Night Terrors (Haven New Jersey Series #2)

By Nancy Beck

Tessa Palmisano gets no respect—from the magical or normal side of her life, as the Elders and potential boyfriends don’t divulge things to her that she thinks they should.

When someone’s inner organs are found behind her apartment house, she is called in to find the body. After all, she has her own supernatural investigative business, and she could use the practice.

Except there isn’t a body. Doreen Ipcress, one of the Elders, says it’s the sign of a vampirish creature from Native American folklore—and it still walks the small town of Zauber, waiting to extract someone’s heart while they’re asleep...

Across the street from Tessa are a man and his sons. She’s been laughed at for calling them vampires, but she sticks by it, as she’s only seen the occupants at night. When Lorraine, another Elder, is found dead, Tessa thinks someone from that house is responsible. She sets out to prove it, but beds a possible suspect because she can’t help herself (it’s been a while since she’s had that kind of fun).

Tessa is horrified about her priorities with a murderer skulking around town, and she's afraid she's become the creature's next target.

• Language: English
• Publisher: March Winds Publishing
• Release date: Sep 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466099500

Nancy Beck

Nancy Beck lives in New Jersey - not down the Shore, not in the urbanized northeastern part of the state, nor in the flatlands of the southern part of the state. No, she lives near Pennsylvania, and sometimes wishes she was already there. She has one fantasy series under her belt (Haven New Jersey) and a mini short story collection. She is currently working on the first in a new series, something she's wanted to write for some time. Please visit her website for any updates. And she hopes you enjoy the fiction she writes - that is the number one reason for her writing!

Book preview

Night Terrors

Haven New Jersey Series #2

A Short Fantasy Novel

Nancy Beck

Copyright 2011 Nancy Beck

Published by March Winds Publishing

Cover copyright Harris Channing

http://harrischanning.com/BookCoversDesignedByHarrisChanning.html

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

About the author

Connect with the author

Chapter 1

Two weeks.

Two whole weeks since I’d met Knife Guy, also known as Jimbo, and the Jersey Devil, also known as Chloe. Yes, my life is exciting, different.

Boring and mundane is better.

I needed to get away from my apartment and the whole freaking town of Zauber, New Jersey. I needed to rid my mind and my body of the last fourteen days of my life, if you can call those two weeks a life. Speaking of body, I knew one guy who would be a major dish in bed...

I think of sex at the strangest times.

And now wasn’t the time. Seething with anger is the nicest way to put it.

I called Sakari, my Alaskan Malamute. She lay sprawled near the window seat, taking up most of the real estate in that area of my apartment. Not that there's much space anyway; it takes five steps to get from my bed to the kitchen, and three steps and a right to get to my bathroom.

Even small is expensive in New Jersey, and I've been trying since forever to combine office temp jobs with a fledgling investigation service, with mediocre results.

Sakari. Let's go. I jiggled my keys at her, and she finally took the hint, pushing to all fours, shaking off any dust or dirt. She then loosed a series of rah-rahs, yips, and grunts. That's Malamute for, Move your ass, and take me out!

I attached her leash and collar, opened the door, and headed downstairs. Not that way. I pointed my head toward the back of the apartment house. To the car.

Sakari grumbled and sneezed. I didn't blame her.

As we schlepped out the door and down the incline to the parking spot out back, I went over in my mind what transpired after almost getting my skull split open. My friend, Allison Gak (I think it's Dutch), would ask a thousand questions before giving me any rest, so I had no choice. I knew Allison pretty well, and she knew me pretty well, and I don't mean that in the biblical sense; we knew what certain looks meant, what certain phrases meant, and could size up each other’s mood almost instantly.

I cheated, with my empath ability. I had no explanation for Allison, except maybe we were sisters, separated at birth.

Sakari took that moment to going schnoofing through dead leaves or pulverized squirrels or something, so I took my chance to sort it in my brain.

Although the Elders healed Jim, the Knife Guy (the dude who froze my limbs), I tried reopening the portal to find Chloe; another ability I didn't know I had. But after I reopened the portal to that world, all I got in return was humidity, frizzed-out hair, and smelly, green swamp slime. I figured the Elders ended up in some alternate Pine Barrens, where a hundred Jersey Devils pranced or flew about.

That's right. The Elders didn't take me. Of course not. Why would a dumb-ass peon like me be welcome? After all, I had the audacity to startle Chloe, in her true form as the Jersey Devil, back to her swampy world. That’s a direct quote from one of the highest mucky-mucks of all.

Pardon me.

Both Jim and Chloe tried bludgeoning me with a baseball bat. Hint: They didn’t succeed. This didn’t impress the Elders, so I did my aura cleansing of that house, turned my back on the lot of them, and ignored their calls.

Screw them.

I checked my website, Palmisano’s Paranormal Investigations, the first Tuesday after the cleansing, hoping something came in while I slept. Nothing. As usual. I called the temp agency, asking if they had any short-term assignments. The woman said she’d get back to me. I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

Which was where I was right now: Sakari pulling me around like a rag doll on a leash. My knees hurt, and my elbows weren’t exactly in primo shape, either. I saw a chance to do something when she stopped and lifted her head toward the river. I tugged once on her leash, and she turned to me, her ears alert. She sat, staring, giving me that I'm sorry look.

Sakari, I said, standing, making deliberate steps down the hill, Allison told me ages ago she wanted a cleansing of her bar/strip joint/dance club, and it's about that time.

Sakari barked, an honest-to-goodness bark, something not in her regular repertoire.

Another signal. What's wrong? She was agitated about something. I glanced about, but no one approached me. A breeze filtered through, and mashed-up papers made a tumbling appearance, but there wasn't anyone or anything skulking about. What?

