ANDERS KRISÁR
An open door waits for you.
Take a chance and walk right through.
Mist circles your frame.
Time to play the game.
The chess pieces wait.
Take care, you’re not late.
You rub your eyes in disbelief
as you sigh in happy relief.
This can’t be happening, you see.
I’m in bed as the sun breaks free.
A brand new day yawns wide and clear.
I’m safe and have nothing to fear.
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Let us return to MEET ME IN MAINE for the next chapter. Will our heroines be faced with another dead body?
Chapter 10
David parked between the police cruisers blocking the street in front of a brown, shack-looking building, flashing red lights illuminating the bystanders standing in groups on the sidewalk. We hurried beneath the hanging wood sign, Blue Sea, and into the restaurant. A whiff of fish hit me as we entered. Round tables rimmed the perimeter, where three walls of windows faced the pier and moonlit water. A circular bar with bamboo stools took center stage in the darkened room. The half-eaten dishes filling the glass tabletops and the fallen bamboo chairs hinted at the patrons’ quick retreat. Police milled around a table beneath a shattered window sprayed with blood in the right corner.
David stepped in front of me when I gasped, blocking my view of the scene. “Stay here.”
“But—”
“No buts.” He took my arm and guided me to a chair and a small table beside the front door. “Don’t move until I return.” Then he rushed to join the officers.
“I can’t believe there’s a murder during the grand opening,” a woman’s voice near me whispered.
“Yeah. And this time, it’s a woman,” a high-pitched voice replied. The police shooed them to the far left corner, where the other customers waited in a tight group, quiet and grim-faced.
I jumped to my feet, jarred by the thought: Jonathan had taken Scarlett to a new restaurant on a pier. What if the body belonged to her? I hurried across the room to where David stood beside the chief.
“Is it Scarlett?” I clutched David’s arm, getting a glimpse of a headless body draped across the table. So much blood. The woman wore a black dress. She wore a black dress, while Scarlett had twirled in a red dress for me.
“No.” David yanked me from the scene, but I’d seen enough: blood covered the window, table, and floor. He scowled at me, gripping my arm. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
I tugged my arm from his grasp. “I was afraid it was Scarlett; she and Jonathan went to a new restaurant on a pier tonight.”
David pointed to the left. “She’s standing with Jonathan. Go join them.” He marched away as I slunk toward them.
“Elizabeth.” Scarlett wrapped her arms around me. “What are you doing here?”
“The chief interrupted our date,” I replied, nodding to Jonathan.
“Why?” Scarlett narrowed her teary eyes at me.
I sank into the chair Jonathan had brought me. “Logan was attacked.”
“Is Logan okay?” Jonathan asked.
“The chief didn’t sound concerned.”
Jonathan said, “Lively is only worried about his career.”
“What happened?” I asked. “I saw the body.”
Scarlett twisted her hands together. “We were eating at a table beside the window. The view was spectacular; there was music and plenty of tequila flowing. Then a woman’s head exploded at the next table. The woman sitting with her got covered with her friend’s blood before she screamed and fainted. Once the ambulance arrived, the paramedics revived the second woman and helped her to her feet. She didn’t appear hurt… but soaked in blood.” Scarlett grimaced as she gulped for air.
“Does this happen often?” I squinted at Jonathan in the dim light. “This is the second dead body we’ve seen in two days.”
“We’re having an outbreak of violent episodes.” He dragged shaky fingers through his shaggy blonde hair. “In March, two people turned to stone.”
“What do you mean they turned to stone?” Scarlett grabbed his arm.
Jonathan patted her hand before directing her to a chair across from mine. “Two new statues appeared on the dock, resembling a husband and wife living in Blue Harbor. The couple went missing as the statues appeared out of thin air.”
“You believe the couple turned to stone?” I asked, shaking my head at this absurd thought.
“The chief does.” He stared at the police surrounding the dead body. “He’s investigating with the help of Logan and David.”
My opinion of Lively plummeted to even lower than before. “I understand Lively having bizarre fantasies but not Logan or David.”
Jonathan looked at me. “This is a peculiar town.”
“These episodes have happened before?” I asked.
He nodded, his expression solemn.
“Have they called the FBI?” Scarlett asked, her eyes widening.
