The Grasp of Nighttide (13 page)

“Okay, but I have to say you are an angel in disguise.” 

Steph wondered what he would think if he knew what she was about to do tonight and realized she really had to get going. 

***** 

Just like any good planner, Steph had checked out the house before tonight. Yesterday the window of the room was not secure, and she hoped it wouldn’t be now as well. To her luck it wasn’t and the same little boy slept inside. ‘Howie’ was printed on the wardrobe, on the little quilt and even on the night stand. Steph crept silently up to him, and clasped her hand over his mouth just as he opened his eyes in fright. Her black cloak and black cloth on her face were enough to give a ghostly feeling to anyone, especially a kid. Steph had to shake the thought that he was about the same age as Kim and Kate. She felt bad, but when it came to her mission, her feelings couldn’t come in the way, ever. She took out her knife to scare him and he gave in. Trembling in fear, he walked towards the window and when she quietly signaled for him to climb out, he did. Steph was swiftly out behind him and grabbed the little boy by the collar of his shirt and held him from running.  

“Get on the road”, Steph hissed in his ear, shoving him to the front. 

“Ron told me about you. You are the Road Demon,” Howie said, clearly terrified. 

Steph laughed, so typical that he said that. Howie didn’t voluntarily step on the road but with the point of her knife in his back, Steph made him get moving. 

Just then, she sensed Alice hiding nearby, not knowing that she couldn’t hide from Steph. She sneered in victory. Finally, Alice couldn’t get away from her tonight. As she pushed her new hostage down the road, Steph felt something strange and dreadful creep over her. For the first time in a long time, she was truly afraid. 

Alice found herself leaning on the couch, in front of the fireplace. She couldn’t comprehend what she was actually doing; sleeping or just sitting there? Alice realized, belatedly, that it was the doorbell that snapped her out of whatever her frame of mind was. 

She tied her hair in a loose ponytail and transformed it to a messy bun as she approached the door. She treaded lightly as light fell on the floor indicating an unknown time in the morning. She was right in guessing -she didn’t exactly have many options to choose from either- that it was Derek.  

“Hey!  I got your Vespa!” Even before she could see him fully, he stepped to the side revealing it to her. 

It looked sparkly; making her wonder if it was the same one. She recognized ‘RW’ on the custom seat. It had a new paint job, which she hadn’t asked for. 

“Thought you would like some glitter,” he said. “And I expected you to be thrilled, not shocked like that.” 

“It’s pretty. Thank you,” Alice said smiling at him. 

“Come on let’s get you practice,” Derek said. “I’ve got shades for us, and helmets.” 

“Let me get showered first,” Alice said and looked down at her pjs. “Come in.” 

“Okay as long as you don’t take too much time like Anna.” 

Alice considered that as an opportunity to get in competition with Anna. She grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and a new shirt and headed for the shower. In a matter of minutes as she was done, the sound of water from the shower was replaced by a ruffling one coming from her room. 

Alice put an ear to the door and listened. There was no doubt that it came from her room. She quickly got into her clothes and stepped out. And her pounding heart eased looking at Derek. He was going through her closet, he was searching for something. 

“Oh hi,” he said sheepishly, caught red-handed. “Was just going through your dresses. I like this black one.” He took the black gown out with the hanger. “The price tag is on? Gosh you must wear this sometime.” 

Alice was surprised and her voice was shrill with disbelief. “What were you doing in my closet?”  It was unacceptable and being it the second time he did that, Alice was angry. Going through someone’s closet- especially when it belongs to a girl- wasn’t normal behavior. 

“Nothing. Just going through your dress collection.” 

“Does that include my lingerie?” Alice pointed to an open carton box. 

“No no,” he closed the lid and put the box inside, in its place- next to the bags. “I swear I didn’t go through that.” 

“Never open my closet again. Is that clear?” Alice folded her arms, giving the impression that she was serious. “Never ever again.”

“Okay.” He gave a broad smile, not a bit ashamed for what he did. “I’ll be waiting outside.”

***** 

Derek sat on the end of the seat, giving space for Alice to slip in before him. He smiled before handing her a helmet.

“Am I riding?” Alice asked, adjusting the straps.

