The Phantom Touch

Twilight

It was thanks to sheer exhaustion that I managed to sleep that night. Not that there was much night left for me to sleep through. After about three hours, the sun was up and streaming in through my window. I thought of staying in bed for the remainder of the day once I gave up on sleep, but my neck reminded me how much damage it took several hours earlier and it urged me to rise up and greet the day.

I skipped breakfast, not certain I could swallow anything without feeling a sharp pain in my throat, and went out into the crisp morning with intentions to pick up my medicine from the pharmacy. On any other morning, I would have gained little notice out on the street. People would spot me coming and would generally dart to the other side of the road so as not to brush shoulders with a Body. And on that day, most did still dodge me, likely out of instinct at that point, however, several of them must have suffered whiplash from the double take they did once they spotted the large purple splotch painting my skin.

Eventually, a small crowd gathered on the other sidewalk, their words jumping from ear to ear as they speculated who my assailant might be. And they made no effort to guard their words or keep to a whisper. I was an animal after all, cattle waiting to be bought and butchered by someone in town. Many wondered if it had already been done.

"Was it Antonov? Did he finally take her blood by force?"

"Perhaps Sheriff Hathway got too frisky and left a mark. That man has too much wolf in him to appreciate his strength."

"What if it was Bungee? But, he's away though, isn't he?"

Some even shouted their questions out to me, unashamed of their thirst for gossip. But, I just kept walking. Eventually, they gave up, but I knew it was only to find a better source for news. They'd listen to the grapevine and then discover all the exciting things that happened the night before.

Thankfully, the pharmacist only gave me a once over when I arrived with Gregory's note. He didn't ask me to elaborate on the prescription, he simply handed me my pain killers and then sent me on my way.

I headed back to the hotel, where I found Calista waiting for me. She offered me the day off, but I begged her to let me work. I told her I understood if she didn't want me working directly with customers while I was the talk of the town, but I needed to keep my hands busy and my mind distracted. She shrugged and said as long as that's what I wanted, I was welcome to come in. 

And so I did. I stocked shelves, swept floors, and wiped down countertops. I kept my body at work, never stopping for a second, even if I had polished a cabinet two times already. Yet, it did nothing to silence my fears. How far away was the clan? How long would they be gone? What if something went wrong? How would we know? Who would save them? If Kyra left, who would protect the town? Was Everett safe? Had Bungee already become a monster?

The questions, they never stopped. They got worse with each reiteration and snowballed into outrageous fears that any sensible mind would know to be absurd. But, I lived in a town of the absurd, of the strange and unusual. Maybe Bungee had been overtaken by the same force that seemed to hold Mercedes captive. Was any sense of himself left? What if Everett was killed and turned by rabid zombies? What if he was sprinting back to town right now with monstrous rage in his eyes?

Surely, it wouldn't be that bad so fast, I'd tell myself. But, I'd seen a ghost float, a vampire drain a human dry, a mage burst with color, a werewolf transform into a giant beast, and a zombie rise from the dead. What was realistic anymore?

I left Calista to close up the shop and stepped out into the twilight. It was in this space that Bungee asked me to have dinner with him, where Everett held me close, and where Mercedes almost ended my life. In my old life, the striking gradient of orange shifting into magenta and then into a deep blue, would have been a welcoming sign, an award for making it through the day. Now, though, I knew it to be a time of danger and surprise. Walking outside in the pitch black wasn't nearly as dangerous in Whisper Valley as it had been in the city. Vampires were about at night, with their feeders in tow, laughing and socializing as anyone would during the day. However, dusk and dawn were far more frightening in this strange little town. At dusk the vampires were not yet awake, while the others were making their way to bed.