The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  It was also strange that from the tip of Grendel Manor’s private road, Nick had seen all this land in the distance but had only observed a small copse. These trees were massive and plenty, though, and the woods looked endless in every direction.

  ‘I just can’t believe this place.’ He took a step back and raised his eyebrows, gazing up and about. The surroundings had an almost narcotic effect, letting him forget for a moment the painful truth he’d learnt, inspiring feelings of safety and love and connectedness—even in these woods belonging to a murderer.

  When he looked back down, he saw in Juliet’s eyes that she, too, was becoming lost in the ambience. He hoped she would kiss him; it was the perfect setting, this fantastical place. Mystical, magical, romantic.

  Why did she kiss me in my car? Had it just been the heat of the moment, after escaping the manor? What was wrong with this moment? Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, he kissed her.

  She edged back, plainly surprised at first, then connected and moved her lips with his. She brought her body closer, and as Nick slid his arms around her waist, she pulled him towards a tree trunk and rested her back on it. Nick pushed against her with slow, rhythmic thrusts, alluding to his desires.

  The kissing turned more intense. Nick eased a hand under her jumper to feel her bare skin, as she dropped a hand to his thigh, teasingly close to the crotch of his jeans.

  To Nick it felt as if the setting was cheering him on, spiking his adrenaline and sending shivers across his skin. He wanted to keep going, to kiss and kiss her until dark fell and the stars came out, but he broke off and drew away. As soon as his urges were subjugated, he smiled at her. ‘I’d like to go on a date with you,’ he announced.

  Juliet came away from the tree trunk and realigned herself. The moment had clearly taken her too. She squinted and looked about, seeming to weigh Nick’s proposal. ‘I think I’d like that too.’ She gave no eye contact. ‘But I need to make this clear: I don’t agree with what you did to Aldrich. I understand you were angry, and you had every right to be, but you attacked a restrained man.’

  Nick gazed down at his feet, realising how it all must have seemed to Juliet. She doesn’t know about the sacrifices, what Aldrich forced parents to do to their own children. She doesn’t know that he liked to have his way with his victims, that he wanted to—he struggled to even think it—rape my mother.

  ‘I shouldn’t have attacked him. He … he taunted me. I’m not normally a violent person.’ He was unsure of what to say. To her, he’s guilty of only one murder, not potentially thousands across his long life. Understandably, she thinks the law should deal with him. To please her, he said, ‘I suppose there’s no excuse.’

  Juliet herself seemed unsure, but kissed him on the cheek. When she moved away, Nick smiled at her to the extent he could manage. ‘What were you going to show me out here?’

  ‘It’s this way.’ She nodded to the side and began to walk.

  As Nick was guided through the impossible surroundings, he regretted how he’d treated Tom and Tommy. He should have told them everything. They deserved to know. She was their mother too.

  Why was I so selfish? he scolded himself, but he knew the answers right away. Telling Tommy the brutal truth and then leaving him with Aldrich was something Nick had wanted to avoid. Tommy could be impulsive, and anger management was a stranger to him.

  Nick just hoped the vague information he’d given was enough to keep Tommy cool for now. But that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t tell them, he admitted. I didn’t want the pain again … I didn’t want to visualise what happened to Mum … Even now, he was still fighting to keep the gory images at bay.

  Having never been good at dealing with emotions, he had struggled to process the revelations Aldrich threw at him and then had failed at being the older and supportive brother he should have been.

  I’ll tell them everything when I get back. I will.

  Juliet forced through a bush and held the branches aside for Nick, who hurried through with a, ‘Thank you.’

  He found himself in a large, open sward that echoed a sense of déjà vu. I’ve stepped back into a memory. I’ve been here before … Those steps in the centre … ancient steps … I’ve walked up them. Yes, that was it! He had ascended them, before getting pushed down and into a pit.

  The nightmare.

  A connectedness to everything; he was entwined with the fabric of the universe—even in his sleep, his dreams. Another ultimately painless form of seeing the future. He approached the steps, expecting to see a pit at the bottom, possibly charred and full of ash ...