“Yeah. So?” Derek shrugged.

“I don’t even know if I can ride this thing, Derek,” Alice gestured to the Vespa.

“Oh, sorry,” He slid to the front of the seat. “It’s funny how I forget that it’s not yours.” Derek laughed and Alice rolled her eyes, not knowing what was so funny to him. “I don’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Never mind.” Derek shifted the conversation to practice. “Pay attention.”

Derek showed her the basics and as he did, Alice had an intuition and all of a sudden she grew confident like she was born to ride. She told Derek that she’d try herself and he sat behind her just in case. She could feel him close- she knew it was to help her if she did anything wrong, but she wondered if it was something more than that too.

Alice got the hang of it quickly, speeding around the house in circles. The wind caught up, blowing against her face. She couldn’t help feeling ecstatic. It was so fun and refreshing- and best of all, the Vespa was now hers. Derek screamed sarcastically. Thinking of getting back at him for checking her wardrobe she shook the handlebars. But it turned out to be a bad idea, because she lost control- with the speed and the wind force- and was sure they were headed for a fall. Just then Derek reached for the brakes and dug his feet into the ground.

They stopped, but Alice’s heart was still pounding. “I’m sorry ‘bout that.”

“Happens,” Derek said, and she realized he was still leaning with the handlebars under his grip. She could feel his torso pressed against her back, and hear his breath. “You did well.”

Alice didn’t need to hear that from him to know. She was no doubt good. It made her think she was an adventurous person- she might’ve tried many more cool things in the past. She wasn’t sure but it was a possibility, and the very thought sparked her to life.

“Shall we hit the town?”

“That confident huh?” There was clear amusement in his voice.

“More than ever!”

“Looks like you are opening up.” He laughed. “Let’s go.”

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation as Alice took on the streets. She confidently and carefully took on the cars and other vehicles, and it felt like Derek began to relax at the back- knowing she could handle it herself. Mr. and Mrs. Paul were there walking. Mr. Paul gave a thumbs up and Mrs. Paul- a very baffled stare. It pleased her, for the first time ever, that they noticed her.  Alice was happy - and not alone.  

Ron was standing outside the store, perhaps looking around for something to entertain himself with. But the moment he saw them, he turned quickly and went inside. Alice applied the brake. Something popped up in her mind right then; she wanted to meet Howard.  

“Stay right here,” she ordered Derek. “I need to have a word with Ron.” 

When Alice pushed through the door, Ron pretended to be busy arranging canned food on a shelf. 

“Hey, how’s Howie? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.” Alice said, not paying attention to the fact that Ron hadn’t looked up yet. 

“An incident occurred last night.” He looked into Alice’s eyes. 

“What incident? Is he okay?” A knot tightened in her stomach. Howie was in her dream last night. Was it real? 

“Yes, he is alright.” 

“What happened last night?” 

“I was sitting in my room late at night and there was a loud, wild knocking on the door. It was Howie. It was a shock to me because he had been in bed for some time. He said he was kidnapped by a person covered in black but was too shaken up to say anything else,” Ron confessed, in the same serious tone he used on so called 
date
. “I talked to the police earlier today and they are taking it lightly especially as Howie had no details to offer.” 

Alice remembered seeing something like that last night. It swirled in her head like a bizarre dream. Howie was on the road, the black entity behind him. Maybe the same one she thought she saw in the previous dream. Alice had ducked so that she would not be spotted… The next, and only thing she could recall, was that Ron came out with a gun. 

“Didn’t you see whom it was? Didn’t you try to catch the person?” 

Don’t say you went out with a gun, 
Alice thought hoping that her dreams had been just dreams. 

“Then I went out with my gun but there was no one there.” He clenched his teeth. 

“Where’s Howie?” Alice asked, shaken but not willing to let Ron know. “I’ll try to ask him.” 

“I sent him to his Mom the first thing in the morning,” Ron said coming closer. “For the first time in my life Alice, I was so scared. What if something had happened to him? Wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” 

He hugged Alice; Alice patted his back in sympathy. She expected him to let go instantly but he didn’t; his strong arms crushed Alice by the second. She couldn’t even move her arms. 

“Ron,” Alice gasped. 

