Read Online Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) by Allie Gail - Free Book Online Page A

Thunderstorms were rolling in, according to the six o’clock news, and when she looked through the sliding glass door she could already see traces of lightning way off in the distance. It flickered faintly on and off like a light with faulty wiring.
    That particular round of storms must have decided to skirt the area, because nothing ever transpired from it. Five hours later the stubborn rain still had yet to make an appearance, but the lightning had returned and brought with it an angry symphony of thunder. Huddled feverishly underneath a light throw on the sofa, Sami had just dozed off when her cell phone woke her.
    Unknown caller.
    “Hello, Sami speaking.” The thunder chose that exact moment to boom loudly, causing her to jump, and the rain suddenly arrived with a turbulent roar. She pressed the phone closer against her ear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. It’s raining hard outside. Who did you say this was again?”
    The response was faint, so indistinct she could barely hear it at all. Moving away from the living room and into the kitchen, she strained to listen. The voice was still droning on. She realized then that it wasn’t a person speaking, but muffled music. Some song playing reticently in the background.
    “Hello?” she repeated, more softly this time.
    Still there was no reply, no voice on the other end, but as she continued to listen the song became more familiar to her. She’d heard that haunting tune before.
    Nights in White Satin. Yes, that was it.
    “Who is this?”
    The caller hung up then, never speaking but still managing to leave behind an indelible print.
    Sami returned to the sofa, clicking on the television so the cheerful sound would help dispel some of the eeriness of the stormy night. She wasn’t the type to be easily spooked, but the weird phone call combined with her feverish chills and the bad weather gave her an uncharacteristically edgy feeling.
    The rain came down heavily for fifteen minutes or so. She tried to engross herself in a comedy, but for some reason her eyes kept straying to the sliding glass door. It was locked, of course, and the curtains pulled shut but there was a gap in the middle where they didn’t quite meet. A narrow gap, only about two inches, but that exposed strip of darkness seemed to be watching her. Stalking her.
    I’m not getting up and going over there. This is idiotic. There’s nothing out there. Nobody in their right mind would be out in this weather. Not with all this lightning.
    The rush of rain slowed to a gentle patter. The thunder seemed to be losing its steam as well, still making itself known but not quite as insistently.
    T he thin strip of darkness continued to stare at her.
    Cursing under her breath, she stood shakily and tiptoed towards the glass. Why she felt so reluctant to interrupt the quiet night, she wasn’t sure. She flicked the patio light switch and nothing happened. Perfect…the light must be blown. Pushing one of the curtains aside, she gazed out into the night. For a while she stood there seeing only darkness, then a flash of lightning lit up the beach and in that split second she took in the sight of the patio furniture, the boardwalk, the sandy beach and the rolling waves farther out.
    As she’d suspected, everything looked perfectly normal.
    Another burst of lightning illuminated the sky again, and when a dark silhouette stepped into her line of vision not two feet away from her face, she jumped backward so quickly her feet tangled with one another and tripped her. The glass vibrated as the figure’s hands tried the door.
    “ Shit! ” she cried out, leaping up and staring wildly around her, disoriented. Without thinking, she dashed out the door and down the hall, bumping into a quartet of college boys who were obviously just returning from a night of hard partying. The contact reminded her painfully of her sunburn.
    “Excuse me,” she mumbled, pushing past them while they stopped to ogle her