The Dead Game (3 page)

In contrast, right across from Todd’s building was the picturesque town park. Its tree-lined paths offered residents and its many visitors benches for daydreaming and for gazing out at views of the sun-drenched beach and ocean, or at the park’s pièce de résistance: the large and elaborately designed gazebo.

The grassy park was bordered on one end by the beach’s walkway and on the opposite end by Edward and Tom’s hardware store. The next store was Oasis Rentals, where Shirley conducted her business while delving into everyone’s personal life. Her neighbor was Louise’s Dress Up, which offered an extensive line of lingerie, hats, shoes, bags, and anything else the wealthy woman might require. Louise catered exclusively to the elite of Oasis, but had never been asked to socialize with them. That had to be the reason for all the jealousy that she’d been exhibiting toward Todd.

Her mind drifted to her other friends in town. She thought about David and Mike. Their friendship was strange—a kind of love-hate relationship. Their antique store fronted Main Street with two wide picture windows. Their unique shop, aptly called Artsy, was loaded with furniture, lamps, and art. Most of their business was procured from the new artists that they searched out and discovered in the local area.

Next door to Artsy was Linda’s shop. Her corner store provided her with ample views of the walkway, beach, and ocean. She was also afforded close-up views of Todd’s building across the narrow street. The only other store on the side street was Nirvana, Shana’s horoscope reading, incense, and novelty shop. Shana floated around her store as light as air…wearing her long flowing skirts…with her ready smile and bright laughter.

Linda shook her head and scolded herself for analyzing everyone and everything in town, when what she needed to be doing was preparing for that evening’s barbeque. She walked into her bright yellow kitchen, where her two cats were patiently waiting to be fed. Gypsy was black and white with short, thick fur, while Pepper was a Maine Coon with grey and white long fur and a huge fluffy tail.

After feeding them, she checked the living room to see if her cats had messed anything up. She found everything in its proper place. This made her feel safe and secure, even though it was getting harder to feel safe in a town where dark figures roamed the streets at night, residents hid in their homes during the daylight, and people randomly disappeared from sight never to be seen or heard from again. But this was her Oasis, with all its quirkiness.

Walking back through the hallway, she thought about how much she loved her apartment and its layout, where the downstairs rooms wrapped around a central staircase. The dining room and the living room offered unobstructed views of the beach through floor-to-ceiling windows, while the cheerful kitchen in the back offered a panoramic view of the heavily wooded mountain.

Upstairs, her bedroom’s sliding doors opened to a balcony, overlooking the beach and ocean. Each morning she woke up to brilliant sunshine and calming breezes, while at night she carefully drew the blinds tight against the dark that brought with it creeping shadows.

Returning to the front hall, she slowly picked up the mysterious black envelope. She drew out a thick piece of black paper. Large bold words were written in white upon the black background.

It read,

“You are Cordially Invited to

An Evening of Intrigue

Mysteries to Solve and Games to Play

10:00 pm Sharp

Friday the 13th

End House at Oasis”

NO RSVP REQUIRED

JUST BRING YOURSELF

What a strange invitation
, she reflected. She didn’t want to play any games or solve any mysteries. And what did BRING YOURSELF mean? Who else would she bring if not herself?

She carefully checked the envelope, but couldn’t find a postmark. She also couldn’t find a name anywhere for a host or hostess.

The mansion on the hill stood dark and deserted after the last family had mysteriously disappeared about five years ago. The house looked sinister to her with its blacked-out windows. It was falling apart: sections of its roof, siding, and shutters had been ripped off by the wind. She hadn’t heard of any major storms in the area that could have damaged the house in such a drastic way. And what had happened to the poor family?

She had heard that End House boasted a gigantic indoor pool with a Jacuzzi and sauna. It also had an outdoor pool, which she couldn’t even get a glimpse of over the dense circle of tall trees surrounding the property.

The house stood alone at the end of the drive with no neighbors nearby, jutting precariously over the edge of the steep cliff with a long drop to the jagged rocks below. Just thinking about it caused chills to travel up and down her spine.

She never planned on visiting that house—ever. But she could not dwell on that now: she had to get ready for the barbeque. She didn’t have to bring much since Mike and David did most of the cooking. She returned to her kitchen, took out a few steaks from the freezer, and packed them up with the strawberry pie that she’d baked yesterday.

She climbed the stairs to her dark bedroom. The turquoise and pink drapes were securely closed, blocking out any possible rays of light from entering the room. She turned on the small green lamp on the end table beside her bed. On her white embroidered quilt were her two cats, asleep together on her turquoise throw pillows. They brought a little peace and sanity to her life that she sometimes felt were severely lacking in this strange little town.

