Decadence

“Ring the doorbell, Chloe.” Zoe Pemberton’s young voice was full of mischief, and her older sister Chloe was front and center to witness the latest scheme.

Chloe wanted nothing more than to cozy up with good books during the summer break from library science, her university major. Supernatural mysteries were her favorite reads.

“Chloe, ring the bell,” Zoe demanded, again. “When Z answers, I’ll do the talking.” Z was for Zach, the motivation for this little excursion.

“Zoe, chill!” Chloe’s warning was like a stab of ice. “And take Olivia Pope out your voice when you talk to me.” Little sis felt the pain, for a few heartbeats, and was duly checked.

Zoe’s latest inspiration for shaking up the afternoon immediately followed a Zoom chat with fellow UT Austin artists. Summer gave them a chance to check out new gallery installations, then rake exhibits over the coals or praise them to the rafters.

A name from Zoe’s past rekindled an old, secret passion: Zach Porter. The young man’s Myth Artwork of ghouls, gargoyles, and ghosts was creating a controversial storm. Fans hailed him as brilliant, and critics labeled him certifiable.

Zoe was an avid fan. She hatched a plan.

Before the Pemberton Sisters ended up ringing a doorbell and dripping sweat on a Texas afternoon, Zoe set a venture in motion earlier that day. Chloe was at peace in her room, looking over new books from Barnes & Noble, when trouble swooped in without a knock. Zoe exploded into Chloe’s tranquil space and plopped down on the bed.

“Hey, sis,” Zoe grinned.

“Oh, no.” Chloe knew something was up. She anchored herself to the chair at her desk.

“Chloe, what do you mean, oh, no? I just came to see my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister, Zoe.”

“Which makes me love you even more.”

Chloe’s brows furrowed over piercing eyes. “Now, I’m sure something wicked this way comes.”

Zoe laughed. “Don’t be silly. I just thought we could hang together.”

“Hang? And do what, exactly?”

“Oh, I thought you might take a little walk with me.”

“You rarely walk. That’s my domain. You run. Why don’t you go walk alone?”

“Well...”

“Knowing you, this will be the first part of what you’re scheming.”

“I’d like for you to visit a friend with me.”

“And my tag-along fits your latest scheme, how?”

“Wow!” Zoe chuckled. “If I were not used to your barbs, that would hurt. But, here I am at your side. You’ll never get rid of me.”

Chloe grimaced, “That’s discomforting. Get. To. The. Main. Point, Zoe!”

“I want you to come with me and visit Zach Porter.”

“What?! And more importantly, why?”

Chloe had not set eyes on Zach in a year, which was fine with her. She met him in high school and thought he was a weird, artsy dude. She avoided him whenever possible, unlike Zoe and their only brother Kobe. They thought the guy was awesome. About a month ago, Chloe heard his voice downstairs, in the kitchen with Kobe.

“Chloe,” assured Zoe, “I’ll fill you in on details later. So, you’ll come?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Give whatever ploy you have in mind a rest,” Chloe quipped. “Or go see him by yourself.”

“But, I really need your help, sis.” Zoe feigned woundedness.

Chloe exhaled. It was the exasperated sigh of giving in, again.

“Yea!” Zoe yelled. She jumped up, grabbed Chloe in a bear hug, then pulled her unhappy partner into the kitchen. Chloe finally heard the complete scheme that would disrupt her afternoon.

“Zoe, your renowned machinations are always over the top and unnecessary.”

“Renowned?” Zoe swelled with pride.

Chloe continued: “You want to see the guy because you’re crushing on him, and you’re being devious with this machination because you think that’s what it takes to get and keep a guy.” Chloe did not agree but understood.

Zoe beamed. She’d already won a battle with the sister she adored, and Chloe thought of her as “renowned.”

“Okay, Zoe, I’ll go along on one condition. Leave me alone with my books for two weeks.”

“One week,” Zoe countered.

