Prologue for Newest Story

Prologue for Newest Story

It was a quarter after eight when the man stepped off the city bus. He was clad in a long, dark coat and brimmed hat which he tilted to shield his eyes against the rain. He ignored everyone on the street around him and listened only to the sharp clack his boots made as he splashed his way down the cobbled sidewalk. The night was warmer than average for July, humid and grey skied. Miserable, he thought.

The street was no more busy than any other night in Galway, Ireland. The man had been to Ireland before, but never to this particular city. He wondered if the woman had chosen it randomly or if she had some sort of tie to it. Probably the first choice; it wasn't wise to choose a place that could ever be attributed to you if you were in her situation. The man sighed. He was never able to understand the woman's reasoning and couldn't fathom why she would choose the lifestyle that she had. Perhaps this time she would see sense. But he doubted it.

The man crossed the street and made for the row of townhouses opposite. A car narrowly avoided colliding with him but he didn't so much as flinch. He let his feet carry him to the correct house, not bothering to check the address. Without stopping to knock, the man raised his gloved hand and let himself into the house, pulling a tape recorder from his coat pocket as he did so. He pressed play as he closed the door behind him.

The recording played at full volume, commanding that the woman not attack the man or flee. He stopped it early and let his feet take him to her location, coming to a halt at the foot of a staircase. The man removed his hat and looked up. The woman sat on the top step, her blond hair pulled up in a haphazard ponytail, grinning coldly at him and pointing to her ear. The man grimaced as he noticed she was wearing earplugs. He pulled out a tranquillizer gun.

"Ah ah ah," she said, brandishing a knife in the air, "If you shoot me, Daniel, you'll regret it."

Daniel aimed the gun at her.

"Come on Daniel, we both know I have no intention of going anywhere with you. I hate you so much it makes me sick to see your face. By the way, how do you like the earplugs? I figured I should invest in some in case you or dear Lucy showed up at any time. They aren't always effective though; I can hear stuff sometimes. I guess it's just my luck you played that near the door. You weren't close enough to have it overpower them."

Daniel glared at her and stuffed the gun into his coat, hitting the rewind and cursing himself; she was about to escape and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Well, toodle-oo dear Daniel. I hope you truly die one day, and then burn in hell."

Daniel pressed play on the voice recorder, but it was too late. The woman had leapt to her feet, backed up a step, and purposefully caught her foot on the carpet, falling head first down the stairs. Daniel threw the voice recorder, uselessly commanding the impossible now, to the floor and lunged forward to try and catch the woman. But no, it was too late for that too, as she landed on the knife in her hand and pierced her own chest.

She spent her last moments laughing at him, a sound as sharp and cold as shattered ice. Then she was silent.

"Shit," said Daniel, refraining from kicking her lifeless body in the face; she had made it look like an accident and he wasn't going to mess it up by getting himself involved. He didn't particularly want a new body, so getting his current one in trouble was not preferable.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he answered it irritably.

"She got away." was all he said, then he threw the cell phone to the floor and smashed down on it with the heel of his boot.

"I'll find you again," he whispered. "I'll get you. You can't run forever, LaVeve."