She quickly changed into a sweatshirt and jeans, ran back downstairs, grabbed her food, and then rushed out to the barbeque.

The others were already there. Mike and David had moved their barbeque grill onto the beach; hamburgers and hot dogs were sizzling on the grill with buns warming on the side. Shana was setting the picnic table with a checkered tablecloth and baskets of breads. Louise, who’d brought the salads, was busy arranging them down the center of the table.

Linda noticed Todd lounging on a reclining chair, reading the 
Wall Street Journal.
He always brought with him a large selection of wines. He never cooked or served, but observed everyone from a discreet distance. His long legs—stretched out before him—looked tan and muscular in his biking shorts. His expression appeared pensive and serious as he perused his newspaper. The sharp angular lines of his face and his long, straight nose could have been drawn from the likeness of a Greek god: a strong god such as Zeus or Hercules. She quickly turned away before he noticed her gawking at him.

Once the food was cooked and served, they sat around the picnic table. The only topic of conversation on everyone’s mind was the mysterious party at End House. They talked excitedly about it for awhile—except for Todd, who remained strangely aloof and silent during the heated conversation. Linda wondered whether the owner of End House was also one of his many clients.

David had been the one to first introduce the topic of the party during the meal. They had been eating in silence until David spoke up. “Should we go to this party? It might not be such a good idea. We don’t even know who’s throwing the mysterious party.”

Mike sternly responded, “You always try to ruin everyone’s fun. If you don’t want to go, don’t go! Just don’t bring down everyone else’s spirit of adventure.” Mike constantly scolded David for his inappropriate comments. However, this time Linda didn’t believe that David had said anything inappropriate, since she felt the exact same way about the End House party.

Shana turned to Mike, “Who are you to say what someone should or should not be feeling? If David is hesitant about going, then he should say so.”

“That’s right,” chimed in Linda. “David shouldn’t be afraid to speak his own mind in front of his friends.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m also speaking my mind. I don’t want him putting unfounded doubts into everyone’s heads—before they’ve even considered it! David, I understand your concern about going to End House, but we’ll be together, and there’s really nothing to fear. I hope you’ll come, or else I won’t have anyone to hang out with.”

After a long pause, David slowly nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll think about it….”

After the meal Linda sat close to the others on the beach. They gazed out at the ocean while the sun set brilliantly in the distance, casting its glittering lights on the water. Each person was immersed in his or her own thoughts about End House and its unknown owner. Todd didn’t offer to identify the owner or whether he even knew who it was. And no one dared to ask.

Chapter 2

I
t was a beautiful morning, the warm weather tempting people from their homes. And they all seemed to be in her coffee shop today, mused Linda.

Serving never-ending coffee and pastries at her counter, Linda was also busy daydreaming about Todd’s beautiful dark eyes that had sparkled from the light of the sunset. A long shadow fell over her counter; glancing up, she found Todd standing right in front of her. He was staring at her with a small smile on his face—as if he knew what she’d been secretly thinking about. She quickly turned her head to check on her other customers, who were drinking coffee and lounging on her couches in the bright sunlight. She needed the time to compose her thoughts before facing Todd again.

Turning to him, she tentatively asked, “Did you want to order something?”

“I want to ask you about last night.”

Trying to organize her thoughts to figure out what could possibly have happened last night to warrant such concern from him, she couldn’t think of anything. Throwing him a puzzled look, she hesitantly asked, “What happened last night?”

“Why are you going to the party if you really don’t want to?”

Todd was watching her very closely, maybe a little too closely…which had her thinking that there must be some underlying meaning to his question that she was somehow missing. All she could manage to mutter was, “Why do you think that I’m not interested in attending the party?”

“I know much more about you than you realize.”

Ignoring his strange answer, she retorted, “I’m going to the party.”

Turning to walk away, he looked back over his shoulder and quipped, “If you’re going, then I’m going with you…to keep a close eye on you.”

She was about to respond that she didn’t need someone to keep an eye on her, but Todd had already disappeared. 
Wow
, she thought, 
he moves very fast for such a big guy.

Later that day, Shana entered the bookstore with a very frightened look plastered across her white face. She was wearing a long flowing dress with bunches of chains hanging around her neck, and a huge collection of bangles on her arms. Linda heard the musical jingling of Shana’s jewelry even before she spotted her standing inside the front door of her shop.

She rushed over to greet Linda while urgently whispering, “My cards have predicted horrendous things happening to us at the party Friday night. The Angel of Death appeared in my cards, which could only mean death for some or all of us.”

