Fateful (10 page)

Danielle gripped onto her date’s hand a
little tighter when she saw a man who looked like Lucas, but he
vanished before she could tell for certain.
What am I becoming?
she asked herself.
I’ve never been this fearful before.
She was clinging to her date like a frightened little girl.
Peter seemed to like it, but Danielle felt guilty because she was
only using him.

The others wanted to go out for ice
cream after the movie. Danielle agreed reluctantly. Besides the
movie, she wasn’t enjoying much of the evening. Peter was nice and
not bad-looking, but she
really
wasn’t
interested in him and he wasn’t much help in making her feel safe
either.

When the date was finally over, they took the
rail to the station near Brianna’s house and rode in her car the
rest of the way.

“Bri, seriously, please don’t set me up
anymore,” Danielle pleaded.

“I promise.” Brianna paused for a short
moment, then added, “Ethan’s already gotten to your heart, hasn’t
he?”

Danielle mused to herself before she
answered, staring out at the darkened scenery streaking past the
window. “Yes,” she confessed softly.

Chapter 6

Lurking in the Fog

She’d begun school during the spring/summer
semester, therefore experiencing London’s better weather—but not
today. Looking out the window of her room, she watched the white
mist swirl around past the glass. She couldn’t see anything else.
It was like the entire house was wrapped in an enormous blanket of
gloom.

“I wish we didn’t have afternoon classes
today, I don’t want to go out in that. It looks cold,” Danielle
complained when she heard her cousin’s footsteps pad softly across
the rug.

“I know, I think it’s rather fun though, just
dress-up warm for it. All that moisture in the air makes it feel
colder than usual,” she advised, and then added, “We’ll do fish and
chips for dinner after our classes. I’ll take you to my favorite
place for that.”

Danielle sighed. “You’re right, and I can’t
afford to miss class either.” She was grateful Mom bought her that
long trench coat. Today was a good day to use it.

* * * * *

She didn’t know if she’d see Ethan, but he
did call her cell phone. Her lips turned up into an involuntary
smile when she saw his name on the caller ID. Flipping it open,
Danielle may have said hello a little too eagerly.

“Hi, darling. How was the picture? Did you
fall in love with your date?” he asked, cheerfully teasing her.

“The movie was fine, and no I didn’t fall in
love with him.” As the delight of seeing his name on her phone gave
way to memories of last night, her answer carried a hint of
annoyance. She may have been happy he was calling, but she was
stewing over the warning that had her so frightened.

Danielle could almost hear his jaw drop when
he heard her cold attitude. “All right, what’s wrong?” he
questioned with an injured intonation.

“Don’t ever do that to me again!”

“Whoa! Do what? What did I do?”

“You had me scared of every little shadow.
I’ve never been so fearful of strangers in my life. I can’t live
like that, Ethan. Poor Peter, I may have led him on, I was a little
clingy. But that was entirely you’re fault, I’ll have you
know!”

Laughing. “I’m sure Peter will get over
it.”

“Ethan!”

He went silent then, and she guessed he
was calculating his answer. “I’m sorry, but I will not lie to you,
Danielle. You
should
be
scared of every little shadow and every stranger. Especially here.
A little bit of fear will keep you safe.” Clearly he was
bent.

“Dang it, Ethan! That didn’t help at all!”
She groaned out loud. “Now I have to go out into that spooky fog
today already freaked out!”

More laughing? Really, he’s laughing? The
nerve! “Okay, okay. Now just relax.”

“Relax?” she protested.

“Yes, Danielle, take a big breath and don’t
worry so mu—”

“But you just said—”

“Listen, I’ll personally make sure you
don’t have to worry about the shadows and the strangers.
Just
be
careful, that’s all
I’m asking. Don’t wander off alone.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just trust me. Please?” he said, his tone
suggesting that he was trying to soothe her.

“Fine,” she yielded, rolling her eyes.

“Are you all right now?”

“I guess.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“No.”

