Lure of the Night Read online

  I felt so alone. It had only been a brief meeting between myself and Ethan, but there was something there that was hard to define, something that joined us.

  “Do you know where they went?”

  “Greece, in Europe. Some island I think Mrs. Andros said.”

  The island of Andros, I had no doubt. But Ethan had said that he would see me in school. Why hadn’t he told me? It was so strange. We thanked the Ranger and he gave us a smile, his eyes seemed to flash like molten metal when his gaze fell on me, like you see in a movie when they open a furnace door and you see the coals burning red hot, sparks flying. Weird. We walked on, when we reached the house, all dark, gloomy and mysterious, there seemed to be no one there, as Ranger Ryan had said. We sat down on the wall at the side of the yard to wait.

  Despite the strange exterior of the house, there was something about the inside, that had imprinted itself on my mind, it was, what? I tried to think of the word. Warm, yes, womblike. When I had left it, I realized that I’d felt a sense of loss, like leaving a warm room to go out into the cold. Maybe it was just saying goodbye to Ethan, but no, it was more than that. There was something welcoming and safe about that house, despite all of its mystery. Except that now it was empty and locked. After a few minutes we heard a car approaching and Mom’s Chevy came into view with Aunt Rita in the passenger seat. They weren’t looking too happy. She stopped and we climbed in, the journey home was conducted in stony silence. When we got in the house John was still sat in a chair in the far corner of the room, but when he glanced up I knew he had told his mother. Oh, shit. Aunt Rita gave me a venomous glance.

  “I think we’ll get going, Catherine,” she said to Mom. “We’ve got a long drive home.”

  “Sure, Sis, I’ll help you get ready.”

  Minutes later, they were driving away with false smiles on their faces and contrived thanks for the hospitality still ringing in our ears.

  “Why did you put John up to it?” Mom asked me as we went indoors.

  “To become a homosexual, do you mean?”

  Her expression darkened. “You know what I mean, to tell his mom just now.”

  “Is that what he did?” I replied. Outright denial was pointless, of course. If an adult had decided you’re guilty, they’re judge, jury and executioner. It was always best to skirt around the issue.

  “He sure did, he upset his mother terribly. She shouted and raved at him, it was awful. She said she’s going to put him into a therapy program.”

  “What for?”

  “Well, to straighten him out, of course.”

  I tried not to smile. Did they never get it? “Ok, Mom.”

  “I mean it’s awful, what will people say?”

  “They’ll say that he’s gay, Mom. It’s no big deal.”

  She bit her lip, thinking about what I had said. Then, “You’re not gay, are you Claire?”

  “No, Mom.”

  “If you were, would you tell me?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  She was quiet then, relieved probably that her daughter wasn’t ‘queer’. What was it with people? This was the twenty first century. Apart from some of the Muslim countries, they didn’t stone gays to death these days, people didn’t see anything wrong in it. People were people, they were born, they lived their lives and they died. If they happened to be born gay, lesbian, heterosexual, whatever, that’s the cards that life dealt them. What was so hard about that to understand? I left her, and went up to my room and tried to pick up where I’d left off on my computer. I still had some homework to finish so I got on with it until Mom called me down for tea. I knew what was coming, it was just that the business with John being gay had put it out of her mind. I was cutting through a thin slice of beef when she started.

  “Why were you going to the Andros house? Was it to see Ethan?”

  “Well, yes, it was.”

  “I’m not happy about you going there, I told you that.”

  “I know, Mom. He’s not been in school, I just wanted to make sure he’s ok.”

  “And was he?”

  “They’re away.”

  She nodded and that was that.

  During the evening, I spent some time on my computer, Googling Andros Island. Some said that it was the lost island of Atlantis. There was also some kind of vampire legend. The undead were supposed to have inhabited the island, or at least they had, until an earthquake, hundreds of years ago had wiped everyone out, the entire population. Well that was ok then. At least Ethan’s family wouldn’t be bitten by some crazy creatures with long fangs. Of course, their name was Andros, so they’d named themselves after the island when they originally came to the States. Maybe it was like the Godfather story, Michael Corleone named after the town of Corleone on Sicily. But that was just a story, the Andros’s were real. I’d ask Ethan when he came back.

