When Darkness Comes Read online

"SHOTGUN!" I yelled, while I ran, (okay, more like speed walked, because a girl can NOT run in four-inch heels) toward Matty's black Audi Q7. The unmistakable sound of laughter ringing through the concrete walls of the garage followed me.

  Well, tonight might just turn out to be fun after all.

  chapter 2

  Iwalked into Club Echo, a wave of pulsating beats and dazzling lights overtaking my senses. In the middle of the room was a dance floor filled with dozens of sweaty bodies all moving to the rhythm of the music. There were two bars, stocked full of any and every alcohol you could want, on opposite sides of the room; black pub style tables lined the other two sides. The upstairs of Club Echo was a balcony which wrapped around the four walls of the club and overlooked the entire lower level. Plush, black leather sofas were currently occupied by those hoping to not have to go home alone tonight. As for me, well... I'm merely hoping this evening is enjoyable for my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law.

  We began to weave our way through the crowded club as a techno song poured out of the speakers. A woman's voice was singing about finding love in a hopeless place. Yeah, right...

  "C'mon, girls! I want to dance!" Nic yelled over the noise, grabbing mine and Ally's hands and pulling us toward the dance floor.

  I quickly grabbed onto Matty's arm, silently imploring him to save me from being carried away to the dreaded abyss. Oops, I mean, dance floor.

  "Ugh, I'm not going out there until I've had at least one shot." I nodded in the direction of the bar.

  Nic rolled her eyes and huffed, "Fine! ONE shot and then you ARE dancing! You look way too hot tonight to waste it by sitting on the sidelines."

  Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, as we all turned and made our way toward the over-populated bar area.

  "I wasn't going to sit on the sidelines. I actually have a perfectly good spot picked out right here, nice and close to the liquor." I said, sticking my tongue out at Nic.

  Matty pushed his way through the swarm of people and ordered six shots of Fireball. As the bartender poured each shot, Matty passed them out accordingly and we all converged into a small huddle.

  "To love, health, and happiness!" Matty raised his shot glass in the air.

  "May Nic and Jean-Luc have them all!" I chimed in and raised my shot glass as well.

  The group let out a simultaneous "Á la vôtre!", and we all downed our shots. We found an open table and placed our empty shot glasses upside down on it. Before we could sit down, the speakers began to play a song that had a flute intro.

  Flutes? Really?

  “Oh my gosh!” Nic squealed. “This is my jam!”

  Raising my eyebrows in disbelief, I asked, “Seriously?!”

  “It’s Criminal! Let’s go ladies!” Nic commanded, as she began to drag me to the dance floor.

  A quick glance at Matty and his huge grin revealed that he was abandoning me to the wolves. Damn him! And, Ally was going along with Nic’s evil plan as well. Ugh! I desperately need some new friends.

  We were able to find a small, open space on the dance floor and we started to dance to Nic’s “jam”. At some point, I must’ve forgotten how intent I was on not dancing, because when I looked at my watch, I realized it was already well after midnight.

  Wiping small droplets of sweat from my brow, I signaled to the girls that it was time to take a break from getting our groove on in order to get another round of shots. Once they had been consumed, we trotted our way right back out onto the middle of the floor.

  One of my favorite songs came on next so I drowned out everything else in my mind and closed my eyes, letting the melody control the movements of my hips. I was vaguely aware of a man dancing close behind me, but I honestly paid him no attention. Until he put his hands on my hips, that is. I nonchalantly moved to switch places with Ally in hopes the creeper would take the hint. No such luck. He proceeded to follow me, his hands resuming their previous positions below my waist.

  I turned around to face the giant of a man and politely smiled. “No, thank you. I’m not interested.”

  In return, he laughed in my face.

  “Ahhh, it’s just one dance. It’s not gonna kill you, peaches.” He spoke with a touch of a southern drawl. He was close enough to where I could smell the stench of bourbon and smoke on his breath which made my stomach, and all the contents inside, flip.

  “It might,” I replied with a wrinkle of my nose.

