CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One - The Nightmare Begins
Chapter Two - College... And a New Friend
Chapter Three - Returning to Normal...
Chapter Four - Silas
Chapter Five - Tests and Tests
Chapter Six - The Visit
Chapter Seven - The Attack
Chapter Eight - The Reckoning
Chapter Nine - Enemies Everywhere
Chapter Ten - Questions
Chapter Eleven - Saint Louis
Chapter Twelve - The Standoff
Chapter Thirteen - Lost and Alone
Chapter Fourteen - Searching for Answers
Chapter Fifteen - The Confrontation
Chapter Sixteen - Decisions to be Made
Chapter Seventeen - Answers... and More Questions
Chapter Eighteen - The Pre-Council
Chapter Nineteen - A Secret Visit
Chapter Twenty - The Debriefing
Chapter Twenty-One - The Mission
Chapter Twenty-Two - The Council Meets
Chapter Twenty-Three - A Surprise
Chapter Twenty-Four - The End?
Epilogue
Additional Info
Shadow
Born
Book One of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles
Paul A. Cagle
Shadow Born Copyright © 2014 Paul A. Cagle
ASIN:B00O0F4V8S
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. If you have any questions you can email the author at [email protected].
First Publishing Electronic Edition: Kindle 2014
Visit the author’s website at: www.shadow-borne.com
Cover art by Paul A. Cagle, graphics from www.dreamstime.com
For
My mom, Angie, Caitie, Alex and Cliff for believing in me.
I would also like to say thank you to Becky Bumgardner, Julie Kurtz-Kunesh and
Roseanna Kilgore for all of their help. I appreciate everything that you guys did!
CHAPTER ONE
The Nightmare Begins
Alec Carson lay face down in black vomit, naked and bleeding on the hardwood floor. Painful spasms wracked his trembling body with the strain of expelling the viscous, black foul-tasting fluid. His dark blonde hair was matted down with it on his left side and the thick fluid was warm and sticky against his face and bare chest. His wrists were raw and swollen. They were an angry red from where they’d been tied painfully tight and then slashed open with a wickedly sharp knife. His abductor had taken him directly from the dark parking lot where he’d been walking back to his car after a long day of shopping for school supplies and grabbing a burger.
The young man’s vision blurred and swam and he had trouble focusing his eyes. His body burned like he was being ripped up inside and he felt feverishly hot. He could barely breathe from all the pressure building up inside him, and between painful spasms he was gasping for precious air. Even his bones hurt. He felt like there was a huge hammer pulverizing them and grinding them down to dust. Every part of his body felt like it was being torn apart, cell by cell. His vision was beginning to darken around the edges and dark spots throbbed before his eyes with his struggling heartbeat. He was going to die here naked and alone.
He had awoken after his abduction naked and tied hand and foot to a chair, his wrists tied so tightly he could barely feel his hands. He had tried to get free, the terror of the situation evident in his manic attempts to break the ropes binding him, but it had done no good. After a few minutes of screaming for help and attempting to topple the huge heavy chair in an effort to break it apart, to no avail, a door opened to his left. Alec didn’t want to turn to look, his whole body shaking from the strain of trying to break loose and no small amount of fear.
Alec caught movement from the corner of his eye and finally turned his head and saw that to his left stood one of the most beautiful women that he had ever laid eyes on. Her dark red hair was worn straight, and easily fell to the middle of her back. Her skin was pale and she almost looked like a beautiful porcelain doll with her blood red bow-shaped lips. Her face was devoid of emotion and she stood there a moment as if in a trance. She wore an open black silk robe with nothing underneath. Her breasts and torso were the same flawless porcelain as her face.
The woman finally seemed to remember why she’d entered the room and turned her head slowly to look at Alec. That’s when the true terror set in. Her emerald eyes were devoid of any shred of humanity and there was a manic gleam in them that told Alec that he wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. He started crying and begging for his life. He wasn’t even aware of what he was saying but he was gibbering in fear and begging to be set free. The woman acted as though she didn’t hear him and picked up a knife and a crystal bowl from a table by the wall and slowly walked to where Alec was tied.
“Please don’t do this,” he cried, but the woman ignored his plea. “Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone…I promise. Please don’t hurt me,” he sobbed. The woman, chanting quietly under her breath, brought the knife down and slashed Alec’s wrists causing him to scream and writhe in pain. His cries grew weaker as he was bled several times over the course of an hour, and finally, thankfully, he passed out. When he awoke, the crazy woman had moved him into a different room, tied him to an altar and forced him to drink blood that had either been poisoned or laced with something that was tearing up his insides like razor wire shredded skin. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare in the safety of his own bed, but the pain coursing through his body let him know this was no dream. After he’d passed out again, he’d woken up on the floor, wrists untied but throbbing and his body feeling like it was on fire. That’s when the vomiting had started.
Alec tried calling for help but every time he opened his mouth to scream, his body would seize and he’d vomit up more of the foul black liquid. Terror had a firm grip on his heart, squeezing what little hope Alec had out of him. He told his body to move, tried to force it to do something, but his attempts were feeble, only causing his limbs to spasm sporadically, almost like a fish on dry land. Every time his muscles trembled it brought another fresh round of agony clawing through his body. He wanted to ball up in the fetal position, wanted to cover his nakedness, but his body would not obey.
Tears ran in hot streams down his face as Alec lay there whimpering and praying for some sort of help. A few minutes later Alec thought he heard voices. He blacked out for a couple of seconds and was convinced he was hallucinating from blood loss until he heard the voices getting closer. He attempted to cry out, to move or do something that would draw attention to himself, but the attempt only brought a fresh wave of searing agony ripping through his body. His chest was still on fire and his muscles felt as if thousands of volts of electricity were sizzling through every muscle fiber and nerve ending. All he could do was lay there in excruciating pain.
