BY CAROLINE PECKHAM
THE RISE OF ISAAC SERIES
CREEPING SHADOW
BLEEDING SNOW
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Published by Caroline Peckham 2015
Copyright 2015 Caroline Peckham
All rights reserved
Caroline Peckham has asserted her right under the copyright, designs and patents act, 1998, to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
For my sister, Susanne,
Without whom this book may never have seen daylight
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A heartfelt thank you to:
My sister, Susanne, for the many hours spent reading, re-reading and re-re-reading Creeping Shadow to get it where it is today, for the late night book conversations with one foot out the door, and for her undying belief in my writing when I myself was in doubt.
My parents, Pauline and Steve, for all the years of support and love, for always taking the time to read to me until I was old enough to take the books from your hands, and for believing that I can succeed in any area of life that I set my heart on.
My close friend and flatmate Kirsty for taking the time to read my work and make it better than it was before and for putting up with my madness daily.
My dear friend Kathleen for being one of the first to read Creeping Shadow as a finished piece and for her contagious enthusiasm for life which never fails to inspire me.
My darling friend Vicky who, although has been almost ten thousand miles away for the past two years has supported me every step of the way and has been by my side since we first met all those years ago in junior school.
And for all my followers on Wordpress who share the passion and love for stories that I do.
CREEPING SHADOW
CAROLINE PECKHAM
CONTENTS
Prologue: The Girl in the Road
1. Gone
2. The Family Tree
3. Hidden in the Dark
4. Deception
5. A Dark Fate
6. What Lies Within
7. Beyond the Light
8. Forbidden
9. A Desolate Land
10. Whispers in the Night
11. Shadows
12. Blood Ties
13. Accomplice
14. An Invitation
15. Descendant
16. Wings of Fire
17. Fragmented
18. Fame and Misfortune
19. Exposed
20. Those Who Wait
21. No Going Back
22. Below
23. Silence is Key
24. Cascade
25. Smoke and Flame
26. After Night has Fallen
27. Ripples on the Water
28. Encounter
29. Bloodthirsty
30. Hopeless
31. Bittersweet
32. The Hard Way
Epilogue: Long Lost
PROLOGUE
The Girl in the Road
Alison gripped the steering wheel tightly, her wedding band pinching her skin as it caught on the leather.
A stream of headlights briefly illuminated the beaded droplets hitting the windscreen and the view beyond was momentarily distorted before a squeal of wiper blades cleared the glass.
Heavy clouds curtained the sky, casting the world into dismal tones of blue and grey. The traffic trundled along at a painfully slow rate, the glaring red of brake lights intermittently punctuating the gloom.
Alison leant her cheek against the window to see how far she was from the turning.
Thump.
She ignored the noise and squinted in an attempt to improve her vision.
Thump.
Alison gritted her teeth in concentration and slowed to a halt as the car in front of her stopped dead.
Thump.
"Oliver, that's enough," she said, resting a hand firmly on her son's knee as his dirty wellington boot kicked out towards the glove compartment once more.
He grinned and she raised an eyebrow at him before releasing his leg.
Alison turned her attention back to the road, digging her nails into the soft material of the steering wheel. Sirens cut through the monotonous hum of idling engines and flashing red and blue lights caught her eye in the rear-view mirror.
A fire engine blared its horn as it passed on their left and Oliver sat bolt upright in his seat, watching it go by. An ambulance followed it closely and stopped a few hundred feet up ahead of them.
Alison edged forward as the traffic began to move once more. She spotted the turning and keenly pressed her foot down on the accelerator.
The car in front swerved onto the other side of the road, revealing a chaotic scene beyond it. An overturned vehicle lay in the middle of the tarmac surrounded by the emergency services. A police officer was guiding the traffic around the devastation.
"What happened to that car Mummy?" Oliver asked quietly.
"Someone's had an accident," Alison said softly, catching a glimpse of a man on a stretcher.
A sick feeling stirred inside her stomach as she indicated and quickly turned the car down a narrow lane.
Trees crowded over the road, casting the lane in darkness but the car's headlights banished the shadows as they moved. They drifted along the winding lane until the sound of sirens faded into the distance, leaving the main road far behind.
The rain suddenly gave way to a heavy fog and Alison braked, causing the wheels to skid on the mess of dead leaves that littered the ground.
Her heart fluttered and she took a shaky breath to calm herself.
"You okay?" she asked, glancing at Oliver but he was distracted by something ahead of them.
"There's someone out there," he whispered, leaning forward in his seat and narrowing his eyes.
Alison snapped her head back to face the front. She watched as the fog lifted, revealing a solitary figure beneath the bowing trees that encaged the road. The woodland swayed and leaned from a blustery wind but the person remained perfectly still, watching, waiting.
