Lost in the Shadows

Chapter 10

Star shifted the canvas bag from one shoulder to the other, her footsteps sounding hollow and empty on the boards as she walked. The last security light she had passed had not been working, and though the darkness didn't usually bother her, for some reason tonight it did. She paused for a moment, pretending to adjust the drop of her long skirt but really listening out for the soft footfalls she thought had been following her. She straightened up.

'Wake up, Star,' she mumbled to herself. It's just an echo, she thought. As it had been so often during her recent escapades, the pier was empty. But why did she hear footsteps treading softly behind her?

Tozier had seen her off, bleary eyed and worried at the back door of his tattoo parlour.

'Let me walk you there at least. I don't like the thought of you heading up to Hudson's Bluff on that creep's motorcycle, let alone you out there on your own going to meet him,' he'd said, almost comical in his over-large, striped boxers.

'Please,' Star had said, waving his concerns aside with one hand. 'I used to sleep out there on my own. The Boardwalk is my home, the night is my friend. Nothing bad will happen.' Star had grinned then, almost believing it herself as she took the bag from her friend. 'Don't worry about me. I'm a tough cookie, made to survive.' She blew him a kiss and slung the bag over her shoulder, shooing him back to bed with a flick of her hand as she rounded the corner and slipped out of his sight.

Now, almost blinded by the black night, she found her heart beating hard in her throat as her ears picked up the sound of every grain of sand blowing across the wooden boards, the creak of the Boardwalk as it sighed and settled into place beneath her feet. The ocean pushed and pulled below, a sound that was as familiar as her own pulse.

But there was another sound. The tread of someone else behind her. But each time Star turned around, shadow lay upon shadow and she could make out nothing in the darkness. Which was almost as bad as seeing something.

Star measured her steps, counting them equally in her head to give her something other than her irrational fear to focus on. She had only six hundred and fifty steps to go to reach the carousel, if she could trust her own judgement.

'Mon ami,' came a rich, velvety voice that made her skin crawl. Star froze, unable to turn on the spot to face the man who spoke. 'You left so suddenly, we didn't have the chance to get to know each other properly. I feel you had an unfair – representation – of our hospitality. You still require somewhere to stay, no?' His hand slid up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

'I have somewhere to stay now, thank you,' Star said curtly, hoping her voice didn't tremble as much as she thought it did. Niko pressed on her arm, turning Star around to face him. He was grinning and his sharp, white teeth were almost luminous in his tanned face.

'But only we can help you with your situation. Find you somewhere a little more permanent.' Niko's wide hand travelled further along Star's arm, reaching her shoulder and gently pushing back her thick curls and tucking them behind her ear, caressing her cheek. Star stepped back immediately, her eyes fierce and guarded.

'Don't touch me,' she growled.

'So defiant,' Niko chuckled. 'I like it. Too often your kind are sucked in by our beauty. Compliant and willing. It is not often a girl runs from me. None who live to tell the tale anyway, I can assure you of that, bella.'

'Well there's a first time for everything.' Star took a succession of steps back, jamming one hand deep into the bag still on her shoulder.