Lasting Shadows Read online

  ***

  After a short while, he had set himself a little space to work at the kitchen table. The hurricane lamp gave him an audience of shadows as he leaned back in one of the chairs on two legs, prepping up his recorder to begin dictation again.

  ***

  Thunder rumbled through the early evening, blankets of lightning flashing in the windows nearly constantly.

  Quinn’s belly rumbled. He finished up the last of the scene and stopped the recorder.

  “I have to brave the elements,” he said with a deep sigh as he peered out through the curtains.

  His phone sang at him. He stared at the screen a moment before answering.

  “Hi, Kate.”

  “Hi, Quinn. Did things settle down?”

  “Except for the storm outside, yeah.”

  “Still raining?”

  “And hailing, and thundering, and lightning, and carrying on,” he said. He rubbed his face with his free hand. “Have to go get some supplies. Was waiting till this mess stopped but running out of time.”

  “I can have dinner delivered to you,” she said. He heard the eagerness in her voice and cringed.

  “No, no. I need to have a look around anyway,” he said. “I chose this place for the local color, so I should get out and see it.”

  “But in the rain-”

  He chuckled.

  “I won’t melt, Kate.”

  The silence on the line made him check if the call was still live. He heard her clear her throat.

  “You know, I could bring you groceries while you’re there. Make your dinner, like on Fridays. Stay for the weekends-”

  “Kate, come on. You know I can’t work with distractions like that.”

  She sighed.

  “I would stay out of your way,” she said in a small voice. “Just help with domestic stuff. Laundry, cooking-”

  “You wanna come be my maid?”

  She sighed again, sadder this time.

  “No,” she said, her voice so tiny he barely heard her over the thunder.

  He half chuckled.

  “Look, we’ll see how it goes, yeah? I just got here. If I get too lonely I’ll let you know. Okay, babe?”

  “Okay.”

  The hopefulness in her voice gave him a little thrill. A thin smile curled up on his lips.

  “I gotta go now, though,” he said, again looking outside. “It’s getting lighter. Guess it’s finally easing up some. Gotta get some food and check out the locals.”

  “Be careful, Quinn.”

  “I will, babe.”

  “I love y-”

  He ended the call, staring at the phone a moment, a crooked smile on his lips. He shook his head and stood, wandering to the back of the house. His suitcase rested on the bed in the air-conditioned room at the back. He opened it and changed out of his more comfortable sweat pants and t-shirt and back into a more formal button shirt and slacks. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror behind the door, checking his hair. A shadow in the window on the other side of the bed caught his eye. He turned around. A small square about ten inches wide and eight or so high rested on the deep windowsill behind the curtain. He jerked the curtain aside and bent over, peering at the thing.

  It was a shadow box, about four inches deep. A replica of the bed sat inside at an odd angle, the floor sloping beneath it. The two windows were there, and the tiny table by the bed. He smirked at it and shrugged.

  “Odd thing to leave behind.”

  He turned away, letting the curtain fall over it, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Chapter 2

  FLORA AND FAUNA

  Rain only drizzled now, the odd cloudy sky making the setting sunlight burst into rich colors on its way into night. Puddles reflected it back everywhere.

  He glanced over at the old woman’s house, but only saw the horse in the pen and the long row of shining glass bottles.

  He unlocked his car and slid behind the driver’s seat.

  “We’ll go all the way around,” he said to himself.

  He backed out of the driveway and continued around the looping street, passing over the second set of railroad tracks and back onto the main road.

  All he saw were small houses and little farms, lots of horses and pickup trucks. One house had a long wooden fence lined with horseshoes. Another had a living bottle tree in the front yard, the bottles stuck on branches and pegs.

  The bright lights of the store seemed to overpower the waning sunlight. He pulled into the parking lot to the side of the store, seeing two cars parked there and another truck at one of the fuel pumps. He checked his hair in the rearview mirror and slipped out, locking the car up tight.

  “Not that it needs it out here, I would bet,” he said to himself.

  He nodded to an elderly lady carrying a small sack of groceries, holding the door open for her. She thanked him and stepped out as he turned and gazed at the room.

  It was about the size of a small local chain grocery store back home but stuffed from floor to ceiling with everything anyone in a tiny little town would need. He wandered through rows of hardware and tools, dishes, cooking utensils, electronics like alarm clocks and box fans, a few smallish televisions, even a section of used and new video games and DVDs. He chuckled a little. A section close to the windows held the clothing department. Another closer to the grocery part carried toys and things for kids.

  He passed into the food part and laughed out loud at the insanely huge selection. He grabbed up a convenient basket and began collecting what he needed, taking his time to soak everything in.

  Someone cleared their throat. He raised his brows and glanced over the top of the row of bread and crackers to see a middle-aged man leaning back against the front of the counter, his arms across his chest. Behind the counter stood a young woman in her early twenties.

  “I guess I’m holding you up?” His voice sounded loud, even to himself. “Sorry about that. I just arrived today and am really surprised at your selection here.”

