‹ Prequel: The Paris Escapade
Sequel: Hunter's Strike ›
Nightmare City
Prologue - Buried Feelings
The sky was overcast and stifling. Warm rain splashed down irregularly, drizzling one second, pouring the next. I had an umbrella in my hand, one of those huge ones that you see at the beach, but it wasn’t for my own comfort. It was for keeping the rain off of Gabriel as he dug.
“Do we really have to do this in the rain?” I complained, my arm was getting tired holding out the umbrella, and I was pretty sure Gabriel wasn’t enjoying shoveling mud. “We can come back later, at night.”
“The cemetery will be closed by then.” he replied, pushing his shovel deftly through the mud. He dug tirelessly at a speed that would take three humans to accomplish. A more well-fed vampire than Gabriel would have been finished by now, but he subsisted mostly on pig’s blood, which made his strength somewhere below monstrous. “I really don’t feel like breaking into any more cemeteries, do you?”
“I will admit past experiences have been less than ideal.” I assented. “You do know that this is insanely illegal, right?”
Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the words on the small, flat tombstone at the head of the grave: Katrina Riley.
“Police, I can handle.” he answered ominously, not pausing in his digging.
“We’ve barely been back from Paris a week. Are you really going to let what Kieran said bother you?”
“As much as I hate to admit it, he was right about one thing. I won’t believe she’s dead till I see her corpse with my own eyes.”
“Ugh.” I said queasily. “As long as I don’t have to.”
Gabriel’s shovel made a thunk! sound and he stopped digging. He tossed the shovel up beside me, not even looking to make sure it didn’t hit me. I sidestepped a little, so the mud wouldn’t splash my clothes. He knelt down and began clawing at the mud with his hands, clearing it away from the casket. I turned my head away before he opened the lid, holding out the umbrella precariously. Katrina had been in her nineties when she had died, she probably hadn’t decomposed well.
I heard the creak of the lid, then a long silence. I fought the urge not to look for myself. “Huh.” Gabriel said after a while.
“What, what’s the matter?” Alarm spread through me, I opened my eyes, but turned them up to look at the umbrella.
He pulled himself nimbly out of the hole and picked up his shovel again. “It’s okay to look, she’s not in there.”
I peeked cautiously, suspecting a trick. Even though I knew Gabriel couldn’t lie, I also knew that Great Aunt Katrina was buried here.
What I saw was bare white satin. There was no trace that anything human or otherwise had been inside. “Huh.” was all that came out of my mouth. Gabriel shovelled the mud back into the grave, the coffin still wide open. “Well, if she’s not buried here, where is she?”
Gabriel’s profile was grim. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Do we really have to do this in the rain?” I complained, my arm was getting tired holding out the umbrella, and I was pretty sure Gabriel wasn’t enjoying shoveling mud. “We can come back later, at night.”
“The cemetery will be closed by then.” he replied, pushing his shovel deftly through the mud. He dug tirelessly at a speed that would take three humans to accomplish. A more well-fed vampire than Gabriel would have been finished by now, but he subsisted mostly on pig’s blood, which made his strength somewhere below monstrous. “I really don’t feel like breaking into any more cemeteries, do you?”
“I will admit past experiences have been less than ideal.” I assented. “You do know that this is insanely illegal, right?”
Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the words on the small, flat tombstone at the head of the grave: Katrina Riley.
“Police, I can handle.” he answered ominously, not pausing in his digging.
“We’ve barely been back from Paris a week. Are you really going to let what Kieran said bother you?”
“As much as I hate to admit it, he was right about one thing. I won’t believe she’s dead till I see her corpse with my own eyes.”
“Ugh.” I said queasily. “As long as I don’t have to.”
Gabriel’s shovel made a thunk! sound and he stopped digging. He tossed the shovel up beside me, not even looking to make sure it didn’t hit me. I sidestepped a little, so the mud wouldn’t splash my clothes. He knelt down and began clawing at the mud with his hands, clearing it away from the casket. I turned my head away before he opened the lid, holding out the umbrella precariously. Katrina had been in her nineties when she had died, she probably hadn’t decomposed well.
I heard the creak of the lid, then a long silence. I fought the urge not to look for myself. “Huh.” Gabriel said after a while.
“What, what’s the matter?” Alarm spread through me, I opened my eyes, but turned them up to look at the umbrella.
He pulled himself nimbly out of the hole and picked up his shovel again. “It’s okay to look, she’s not in there.”
I peeked cautiously, suspecting a trick. Even though I knew Gabriel couldn’t lie, I also knew that Great Aunt Katrina was buried here.
What I saw was bare white satin. There was no trace that anything human or otherwise had been inside. “Huh.” was all that came out of my mouth. Gabriel shovelled the mud back into the grave, the coffin still wide open. “Well, if she’s not buried here, where is she?”
Gabriel’s profile was grim. “That’s what I’d like to know.”