I couldn’t help but think how impressed I might have been if I’d met them a few weeks earlier—before meeting Sam that is.

George, the one who seemed most interested in me, was very handsome. He said he was born in Australia, but his parents were Greek. He asked how I’d been enjoying my visit so far, and what plans I had for the rest of my stay.

‘It would be a shame if you left without seeing the Great Barrier Reef,’ he said. ‘And maybe even Port Arthur in Tasmania, although it would be bloody cold down there this time of year. It’s haunted you know, with all the prisoners that died there and all. They do these midnight tours—we might even see some ghosts.’

‘Ghosts, eh? So, you believe in ghosts do you George?’ I asked, trying to sound innocent.

‘Sure, I mean, why not. I’m pretty open-minded about stuff like that. And I’m pretty open to taking lovely American tourists to see Australia too. Terry, how’s a trip to Tassie sound, mate? We could take these lovely ladies down to Port Arthur and let them meet the ghosts down there—do that midnight tour of the place.’

He laughed when his friend shrugged and gave him a look that said ‘shut up’.

But I wasn’t ready to drop it just yet. ‘I’d love to meet these ghosts, George. That’s a great idea. They would probably have some interesting tales to tell, don’t you think? It could be very educational—I could take photos to show my husband when I get home.’

George looked down at my hand—I gathered he was looking for a ring. He seemed to take the hint, however, and excused himself to join a group of his work colleagues.

I simply couldn’t be bothered with flirting—not now. Now, a tall dark vampire with gorgeous blue eyes was the only one that could impress me.

~~***~~

The following night when I finished work Sam was standing near the doorway having a quiet conversation with Michael, my boss. Michael; wasn’t that the name of the dhampir he’d told me about? The one married to Crystal? But surely, it couldn’t be
this
Michael, could it? And yet, their body language suggested they knew each other quite well. As I walked up, they both turned and smiled at me.

‘She’s doing a great job, this girlfriend of yours,’ said Michael, looking at Sam.

Girlfriend;
just hearing the word spoken out loud sent shivers down my spine and made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, but I tried.

‘Makes a good witch, doesn’t she?’ said Sam, winking at me.

‘Sure does. I could tell when I first laid eyes on her. That hair of hers is perfect—wild and crazy looking. She’s a good worker too. She’s a keeper, Sam, that’s for sure. From my standpoint, anyway,’ laughed Michael.