  What he found, though, was a glowing puddle, almost blinding. It hadn’t been in his nightmare, but it did remind him of Aldrich’s words. They go into the light. The sacrificed children.

  But what was this thing? Nick stared at the little pool for a while, which seemed to give off an audible vibration. Juliet joined his side.

  A sparrow darted from above and landed roughly five metres away. It flicked its head from side to side, looking here to there, jumping from spot to spot.

  ‘That’s the first bird I’ve seen in these woods,’ said Juliet. ‘I haven’t heard any either. When I came here a moment ago, everything was silent apart from that pool of light humming the way it is now.’

  ‘Sparrows aren’t that shy. Maybe we’ve scared off the other birds …?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s eerily quiet here. But that humming … It’s soothing to focus on. Can you feel it?’

  He put his mind to the glowing pool, felt immense relaxation. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I feel ridiculous saying this, but I think it’s a portal.’

  ‘A portal?’ His eyebrows stood up. ‘To where?’

  ‘The Otherworld.’

  Even though Nick had fantasised over the existence of such a place before, he wasn’t so ready to accept it. ‘What? How could you know that?’ He peered down at the luminous puddle. ‘It could be anything. A natural substance? Or maybe Aldrich built this? It just looks like glitter mixed with water and soap, and there must be lighting under the liquid.’

  ‘Do you really believe that?’

  ‘I …’ He huffed, then focused on the puddle … and felt better. ‘Maybe it is a portal … or I don’t know.’ How could this be possible?

  ‘I saw something go into it. Not a spirit, but something else.’

  ‘What was it?’ After saying it aloud, Nick realised his question was stupid. If she knew what it was, then she would have said!

  ‘It looked like a firefly. But if that is a different world through there …’ She trailed off, frustration in her last words.

  ‘What?’ He laughed. ‘Do you think it was a fairy or something?’

  Juliet pulled a stern face. ‘Anyway,’ she diverted, ‘I think the portal spoke to me. When I came here earlier, I was wondering what on earth it was, and then I heard the answer inside my head … as if it had read my mind and responded.’

  ‘This is getting more farfetched by the second. Now you’re saying it’s a telepathic portal to the Otherworld?’

  ‘Nicolas, stop mocking me and just ask it a question. See if it responds to you.’

  Nick ignored her unreadable attitude for the time being and looked over at the sparrow. It hopped about, its head still twitching from side to side as if it were … assessing them? ‘I feel like that bird is watching me.’ He laughed shyly and turned to Juliet. ‘I’ve got stage fright.’

  She ignored his complaint and waited.

  ‘Okay …’ He faced the lustrous puddle. ‘What are you?’

  No reply. He twisted towards Juliet.

  ‘Ask again,’ she said.

  ‘What are you?’ Whatever you are, you weren’t in my nightmare ...

  Then it came from no particular direction: Hello, Oracle.

  He jolted. Oracle? Does it know I can see the future? Are there others like me?

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Juliet leaned closer.

  ‘I heard it.’ />
  ‘I didn’t hear anything ...’ She seemed perplexed. ‘What did it say?’

  ‘I don’t really know,’ he lied. ‘It wasn’t very clear.’

  ‘Try again then.’

  He set his eyes on the glistening liquid. ‘What are you?’

  It rumbled in his mind: Well, I’m certainly not Moloch.

  Nick had already decided not to share his knowledge about the sacrificed children with Juliet—not yet, at least, but certainly in the future. Telling her now would only make the circumstances harder for her too. ‘So what are you, then?’ he asked the puddle of light.

  : You don’t need to know that.

  Reluctantly, he altered course. ‘Fine. Then where are you?’

  : The Otherworld.

  He turned to Juliet. ‘It said it was in the Otherworld. I think it is a portal.’

  ‘Nicolas, Tamara Trewin believes my soul is in the Otherworld. If I could get it back, I think I would stop seeing spirits … I’d be normal again.’ She frowned, and Nick thought she looked vulnerable.

  ‘You’re not thinking of going through there, are you?’ He shook his head, then noticed how reproachful he’d sounded.

