Skye nodded, and I grabbed my dressing gown and went outside. The sun was setting, so we didn’t have much time to find Stewie before we lost the light.
My bare feet warmed by the still-hot pavement, I trod the route I had covered so many times before. Inventive as he was, Stewie was a predictable creature. He would be down by the park, on the edge of the creek, desperately trying to catch a beetle. Any time he escaped, that’s where we found him.
Skye’s porcelain fingers interlocked with mine. She was so small, so fragile, but she was also my whole world. It’s amazing how something so tiny can take up so much space in your heart. With Mum mostly off in space, I had become a kind of surrogate parent, and I threw myself into the role with as much energy as I could manage. It was hard, being both big sister and mum, but without me, Skye would be lost. As if she knew what I was thinking, she locked her gaze with mine and smiled. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” I could never stay mad at her for long.
“Piggyback?”
“Sure.”
She climbed a fence and jumped on my back, legs and arms wrapped around me like a backpack. It hurt a bit, as I was still sore from the accident, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I breathed in the hot summer air, which was thick with leftover humidity from the afternoon storm. On the horizon, just below the quietly emerging stars, clouds flashed as the storm passed over the lake, lightning shimmering like fireworks in the inky sky.
I’d always loved summer. With windows and doors propped open, everything felt a little more connected. You could hear dishes clink as families had dinner, faint snatches of conversation drifting through their open windows, and so even Skye and I, walking outside, somehow became a part of other families’ routines, their bedtime rituals, laughter, even their fights. It was nice to get a glimpse into other lives, even if only for a moment.
Reaching the edge of the park, I focused on the task at hand. Time to find this idiot pug. The sun had fully set now, and the streetlights cast a green glow over the playground. I’d never liked this park at night. It backed onto a reserve that was split in two by a dark creek, one that began somewhere up in the mountains and trickled all the way down. The forest here was connected by a thin thread of trees right up to the Ettney National Park.
Looking out into the reserve felt like looking into a chasm where wilderness took over and humanity wasn’t welcome. There was an urban legend about a ghost in those mountains, sparked by the occasional missing hiker or tour group stray that never turned up. The ghost stories were ridiculous, of course; people get lost in national parks all the time, especially one as wild and huge as this. Still, staring at the dark tree line, my mind got away from me, and the forest became an ominous blanket of charcoal trunks and murky shadows.
Somewhere in the darkness there was a flutter of wings and the scream of a rodent. Skye jumped, and I shuddered. We needed to find Stewie as soon as possible. I peered into the twilight, trying to make out the stumpy tan figure of our dog. But nothing moved.
“Stewie, where are you?” I muttered, my gaze roaming across the park. The place was still and silent, the only movement the grass swirling in the wind. I took a step forward, and froze.
There was a figure amongst the trunks. Black against black. Silhouette against shadow.
Despite the hot night, my spine chilled. But the figure didn’t move. A trick of the dusk? I shook my head and glanced away. The last shreds of blue were disappearing in the sky above, and thunder still cracked in the distance. When I looked back, the figure was closer. Stationary, but closer. He was watching us.
Somehow, the crickets stopped. The wind stopped. There was silence. The streetlamps faded, the light draining out of them like blood from a vein. For a moment, the whole world went dark, but the shadow man was darker still.
I wanted to hold Skye tight and run, but I couldn’t move.
The figure felt dangerous. Deadly. We were both going to die if I didn’t run.
I didn’t run.
“Stewie!” Skye called, and his loud bark broke my trance. I snapped back to the world like a rubber band, and the streetlamps once again flooded the park with anaemic light. Snatches of a commercial drifted from the television in the house across the road, and Stewie bounded across the grass as if nothing had happened. Skye didn’t seem to have noticed either, neither seeing or fearing the figure in the trees.
But I had. So I grabbed our dog and ran, Skye still perched on my back. I didn’t dare look behind me to see if the figure was still there. My foot hit the gutter, and I stumbled, sure I could feel him closing in behind us. Our front porch light gleamed like a lighthouse through the sticky air, and when we reached the threshold, I fell inside, slamming the door shut and locking it behind me.
“That was fun! Thanks!” Skye jumped down and hugged Stewie, unaware of my terror.