  When I tried to turn back to Ally and Nic, “Mr. Burly” grabbed my hips once again. Thankfully, I caught Nic’s eye and she quickly began to try and flag down Matty, who was still at the table with Jackson and Luc.

  My protector will come save me shortly, thank goodness!

  “You’ve been dancing with your girls all night. I think I deserve one. It’s not like I see your boyfriend out here.” The intoxicated southerner spoke again, inching closer and closer to me, invading my personal space completely.

  I closed my eyes and turned my head away to try to avoid his bourbon breath.

  “You can’t SEE her boyfriend, because he’s standing right behind you.” A deep voice spoke.

  Ummmm… That’s definitely not Matty’s voice.

  When “Mr. Burly” abruptly released me from his grip and took a step back, I opened my eyes and peered around him, so I could get a look at the stranger who had come to my aide.

  My heart leapt in my chest.

  He was about 6’1” with a very fit physique. His long, slightly layered, ash brown hair just barely grazed the collar of his black button-down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up ¼ of the way to reveal lightly tanned skin. My eyes traveled further down the length of his muscular arms, coming to a stop on his tightly clenched fists.

  Is he about to punch the southerner?

  “Sorry I’m late, gorgeous. A routine traffic stop turned into an outstanding warrant situation. Then, the idiot actually tried to resist arrest.” The beautiful stranger spoke fluently, as he side-stepped “Mr. Burly” and positioned himself at my side.

  I tried to think quickly on my feet, but I caught a whiff of his scent and I had to shake my head clear. “It’s okay, babe. Better late than never. You okay?” I turned my body slightly toward his and leaned in closer, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance.

  My “boyfriend” smiled with one corner of his mouth and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I felt my knees begin to wobble under the gaze of his dark green eyes.

  “I’m fine, gorgeous. Now, as for the other guy…” He possessively draped his arm around my shoulders and turned his attention back toward the southerner. “He learned the hard way that cops don’t really care for disrespectful pricks.” He said incisively.

  The giant’s jaw dropped and he walked off the dance floor without speaking another word to me or my “boyfriend”. I just stood there in the arms of a complete stranger, shocked by what had just transpired.

  “We should probably start dancing. He’s watching us like a hawk.” The stranger’s gruff whisper tickled my ear.

  I looked toward the edge of the dance floor, and sure enough, “Mr. Burly” was standing with his arms crossed, keeping a close eye on me and my knight in shining armor.

  When I turned back to my “boyfriend”, I was blown away by how truly beautiful this man was. He was way out of my league; that was for sure. But the smirk playing on his full lips made me want to kiss him right here in front of everybody, just to see how his lips would taste. His smoldering gaze sent shivers down my spine and almost had me to the point of spontaneously combusting. And, in the depths of his intense green eyes, I saw a flicker of something dangerous. Should I be afraid of the way my body is reacting to his, or is the beautiful stranger dangerous altogether?

  No, he can’t be dangerous, he’s a cop.

  As he pulled me into both of his arms and we began dancing, every fear left my mind. The close proximity of our bodies had my blood racing through my veins and I had to remind myself to breathe. The air between us was so electrically charged
, that if a match had been lit, the whole club would probably go up in flames.

  When I felt the ardent touch of his fingertips on my bare back, my knees started to buckle, once again. I didn’t even know this man’s name and here he was, about to unravel every fiber of my being with just one dance. His left hand traveled lower from my waist down to my right hip, where it softly urged my hips to come closer to his. I decided to leave one hand on his strong shoulder and placed my other hand around his neck. Tentatively, my fingers reached up and touched his silken hair.

  “What’s your name?” He asked. His voice was a little gravelly and a whole lot of sexy.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the words would not come out.

  What is my name? What is my… Oh yeah!

  “I’m Paige. And you are?”

  “Trent.” He offered only his first name and nothing else.

  Maybe he’s not interested in me. Maybe, he just doesn’t like seeing girls getting pushed around by jerks and he was just trying to be a Good Samaritan.

