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And it was fresh blood that dripped beneath his dangling feet

A killerfrom the shadows that al Plantation Few plantations rivaled it A haunting opaque white shi rose up on the bank in all its majesty It sat before Jake Mallory as it had all his life; a stunning representation of a bygone era

Nowadays, the very circuo were the ones thathistory and beauty The war had scarcely begun when the Union ht had throttled the city and parish of New Orleans, and, for miles around the city center, the surrender that had seeic disaster had kept enenificent houses that had been built when cotton had been king

He remembered the first time he had come here; his parents were friends with Ashley’s parents He re behind her ht

Coht had gone out in her eyes She had built a wall around her heart and soul that was as ioods himself He had learned to cope hat he was because of Adaether in a way he had never ed on his own Maybe because he had discovered that he wasn’t so strange Still, the ies that lived in his mind would always create a divide with Ashley

There had been good tih Their parents had played as a tea, played in the various game rooms offered by different venues, shared sodas and snacks But ether as friends when they’d been really young Once, they’d been part of a garage band together; they’d been pretty good at that, too And when the three years between theeable and they spent roup, Ashley had co dile choices He sht about Ashley and re to tell hi of the Southern belle in her behavior; the word bimbo would not cross her lips, nor would she tell him that his latest crush was a slut, a traatory term The question was always, "Seriously, Jake, is she what you’re really looking for? I’m not certain that her behavior is really…nice But, hey, you hat you want, right?"

Nighttime here really seeht, the house, seen through the veil of oaks that led to the sweeping entrance, seeuard upon a hill A soft breeze caused the branches to sway in the ethereal light, and the path to the house ht into a different ti to ht have been there were hidden away in the car park, and the view he saas one of sheer , oak-lined drive froeway, and the rear entrance frorand entry had faced the river So cotton downriver were outdated Still, with the working sugar hbors to Donegal, and both a ht, was spectacular

It was quiet when he parked; yet just yesterday there had been hundreds--possibly thousands--of people crawling all over the place, from the reenactors to the visitors who flocked here on the day of the actual reenactht made him smile as well--in co the war, the skiral Plantation had always been hoal had been killed, Ehters on her own, and she had kept the plantation thriving, even under Union rule It was sad--and probably not at all fair--that legend had her as the one to slip out into the skirmish and kill her husband Her ree with his ement of their slaves, several of who with quadroons at the quadroon balls in New Orleans, and the wives of a few of his best friends Their daughters, too But those ru new People loved to speculate He knew that neither Ashley nor Frazier believed in the ru Emma, and he didn’t take them very seriously, either

He parked the car directly before the house and got out He knew that he wouldn’t be out here at all, and the team wouldn’t be on call, if Adaal

An inexplicable discomfort settled over him It was late, of course, and he was miles and miles away fro their stride Out here, the world was sleeping

Still, he hesitated

Lights in the large old stable building showed him that tourists were still quartered there, and he even saw so froe barn structure

The house looked ominously quiet

He walked around the side of the house, not certain why he was experiencing such a distinct i And then he knew As he stood there, he saw a figure in white coraveyard

For a split second, he was paralyzed She looked like a phanto, flohite gown, her golden hair caught in the wind

It wasn’t a ghost; it was Ashley

She looked just as she had looked in his drea upon a roof with the floodwaters rising She looked as she had looked, reaching out for hi horrible and dark that looh his…

He couldn’t let that happen now

He raced across the grounds, hearing earth and gravel crunch beneath his feet "Ashley!" he called her nae blue eyes the size of saucers, like a doe caught in the headlights of a car

She still saw hiain She screamed and started to run away

They hadn’t parted that badly She wasn’t seeing hihtmare had caused her to run

She turned just as he reached her, and they collided and fell to the ground She struck out at hiht her arms, perplexed and yet aware that she could deliver a solid blow if she chose She see for her life

"Ashley! It’s me Jake Jake Mallory!"

She went dead still He realized that she was tre violently