The jade smoke snaked sinuously in the darkness. Undulating over her body until every inch of skin was smothered in its silky embrace. She grew fur and dark spots. Then the smoke entered her mouth and turned her teeth into wicked fangs. A long sturdy tail grew languidly between her legs. Eyes that could see beyond the darkness. The transformation devoured her sense of self until she was no longer Mia Nova, but some hungry beast. Hungry for what?
She opened her eyes and looked at the city light streaming through the window. Then reaching over the side of the bed, she grabbed the small ornate card on the table beside it. The one that the stranger had given her at the museum and which only had one piece of information printed on it- a barcode.
She had not handed the card over to the police as evidence. Perhaps she didn’t want them to find the stranger. There was more to this story than met the eye, as the old saying went. She wanted to find “Clyde O’Neill” herself.
She traced her finger along the inlaid swirls in the card. The light glinted off the glittering art nouveau motifs in a beautifully peculiar way. My goodness, it’s real gold and diamonds, she thought, remembering the countless hours she spent studying royal treasures as a graduate student. Must be worth a fortune. All for a business card?
Grabbing her phone, she pointed the camera at the card and scanned the barcode. It was a very foolish, more likely idiotic, thing to do. But she had no other leads or ways to get into touch with Clyde.
Oh, for goodness’ sake, she thought, you’re already calling him by his first name.
Her phone made a whirring sound, it beeped twice, then the shadow of a man in a backdrop of television snow appeared on the display.
“I’m glad you called, Mia,” said the man in his familiar smooth voice. “I have a story to tell you.”
She would listen to this man. She knew that. The fight was over before it had even begun. She would surrender to him. Whatever madness, whatever peril, whatever yarn he spun for her, she would unravel it with him. He had the mark of a man on a mission, a real-life Captain Ahab, and although she herself was not in search of a beast, the beast had found her.
So, she listened to his tale and afterward, she dimmed the lights and dreamed of smoke.
Read other parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Mood Song
Endless Dream by Conjure One