“Try to bargain with me, and I’ll make it three.”

Zoe laughed, admiring her older sister’s stubbornness. “Deal,” Zoe grinned and shook hands. “I’ll stay out of your hair for two weeks.”

Now, in their favorite summer uniform, jeans and T-Shirts, Chloe and Zoe had arrived unannounced at the door of Zach Porter, five blocks away. Zoe had playfully pushed her sister up the steps of an attractive townhouse.

“Zoe,” warned Chloe, “that’s the last time you’re going to push me.” She stepped to the right of the door. “And ring that bell yourself. I’m the one carrying your surprise.”

In a dessert carrier, Chloe had a homemade chocolate cake, four layers. At the state fair last fall in a cooking contest, she won first place for the recipe. She called her chocolate cake Decadence. Bringing Zach the dessert that Chloe had baked for tonight’s Pemberton dinner was Zoe’s idea. The sweet smell of chocolate wafted in a breeze around the sisters.

Zoe heeded the scowl on Chloe’s face. It was alarming.

“Sorry, sis,” Zoe flashed a smile. “I know this is the last place you want to be.”

The young schemer also knew that her stern sister might put that cake down and body-slam her. At times, Chloe had a short fuse, and she studied mixed martial arts, though she was a library science major at the same university where Zoe studied art.

Zoe rang the doorbell. No one answered. She took the bronze knocker, a hideous gargoyle’s head with a ring in its nose, and knocked.

“Hmph!” Chloe grunted. “We should’ve called first.”

“We don’t need to call to check on an old school chum,” Zoe said.

“Zach Porter was never my chum. That was you and our brother.”

Without missing a beat, Zoe continued. “We’d never forgive ourselves if we weren’t here for Zach in his hour of need.”

“What need?” asked Chloe, incredulous.

“His need for our support, Chloe. Didn’t you listen to a word I said in the kitchen?”

“About what, Zoe, other than your latest ploy?”

“About the latest reviews of Zach’s Deep Ellum art show opening? Critics called his Myth Artwork of ghouls, gargoyles, and ghosts disturbingly bizarre. Zach must be crushed.”

Chloe had seen some of Zach’s work online. She agreed with the critics but kept her mouth shut for Zoe’s sake.

Zoe had a crush on Zach from the days when she was a freshman and he was a senior at Highland Park High, not to mention in a band with Kobe. Kobe–older than Zoe but younger than Chloe–played drums, and Zach played guitar. The band dissolved as soon as the five adolescent boys realized that rehearsing was work.

In school, Zoe would doodle their names together in notebooks: Zoe&Zach. Chloe could not have cared less about the moody dude, but she knew that Zoe had a “secret” crush on him.

“Zoe, if that door doesn’t open soon, I’m out of here.”

After five seconds, Chloe started turning to head down the steps.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Zoe grabbed her older sister by an elbow and swaggered into the house.

Zach was nowhere in sight, so Zoe called out, “Zach, it’s the Pemberton sisters. Your door was open.”

Chloe closed the door. They stood in the sunlit foyer and waited for the recently critiqued artist to appear.

“Who opened that door?” Chloe asked, as she looked around.

“How would I know?” Zoe started strolling. “Maybe Zach left and forgot to lock up.”

Chloe was not satisfied with the answer. “That doesn’t explain how the door opened.”

They listened for Zach’s voice. Zoe sauntered into the living room. Chloe shook her head and followed.

The room with its cranberry-red walls, high ceiling, and mahogany crown moldings was an elegant surprise. Lush green plants were everywhere.

Chloe placed the cake on an oversized mahogany coffee table in front of a chesterfield sofa. Zoe disappeared.

I must admit, Chloe thought, he might be bizarre and unconventional with his art creations, but he has good taste in décor.

“Chloe,” Zoe called from another room.

“What?”

“Come here.”

Chloe went in the direction of baby sister’s voice. “Okay, I’m here. What d’ya want?”