I turned to reply but gasped instead when I saw her face. Her chin was covered in blood. “Skye! Are you hurt?”
“No … Why?”
I washed her face off, but she had no cuts anywhere. There was a throbbing in the back of my head, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. I placed my hand on my stitches, and it came away wet. I took a deep breath. The cut in my head was weeping again, probably from the increased blood pressure. Skye’s chin had hit it as I ran. It was my blood on her face.
I didn’t want to freak her out, so I tucked her into bed before retreating to my room.
The blinds were open, and the windows were black squares now night had truly fallen. Closing the blinds, I turned on the TV in my room to make some background noise. I’d been imagining things, surely, just creeping myself out like I always did down near the reserve.
A red drop fell onto my cheek. I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the cabinet mirror. My head was bleeding badly now. I undressed and got in the shower, red streaks running down my body and staining the white ceramic tiles, spinning into pinwheels as they twisted round the vortex in the drain. I washed my hair until the water ran clear and then placed a towel on my pillow in case my wound leaked any more.
Then I went to bed, but left the light on.
Ari’s story continues in The Fire Unseen
Available worldwide at andrewjaxson.com/fire
ALSO IN
THE FIRE UNSEEN
BOOK ONE OF THE UNSEEN
Every town has secrets. This one could end the world.
Nothing is as it seems in the tiny town of Ettney, Australia. Sixteen year old Ari Carpenter just survived a brutal accident, and now she's being stalked by shadows, and hunted by an impossible evil. After another tragic night, Ari is thrown into a deadly conspiracy and a secret supernatural war that threatens not only everyone she loves, but the future of the world itself.
You don't want to miss this brand new young adult supernatural thriller series that is leaving readers breathless. Described as Stranger Things meets The Maze Runner, the Unseen series is packed with twists, action, romance ... and a few good scares.
For fans of Veronica Roth, James Dashner, John Marsden, and Suzanne Collins.
What reviews are saying:
"Frighteningly good...totally bad ass! The eerie world building was incredible." - Sarah Campbell, bookhookednook
What readers are saying:
"Andrew C. Jaxson has written an amazing book...very suspenseful, filled with action, and at times horrifying in the best way possible... Trust me, you will not be disappointed. I honestly believe Jaxson has written the next best thing." - Josh
"Riveting novel that is a superior thriller! Keeps you on the edge of your seat and coming back for more... A MUST READ!" - Christine
"An action packed page turner that will not disappoint. I could not put it down, so many twist and turns with every page turned... a fantastic read!" - Megra
Available now worldwide at andrewjaxson.com/fire
THE CITY UNSEEN
BOOK TWO OF THE UNSEEN
(Coming 2018)
Trust no one. Not
even yourself.
Ari’s new life in the city is starting to unravel. Skye’s not coping, her friends are changing, and hiding her missions from Dad is proving more difficult than she thought.
Plus, there’s a little girl who keeps trying to kill her.
Ari’s new friend Hud has issues of his own, and a strange connection to the Shadows. As chaos builds, the hunt leads them underneath the streets, where Ari finds a horrifying secret, and the next, terrible stage of the Agenda.
The Unseen Series continues in this explosive new instalment, packed full of new thrills and heart-pumping action. Trust will be broken, lives lost, and the group will finally learn the true nature of the Shadows.
Thank you for reading The Dark Unseen, the prequel to the Unseen Series. If you enjoyed this, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a review on Amazon or your favourite review site. Reviews are crucial for an author, and even a line or two can make a big difference!
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Also by Andrew C. Jaxson
The Unseen Series
The Dark Unseen
The Fire Unseen
The City Unseen (Coming 2018)
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About the Author
Andrew C. Jaxson writes stories that scare, intrigue and move his readers. He works across genres, although his novels may be best described as Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Thrillers (phew!). He's worked a litany of jobs, from wedding DJ to teacher to youth worker and even a very brief and horrifying stint as a street salesman. He hates referring to himself in the third person, because it makes him sound pretentious.
To Kathryn, who has always believed in me.
The Dark Unseen
Copyright © 2017 Andrew C. Jaxson
All rights reserved.
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.
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