Everything was so peaceful, but tonight everything had a haunting feel to it.
Sitting in her black Mazda, she became lost in her thoughts of the mystery that continued to haunt her. Many things were still unknown about her parents’ deaths. The police had come to the conclusion that it had been a random animal attack, and ruled the case closed.
If the evidence had been open and shut, perhaps she might have believed them and moved on with her life. But one question continued to linger in Ally’s mind…What kind of animal drained its victims of blood without slashing it to pieces? Not any that she could name, and certainly none that lived in Melbourne.
Ally spent the last five years trying to solve the unanswered question surrounding their cause of death, without success. Her grandmother told her to let it go and move on, that it was time for her to heal. But as much as she might like the idea, it wasn’t possible. Until she had the facts about exactly what had happened to her parents that night, she wasn’t going to move anywhere.
Ally became a private investigator as a result of trying to solve the mystery of her parent’s death. She dealt more with cheating spouses than homicide cases, but it was something that she found fulfilling and satisfying, in a way she could never have imagined. Being an inquisitive and quick minded person by nature, it suited her perfectly. She also enjoyed having the freedom to work alone since she was a loner by nature these days. Alessandra’s only friends in the world seemed to be her Gran and her dog, Coco.
After her parents’ deaths, she had shut down and withdrawn into her own little world. Her friends didn't understand and expected her to get on with her life. Her best friend, Kathryn was no longer a part of her world either, although that had been all Ally’s doing. She was there with her on the day of that awful prediction, and every time she looked at Kat it was a reminder that she neither wanted nor needed. Ally had never wanted to hurt her, but she had to, for both their sakes. What was the point in having a ghost of a friend like her anyway? She had been irrevocably changed that morning, and it haunted her to this day.
In the most secret places of her soul, she feared that she would never recover from the tragedy. Walking through the world as a shell was not the life she had planned for herself five years ago, but fate had stepped in.
James had not returned. Adele gave her a vague response whenever she had asked after him, but that was a long time ago. She decided to put the errant thoughts of him back where they belonged…in the past.
Stretching as much as one could in a car, Alessandra ran her hands through her chocolate brown waves, something she had done from the time she was a little girl. Whenever she was uneasy, it seemed to comfort her.
“Not long now, Coco,” Ally said, half expecting the dog to reply. The little Blenheim cavalier just lifted her head up and looked at her, then promptly went back to sleep as if to say, ‘whatever.’ Ally let out a soft chuckle and gave her puppy a scratch behind the ears. “Can always count on you to keep me entertained on assignments,” she said, as she picked a bit of fluff off her favorite jade green knitted top.
Ally reached behind the seat, looking for her coffee flask and a snack, which was essential on any stake out. She found the flask and brought it out. Her hand touched something and she twisted it to see what it was. There was a pink post-it note attached to her flask.
A laugh escaped her; this was obviously from her grandmother. Anytime, there was something important to tell Ally, she would put it on a post-it and leave it somewhere that it would be seen. Most people would send a text message, but not her grandmother. Adele had told Ally on many occasions that she was tech-challenged, and this was easier. She grabbed the note and read it, “Don’t forget the Masquerade Ball tomorrow night, Ally. Love Gran xx”
“How could I forget?” she muttered. It was all her Grandmother had spoken about for the last few weeks.
Adele was quite the humanitarian, always looking for charities to support. Her father had been a very wealthy man, and