Call of the Dark (Dark Paranormal Steamy Monster Encounter) by Cassia Dureza Page B

blog Matt founded and she was hired for. Two years ago, as a new journalist graduate, she had walked in to hand in a cold resume when Matt spied her and interviewed her on the spot.  He had suddenly needed a writer to replace one he recently fired and had to meet a quick deadline for an article to hit the next issue.  With his dark brown hair, seductive green eyes, deep husky voice and athletic build, she felt an instant attraction to him.  It became obvious to her that he felt the same, as their interview felt more like a session of flirting than a career outline.  As far as they could tell, no one else knew about the office romance that later developed between them.  A well enclosed office with no windows and a thick door to mute the sound for privacy was the key to their success.
         She was trying to find the perfect words to convey that she would be spending an annoying week listening to a never ending multitude of unwanted sexual advances, problems and inadequacies from a boy-man with no working mind filter.  She came up with nothing.  Time to use Plan B.
         “Is there no foreign bug eating contest or naked hang gliding article you could put Tom on instead?” she whined as she pouted her lip and hitched up her skirt to show off a black garter.  The leg and the strap underneath instantly got Matt’s attention.   He quickly glanced away before it distracted him from responding.
         Matt picked up a pen lying on his desk and flipped it around in his fingers.  “No.  We need him there.  One of the main topics in the article will be about the old wooden churches in the area.  You will have to get the church key from one of the residents of the village and they will probably not speak any English.  And then you have to drive there.  The roads there are not the best.  Most of them are one-way modified mountain trails that are muddy, and filled with pot holes, with no guard barriers to protect you against speed and sharp turns.  Would you be comfortable with that?  Tom is used to driving in those conditions.  He did a stint driving trucks in Bolivia for a few months and can handle the terrain.”
         Natasha groaned.  Memories of driving solitary in the Alberta Rockies came back to her.  It was an experience she didn’t want to repeat.  “So tell me why we can’t hire a guide to go up there with me instead?”
         Matt hesitated.  His eyes shifted away from her as he found his voice to reply.  “I’ve been told that for one of the churches, the locals don’t like to go there.  There’s sort of a superstition around it.”
         Natasha smiled.  Her initial suspicions were confirmed when she realized why Matt wanted her to go in the first place.  During her time working for Blast!, she had developed her niche.  There were plenty of places Matt had sent her to that had urban legends around them, but they always turned out to be boring and empty.  She built quite a good story around them anyway.  Rumours about ghosts and hauntings always brought out the cynic in her.  It was a load of crap, in her opinion.  The scariest part about most of the locations was getting there in the first place.  She moved towards the wide desk and perched on top, crossing her legs.  “Sounds intriguing.  Is it haunted?” 
         He shrugged.  Matt gave her a sly look that told her that he knew she was on the hook line. “Possibly.  But not by a ghost.  Something else.  I’m not sure what.”
         Natasha laughed.  An urban myth that took her out to Romania had to be a good one.  “Tell me more.”
         Matt gave her his best horror parody voice.  “At this time of year, former caretakers that have been to one of the main churches have encountered….something.  Not human, but not a creature either.  Maybe like a demon, or something else like it.  Most who have seen it, said little about it and disappeared entirely a few months later, never to