  I spent Sunday messing around in the house, I had yet more homework to do for a school project so I worked on that, then I read a book lying on my bed, alternately reading and daydreaming. Tomorrow I’d be back in school and it would all start again, the crap, the bullying, the boredom. Was it like this for all kids, or was it just me?

  Thankfully, the next morning Mom was more or less back to normal. I guess she realized it wasn’t my fault that John was born with gay genes, or whatever it was that sent some guys in that direction. And she knew I wouldn’t be going to the Andros house as they were away, so she was a little happier. I pulled on my short tartan school skirt. At least that other hideous skirt was out of the reckoning, which was one upside of what those girls did to me. She tried me on the long coat again, but I was ready for her.

  “No, Mom, absolutely no way. Short of a snowstorm or a hurricane, I am not wearing it.”

  “But, honey, you’re still not over your cold.”

  “Do you want me to be bullied for looking stupid?”

  “Claire, your coat looks nice, it doesn’t look stupid.”

  But even as she said it, I knew I’d won. I guess it was her tone of voice that changed, whatever. I grabbed my backpack and jumped into the car, a sort of ‘get out while the going’s good’ attitude.

  I was in luck, Joanne Richardson was just getting out of her Mom’s car and we went in together, safety in numbers. Well, not quite. Stella and her three crone-like friends were waiting on the steps, even worse James McCreedy was with them, smirking when he saw me. His buddy, Roger Blake leaned against the wall, this was not good. Roger had been suspended from school until recently, he was known to be violent and nasty. The four girls said nothing, just looked at me with hard, sneering looks. Stella’s eyes blazed, what was it with her? It suddenly struck me that she had the same look in her eyes as that Ranger in Nathan’s Wood, Ranger Ryan. They must have been family, then. James fired the opening shot.

  “You bitch, you got my friends into trouble.”

  I gave him my sweetest smile. “I’m real sorry for forcing them to rip my skirt, James. Please let us go through, we’ve got to get into school.”

  I think my apology had thrown him, he wasn’t expecting that and couldn’t work it out. I grabbed Joanne and we’d almost pushed past them when Roger Blake stepped in front of us.

  “You don’t get away with it so easily, bitch,” he snarled.

  “Ok,” I replied and waited. The trouble with these bullies, of course, was that they were essentially cowards. They got off on hurting people weaker than they were, and what really got their juices flowing was when their victims showed fear, they thrived on it. I’d heard that wild animals reacted to fear like that, it figured. But I wasn’t afraid, I really couldn’t care less. I’d taken so much of their crap that it usually went right past me. Besides, I’d got a lot of other things on my mind, so I just waited.

  “Ok, what?”

  I shrugged and waited. But his witty repartee seemed to be exhausted that morning, he walked off, muttering curses under his breath. Joanna and I went into school.

  The day went much as usual, boring routi
ne, boring people. Nothing too serious upset the deadly dull flow of the morning. Afterwards I went into the cafeteria and sat down with Joanna to eat lunch, she seemed to be in a friendly mood today, which wasn’t always the case. One of the jocks was sitting at a nearby table with a portable radio, listening to some football scores. It was then that I heard something that chilled me to the very depths of my soul.

  ‘We interrupt this program to bring you a newsflash. There has been an earthquake in Greece with hundreds of people feared dead. Worst hit was the island of Andros.’ I couldn’t think straight, the news reader droned on but there was nothing else of any note. I left my half-eaten food and rushed to the school library, logged onto the internet and started looking around for any news about the Greek earthquake, the Island of Andros in particular, but there was nothing yet. I didn’t recall anything that was said during the rest of that afternoon, I left the building and got into Mom’s car still in a state of shock. She could see instantly that something was wrong. I told her about the news.