"Who'd be out in this weather?" she mumbled as she manoeuvred the car away from the roadside to give them a wide berth.
The mist descended once more so that a swirling cloud of white swallowed the road and the figure disappeared behind it.
"I think he's waiting for us," Oliver said in a quiet voice.
Alison went to respond but was silenced by a flash of purple light. It radiated throughout the mist, momentarily illuminating curling tendrils of fog as they moved across the road.
She slowed the car to a halt with a low squeal of the brakes, thumbing her wedding ring instinctively. She swallowed in an attempt to dislodge the lump that had risen in her throat.
"Mum, what is it?" Oliver asked in a hushed voice, a look of fright registering in his eyes.
Alison chewed her bottom lip and didn't answer.
"Perhaps we should go back," she whispered after a moment, not removing her gaze from the road.
J
ust as she pressed her foot to the clutch, the fog swirled and the figure emerged. The man strode toward them; he was tall, dark and shrouded by shadow. The headlights cast an eerie glow in the mist around him but his face remained obscured beneath a hood. He raised his hands towards the car and purple fire ignited within his palms, flaring at them threateningly.
A breath caught in Alison's throat and she lifted a trembling hand to her mouth, her fingers brushing her parted lips. The man closed his right hand, extinguishing the flames that flickered in his palm, and beckoned for her to exit the car.
Alison tentatively reached for the door handle.
"Where are you going?" Oliver asked in alarm.
"Just lock the car when I get out," Alison said, her voice shaking as she undid her seatbelt.
Every fibre in her body advised against it, but she was drawn toward the man with a desperate and hopeful longing that she couldn't ignore.
She fumbled to tuck her long, blonde hair into the hood of her raincoat and exited the vehicle.
"Mummy don't leave me!" Oliver cried, scrambling after her across the driver's seat.
Alison shut the door firmly and pressed the button on her key before he could follow. A click sounded as the car locked and she stowed the keys in her pocket, feeling a pang of guilt.
The mist clung to her skin as she turned towards the road and a gust of wind flung her hood back so that her hair whipped around her face in a flutter of strands. The rain drummed against the tarmac and the trees creaked and groaned as the wind bent them to their limits.
Alison blinked out into the darkness, her eyes falling on the figure. The man turned and walked away, causing the mist to snake around his body as he cut a path through it.
"Wait!" she called urgently, hurrying forwards.
She glanced back, not wanting to stray far from Oliver but the man's presence drew her onwards. He stopped at the side of the road and waited, his stance hauntingly familiar.
Her heart hammered as she approached him. "William?" she asked quietly, her bottom lip quivering.
She could sense the man's gaze on hers, though his features were still concealed beneath the shadow of his hood. He turned abruptly and strode into the trees, pressing his palms together to smother the last of the flames so he was instantly swallowed by darkness.
"No," Alison breathed then bolted after him.
She stumbled as her foot caught on something and, as she looked down, a gasp escaped her throat.
It was a child. She must have been around six years old, the same age as her son.
Alison dropped to her knees beside the girl and pushed a mop of blonde hair away from her pale face. Her eyes were heavy with dark circles and her lips were a worrying shade of blue. She wore only a thin, summer dress that was soaked through to the skin.
Alison pressed two fingers to the girl's neck and found the steady beat of a pulse. She glanced back to the road, hoping to see the pinpricks of headlights heading towards them. She cursed when she saw none and rummaged in her pocket for her phone. It was dead, though she was certain it had been fully charged.
"Dammit," she hissed, staring at the girl as she decided what to do.
Alison gritted her teeth and lifted the child into her arms, sparing a last, hopeful glance back toward the trees as she turned to her car.
She hurried over, awkwardly retrieving the keys from her pocket and opening it with a click. She wrenched the back door open and laid the girl across the seat. The child groaned and Alison relaxed marginally. She was still alive.
Oliver was craning over the passenger seat to look at her. "Is she okay?" he asked, his eyes wide in alarm.
"I think so, but we need to get her to a hospital," Alison said, keeping her voice as calm and level as she could manage.
Alison shut the back door and returned to the driver's seat. Oliver was still looking around at the girl.
"Get your seatbelt back on," she instructed, pulling him around to face the front.
He strapped himself in and she accelerated down the road.
* * *
Alison sped into the hospital car park and stopped outside Accident and Emergency, throwing Oliver a reassuring smile.
"Here we are. Let's go. Put your raincoat on," she said.
Alison scooped the girl off of the back seat and rushed towards the entrance whilst Oliver splashed his way across puddles behind her. She sprinted through the hospital doors, nudging people aside as she went. She skidded to a halt at the front desk, her wet shoes squeaking on the floor.