Her answers were still curt with frustration,
so she knew he wasn’t buying it. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, but don’t push it,” she snapped.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said softly. The phone was
filled with silence for a moment, and then Ethan broke it. “I won’t
be able to take you out today. I have a test.”

“That’s fine, good luck on your test.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ll talk to you later then, all right?”

“’
Kay, later.”

Brianna appeared next to her as soon as she
snapped her cell phone shut. “Did you just have a tiff with Ethan?”
she asked, amazement frolicking in her dark brown eyes.

“Well, sort of. He keeps reminding me to be
careful ever since ‘the incident’ in the alleyway. He has me scared
of every little noise.” Danielle rolled her eyes. “I know he just
wants me to be careful.”

“Danielle, you should be chuffed about
that.”

“‘
Chuffed’?” She then gave Brianna her
“please translate” look.

“That means happy, you should be happy about
it.”

“Why?”

“He’s worried about you, meaning
he
likes
you a
lot.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m just scared
of the dark now. I never was before. I used to like the dark.”

“A bit of fear will keep you safe.”

“That’s what Ethan said.”

“Well, he’s right.”

Danielle rolled her eyes and then changed the
topic. “When are we leaving?”

“Right after lunch.”

“’
Kay.” She was actually looking
forward to her classes now, hoping more distractions would be
helpful.

* * * * *

Brianna and Danielle had just finished off
their fish and chips. Danielle liked the fish much more than the
bubble and squeak they’d made her for breakfast once, except the
fish was a little bit greasy. “Hey, Bri, would you hand me a
napkin?”

Brianna snickered. “Good thing you didn’t ask
for a nappie.”

“A what?” A bit confused, Danielle tried
again, “You know a paper napkin to wipe my fingers off.”

Brianna passed over a napkin. “I know what
you meant, but we call those serviettes here. Unless you happen to
be royalty, they call them napkins.”

“And what’s a nappie?”

“A diaper.”

“Oh.” Danielle giggled. “Good to know. I
wouldn’t want to be asking for a diaper to wipe my face. We speak
the same language, yet we don’t.”

Brianna laughed along. “I know. It’s rather
silly we need to translate from English to English, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.” Danielle’s smile evaporated as they
stepped into the fog, but took comfort in knowing she wasn’t alone
as the sun had set. London remained a very foggy place, and it
seemed to be getting worse as the evening continued. The air was
thick with the swirling, drifting gloom.

The misty soup took on an eerie appearance at
night, transforming the city into a strange, spooky place. It was
the kind of setting that made one think of vampires and Jack the
ripper. Danielle feared she might see Lucas lurking nearby. Every
inch of her skin crawled with goose bumps as the damp air seeped
right through her. The trench coat, gloves, hat and scarf, helped,
but she still felt saturated with it, like she was swimming in
it.

Brianna interrupted her drifting thoughts,
“Ready to go home, Dannie?”

“Yeah. Thanks for dinner, it was wonderful,
even with that vinegar stuff,” she rambled gratefully.

“There’s still so much to show you. Later
we’ll go to the Blue Door Bistro. They have a wonderful shepherd’s
pie.”

“Okay.”

They headed for the tube, the city’s
underground rail. Brianna seemed to know where she was going, but
she did have to get really close to the street numbers posted on
the buildings to make certain. They couldn’t see more than a couple
of feet in front of them. If Danielle hadn’t been with Brianna, she
most assuredly would have gotten lost.

They stopped at the intersection they needed
to cross to get to the tube station. The only way to know if it was
safe to cross was to listen for the signal because they couldn’t
see across. The lights from the lampposts and vehicles made
visibility even more impossible because the beams of light just
filled the fog with a blinding glow.

Danielle shivered with a chill as they
waited, pulling her coat tighter. She planned to take a nice, hot
bath when she got home to warm the cold out of her aching
bones.