  “I’m so sorry, darling,” she said to me. I don’t think she was being entirely honest. With Ethan out of the way, she had one problem less to deal with, or so she thought. Did it never occur to her that maybe he was an ok guy? I don’t think so.

  I told her I didn’t want tea, I just went into my bedroom, stripped off my school uniform and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. Then I lay on my bed and thought miserable thoughts. He had appeared in my life suddenly, through the cold dark forest, now he might be gone. I must have lain there for half an hour before a thought struck me, a ray of hope, something to cling to like a drowning person clutching at a log. He may not be dead, of course he could still be alive. He could have been in transit somewhere, visiting someone off the island. He could even have been on his way back, or not got there yet, perhaps his plane was delayed. I couldn’t go out to Andros to check, but I could do the next best thing. I used my cell so that Mom wouldn’t know and called the Greek Embassy in Washington.

  “Andros you say?”

  “Yes, a Mr. Ethan Andros.”

  “Mr. Ethan is on Andros, yes, you say Andros already. What is his first name?”

  “Ethan.”

  “Ah, is first name. What is his second name?”

  “Andros.”

  “Yes, you say is on Andros. What is name?”

  It took me twenty minutes to get through to him what I wanted, but finally he got it. He went away and checked some lists. “Is no record of Ethan Andros amongst the dead and injured, Miss.”

  “So he could be ok?” I asked him.

  “Maybe, maybe not. Wait a week, two is better. Then we know more.”

  I thanked him and hung up the call. There was one more place I could try, the Andros house.

  Chapter 3

  I could ask Mom to take me over there, she might be sweet about it. Yeah, right, Osama Bin Laden might apply to join the Red Cross. I needed a better plan. I kept quiet, biding my time, waiting for bedtime. When she called up I undressed and put on my red baby dolls, just like I usually did. I buttoned my robe and went downstairs to get a glass of juice from the icebox, like I always did. My cell was upstairs, charging, I didn’t always do that. I had rooted around for a torch, I didn’t normally do that either just before bedtime. There were other differences, I’d stashed a warm woolly pullover ready. I’d got my walking boots out of my cupboard and put a few necessities in my backpack. While Mom was in the living room I stashed some supplies in my robe pockets, then I went upstairs, gave her a kiss on the way up, as usual. But tonight was different, lying in bed I had on my jeans, warm socks, boots and two pullovers, I felt like James Bond, or maybe his sister. Mom put her head around the door and we wished each other goodnight. I heard her going to bed, I knew she would be taking two sleeping pills, as usual. After around half an hour, I figured it was time to go. I crept downstairs, put on my crappy warm raincoat, a scarf and a woolly hat on my head, picked up my backpack and quietly went out through the front door, closing it with an almost-silent click. Then I set off for Nathan’s Wood.

  It was creepy, but I expected that. The trees creaked, leaves rustled and sometimes I heard small animals moving around in the dark. As long as it wasn’t a bear I’d be ok. I got slightly lost, again, but I’d been this way in the daylight with my cousin Katie. Or was it my cousin-in-law Katie? I wasn’t sure, I’d have to ask Mom. Maybe not. In the end, it took me just over an hour before I saw the house loom up in front of me. My spirits went up, there was a lamp glowing in the window. Could they be back, had they survived? Oh, Ethan, I just have to knock the door and find out if you are ok, will I wake the household? Too bad, I had to know. There was no bell, just a heavy iron knocker. I banged it hard. Nothing. The house sounded hollow and empty. I banged again, harder. Still nothing. I stood waiting, feeling like a total fool, standing outside an empty house stuck on the edge of a thick wood, miles from my home, in the middle of the night. Besides, the occupants were all dead, crushed in the earthquake thousands of miles away in Greece, the news programs said there were no survivors. Except that someone was here. I heard a slight noise, it was faint, but someone was definitely moving inside the house. I heard a creak, woodwork shifting, but there was no doubt, it was a person moving. It must have been the stairs creaking as they descended. They were coming nearer. Then the door opened.

