The Gifts of Fate

Chapter 3

"Yes boss," she said.

They chatted for a while about mundane things, but once again it felt like a one-way conversation. She told him about the bookstore and the decreasing number of customers since the Kindle came and stole them all from us, and he asked questions about her while revealing very little about himself.

When they hung up the phones she couldn't help but feel irritated. A bit of mystery in a man is appealing, but dating Dusk was like watching Lost on TV. Week after week of intrigue and drama, which only led to more and more unanswered questions.

If he would only stay in one place for more than a week. She'd be able to binge on the DVD version of him.

Shilpy was halfway through preparing a stir-fry for dinner when the phone rang again. She answered, half expecting it to be Dusk again, but it wasn't. It was Denise.

"Shilps-" her voice sounded strained.

"Denise? What's the matter?"

"Shilps, Sarah just called me."

"Sarah, your sister Sarah?" Shilpy frowned. Denise hadn't spoken to Sarah since she left Keres Ter Nyx. "Well, that's great, isn't it?"

"Shilp's, she is still inside. She was asking me about you."

A chill traveled up Shilpy's spine. She stood frozen in the center of the room her mind spinning at a million miles an hour. They're looking for her. Worse they potentially had a lead to finding her.

"Did she know that we are in contact?"

"I... I... don't know."

Shilpy bit her lower lip and paced back and forth across the room. Denise recounted all that she had told Sarah, which wasn't much. The conversation had been stilted. After not having spoken for several years, Sarah had little interest in talking about herself. She'd been all business. After interrogating Denise over the phone, Sarah had hurriedly explained that she needed to go.

The phone call lasted less than two minutes. Denise sounded pretty upset about it.

"I should lay low," Shilpy said.

"What about the dinner tomorrow?"

Shilpy swore. If Keres Ter Nyx were following or spying on Denise she would lead them here. She would have to cancel. Except Dusk had already ordered his plane tickets. He would be flying back here for nothing.

"We don't know that they are watching me," Denise said.

"It's a possibility though."

"I have an idea. What if-"

#

It took a long time to get to sleep that night. The feeling of being hunted followed her into bed. They needed more milk, but Shilpy felt uncomfortable going outside to get it. What if they were watching?

Eventually, when sleep finally took her the visions came.

Dusk, bare-chested and covered in sweat knelt on the street in pain. His neck, shoulder and arm muscles bulged, writhed and twisted in spasmodic intervals beneath his dark chocolate coloured skin. There is a hint of madness in his eyes like he's possessed by something primal, animalistic and dangerous.

Around him, a cloud of inky black shadows twist and lumber like buzzards circling a kill. Each long black shadow is unique, shifting and sliding from one point to the next with separate and individual purpose. Like scavengers, they prowl - biding their time with dreadful, menacing intent.

Dusk bares his teeth, his eyes locked onto something unseen in the void. Suddenly each dark shape converges on that same spot. They merge forming into something new and terrible. It bulges, swells, twists and thrashes angrily about like it is trying to come to terms with its existence.