  The song was almost over and there was a tiny part of me that was relieved, since Trent was clearly just doing me a favor by dancing with me. The other 99.9% of me was disappointed that we would be parting ways soon and that all I would be left with was a stupid first name and one really hot dance.

  The music faded out and the DJ started reminding everyone of the drink specials happening at the bar. I released my hold of Trent and took a very disappointing step back.

  “It was really nice to meet you, Trent. And, thanks for earlier. I appreciate you stepping in.” I smiled softly and turned to walk off the dance floor.

  “Paige! Wait!” Trent called from behind me and I stopped dead in my tracks. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  I resisted the urge to jump up and down, and hurried to wipe the huge grin off my face that had appeared the moment he spoke my name. Maybe he might be a little interested after all…

  “Sure,” I replied coolly as I turned back toward him.

  We walked side by side to the bar without saying a word. We squeezed into an open space and Trent was able to flag down the bartender with little effort.

  “What can I get you?” The bartender asked and Trent looked at me expectantly.

  “I’ll have an Alexander Keith’s.” I answered. I typically don’t mix beer with shots, usually only enjoying beer during hockey games or casual family events. But I knew that another shot just wasn’t going to cut it, I needed the bite of a Keith’s to keep my head in check around Trent.

  “I’ll have a Budweiser.” Trent chimed in.

  I frowned immediately in response to his choice in beer. Yuck! How can he drink that? He must not be from around here.

  The bartender grabbed two long-necked bottles and popped them open.

  “Keep the change,” Trent told the bartender, as he paid for our beers. He passed my bottle to me and gestured to an open table using his empty hand.

  “Are you from Montreal?” I asked as I sat on one of the black leather stools.

  “I’m from New York originally, but I’ve been in Montreal for a few years now. What gave me away?”

  I nodded my head. “Your shitty taste in beer.” I deadpanned.

  Trent lifted an eyebrow and a single corner of his mouth in response. “A girl who doesn’t beat around the bush, I like that.” He nodded his head as a signal of approval and took a drink from his poor excuse for a beer.

  I couldn’t help but smile before taking a drink from my Keith’s.

  “You should really do that more often.” Trent interrupted.

  “What? Drink?” I laughed.

  “No. Smile. You have a beautiful smile.” He tipped the top of his bottle, gesturing toward my mouth.

  My lips turned upward while I thought about his words. I have a beautiful smile…

  “So, do you always do this?” I enquired.

  “Do what?” Trent asked.

  “Swoop in and save the day for a damsel in distress. I mean, I’m sure it’s a daily occurrence for you, Officer.” I said and then took another drink of my cold, crisp beverage.

  Trent took a swig of his beer and shook his head. “Oh, I’m not a cop.”

  Coughing, I tried to choke down the beer that went down the wrong way after hearing Trent’s confession. The warning lights started flashing in my head. “So, if you’re not a cop, what do you do?”

  “Well, I am an investigator… of sorts.”

  Maybe he wasn’t completely lying after all; maybe he was just stretching the truth a little.

  “Oh, cool! Like a P.I.?” I asked.

  Trent looked toward the dance floor while taking another drink. “Not exactly.”

  Wow, how hard is it for this guy to tell me what he does for a living? He probably still lives at home, in the basement, with dead people in his closet or something completely psychotic like that. Geesh, I really know how to attract the right kind of man, don’t I?

  He looked back at me and I could tell he was debating on whether or not he should tell me his profession.

  He took a deep breath. “I’m a paranormal investigator.”

  This time, my beer almost shot out my nose. I quickly stifled my amusement. “So, you’re saying you’re a ghost buster?” I guess the dead body in the closet assumption wasn’t really that far off…

  “No, Paige. Ghost HUNTER not ghost BUSTER.” He made a move and I was afraid he was going to leave the table.

  “Trent, I’m sorry.” I reached out and touched his strong forearm. “I just, I’ve never met anyone who does that for a living. I think it’s cool. Honestly! I’d love to know more about it, if you’d like to tell me.”