  “We try to keep everything in stock folks might need,” the man said. He smirked and nodded toward Quinn. “You’re staying in the old Wilder place, yeah?”

  Quinn carried his basket up and set it on the counter, smiling at the cashier. She had long light brown hair and blue eyes. A tiny gold dot poked from the side of her left nostril. Another one, a little larger, pierced her bottom lip on the right.

  “Yeah,” he said. He made sure to look right in her eyes and smile before turning to the man. “I didn’t think to check the closing time. I apologize.”

  “No big thing.” The man turned to the girl. “Gonna go start shutting everything down for the night.”

  “Yep.”

  Quinn watched as her fingers flew over the register, her nails manicured and painted the same color as her eyes.

  “No scanner here?”

  “Nah,” she said, flashing her eyes at him. Her makeup made the blue that much more striking. “Stephen doesn’t trust them.”

  Quinn leaned in closer, lowering his voice.

  “Maybe he just likes to watch you work.”

  “Pfft, no,” she said. She rolled her eyes and blushed, giggling a little.

  “Why not?” Quinn smiled at her. “I would.”

  She blushed even harder.

  “About to wrap it up, Tamara?” Stephen’s voice boomed from the far back wall.

  “Yep,” she said. “Just about!” She smiled at Quinn. “That’ll $86.75.”

  “You do take cards, yeah?”

  “Oh, of course!”

  She rang him up and he signed, putting his card back in his wallet.

  “All done!” Her shout startled him a little. “Oh, sorry!”

  He just laughed.

  She bagged up his groceries as Stephen walked around, locking up and shutting off lights. A square shadow behind the cashier caught his eye. Another small shadow box rested amongst other handmade items along the back wall under the windows. He tilted his head
but in the darkness, but the contents were too shadowed to see.

  He hefted up the shopping bags and went to the door. Stephen held it open for him as he stepped out.

  He walked around and put his groceries in the trunk.

  “Tamara,” he said to himself. He smirked and slipped into the driver’s seat.

  As he pulled out, he saw her walking to her car. He waved. She waved back.

  “Tamara.”

  He turned down the road to the rental house again, this time trying, in the growing darkness, to see a little of the area. Again, he saw a few tiny houses, usually with a horse or a tractor in the front yard. Every one lined with bottle trees or horseshoes along their fences.

  Just as the road curved around, the lights at the tracks came on, flashing red, the arm dropping down as he arrived.

  He leaned back in the seat, taking a deep breath. His thoughts were on the book, though the events of the last few days played back at him too. He ran a hand through his hair, checking the rearview mirror.

  The lights continued to flash. He took a deep breath and sighed it away. The girl at the store suddenly came to mind. He smiled, laughing a little to himself.

  “Cute kid,” he said.

  He licked his lips and rubbed the steering wheel, watching the track, looking both ways.

  “Where is this train?”

  His phone rang. He unhooked his seatbelt and stretched to get at it in his pocket.

  “Hi, babe. What’s up?”

  “Did you get something for dinner?”

  He half laughed.

  “Are you really that worried about it?”

  “Did you get something, Quinn?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m on my way back now, only…” He leaned forward, peering into the darkness either way again. “Stuck at the railroad track about a hundred feet from the front door. Crossing bar came down but so far no train.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “Yeah…”

  Quinn opened the door and got out. He walked up close to the bar and the lights, gazing up at them in the growing darkness.

  “Maybe I should go around?” He stepped closer to the tracks. “I don’t even see lights or anything.”

  He put his left toe on the tracks.

  “I don’t even feel it.” He sighed, shrugging and turning back to the car. “Maybe it’s a malfunction.”

  “Maybe. Is it safe to go around?”

  “Looks like I can make it,” he said. He leaned against the roof of the car.

  “But you’re satisfied with the house now?”

  He knew what she really wanted to know.

  “Yeah, babe. It’s fine. You did great. Looks like a cool place to get inspiration so far.” He turned slowly, looking around him. “Got an amazing small-town feel. Almost expecting cultists to pop out of the woodwork.”

  She made a little sound.

  “Silly.”

  He grinned and walked again close to the bar. He reached out and touched it.

  Wind, noise, and lights exploded around him. The whistle burst so loudly it made his ears ring. He stumbled backward, the train zooming past him at incredible speed. He nearly dropped the phone, fumbling and catching it in one hand.

  He held it to his ear, his eyes wide, his chest pounding.

  “Oh my god!”

  “What happened? What’s that noise? Quinn?”

  “The train! There was nothing and then suddenly-”

  “Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you didn’t try to go around!”

  He stared at it a long moment as his heart pounded. The lights flashed as the cars passed. Finally, the little caboose at the end, yellow instead of the traditional red, rumbled by. The arm went up. The blinking lights shut off.

  “Quinn?”

  He gasped and sat hard in the driver’s seat. Cautiously, he inched forward, gunning the gas as he crossed over the tracks.

  “Quinn?”

  He parked in front of the house, shutting it off and staring at nothing.

