drunk toward a bench and sat down heavily. Asia watched him, then turned to glide away.
But wasn’t there something he wanted to ask her?
His tongue was thick, like it was covered in algae. It was an effort to move it. “What happened?”
Asia stopped, stiff as a board. Slowly, slowly, she turned to face him. “What?”
The fog was lifting. It was a superhuman effort, but Will rose to his feet. “How did I end up so far from where I fell?”
Asia was silent.
“What the hell is your deal, Asia? I swear to God I saw you walk right into the ocean during a hurricane, and now you seem to have flown up to some rocks to rescue me.” Will’s strength was coming back to him now. He pointed to the scar on his face. “Do you see this? I have no idea how I got this. People think I’m crazy. Even
Asia’s gaze held his, taut as a rope between them.
Will could have sworn that she didn’t move her lips, but he heard her say, “You already know the answer.”
He felt as if he had wandered into someone else’s dream. He didn’t know the boundaries. He couldn’t wake up. But he wasn’t frightened. Instead, his body felt heavy and warm. It was like drinking hot chocolate on a cold day, or curling up in bed with sad-eyed Guernsey lying against him.
“Am I just crazy?” he asked. He could almost see the words as they floated away from him, like butterflies.
Asia smiled and cocked her head. She looked up toward the dark sky, as if tracing the path of the words as they fluttered overhead.
She took a step toward him. Then another.
Her scent floated toward him. A faint sweetness, like lilies. And a light sea-air tang. He wanted to reach out and touch her-his body ached with the wanting. But he couldn’t move. He was a seahorse, anchored to a single spot but swept by the current.
Asia stepped so close to him that her nose was almost touching his. She lifted her finger and touched his bottom lip, which tingled slightly under her fingertip.
This close, he could see how pale her skin was. A delicate spiderweb of blue veins was visible along her forehead. And her eyes-they were the largest eyes he’d ever seen. As if she were some cave creature, able to see in the dark.
“You aren’t crazy, Will,” she whispered.
Then she turned and walked away.
Will was left there, filled with fog. What was it about this girl? They’d had that moment of connection, and then she’d closed up as quickly as a clam. Will wondered if what he felt for her was a sort of passion. But it wasn’t a passion that sharpened his senses. Instead, it clouded his mind and left him feeling drugged and sluggish. And it was different from lust. She was beautiful, and he found himself wanting to be near her, to touch her. But more than anything he simply wanted to understand her.
Yet the more he tried, the more she eluded him.
Slowly his faculties started to come back to him. He regained feeling in his hands, then his legs. He shook his head, then his whole body, the way Guernsey did when she stepped out of the creek. Then he took a step forward. And another.
He hurried to the end of the street, but he’d lost sight of Asia. She’d slipped away like a minnow after all.
She’d been heading toward the beach, of that he was sure.
He
It only took Angus a few moments to respond.
Will sighed. No wonder Angus had nearly flunked Spanish last year.
The darkness was sudden as Will left the restaurants and shops behind him. It was as if he was entering a dark room. The sidewalk ended suddenly, as well, and he found himself following the edge of the road. Pebbles and rocks mixed with grass that had escaped from wide green lawns. He turned another corner, and there she was.
Asia walked on, the lights of the town fading behind her. Trees with dark limbs reached overhead like giants waiting to pluck them from the ground, eat them alive. Here the houses were closer to the road, but Asia passed them by. She walked another block, then two, then half a mile. Soon she headed down a curved street that Will knew led to the beach. Every now and again a lonely street lamp glowed solitary in the darkness.
Here, once again, houses stood behind tall hedges that grew improbably close to the sand and salt of the ocean. Asia paused at a driveway, peered beyond the leaf wall. Then she turned and stepped into the yard. Will followed to the edge of the drive but didn’t dare go any farther, although there were no cars or people in evidence. The house was dark, and he could barely see her as she made her way up the front steps. She stopped at the door and turned-a ghostly shadow. He thought that he caught a glimpse of her green eyes before she placed her hand on the knob and stepped into the darkness.
Will stood watching for a long time. But no light in the house went on. Finally he turned. A small, tastefully carved placard at the end of the driveway proclaimed this to be the property of the Joyce family.
Will stared hard at the sign.
He had followed her hoping for clues, but all he got was more mystery.
Chapter Eight
3:24 am: Police were called to a residence at 94 White Oak Drive to investigate a car that was reportedly vandalized. The hood and sides of the white Lexus sustained scratches, broken windows, and slashed tires. No arrests have been made, although authorities claim to have several leads…
Gretchen blew across the top of her coffee, inhaling the rich scent. She’d added some cinnamon, and it smelled like Christmas to her. Like the Christmases she used to have when her mom still lived with them. Gretchen didn’t always drink coffee. Just on the mornings when she’d had trouble falling asleep the night before. Or when she’d been sleepwalking. She always woke up those mornings with a mind full of fuzz and a body that felt limp, like a flower that needed watering.
Her cat, Bananas, wandered into the kitchen. She rubbed against the table leg, then against Gretchen.
“You love me as much as you love the table?” Gretchen asked as she reached down to scratch behind Bananas’ ears. “Hm? That much?”
Bananas’s eyes were slitted. She sprang onto Gretchen’s lap, purring, and lifted her face to Gretchen’s nose.