The receptionist sprang to her feet and pressed a button on the console in front of her. "What happened?" she asked as a shrill buzzing sounded in the ward behind her.
"I found her in the road. I don't know if she was hit by a car o-or," she stuttered, thinking of the man who had led her to the child. "She's unconscious!" Alison blurted, adjusting her hold on the girl.
The woman gave a sharp nod and turned expectantly at the sound of a squeaking wheel. A short man appeared, hurrying towards them with a hospital trolley.
"Lay her down here," the man instructed.
Alison gently placed the girl on the mattress. She leant over her, brushing wet strands of hair out of the girl's face. She stepped aside as the man pushed the trolley back into the ward.
Alison gripped Oliver's shoulder firmly and gave him a half smile. She felt tears spring to her eyes and wiped them away with the back of her damp sleeve.
"Are you alright, Mummy?" Oliver looked up at her.
"I'm fine, Olly." She sniffed then lifted Oliver into her arms, kissing his cold, wet cheek. "Where can we wait?" she asked the receptionist.
"Down the hall and to the left." She gave them a sympathetic smile as Alison nodded and walked away.
* * *
It hadn't been long before the police had shown up to question Alison. At first they seemed suspicious but, once she had taken a breathalyser test and answered their questions, their attitude had softened towards her.
She had neglected to mention the figure in the road. In hindsight, she wasn't sure whether it was right to protect a man on the assumption that he was her husband.
Just over an hour had passed and they had heard nothing.
She was unable to keep Oliver occupied any longer and his boredom was beginning to show. His damp clothes were sticking to him which was only further contributing to his already aggravated state.
"Muuum, when are they going to let us see her?" he moaned.
"Not much longer, Olly," she said with a sigh, running her fingers through his dark, brown hair.
"We've been waiting for hours."
"Don't exaggerate. I'm sure we'll hear something soon," she said. "Why don't you draw a nice picture for her?"
"Mmm, okay!" he said with renewed enthusiasm and returned to the table in front of him, reaching for a pencil.
Alison sat back in her chair and anxiously picked at the pink nail varnish on her fingernails. The once-busy waiting room had diminished to a sparse few people who were slowly called away until only one remained. She picked the last stubborn flake of varnish from the tip of her index finger and absentmindedly brushed the remnants from her knees.
"Would you like to see her now?" a voice spoke.
Alison looked up to see the receptionist smiling at her kindly.
"Yes," she said, jumping to her feet.
"She's doing well. The doctor wants to keep an eye on her overnight but he's satisfied there's nothing wrong with her," the receptionist said.
Oliver grabbed his picture and hurried to keep up as the receptionist led them down a corridor.
As Alison opened the door she spotted the girl lying in bed. Her eyes flickered open as they entered the room and Alison's gaze locked with the child's bright green irises. Something instinctive stirred inside her and she sensed an attachment to the girl that she couldn't explain.
"Hello, sweetie. I'm Alison, how are you feeling?" she asked.
She moved to the chair beside the b
ed and took the girl's small hand in her own. She blinked at Alison but didn't answer.
Oliver climbed up onto the bed, knelt next to the girl, and offered her the picture he had drawn. She sat up, reached for it and unfolded the page then a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. Alison stifled a laugh as she caught sight of the drawing: a pink unicorn with a machine gun for a horn.
"I'm Oliver. What's your name?" her son asked the girl.
"May," she said quietly.
"Is that your name? May?" Oliver asked excitedly.
"May," she repeated, looking up at Alison with a wide-eyed gaze.
She smiled and the little girl smiled shyly back at her.
"What else do you remember?" Alison asked gently.
May shook her head. "Nothing."
"What about your parents?" Alison tried.
May shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes.
"That's okay." Alison squeezed her hand.
"Where's your family?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know," May whispered. "I can't remember anything."
1
Gone
Ten Years Later
Oliver hurried out of the school gates, rounding the corner to find his sister waiting for him on the curb. Her uniform was tucked in and buttoned up neatly whereas Oliver's shirt hung messily over his trousers and his tie was undone, pointlessly strung around his neck.
The traffic had eased to a slow trickle, just a few parents arriving to pick up kids who were attending extracurricular activities.
May shook her head at him in mock disappointment and he laughed, glad she had received his text about waiting for him. Whenever Oliver had to leave school late she was always there to walk home with him because of all the clubs she attended. They were polar opposites in that sense, though Oliver never begrudged her the constant A grades or the way the teachers favoured her. He just had no interest in school even though, when he actually tried, he did pretty well.
Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) Page 1