“Yeah?” he murmured, unaware of the pain it was causing her. Maybe he thought it was romantic but to Alice it was a survival situation. She literally couldn’t breathe… 

“Ron, please let me...” 

Before she could finish, the door to the store crashed open and by the time Ron looked up, Derek had pushed him a step away from Alice. “Don’t you dare touch her again.” 

“What if I do?” Ron taunted, grinning devilishly. 

“Then I guess I just have to show you,” Derek said, raising his fists and taking a fighting stance. Ron countered with the same reaction and the black snake tattoo looked ready for a fight as well. 

“Wait guys…” Alice put herself between them. “We‘ve got to go.” 

Alice pushed Derek, but he didn’t budge and he refused to take his angry glare off Ron, who was by the way, still challenging Derek with his taunting expression. “We were talking and there was a problem he had. It was nothing, nothing at all. ” Alice explained, tilting her head several times to one side while glancing at the door, indicating to Derek that it was time they should leave.

Derek understood and calmed down. He dropped his fist, and his body relaxed making it possible- even if not a breeze- for Alice to thrust him outside.  

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Alice shot at him. 

“Wow, I expected a ‘thank you’.” 

“That didn’t answer my question,” Alice pointed out.  

“I’m 
supposedly
 your boyfriend,” he declared wearing his helmet. “I’m riding us back home.” 

“
Pretend
 boyfriend!” Alice reminded before he could change the subject. 

“I was behaving like a 
pretend
 boyfriend,” Derek said and Alice rolled her eyes. “He was hugging you although you didn’t like it,” Derek shot back. 

“You didn’t look like you were acting,” Alice said. 

“You just don’t know 
how good
 I am at acting,” he said. Then he shook his head and sat. “Come on let’s go.” 

Alice wasn’t happy with his answer, though she realized she had to be. She actually liked the way he had behaved inside for her and secretly wished he really was so concerned about her. 

Alice told Derek to get off at Anna’s place. She knew Anna would be waiting on him, as he had mentioned she had a day off from college. As soon as they approached, Anna opened the front door- like some sixth sense told her they were there-and stepped out, waving and smiling. 

“So you are free tomorrow?” Derek half-whispered to Alice. 

Alice shook her head, trying not to be too obvious. 

“Why not? Rashi told me you don’t have work at the store for a whole week,” he said. 

“You inquired about me at the store?” Alice asked in disbelief. She shot him a stunned look, which was lost on account of the sunshades. 

“I’m bored here with no company. Everyone is busy. We could do some exploring.” It was almost a whine. 

“No way.” She was becoming agitated. 

“Please…” he implored, childishly. 

“No.” Alice said with finality. 

Anna called to him. As Alice took in her appearance, she was jealous. She had a wooden spoon in her hand but she was dressed like she was going out to a big event. The cobalt boat neck dress might’ve been the best Alice had ever seen. She looked way hot, and the fact that she was leaving Derek with her made Alice uncomfortable. There was going to be more than talks between them inside, and with the day’s temperature starting to drop... Alice didn’t want to think further.

“So what? They are a couple.” Alice muttered.

“Did you just say something?” Derek took off his helmet.

Suddenly her full attention shifted towards Derek. She observed him all through morning and had to admit that today he looked more irresistible than all the other days. Alice wished she could take him away for herself.

“What are you doing Derry? Come on already!” Anna expression hardened as she began to walk towards the gate.

“I
said
,” Alice emphasized. “We can’t meet tomorrow.” 

Derek offered a disappointed nod before saying, “Ride safe.”

Before her voice would give way, she went ahead, saying no more. Before she took the turn to her path she could see Anna pulling Derek inside, from the mirror. Alice had no problem spending another day with him but she was already sharing more time with him than she was comfortable with. She liked him, but the more she got involved with him the more she realized he was altering her feelings. Was she starting to 
love
 him?  

Not love, 
she corrected
. Just fondness, s
he thought, trying to convince herself. 

The fact that he loved Anna would keep him from being more than a friend to her. 

 
Okay fine
, she thought
.  It will even prevent me from exceeding friendship
. But now as she thought more about it, she really didn’t want that, all that she wanted was to have her true love, Lance back.