  Juliet practically recoiled. She pivoted and looked away for a moment, before swinging back around. ‘It’s my choice. I should at least try to go through, to see if it’s possible.’ She moved closer to the steps. ‘Maybe my soul will re-join my body as soon as I’m in the same world as it … ?’ Her tone suggested she knew her theory was a long stretch—most likely founded in desperation.

  ‘But that’s just it; you don’t know what would happen! There might not even be oxygen in that world. You shouldn’t—’

  She stepped closer to the portal again. Although he wasn’t convinced she intended to continue, Nick grabbed her wrist. ‘Juliet, just wait, please. We don’t know what’s on the other side. There could be anything! At least give it a bit more thought.’

  ‘Why should I wait?’ She yanked free of his grip.

  Nick struggled to find more reasons on demand, but the truth was, he hated the possibility of Juliet entering the unknown place and not returning. ‘If …’ he began, trusting that something would come to him, ‘… if you go through there, then I’ll follow you. You’ll be risking both of our lives.’

  Juliet’s new facial expression could only mean: Are you for real? ‘If you follow me, then that’s your decision and you are putting your life in danger. I’m not taking responsibility for your actions.’

  Her words stung, making Nick wonder if she was being purposely hard-hearted, but after some consideration, he saw her point. I’m an adult; my choices are my own. ‘I shouldn’t have tried to guilt-trip you.’ He sighed. ‘But let me ask a favour instead. Please give it at least five minutes? And then if you decide to go through, I promise I won’t try to stop you.’

  Juliet gazed up at the haloed sky through the treetops, as if it could provide a solution. Her shoulders lifted, then dropped. ‘Sure … I’ll wait.’

  ‘Thank you. I’ll try to find out some more from the portal.’

  The little sparrow was motionless now. Is it watching us? Nick remembered the seagull outside of Creaky Crystals in Amiton, just before the car incident, and the crow that had clunked on his bonnet earlier today.

  The portal spoke: The seagull, the crow, the sparrow.

  ‘What?’

  Silence.

  Nick contemplated what Juliet had said about the pool of light responding to her thoughts. Do I have to talk aloud? Or can I speak to it in my head?

  : Yes, in your head.

  He heard the answer, felt it inside of his skull, as if it were his own thought. It was unnerving to hear someone (or something) else’s thoughts so clearly in his mind.

  Aiming back at the portal, he thought, Why does Aldrich think you are Moloch? What happened to the children he sent into the light?

  : Aldrich is an idiot, desperate to believe in a higher reason for his killings. In the past, he immolated children in worship to a false god. Now he sends them through here. They are better off on this side.

  The portal seemed to say everything simultaneously, yet Nick could pick out and understand the separate strands.

  He directed his thoughts again. How many of you are there? What use do you have for the children? Aldrich said he sacrificed roughly one every ten years or so. Why? Are they alive on your side?

  : You ask too many questions. Why not come through for yourself? Please do, I’d love to have your company. Your first name is Nicolas; what is your full name, Oracle?

  No! Nick tried desperately to distract his mind, to guard his other names.

  Juliet interrupted. ‘Nicolas, are you talking to it in your head? What is it saying?’

  : Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas ..., the portal sang to a creepy tune.

  ‘I don’t trust it, Juliet,’ said Nick, then pleadingly, he added, ‘I don’t want you to go through there.’

  ‘I haven’t heard it say anything.’ She seemed confused by Nick’s sudden decision. ‘How do I know you’re not hiding things from me? I’ve already seen you keep information from your brothers.’ She spoke forcefully, demanding justification.

  ‘I know you’ve seen me dodge the truth, but you know why I didn’t tell them everything. I’m trying to protect them, and right now, I’m trying to protect you.’

  A panicked voice came flooding into the clearing. Both Nick and Juliet shifted to listen. ‘Help! HEEELLLP!’ wailed a man’s scream.

  ‘My brothers!’ spat Nick. ‘We have to go back.’