We neared the car, and it all fit.

We have to use it to get to Allison's. I spoke in the sternest tone I knew: That of my Grandma Emma's voice, my father's mother. She could be a peach one minute and a coconut dropped from the Empire State Building the next. Emphasis on the nut.

Sakari whimpered once, then hung her head. She was doomed, and she knew it.

Triumphant, I told her to stay put, so of course she followed me to the other side of my beautiful Mercedes. (Most cars are beautiful, once.) I dragged her back to the other side, unlocked the door, and she jumped in. After shutting the door, I hurried to the other side, rubbing the sides of the steering wheel. Come on now, I cooed, be good to me. Please, please, please start, okay?

I turned the key.

Nothing happened.

I tried two more times, each time rubbing the steering wheel, then rubbing the sides of the steering column. Nothing.

I did come away with some grease or other shit on my hands. I wiped it on my white T-shirt. Dumb idea. I have a ton of T-shirts due to one of my many sexmates being in that business. You know: Collecting T-shirts from everywhere he’s ever tripped into just to say he had the shirt for it. This one said, Brennan's New Orleans. A dull shirt, but it did have a bright-pastel swirl that reminded me of a 1970s version of an arced rainbow.

I've got a bunch of 'em from him. Whoopee. However, they work when I want to dress like a slob. Which was every day I wasn’t working in an office.

The loud bangs from outside the car startled me. I turned to my left; Jane Ipcress stood there.

Sakari let out a yip and a groan. I felt like doing the same.

With her beady eyes and flame-red hair, Jane looked every bit the demon I thought she was. I only tolerated her because she’s my landlady’s demon daughter, although she wouldn’t put it that way. I manually rolled down the window. Yeah? I narrowed my eyes.

Just wanted to tell you, Jane said between gasps, to keep your mutt quiet. Some people are trying to sleep.

But we're outside.

Not last night.

My first thought was to use my newfound ability to construct and throw fireballs at her, but I dismissed that right away; I didn’t want to get her going. After all, I just wanted to get the hell out of town, the sooner, the better. You're right. I'll try better to keep her quiet.

Jane blinked, as if she were surprised by my agreeing with her. That’s all?

That’s all. I knew she expected something scathing, but I wasn’t in the mood to get into a yelling match with her. You might want to step away from the car. I’m going to try again.

Oh, hell, thanks. She backed away, still a foot or so from the banks of the river. This good?

I shrugged. Probably. Before I got the chance to try again, my cell gave a low rumble in my jeans pocket. I hauled it out, staring at it. Allison’s number. Despite Jane giving me the Evil Eye, I had to take this. Hello?

Hey, shit for brains, Allison said, cackling like a hen.

She has such a way with words.

I rolled my eyes. She might really look like a hen. Cursing this early in the morning?

That’s because I love you so much.

You’re a piss ant.

Too small for my big bones.

Right. I’d seen her change into bees and wasps. Big bones, my ass.

Truth is, she always greeted me this way. Always. I grinned. Allison is my best friend, not of the Ohmigosh, BFF! silliness, either. She saved me from the wallflower life, and it’s because of her and her obnoxious words aimed directly at me that I extricated myself from Jim and Chloe’s surgical experiments; two Dr. Mengeles for the price of one.

I stumbled into Allison at Beecher’s, Zauber’s general store. Literally. I tripped over the decrepit ramp into the place and tumbled into her. She recognized my magical ability right away, although she's never told me how. I was so embarrassed by my gracefulness I didn’t catch on that she was a shapeshifter until she brought me to her parents’ house and did her thing.

Show-off.

Just thinking about that day made me smile.

Hey, Allison continued, you want to help me here?

Sakari slumped, her paws looming over the front of the seat. I scritched the top of her head. You outright bought it?

Damn straight. She sounded proud.

Notice I didn’t say justifiably proud? That’s because the place was a shithole, with ugly decorations, crappy mixed drinks, and the lowest-denominator beer known to humankind.

Yeah, I’m a beer snob.

Originally Allison was going to lease the bar/dance club from the owner, but that fell through; why, I wasn’t sure. And heavens knew what the hell the interior now looked like; Allison would probably have to cough up a fistful of dollars to make it look presentable, after it sat unused for over a year. But I kept that to myself. The owner pulled out?

Obviously. Got blue ball, hah!

Allison’s got the humor of a down and dirty construction worker. Whatever. I’ve been taking it for quite some time. That’s the cost of doing business with her.

You looking for something to do?

I rolled my eyes again. I was just on my way over. For an aural cleansing. And to do some regular cleaning.

I can get someone to snap their fingers or something and get rid of all this shit, if you want me to.

The Elders will find out.

And do what?

We’d been having this argument since someone in the magical community opened their mouth and clued her in on the little beings who could be had for next to nothing. Honestly, I didn't think Allison would do anything. We can both be stubborn, especially when we’re convinced we’re right. They can do a lot of awesome things, but—

Rumor is that you pissed off the Elders, that you allowed some fucked-up creature to sail through a portal and into the aether.

The blood in my face felt as if it were going to spurt like a pipe with a major leak. Where had Allison heard that? Sakari whimpered. What was I supposed to do? The bitch was looking for something else to bash in my head.

My point exactly.

Huh? I can be very stupid when people are making points.

That the Elders don’t give a shit about you or anyone else beneath them. They want to keep everyone under control.

I agreed, especially lately. But I didn't just toss the Elders out the nearest window, either. Makes sense, don’t you think?

Bullshit. Allison coughed. "Damned dust. They tell us we can’t use ‘unnecessary magic’ to get things done. What the hell does that mean? I don’t remember seeing a contract with that