Linda didn’t remember ever seeing Shana so terrified before from a reading of her cards. She couldn’t decide if she should be concerned or not. Maybe this was why Shana had been acting strangely before the barbeque. If this was a normal town, then she could just easily shrug it off, but this was Oasis, a very unusual town with a long history of strange and deadly episodes. Unfortunately, secret meetings and shadowy figures were commonplace.

Attempting to lighten the mood a little, Linda remarked, “No one is here, so you don’t need to whisper. You have always stated that the cards were only for fun and not based on reality.”

Shana shook her head back and forth. “This town is full of secrets, and you don’t know which wall has ears. I’ve never told you this before, but my cards have never been wrong. That’s the reason why I’d opened my shop. I can see things most people cannot see or even imagine. But many people in town hate my shop and want to close me down….they’re afraid that I’ll unearth all their horrible secrets. But I’m staying until the bitter end….”

Feeling her heart skip a beat, she cautiously asked, “What end? What horrible secrets?”

“Who are you going with to the party?”

Linda knew that if Shana refused to answer a question, then nothing on this earth would be able to budge her. “Todd has offered to accompany me…just to watch over me.”

“Good! Definitely go with Todd! He’ll keep you safe. Remember! Stick with him the whole night and don’t leave his side for even one second!”

Linda was about to ask why but Shana was already out the door.

All of a sudden her store and everything around her became deathly quiet. She could no longer hear the crickets making their special chirping sounds outside. No wind could be heard rustling through the leaves. No sounds were coming from the waves crashing against the shore. Unexpectedly nervous, she hurried to close her register and lock up for the night. She wanted to walk home before it got too dark outside, before the menacing shadows appeared on the empty streets and in the quiet alleyways. She was beginning to sound like Shana, with all her evil premonitions about town.

Stepping out from her store, Linda noticed from the corner of her eye a dark shadow flying down toward her. It was coming from the sky! Reacting quickly, she ducked down low to the ground. Covering her head with her hands, lying prone on the pavement, she was not able to see anything, but only felt something fly by very close to her head—much too close for comfort. She waited a few seconds and then slowly stood up. She didn’t see any sign of anyone or anything. Darkness was quickly approaching, so she ran home.

As she sprinted along the shaded walkway, a strong wind mysteriously kicked up out of nowhere. The trees began to sway, throwing their leaves at her—as if in anger. Linda raced until she bumped headfirst into Todd, who was strolling in the opposite direction.

Todd stepped back and looked into her eyes, “Why are you wandering around alone? There are evil things lurking in the dark…ready to pounce on unsuspecting mortals.”

His eyes were open very wide, revealing a wild—maybe even deranged—look. For a fleeting second she felt afraid of him, until she realized that it was concern she was seeing reflected in his dark eyes.

She has heard weird things before, but this was way out of the ballpark of normal. She stared at him accusingly. “What’s your problem? Why are you freaking out on me?”

“It’s always good to be careful and not to tempt fate,” he whispered, “that’s why we are going to the party together.”

“I’m only going to the party with you since Shana has made me promise to stick by your side like glue,” admonished Linda, even though she liked the idea of his being concerned for her.

“That sounds promising. I’ll pick you up on Friday night,” he replied in a soothing voice. “But first I’ll walk you home. There’s definitely an eerie feeling in the air tonight.”

She did feel the extreme tension in the air. She didn’t know if she was imagining it, or if it was only the usual tension between her and Todd. Whenever he was near, she experienced a strange tingling sensation; whenever she looked into his big brown eyes, she felt herself melting inside and getting tongue-tied. Failing to say something clever, she usually went mute and said nothing. Today she’d experienced this rippling tension around her—even before she’d bumped into him. She was happy that he was escorting her home, since she did feel safer with him by her side.

Todd quietly accompanied her home and even checked inside her apartment for possible intruders. She slowly followed at his heels. They made their way back to the front door, where Todd placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Will you be all right? I can stay here with you,” he offered.

Even though this sounded more than tempting, she refused his generous offer. “I’ll be fine.” She was afraid to have him in her apartment—all evening or even all night. What would she say to him? She was still too nervous around him. She needed baby steps in order to get used to being with him. One day they might even have a full conversation.

Watching her face, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to walk away.

Linda had closed her eyes, hoping for a brief second that he was going to kiss her on the lips, but instead only felt a small peck on her cheek. Of course, she scolded herself, he wasn’t interested in her in that way and she was just fooling herself again with false hopes and dreams. But as she was lying in bed later that night, trying to fall asleep, she thought that anything could happen at a party...or even the next time they met late at night in the moonlight….