Kiss Me, Curse Me - By Kate Shay Page 0,7

this town anyway. Whatever it takes.”

Neither Betty nor Doc spoke, just observed Ahanu, whose face was nearly ablaze.

“’Tis love,” said Betty in her floral tone in her floral bedroom.

The forest was dark. No light shone through the canopy, not because it was too thick, but because there was no sun. The sun hid from the dark, from the recesses of a world known only to a very few—a world that held the souls of those picked for the sacrifice.

Coreen heard their echoes, saw their sad, forsaken faces wavering to and fro as if to say something, with mouths open wide and eyes the same. These eyes were as absent as the sun, yet told of a permanent pain, one she could feel in the pit of her stomach. Bony hands reached for her but did not touch her. In the background, the howl carried softly through the thick of the trees, just loud enough to be audible. The sound, though low, was terrifying. When the howl faded, so did the faces, and she stood alone in the dark looking for someone to find her, to rescue her.

“I don’t want to die,” she called out, but there was no sound to her voice; her words only echoed through her own mind. “Forgive me! I was wrong to forsake myself.”

The howl came back even stronger and though it spoke no words, she knew exactly what it said.

Too late.

***

“Noooooooooo!”

Coreen squirmed in the bed, grasping for a sheet that wasn’t on top of her. It was too hot for sheets.

Ahanu who was almost asleep next to her in the chair startled back to reality, lifted her forward, and wrapped his arms around his one and only. “There, there, it’s okay, you’re okay. I’m here, right beside you.” He rocked her back and forth and she calmed back down into her deep slumber.

“Doc . . . is there nothing to be done here?” Ahanu asked, forgetting that no one was in the room with him. He sighed, realizing the time and leaned down close to her, cheek to cheek, and whispered softly, “I don’t want to leave you, but I have to do something.”

Ahanu opened the window to let some early night air in, attempted to straighten himself out a bit, and opened the bedroom door.

The upper floor of the cathouse held many rooms, and all the doors looked the same. An odd fellow opened one door, tucking his pants into his trousers, and didn’t bother to notice Ahanu watching him. He hurried down the stairs.

He became aware of things he hadn’t noticed the previous night, like how worn the place actually looked, and the feeling that there were many people around though he couldn’t see them, just an odd voice or giggle here and there.

“Aren’t you coming down?” a seductive voice came from below.

Ahanu saw Betty dressed in a plain, white dress leaning against the spiraled knob at the bottom of the stairs, and though the dress was as dull as day, she still had the goods in plain sight. It was enough to bring most men to their knees, Ahanu knew, but not him. “I made you breakfast. I was going to bring it up, but . . .”

Ahanu rubbed his mouth. He was hungry, but didn’t want to admit just how much. “Is that any way to greet a lady slaving over a hot stove on a warm morning like this one? It’s going to be even hotter than yesterday, can’t you tell?”

Ahanu said nothing, and off she walked dramatically, ignoring his silence.

He slunk down to the lower level and inched his way into the front bar. The stage was small and welcoming, the chairs were empty, and the bar was packed with colorful, exotic bottles of liquor. In this room, everything was done in dark wood and worn, gold embellishments. There was a hint of faded red in the velvet stage curtains and the leather of the stools around the bar. The energy of the night was pervasive still with no windows for escape. The place demanded privacy.

Ahanu pulled at his undershirt, feeling the temperature. Betty was nowhere in sight, and he was too proud to call for her. He sat and waited instead, enticed by the smell of fried goods and garlic floating into the room. She never came. He tried to deny the delicious aroma, but after some time, he just had to get up. There was no obvious direction to follow, so he went toward the back again