He shook his head. “Lively wants to keep it local; he doesn’t want the Feds traipsing through his crime scenes.”
“But if the chief can’t solve the crimes, he needs help.” Scarlett lowered her face. “This is ridiculous, and the whole situation borders on the ludicrous.”
Jonathan hunched on his knees in front of her, his bright blue eyes focused on Scarlett’s face. “I shouldn’t be telling you, but the town has secrets.” He shook his head, stopping himself from speaking further. “I shouldn’t be divulging them to strangers.”
Scarlett raised her face. “We aren’t strangers but will soon be owners of an inn.”
“What?” I stood, my head spinning. “When did you decide to stay?”
She turned tired eyes to me. “We can’t leave now.”
“No. You can’t leave.” Jonathan lifted her hand, bringing it to his lips. “We just met.”
“Wait a second.” I sat as the surrounding voices became muffled in my ringing ears. “The contract requires two signatures. And one is mine.”
“You don’t want to live here?” a deep voice whispered.
I turned my head to David. “My plans don’t include moving to a town of exploding heads and people turning to stone, where a psycho killer fulfills his delusions of grandeur by using Blue Harbor as his evil playpen.”
He took my hand, bringing me to my feet. “I can help make this town peaceful again.” His penetrating gaze pierced through me. “Please, let me try.”
“I don’t know.” I swallowed the lump growing in my throat.
“Give me a chance to make this right.” David wrapped an arm around my waist, backing me against his hard body, his warm breath tickling my ear. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
I leaned against him with a sigh.
“I’m going to visit Logan at the hospital? Do you want to join me?”
I raised my face to his beseeching stare.
“We’re joining you.” Scarlett jumped to her feet.
When a police officer blocked her and Jonathan from leaving, David said to her, “You have questions to answer first,” before turning to me and extending his hand, “Join me, please.”
I took his hand and followed him past the officers surrounding the bloody scene to the police cars and camera crews flashing their lights across the night sky. When a reporter shoved a mic at my face, David pulled me against him and said, “No comment,” before leading me to his car.
I settled in my seat, my thoughts jumbled, my heart pounding. I don’t want to live in Blue Harbor, where the unusual becomes the usual. Then I glanced at David; I was not ready to say goodbye to him.
A more beautiful place cannot be,
It faces the waves of the dark sea.
White sand and quiet beaches galore,
You can’t ask for anything more.
Life is perfect as can be.
Come and frolic with me.
Tourists visit from far and wide.
Oasis is Florida’s pride.
Beware when The Dead descend.
We can no longer pretend
This is a perfect place to be
As The Dead rise up from the sea.
Darkness brings flying creatures and death.
Beware that this won’t be your last breath.
THE DEAD GAME
by Susanne Leist
Chapter 4
A bleeding man. Fleeing customers. This isn’t what our heroines expected in Blue Harbor, Maine.
Screaming customers shoved past us, stepping over the bleeding man and rushing from the shop. Soon, the store was empty except for Jonathan, Eric, and us. Bella sat frozen on a stool, her hazel eyes round as saucers. Scarlett backed away until her back hit a pink booth. I shivered as I watched the blood spread around the body and across the white-tiled floor.
Jonathan jumped over the counter and raced to the young man dying on his floor. He yelled over his shoulder, “Call an ambulance.”
“I will.” Bella fumbled with her handbag. “What should I tell the police?”
“He’s bleeding to death,” Scarlett said, her face white from shock.
“They cut his throat.” Jonathan came to his feet, staring at his bloody hands. “It’s too late.”
“They?” I asked with a squeak.
“I called the police,” Bella said.
Jonathan withdrew a cloth from behind the counter and wiped his hands. With a grim expression, he turned to us. “You can leave; I’ll answer the police’s questions.” He looked at Eric, who stood beside the counter, his skinny body quivering. “You too.”
“The man said ‘they’re back.’” I faced Jonathan. “Who are they?”
Icy blue eyes glared into mine. “I don’t know.” Jonathan averted his face, rubbing at his red-stained hands with the blood-soaked cloth.
“Let’s go.” Bella grabbed my arm. “We’ll get in the way.”
