In a Fog

At least the library sale had been a success.

Kate considered whether the day itself had been a success as she carefully placed the bag of books in the car’s back floorboard and determined that while not the best of days, it had been on the whole, okay.

Trent, climbing in the driver’s side, smiled widely. “Some good finds tonight,” he said, then added hastily, “Don’t forget your seatbelt!”

Of course, Kate hadn’t forgotten, she had just been preoccupied watching the fog settle over the William Marshall Hotel, noting how the clouds blurred the lettering so much that it might have been inscrutable if she hadn’t seen the sign a thousand times before. The night was cold and damp, but after a week of unprecedented warmth for early January, the heavy fog wasn’t surprising.

Trent had parked in the parking lot of the Downtown YMCA. He was a member so it was the easiest parking spot to find and it didn’t involve feeding a meter, which was a big plus. As Kate reached over her right shoulder to fasten the safety belt she noticed the facility’s windows which were also foggy, but from the inside, not the outside. They appeared to be high enough above the patrons, yet, still covered in a translucent but opaque coating that reminded her of the windows in her high school gym before her friend Steven had backed his giant Buick into it their senior year and they had to be replaced.

Suddenly, Kate noticed a giant dark red glob that appeared on one of the windows. It was the size of a basketball and oozing.

It had to be blood.

Kate blinked her eyes and looked again, willing it not to be there as Trent began to drive away, but the giant stain remained.

She blinked a third time, prepared to make Trent stop the car, but when she opened her eyes a third time, the spot was gone.