  He looked at me as he settled back into his seat. “There’s honestly not much to tell.” He took a drink and rested one of his hands on one of his thighs. “When darkness comes, I go searching for anything that goes bump in the night. Sometimes there’s evidence, most often not, but I know what I experience is real.”

  “Do you ever get scared of what you might find?” I asked.

  Rubbing a hand along his chin, he smiled with one corner of his mouth. “All the time, Paige.”

  “So, why do you do it then?”

  Trent placed his bottle on the table and turned his body toward mine. “I need answers.”

  I nodded my head. “You must not be a religious man then.”

  He tilted his head slightly. “Now why would you say that?”

  I tipped the bottom of my bottle toward the ceiling and finished off the crisp beer. “I’m just saying that if you believed in God and Heaven and Hell, you wouldn’t be searching for answers from ghosts. If Heaven and Hell both exist, every deceased being would be in one of those two places. And, if you were a man of faith, you wouldn’t question it.”

  “You don’t think Heaven or Hell exist?” Trent questioned.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, there has to be more out there than this, right?” I looked around Club Echo. If this was the secret of life, just shoot me now.

  Trent leaned his body closer to mine. “Trust me, Paige. God, Heaven, Hell… They all exist. Angels and demons are indeed very real.”

  I stared at the man before me, taken back by his serious tone. “Then what are you looking for, Trent?”

  Trent slowly licked his bottom lip, carefully formulating a response. “Maybe it’s not what I’m looking for, maybe it’s who.”

  I saw a look of solemn reflection in Trent’s eyes. My breath caught in my throat, my heart constricting in my chest. This beautiful ghost hunter sitting before me, who so passionately believed in God and Heaven and Hell, had a different purpose for his investigations. Had he lost a girlfriend? A wife? Please tell me it wasn’t a wife… I took a deep breath. This was quite the sobering conversation to have with a person you just met in a crowded nightclub, but it didn’t make the subject matter, or the man in front of me, any less intriguing.

  “Well, how do you explain the presence of ghosts then?�
� I asked, trying to redirect the focus away from Trent’s loss, whoever it was.

  “If I could explain their presence, I wouldn’t be a paranormal investigator, now would I?” Trent raised an eyebrow and one corner of his mouth.

  “But you must have some sort of theory, Ghostbuster. So, let me hear it.” I challenged Trent with a smirk of my own. This time, both of Trent’s eyebrows lifted in response to my sauciness. I let out a small chuckle.

  “Okay. Are you ready for this? Because, it’s gonna hit you like a ton of bricks.”

  “Take your best shot, Ghostbuster.”

  Trent shook his head and let out a laugh. “You know, I’m not quite sure I like the nickname, but I’m gonna let you get away with it… for now.”

  “How kind of you.” I interrupted him.

  “Hey now, I thought you wanted to hear my theory. If you would rather go back to your boyfriend... Oh, what was his name? I can’t remember. I was too repulsed by the smell emanating from him.” Trent winked at me.

  He was talking about the drunk on the dance floor. Oh, this guy doesn’t play by the rules…

  “Emanating? That’s a very big word.” I smiled. “But, as titillating as this little verbal sparring match is, I really would like to hear your thesis.”

  Trent looked at me for a long moment. I felt my pulse quicken under his gaze. I would give anything to know what he was thinking in this very moment. I opened my mouth to ask, but Trent cut me off.

  “Okay. What I think is that,” he took a deep breath, “ghosts don’t exist.”

  A look of surprise crossed my face.

  “You see, demons can manifest as anything in order to trick their prey.” Trent explained. “I believe what people think are ghosts are really just demons in disguise. A demon will make you question everything you’ve ever believed in. They’ll make you question your faith and whether or not God truly exists. That’s their job.”

  “So, are you looking for a ghost or a demon?” I enquired.

  “I, uh, I’m not quite sure to tell you the truth.” Trent said with a shake of his head. “But, that’s enough about me. Tell me what you do, Paige.”

  “I’m a photographer.” I replied as I straightened up a little and leaned in ever so slightly toward him.