I followed Bella and Scarlett from the shop. The sun had set, leaving behind dark and deserted streets. I didn’t hear any sounds until a stretcher and officers rushed past us. Then the wail of sirens and shouts of police bombarded my eardrums, a veil lifting to show the ugly truth.
“Move, lady,” an officer yelled in my ear.
Scarlett yanked my arm, pulling me across the street. Bella joined us as we watched the paramedics and police swarm into the pink parlor, a white van labeled The Coroner’s Office pulling in front. A man ran into the store with a black bag clutched in his hand. Once the sirens quieted, people emerged on the streets, but no one dared to approach Jonathan’s shop.
“Look.” Scarlett pointed at David, who rounded the corner and strode to the parlor. He opened the door and hurried into the shop. “What is he doing here?”
“He works with the police,” Bella replied.
“But he’s a lawyer.” I gaped at Bella.
She shrugged. “A smart lawyer who knows how to fight crime. As an ex-marine, he’s handy with a firearm.”
“Oh, no.” Scarlett touched my arm.
I followed her gaze to the tall man opening the shop’s hot-pink door. “Don’t tell me Logan also works for the police.” I frowned at Bella.
“Okay, I won’t tell you.”
“Spill it.” Scarlett grabbed Bella’s arm.
Bella shrugged Scarlett’s hand from her arm. “Logan owns an investment firm, but he helps the police on occasion.”
“No way.” Scarlett shook her head. “Is he an ex-marine like David?”
She averted her face. “Logan wasn’t a marine but a Navy Seal.”
Scarlett shot me a look, and we kept silent.
The pink door opened. Two police officers carried a stretcher, the body covered by a sheet, and loaded it into the coroner’s van. A heavy-set man, wearing a blue uniform, stepped from the doorway, scowling at the people crowding the sidewalks.
“The chief of police,” Bella said. “Ryan Lively.”
“He’s focusing his beady eyes on us.” Scarlett stepped back from the curb. “We should head home.”
“I agree.” Bella shivered. “He gives me the creeps.”
The police chief marched across the street.
“Too late,” Scarlett whispered.
The chief halted a few feet from us, his short, stocky body blocking our escape. “Hello, Bella Fox. We meet again.”
I turned to Bella, who stood frozen like a deer caught in headlights.
“And who are you?” Black eyes stared at us from a beefy face.
“I’m Elizabeth Reading.” I nodded at Scarlett. “This is Scarlett Harding.”
“I was told you were present at the scene.”
“We were ordering ice cream,” I replied.
“Is that so?” His thin lips curled.
I didn’t answer. Ryan Lively didn’t appear to be a friendly, small-town cop, and I wasn’t offering information unless asked.
“What do you want from us?” Bella yielded first. “We witnessed a man bleeding to death on the floor.”
His bushy eyebrows met in a straight line. “Don’t be difficult, Bella Fox.” He swiped a hand through his short gray hair. “Not as last time.”
“Last time?” Scarlett asked before clamping her mouth shut at the chief’s scowl.
“There’s always trouble in Blue Harbor,” Bella replied.
“Keep your opinions to yourself.” Lively swung his back to Bella, turning his attention to us. “Join me at the scene.” He glanced over his shoulder at Bella. “You too.” The chief strode across the street, the crowd parting as we followed him into the ice cream parlor.
They come from the deep.
They come when you sleep.
On waves of ice and stone,
They’ll burn you to the bone.
Fire burns hot on the ice
As demons cut a deep slice.
Stay far from the shore,
Or they’ll search for more.
THE DEAD GAME SERIES by Susanne Leist
A glow in the night
will lead me astray
from the moon’s light
to where I can’t say.
Bloody prints mark the way
to a small town on the shore.
At the end of the day,
we are at the devil’s door.
Time has no meaning or reason.
You can travel forward or back.
Death will follow with each season.
It is past time for me to pack.
THE DEAD GAME SERIES
Source:travel-story
The sky dips into its bag of tricks
to bring forth a full moon,
as its crimson reflection
mars the ocean’s smooth surface.
From the water’s murky depths,
dark creatures rise this night.
Onto our crisp white shores, they walk,
leaving bloody footprints in the sand,
painting our town crimson,
beneath the blood-red moon.
THE DEAD GAME
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