Finally they could hear the chirping signal
for them to cross. There were many other pedestrians crossing with
them. But just as Danielle was about to move with Brianna, she felt
someone grasp her arm painfully tight and jerk her back onto the
sidewalk. She gasped and then tried to scream when she saw who it
was. But he didn’t allow a single sound to escape her lips as his
cold hand fell roughly over her mouth.

Lucas really was lurking through these foggy
streets, and it seemed he was looking for her.

Brianna and the other pedestrians crossed
without her, oblivious. The thick mist completely concealed the
fact that she was in trouble.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a fist plowed
into Lucas’ face, forcing him to release his grip on her. Shrieking
in surprise, she was then pulled protectively into someone’s
chest.

“Are you all right?” Ethan asked swiftly.

“Yes,” she managed, but her brain never
really had a chance to understand what was happening. With her gaze
shifting to her attacker, she did comprehend that Lucas was livid.
Just barely able to make out his anger-twisted face, the mist
twirled and snaked around his dark figure.

Danielle’s eyes snapped wide when he reached
for a lamppost, ripped it from the sidewalk and hurled it toward
them. It was like something right out of a comic book.

Lifting her arms, she screamed.

Ethan yanked her tighter into his chest with
one arm and deflected the heavy metal with his other, sending it
flying toward the street as though it had only been a lightweight
twig. The lamppost twirled through the air leaving the fog twisting
like currents of smoke in its wake.

It could then be heard, but not seen,
crashing into the oncoming traffic near the crosswalk. The soupy
air rang with the horrible ear-splitting sounds of metal twisting
and glass shattering.

Behaving as if he knew someone else was
coming, someone he didn’t want to fight along with Ethan, Lucas
fled.

Ethan’s hand left her hip as it pointed in
the direction Lucas went just before another man spoke. “He went
that way?” a husky voice inquired.

“Yes,” Ethan said.

Danielle watched as his hulking form sped
past them through the haze.

Drawing in one long breath, she lifted her
chin and looked into the face of her unremitting, guardian angel.
Ethan may have had the good looks of an angel, but he could look
almost frightening and dangerous when he was angry. And right now,
he certainly looked angry.

Of course, just as before, he wouldn’t meet
her gaze. She’d expected that. Staring downward, Ethan mumbled,
“Are you sure you’re okay? Did Lucas hurt you?” Though the look on
his face was fierce, his words remained gentle.

“No … I mean, yes, I-I’m okay, no … he didn’t
hurt me,” she managed, not knowing if that made any sense at
all.

Terribly disturbing sounds followed the
silence. Brianna was screaming, “Danielle!” over and over again
from the other side of the street. “Danielle, answer me!” she
wailed, sounding desperate and frantic.

“There’s been an accident. Did anyone in the
crosswalk get hit?” another shouted.

“Check for bodies!”

“The bodies could have been thrown, check
everywhere!”

Only able to see shadows of people dashing
around in front of the lights from the vehicles, Danielle knew the
search would be severely hindered by the dense fog.

Shifting her gaze she watched Ethan’s
expression change when he heard the last shout for a search. His
noble face became distorted with a look of panic, and she wondered
why.

Danielle tried to answer Brianna’s cries, but
Ethan covered her mouth before she could get the words past her
lips. He winced when her eyes widened in shock. He then fixed a
determined look on his face, lifted her into his arms and ran.

Danielle felt the force of the icy wind
cutting at her face. No way was this a human pace he was running
at, she thought, as the glowing light from streetlamps passed by at
an alarming speed. She held her breath, her lungs aching as they
became frozen. It was like riding a motorcycle in the biting cold.
The chill blasted right through her.

“Ethan, st-st-stop!” She couldn’t take it any
longer. “P-please stop!” she begged.

Shivering fiercely now, her teeth began
chattering against each other.

Ethan stopped and gently, slowly set her on
her feet. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Danielle stood there shaking uncontrollably.
She had to get warm. Feeling desperate, she reached her arms into
Ethan’s jacket and smashed herself as close to his body as she
could. Her arms wrapped tightly around his back, under his
jacket.