Cold Tomorrow

[40]

CHAPTER FORTY

I bolt upright in bed, my heart pounding from a dream I can't remember. It's morning and the dim light is slinking in through the window, tinting the room a steel grey. The day is just beginning and already it's steeped with a sense of finality. It feels like an end.

I suppose the only question is: An end to what?

I quickly realise that Katherine didn't come home last night; the house is quiet and empty, the silence punctuated only by the ticking of the kitchen clock. As I make myself a small breakfast, my thoughts almost instinctively turn inwards, trying to dredge up the dream I can't remember from the depths of my subconscious. It's like an itch I can't scratch and it's driving me mad.

I dig around in my mind all morning - as I eat my food, as I get dressed and ready for the day, as I wait at the dining table for Katherine or someone to come home, as I wait on the couch watching the ear-grating morning television, as I wait in my room, staring first at the pages of a book - or at least trying to - and second at the ceiling. No one turns up. But when I sit up on my bed, I find myself staring at the wall which once held a crimson word. And just like that, the dream returns.

Or rather, what I thought was a dream.

It was in fact, just a voice, by now a recognisable voice, relaying a message - or a warning, or a threat - in my mind.

Your time is up. Break the curse and come to me. If you are not here in three hours, you know what the consequence will be.

My mind spins, fumbles through my thoughts. Three hours. How long ago did I wake up? An hour ago? Two? My phone is still sitting on my bedside table where I left it to charge last night. Now I claw at it, tugging it from the power cable.

The time reads, 10:11

I recall looking at the kitchen clock when I woke. It had been a little past nine when I was getting breakfast, and if I go by the assumption that Keon operates with round numbers, then he should have relayed that messaged at nine.

I pull up the contacts on my phone and call Katherine. She doesn't pick up on the first ring, so I call again.

"Melissa? What is it?"

"Midday," I blurt, feeling every second like a stab to the gut. "We have until midday to break the curse or Keon's gonna - Keon's gonna-"

"How do you know this?" Katherine's voice comes through urgent and low. "Did he communicate with you again?"

I nod. Then I remember she can't see me and I manage a weak, "Yeah."

"You need to tell me exactly what he said, word for word. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, um, he said-" I relay the message, now permanently stamped onto the pale pink flesh of my brain. My voice cracks when I get to consequence.

Katherine takes a second to reply. "He didn't tell you where? There was no note? No address?"

"No, nothing. Why? We can still find him, right? I mean, surely there's someone with an ability for that? Someone who can locate people? We could try Renée, too. I'm sure she'd have a - spell? Right? Please tell me there's something we can do."

"You don't have to worry. Let the council sort this out. Right now, I just need you to sit tight. Alright? We're nearly done up here so we'll be over in a half hour. And Melissa?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

She hangs up.