Her eyes widened as she followed the hooded figure through the door and into a small, sparse room. The light here didn’t come from dim bulbs, as in the corridor, but rather from a fire burning low in the corner of the little room. The man added wood to the stove and then turned to a cabinet that looked to Annie as if it had been carved out of ivory. It was a gleaming, bone white, and the skull and crossbones carved into the front seemed to grin at her as he used the same key to unlock it.
Pushing his hood back off his head so he could work, the old man pulled open the black-velvet-lined cabinet. In the center, like a dull jewel, was a vial of thick, black liquid. If it weren’t encased in glass, it would have been camouflaged entirely by its dark surroundings. Annie watched as the man opened the vial to reveal an eyedropper fastened in its lid. He worked quickly, but carefully, retrieving a corked tube from several laying on one of the wooden counters. He put one drop of the viscous black fluid into the empty glass tube before corking it and putting it into his pocket. When he had replaced the vial and locked the cabinet, he turned to Annie.
“What is that?” she asked, nodding at the tube he had slipped it into his pocket.
“Black Death.” He opened the door, expecting her to follow, and she did, as quickly as she could. This time, she kept her hood on and didn’t look to either side as they made their way through the doors. He took her robe and hung it on a hook before they headed back up the cement stairs. The noise of the bar seemed to vibrate under her feet as they emerged into the blue, hazy light of the Styx.
The old man didn’t speak as he filled a martini glass with something clear from a nozzle. Tonic water? Annie wondered. When he slipped the tube from his pocket and uncorked it, she thought she could smell that too-sweet odor from the basement again. In the little room downstairs, she had thought the liquid in the vial was thick and sticky, like molasses. But now it ran down the side of the tube as quick as black mercury, falling into the martini glass without leaving any residue on the side of the vial.
“The Black Death…” Annie stared as the entire drink turned dark before her eyes.
“Yes.” The old man held the glass out to her and gave her a nod. “You sought the secret and it was revealed to you.”
She didn’t feel as if anything had been revealed. As a matter of fact, she was more confused than ever. Annie took the glass from him and was surprised at how cold even the stem of it was in her hand. “Well… thank you.”
“Only death knows the secret to eternal beauty.” The voice in her ear belonged to Eric, she was sure of it, and she whirled toward it, nearly spilling the hard-won drink in her hand. There was no one there at all. She glanced back at the old man and he winked at her, moving to serve another customer.
What does that mean? She stared into the black depths of the drink in her hand. Only death knows the secret to eternal beauty. The old man had said that to her, too, before she had put on the dark robe and hood.
Annie stared into the glass, seeing a dark reflection of herself. There was an image shimmering there, and she recognized it as she did when looking at pictures of herself as a child. In this vision, she was an old woman, her face careworn, her smile lost in laugh lines, the familiar high cheekbones making her cheeks look slightly sunken. She was looking at her own face, years into the future, her physical beauty having faded long before.
“You’re still beautiful.” It was Eric again, and it startled her out of her vision. He wasn’t there, and yet she could have sworn the voice was real. She could almost feel the heat of his lips pressed right to her ear!
Only death knows the secret to eternal beauty.
Annie understood, suddenly, and the realization brought tears to her eyes.
Her physical beauty would fade, over time, but the light burning in her that had caught Eric’s attention that night in the kitchen would never fade. He had seen her, fully, without ever even looking at her physical form. He had seen the woman inside of her, the woman she was becoming, the woman she wanted to be, the one beyond her physical body.
I want to grow old with Eric, she thought, blinking back her tears. He’s the man I want to be with when my hair is white, when we have grandchildren coming to visit and stories to tell about the old days. The feeling was so strong in her that it was an ache, and she found herself even more determined to do whatever it took to find him again.
Annie found Dita sitting on a soft, oversized chair, still surrounded by admirers. When Annie handed her the drink, Dita’s eyes widened slightly, but she motioned her to sit. The crowd of people moved away the moment Dita waved her hand, leaving the two of them in relative privacy.
“Well, dear, I didn’t expect you back… so soon…” Dita sipped the drink and her eyebrows rose in surprise. “And this is exactly what I asked you for!”
“I hope so.” Annie sank into a chair with a defeated sigh. “You have no idea what I had to do to get it. Or maybe you do. I don’t know. I’m so tired of this runaround. Do you really know where Eric is? I need to find him.” Dita set her glass on the little table between them and leaned toward her.
“Actually, I got a call from him just a few hours ago.”
“Oh please.” Annie rolled her eyes. “Do you think I was born yesterday?”
“He’s back in town.” Dita picked imaginary lint off the chair. Annie marveled again at how incredible she looked for being a grown man’s mother.
“Then why wasn’t he at his place today?” Annie crossed her arms.
Dita shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Why don’t I believe you?” Annie shook her head.
Dita gave her a cool, grim smile. “You can believe what you like, darling.
He doesn’t tell me everything. What I can do is give you the address to The Elysian Fields. He will be seeing a client there between two and four tomorrow.”
“What in the heck is The Elysian Fields?” Annie cocked her head and frowned.
Dita raised her eyebrows at her and then winked. “It’s a mystery school.”
“A… what?” Annie asked, shaking her head as if to clear it. Eric’s mother looked as if she were enjoying Annie’s suspense.
Dita crossed one knee over the other. “I guess the best way to describe it… it’s a kind of new age school, for people like intuitives and psychics.” Annie put her head in her hands for a moment. It was beginning to hurt.
“You’re sure he’s going to be there?”
“It’s what he told me,” she replied with that one-shoulder shrug.
Resigned, Annie said, “Okay, give me the number.” Dita bit her lip and then sighed. “They don’t have phones.” Annie laughed, incredulous. “Oh, come on!”
“It’s true!” she protested. “Something about vibrations? They have a lot of…alternative ideas. But I can give you the address. It’s about an hour’s drive out of town.”
Annie sat still for a moment, pondering. “What the hell. Why not? This couldn’t get any stranger. Give me the address.” Dita reached into her purse and pulled out a black book. She flipped the pages and Annie watched as she wrote an address in large, looping letters on a slip of paper before handing it to her.
“Thanks.” Annie stood. “Enjoy your honey…and your drink. Virgil and that old guy were both quite an experience.”
Dita caught Annie’s arm as she passed. “Would you mind doing me another favor?”
“Are you kidding me?” Annie sighed. “What? What could you possibly want now?”
Dita’s smile was kind and Annie felt herself relenting. “Can you pick up something for me while you’re there?”
“Is it anything illegal?”
“Goodness, no!” Her laugh was like silver crystals falling. “It’s just a beauty cream. Inquire at the office and ask for Kora. She’s holding it for me.”