  Together they rocketed towards the entry bush, but before they reached it they were vaulted off their feet. They tumbled and scraped along the floor. A stentorian boom let loose and fire billowed from the steps, followed by a cloud of black smoke.

  The portal had exploded, and now the steps were crumbling inwards. The ground in the centre of the clearing swirled like a whirlpool, devouring the rocky stairs, sounding as if bones and stones were scraping and cracking and crunching.

  Nick, propped up on his elbows, watched in fascination. ‘What the—’ he almost said. ‘I told you we couldn’t trust that portal.’ Smoke caught in his throat, causing a violent cough. The explosion, the fire, the steps, the smoke, the choking sensation. No time to think.

  The little sparrow was gone. Nick could no longer hear the demulcent humming from the portal, only the earth rumbling and shifting. Being thrown a few metres had made the pains of his bruises fresh again. ‘We need to get back to my brothers,’ he wheezed, as he stood up and brushed down his clothes.

  Juliet rose, staring at the transforming ground with an unreadable expression. ‘My soul …’ she uttered, low in volume.

  After a grinding roar that came to an echoing stop, the earth settled into a flat, muddy area, as if the portal had never existed.

  ‘It’s gone.’ Juliet didn’t move.

  ‘We need to go!’

  It was colder now; the soothing effect of the portal was no more. Goosebumps prickled over Nick’s skin. He looked up and noticed the trees had begun to change. Rapidly. Their vivid green leaves browned and withered. The lavish foliage shrunk, giving way to the brisk white sky. Crinkled leaves fell from the branches.

  Nick marvelled at the sight and became as still as Juliet. It reminded him of nature documentaries where they would video record something over days, weeks, or months, and then play the footage back—but sped up.

  Juliet finally moved and headed for the bush. Nick joined her. The two of them ran through the woods. The beautiful flowers were now rotted and flat. Newly browned leaves showered from above.

  The ground steadily disappeared in the piling up of autumn. Running became difficult. Nick felt mesmerised again and wanted to stop, wanted to watch the transformation, but he remembered the man’s shout and picked up his pace. It had sounded like Aldrich.

  They made it back. A fallen leaf or two had snagged on Juliet’s black jumper; she stroked them off, huffing impatiently at the
state of her clothes. When she looked up, the shock in her eyes stabbed horror into Nick’s chest.

  He followed her stare. Appearing bewildered, Tommy shuffled on the spot near a bare and crooked tree with nobody propped against it.

  ‘Tommy …’ Nick put a hand to his forehead, his face slacking. ‘Where’s Aldrich?’

  Chapter Eighteen

  STARING BLANKLY AT where Aldrich should have been, Juliet trembled, a fear creeping up inside of her. Where is he? The only things left behind were the chocolate-brown throw and the black wire that had been used to tie Aldrich’s hands.

  The murderer’s mind ability was all she could think about. Pivoting, she glanced through the trees in an attempt to spot him. Nothing. No movement. No sounds.

  At any moment he could come back and take control of me. Her body went rigid with anger. No … Maybe if I stay alert, I can keep control of myself … ?

  ‘What was that loud bang?’ she heard Tommy ask, even though Nick was still waiting for an answer to where Aldrich was. ‘And that weird rumblin’ noise?’

  In a tone of disbelief, Nick said, ‘It was some odd contraption in the woods, maybe a trap that Aldrich had built, or some kind of machine …’ He sounded impatient. ‘We couldn’t tell. It blew up.’

  Even in her panic, Juliet sighed, irritated by Nick’s persistent lies. She could understand why he had bent the truth about the portal, but what upset her was how readily he fabricated reality.

  ‘Someone might have heard it,’ said Tommy. ‘They could be on their way.’

  Speedily, Nick replied, ‘I doubt it. The nearest houses are at least two miles away. Anyway, where’s Aldrich?!’

  ‘I … I don’t know.’ Tommy shook his head, squinting confusedly.

  Nick looked to his other brother. ‘Tom?’

  ‘Tommy took off the blindfold ... and the rest is kind of cloudy.’ The less muscular twin shrugged. His head was fixed down, his eyes darting about as if he was trying to remember something.