  “It’s alright,” he said. “I’m alright. I’m home.”

  “Thank god!”

  He sucked in another deep breath.

  His stomach rumbled.

  “I have to go in and make my dinner,” he said, suddenly feeling tired.

  “Of course, Quinn.”

  “Talk more tomorrow, yeah?”

  “Okay, Quinn.” He heard the hesitation in her voice. “I love-”

  “Night, babe.”

  He hung up, shaking his head. He rubbed his face. Sweat soaked through his shirt. He opened the door and got out, walking around to gather up his groceries.

  “That was a warning.”

  He peered over at the old woman. The last of the daylight was nearly gone, making everything long with shadows and darkness. A car curved around from the other direction, stopping by a long row of mailboxes close to her fence. A man got out, wearing overalls with a reflective patch on the sleeve.

  “She’s watching. She knows,” the old woman said.

  The man turned to see Quinn and glanced back at the old woman. He made a gesture with his free hand at the rental house before getting back in his car and turning down the dirt road beside it. Quinn squinted at him but turned once more to see the old woman being ushered inside by her husband.

  He gathered up his groceries and went inside, his heart still pounding fast.

  ***

  Quinn cooked himself a simple dinner while dictating chapter three, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He ate in the quiet afterward, listening to the returning patter of rain on the metal roof, his mind locked in that other place, where his characters stood like a movie in his head, paused and waiting to speak more of their lines.

  He went to bed a short while later, still lost in that invisible world inside his imagination, the characters frozen in a pained embrace.

  ***

  A loud clunk startled him awake. He sat upright, blinking to remember where he was. His phone vibrated again where it had fallen, the little jingle muted by the shirt laying on the lower shelf of the bedside table.

  Flashes of his restless night haunted him. He snatched up the phone as it rang again, louder now in his hand.

  Kate, of course. He sighed.

  He got up and half stumbled to the bathroom, relieving himself before returning and clamoring across the bed, dropping on his stomach to answer yet another ring.

  “Kate,” he said, his mouth dry and uncooperative.

  “Quinn! I was so worried! You haven’t checked in-”

  He lifted the phone away to look at the clock and winced.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Overslept.”

  He rubbed his face with his free hand.

  “Didn’t sleep well?”

  “Not really,” he said. “Kept waking up And there was a train at one point.”

  He peered at the clock again.

  “Two hours ago.”

  When I should have gotten up.

  He sighed and let his head drop to the mattress.

  “I always have this trouble in a new place,” he said. “First few days. Always rough. Should get back to normal in a day or two. Made a good chunk of progress last night though.”

  “As long as everything is okay.”

  He chuckled.

  “It’s fine.” Gin and Angela’s faces flashed in his mind. “Well, this is fine. Everything else is not fine, but yeah… I’m okay for now. And you can tell the boss I’m making lots of progress and this place is definitely gonna be featured in the next book. Maybe even the next two. Was a great find, Kate.”

  He heard her beaming smile.

  “Thank you, Quinn.”

  “Alright. Thanks for the wakeup call. I gotta get going.”

  “Okay.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  “Have a good day, Quinn.”

  “You too, babe.”

  He blew away a sigh of relief. He knew what she wanted to say, but at the office, she had to keep it profe
ssional.

  “Takes the pressure off me,” he said.

  He breathed in deep and rolled on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

  “Shower, breakfast, and back to work.”

  He forced himself to crawl out of bed.

  ***

  “Reginald pulled her to him as she pushed and shoved at him. Let me go, she screamed. Not until you say it, Christina. Say it. Tell me you want me.

  “No! She struggled and at last, slipped out of his grasp.

  “It’s just the two of us here, he said. Just the two of us trapped, for god knows how long, and you still refuse to see what’s right in front of you?

  “She beat on the door, again trying the knob. Help! Help! Someone?

  “You know there’s no one there, he said. Just you and me while the entire town burns to the ground. But the firestorm outside is nothing compared to this raging thing inside me.

  “He grabbed her arm and spun her around shoving her against the door, holding her in place with his entire body. He felt her quiver at his strength, his power. And I am quivering at this blasting cough…”

  Quinn coughed a few times, his throat and mouth dry. He paused the recorder and got up to get a bottle of water.

  “Need more.”

  He turned to the door as he gulped, opening it and peering out through the screen. The sun was almost too bright after the moodiness of the last few days. He opened the door and stepped out on the porch, feeling the heat soaking into him. A car passed by, going slower as they stared at him. He raised his hand and waved. The woman at the driver's seat made a cross on her chest and turned away.

  “So odd,” he said. He watched her continue, speeding up after she passed him and vanishing around the curve up ahead.

  He thought of the cashier at the store and smirked.

  “Research,” he said. “Local flora and fauna.”

  Fauna first.

  He dashed back inside, shutting off the voice recorder. He ran back to the bedroom to change clothes.

  ***

  He opened the door to the grocery store, the little bell echoing through the large room. Tamara jogged up from where she had been stocking shelves, smiling at him, her bright blue eyes shining.