  The woman that stood there looked totally ancient to me, she must have been seventy or eighty. She had the kind of look you see in people that have done hard, low paid manual jobs their entire lives. Her skin was lined, her hair lank, thin, untidy. Well, it was the middle of the night so she had an excuse. She was wearing an old tartan robe and scruffy slippers. She peered at me through tired old eyes.

  “Yes?”

  Her voice was unexpected, not the fragile, shaky rasp I’d expected. It was the voice of a much younger woman. I stood straighter and tried to put some politeness and authority into my voice.

  “I’m sorry about the late hour, but I’m very worried about the Andros family, there was an earthquake. Are they ok, do you have any news?”

  She stood there so long I wondered if she had understood what I had said. At last, she stood aside and said, “You’d better come in.”

  With relief, I went inside. She led me through to the kitchen and we sat down at the huge, bare, scrubbed wooden table.

  “Would you like something to drink, I can make you a herbal tea?”

  Was that all they drank in this house? “I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  Her eyes narrowed with a smile and I realized how absurd that statement was. Knocking at people’s doors in the early hours of the morning generally rated as putting them to some trouble. She got up and switched on the kettle. Then she sat back down.

  “Are you a friend of the family?”

  “Not really, I’m at school with Ethan.”

  “Ah.”

  That was all she said, she waited for the kettle to boil, then poured hot water on top of two herbal tea bags and stirred the cups. “It’s chamomile, is that alright for you?”

  “Yes, it’s fine, thanks.”

  I had absolutely no idea what chamomile was, but I wasn’t going to make a fuss.

  She brought the tea and sat down again. “There was an earthquake.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “Of course, you said,” she replied slowly. “They are not dead. It cannot be.”

  She couldn’t face it, I realized that, the possibility that they might have fallen victim to tons of falling masonry.

  “But do you have any definite news, a message that they survived, have you heard anything?”

  She shook her head. “They are not dead, it cannot be.”

  Well, ok, she was old, maybe a family member, she could not face up to the realities. But I needed to know for sure.

  “Ma’am, I appreciate that you don’t think they’re dead, but do you have any hard news, have they called?”

  “They have not called
. They are not dead.”

  Jesus, I was going around and around in circles. “So you haven’t heard anything from them?”

  “No.”

  We sat there quietly, I sipped at the herb tea, it tasted like it had been made with old leaves swept up during the fall. I guess it was a healthy option, but I’d sooner have gone with juice or coffee.

  “Would you like to take off your coat and hat?” she said abruptly.

  I realized I was still wearing my thick raincoat and my woolly hat and gloves. But it was cold in the house, very cold. Colder than outside, in fact or so it seemed. It had seemed much warmer when Ethan and his mother were at home. “No, thank you, I have to get going soon.”

  I had wasted my time. I knew that. Either she was a bit senile or we were talking a different language, although her voice was clear her English was thickly accented, who was to know what she understood or not? I finished off my yucky tea and got up to go.

  “I’ve got to get back. I’ll call in a couple of days and see if you’ve heard anything.”

  “They not dead.”

  I smiled gently. “Ma’am, I appreciate your confidence, let’s hope that when the news comes out you’re proved to be correct.”

  “But it cannot be.”

  “Yeah, I know that, but we need to know for sure.”

  “I do know for sure. They are not dead.”

  “But how do you know?” I persisted.

  “Because they cannot die, the family, they cannot die.”

  “Why ever not?”

  “Is not possible.”

  Dear God, I had had enough. “Why not?”

  She considered for a moment. Then she seemed to sniff the air, her eyes widened and she said, “What did you say your name was?”

  I had not told her, so I introduced myself. “I’m Claire, Claire Winter.”

  “I thought so. Claire Winter. You must be careful.”

  “You mean in the woods?”

  She shook her head. “The woods, no, the woods are safe. But there are other things, they could be dangerous. You are almost old enough, if they think you are the one, they will come for you.”