Lovecraftiana: The Magazine of Eldritch Horror (2018-19) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rogue Planet Press
Published: 2020-11-25T23:00:00+00:00

NEW YEAR’S DAY

by Andrew Bell

I THOUGHT I saw Philip J. Smith the other morning as I locked my apartment door. I’m sure it was him.

He looked a far cry from the fresh faced thirty-two-year-old man that I once knew. His face was as white as parchment. Hair that once flowed across his shoulders like jet black ink was now thin and straggly; grey patches were unmistakable at his temples. His sunken cheeks sported a beard that was nothing more than a scratch pad. It was his deeply set eyes that struck me. Dark lines were etched below them, like smeared mascara.

I caught all of this in one instant, for as I looked back to see if it was him, he had disappeared. At least I thought he had disappeared, for whoever had stood in front of my apartment block, a figment of my imagination or not, they had left two large foot prints in the snow. I looked around, surveying the street for other pedestrians, but I was alone. The dark morning sky was smattered with twinkling stars; the cold air scraped its nails across the wall of my lungs.

No footprints led to or from the ones in front of me.

I thought about Philip all morning. He had been missing for nearly three years. When I think about that fateful night, my skin crawls. I should have taken him seriously when he told me about the nightmares—‘You awake?’

The sound of the voice almost shook my entire body. I grabbed my coffee cup, suddenly realising that it had cooled a long time ago.

Tina Billingham looked radiant. Her green eyes were almost bright emerald beneath the cold fluorescent lights.

Her smile broadened at my appraisal of her, especially the two empty top button holes of her white blouse. Her hair was a shock of red, like feathers. It was short, but not masculine by any means.

‘I’ll get you another,’ she said, turning to the coffee machine before I had time to protest. I must admit, a smile creeping across my lips, the view from here was pretty good.

Finally she returned to the table and sat down. Immediately, the air about me was infused with a beautiful and heady aroma. Her lips were also shocks of a darker shade of red.

‘I’m awake,’ I said, breaking the awkward silence that had descended between us. ‘The name’s David Heather.’ We shook hands. I knew who she was.

‘How long have we been working together?’ she asked, before sipping her coffee.

I started to stutter.

What the hell is wrong with you, for fuck’s sake? She’s a girl! Remember those?

’I’d say a of couple years,’ I replied, steadily and slowly this time.

That didn’t hurt, did it?

‘Has Turner, Hodgeson, and Berkley Solicitors been around that long?’ she replied, shaking her head. ‘Two years and we’re talking for the first time today? Now that is funny.’ I shook my head.

‘First time for everything, isn’t there?’

‘Are you going to the office Christmas party in a few days?’

‘I can’t,’ she said, apologetically almost. ‘I’m heading to Bournemouth to stay with family.

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