“Look around the room.”

Chloe looked. The room was an eerie art gallery. Sculptures of gargoyles and ghouls crowded the floor. Paintings of people who looked otherworldly hung on the walls. As art, all of the works might have been described as brilliant by admirers, but undoubtedly the works were creepy.

Well, I’ve changed my mind about admiring his décor, Chloe thought.

“Chloe, years ago with Kobe, I was in this room. But it wasn’t a gallery then.”

Zoe had stopped in front of a painted, ghostly weird girl portrait set in a vintage wood frame. The picture was centered on a wall and surrounded by smaller weird portraits.

The girl was in her mid-teens, and she wore a gossamer gown. Her skin was moonlight white, and her eyes seemed to drill right through you. Staring from the painting, she held two fingers to her lips, shushing viewers.

Chloe shivered as she studied the picture.

“Feeling unnerved, sis?” Zoe chuckled.

Chloe changed the subject. “Obviously, Zach’s not here. Time to go, Zoe.”

“Not yet,” the younger sister answered. “Take another look at the picture of the girl.”

“Why?”

“She was real, and I think she lived here.”

“Zoe, you’re making this up.”

“I’m telling you, somewhere in an old newspaper article, I read about the girl and her family. They lived here about ten years ago, before Zach.

“Chloe, surely you read about this, maybe while archiving local history when you worked for the Dallas Public Library system? One day, the girl went missing. The police searched everywhere.”

“I don’t remember reading about her or her family,” Chloe answered. “Was she found?”

“Eventually, yeah, in Bachman Lake. She’d been dead for days.”

“Okay, that’s it. I’m going now,” Chloe announced. She headed for the front door.

Zoe was still staring at the picture when…

“Zoe!” Chloe yelled from the living room. “Get in here, now!”

Shocked, Zoe ran to join her sister.

“This is not funny, Zo-zo,” a nickname for Zoe. “Are you and Zach playing a trick on me? You know I prefer to read supernatural mysteries, not live them.”

Zoe was notorious for past pranks. She understood Chloe’s accusation. The prank-lover followed the direction of her sister’s accusing finger.

On the coffee table was Chloe’s cake, but not in the carrier as she’d left it, and a huge slab of the cake had been cut out and placed on a dessert dish, with a fork on the table.

Suddenly, a crash came from Zach’s gallery. Instantly, the sisters ran back to it.

Neither spoke for minutes that seemed like hours. They stared at the portrait. The girl’s picture had crashed to the floor, and the frame had cracked. Slowly, something else seemed to be happening.

When Zoe finally spoke again, she said, “Look closely at the portrait, especially her mouth.”

Arm in arm, in synced steps, the sisters shuffled close to the picture.

“Chloe, that looks like chocolate on her lips.”

Chloe jumped back, putting distance between her and the painting.

“Come on, Zoe. Now I know you and Zack are pranking me. How long have you two been planning this?”

Zoe shivered.

“Chloe, I promise you. This is not a prank. And wait, look again at her lips. Did she just smile at us?”

Zoe was absorbed in thought when she heard the front door open and slam. She spun around. “Zach?”

It was not Zach–and Chloe was gone.

Zoe glanced one last time at the portrait.

“Glad you liked the cake.” She grinned at the portrait girl. “Save some for Zach.”

Zoe sprinted out of the gallery and through the living room. Her mouth dropped open when she saw that the cake slice was gone, except for crumbs on the plate and fork. The rest of the cake was again covered–by someone or something. The discovery didn’t slow Zoe down in getting out of there and rushing to catch up with Chloe.

Zoe left Decadence for anyone who wanted to enjoy it, be it person or ghost.

Zoe dashed off with speed worthy of an athlete. By the time she caught up with her older sister, the lover of fictional mystery was already in her bedroom–safe in the Pemberton home. Chloe was thrilled to be starting a new supernatural mystery instead of living one.