A Tale of Mer-der (EBOOK)

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CHAPTER 1

I liked my boss just fine, except she was evil and I hated her. I called her Skinny and so did my best friend and colleague, Cordelia. Skinny was the devil incarnate, the worst boss I’ve ever had, and that was saying something. It was saying a lot actually, especially since my first job was at a fast food joint where the manager was arrested for murdering his mother-in-law and making her the special ingredient in the secret hamburger sauce.
It seemed Skinny’s whole purpose in life was to make my life and the lives of the other journalists at Ghoulzette, the paranormal magazine where I worked, an utter misery. She was indeed the Boss from Hell.
A thin-lipped smirk spread across her face. I made a mental note to inquire after the health of her mother-in-law.
“I’m sending you on a holiday, Misty,” she announced.
I managed to find my voice. “A-a holiday?” I stammered. A cold shiver ran up my spine.
She shook her head and shot me her best sneer. “Did I say a holiday? No, I meant an assignment, but it is at a holiday destination. Whitehaven Island.”
I gasped. Whitehaven Island was in the Whitsundays, a group of islands on the beautiful Great Barrier Reef off the coast of North Queensland. It was an expensive tourist destination, possibly the most expensive tourist destination on the reef. “What’s the catch?” I said without thinking and then stuffed my fist in my mouth.
Skinny’s pencilled eyebrows rose high on her forehead, no doubt a difficult feat considering she spent most of her money on fillers and Botox. “Catch?” she spat. “This won’t be a luxury holiday for you and don’t you forget it.”
She rapped one of her French tipped fingernails so hard on the desk I thought it might snap off. “There’s a paranormal anomaly on the island, and you’re there to get to the bottom of it and report. And Misty, don’t slacken off.” Her expression turned dark.
Now I was really afraid. “An anomaly?” I said, trembling. “What is it? Are there reports of zombies? People vanishing? A deadly virus? A portal to another world and everyone who gets close to it dies?” I shut my eyes tightly and did my best not to imagine anything worse.
Skinny grunted rudely. “Of course not. It suddenly turned summer there.”
Relief flooded my body. “Summer?” I repeated. “It’s North Queensland. It’s always summer in North Queensland.”
Skinny leant back in her chair and smirked once more. “It’s the middle of winter, Misty. Queensland does get marginally colder in winter. Why, sometimes the people up there even wear coats and roast marshmallows.”
“Really!”
“No. What I’m saying is, there is a heat wave on Whitehaven Island in the middle of winter, and it’s also happening to a lesser degree at nearby locations such as Dreamcatcher Island and Airlie Beach. There is a noticeable difference in temperature.”
I pulled a face. “I can’t see why this is a job for a paranormal journalist. Surely this would be of interest to a meteorologist.”
Skinny’s bony hand slammed down on her desk. “The meteorologists say it’s an anomaly, obviously. That’s why I’m sending you there.”
“But I don’t know anything about science,” I protested. “How can I get to the bottom of it? What if it isn’t something paranormal?”
Skinny emitted a grunt of disgust. “We’re journalists, Misty! If you can’t get a real story, make it up!”
With that, I was dismissed from her office.