From his vantage point on the floor he saw several pairs of black military boots running through his field of vision. One set of boots remained close to Alec but the others disap
peared further into the room. There was some sort of communication between the booted people but Alec couldn’t quite make it out. He thought one of them had said something about the other men in the room being dead, but he wasn’t quite sure.
“This one is close,” Alec heard the man standing above him say. He wanted to shout for help, he wanted the man to make the pain stop and to take him away from this hell but he couldn’t make his mouth work. More words were exchanged quietly in the room but the ringing in Alec’s ears was getting worse and caused him to completely miss what was being said.
From across the room Alec heard voices raised and arguing. The booted men were confronting his captor. Alec would have whooped with joy if he’d had the strength. The woman’s voice, his captor, was raised in anger and it sounded like she was shouting curses and obscenities at the man she was arguing with. The man was talking a little bit softer, like he was trying to explain something to the woman but she kept screaming and cursing making it difficult for him to get a word in. Alec’s heart started burning and beating erratically. A surge of panic ran through him. He’d bled too much and his heart was about to stop.
Without warning Alec heard a loud crash. It sounded like someone was throwing the contents of the room around and smashing all of the furniture against the walls. And then there was silence. It didn’t last long because Alec heard the woman yelling again, only this time it sounded like she was pleading. In mid-sentence her words changed and turned into a horrible piercing scream that sent shivers down his spine. Then it was quiet once more.
Alec was pretty sure the woman had been killed. Served her right for what she’d done to him. He fervently hoped he was being rescued and that this nightmare was over. Slowly all the pain in Alec’s body subsided, including the chest pains that had been squeezing his heart. He laid trembling and moaning on the floor, gasping for air. Instead of feeling like he was attached to a live wire, he only felt bruised and battered. Every part of him hurt, but nothing like it had moments earlier. He didn’t have control over his body but at least he wasn’t in agony any longer. He might, in spite of his abductor and what she’d done to him, survive this after all. He felt a little hopeful for the first time in what seemed like forever.
A moment later however, the black military boots rushed past where Alec was laying and a loud boom sounded from across the room. Debris and cinders rained down on Alec’s naked, unprotected body and he could feel a great amount of heat wash over him. Something had exploded and now the place was on fire. Didn’t they know that Alec was still alive? They had to have known.
His mind screamed in helpless frustration, begging the men to come back and take him with them. Soon the heat was unbearable and Alec could feel the skin on his left arm start to sting and then tighten. He was really going to die here, if not from the poison he’d been given, then by being burned alive. It was so unfair. Suddenly anger blossomed in Alec’s chest. It was unexpected but he decided to use it. Slowly, inch by inch Alec pulled himself away from the fire. He didn’t know where he was going but he knew he didn’t want to be anywhere near the flames.
For what seemed like forever Alec clawed his way across the floor. He couldn’t even lift his head to see where he was going he just kept inching his way slowly across the floor. He wasn’t even sure if he was still crawling or moving at all. He just kept his thoughts focused on freedom and staying alive and moving forward. He just hoped his body was obeying. Alec felt a cold breeze on his back and damp grass beneath his bare chest, he panted with the struggle of forcing his body to move inch by agonizing inch. Without warning he felt light headed and realized he was on the verge of passing out. Panic flared through his body but was wiped away just as suddenly as it came and then everything went black.
Alec woke up, a scream clawing its way out of his throat. He panicked for a moment and then a nurse's face swam into view. She was pretty, maybe in her mid-twenties with her blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She said something to him, which his mind didn't register and then she disappeared. When she came back she uncapped a needle and put it into the IV tube attached to his arm. He wasn't quite convinced she was real, and then he didn't really care as the shot took effect. But something was wrong. He shouldn't be in the hospital. What was going on?
Alec tried to piece together what had happened. He remembered being abducted but parts of it kept slipping from him. While he pondered, a man came into the room and smiled at him. The man was in his fifties maybe, hard to nail down his age exactly since his skin looked youthful and was unmarred by lines or wrinkles. He had gray hair that was just a touch too frizzy, and his eyes were very kind and the color of warm amber. When he finally spoke, Alec thought he heard just a touch of a German accent.
"Can you hear me?"
When Alec nodded he continued.
“Can you tell me your name?”
Alec was quiet for a moment as he worked moisture back into his parched mouth. “Alec Carson.”
"Good, I'm Doctor Schubert. You are in Harrison Falls General Hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
When Alec didn't respond he continued.
"You were found at the scene of a fire, in a ditch. One of the fire fighters just happened to see you and called over the paramedics. You are a lucky young man. You've lost a lot of blood and were pretty banged up. We are giving you transfusions, fluids and antibiotics for the cuts on your wrists."
At this Alec raised one arm to look at the white sterile bandage that was wrapped there.
The doctor went on. "The police have some questions for you. I've let them know that you are awake now, but that they are not to tax your strength with too many questions. You need your rest to recover. Do you feel up to speaking with them?"
Alec nodded and the doctor disappeared from view.
While he waited he scanned the room. It was a small ICU chamber of some sort. There were the ubiquitous beeping and whirring monitors and equipment seen in any given hospital drama, and a single glass door, across the room from him that led out to an open area with a nurse's station. With the glass door and windows, the nurses could easily just glance in if they needed to check on a monitor or a patient. He glanced over to his right and noticed that the blinds were down on his window but it was obviously dark out.
A noise caused him to glance back in time to see a uniformed police officer push open the glass door and step inside. Behind him was another uniformed man, younger and fit, obviously the man's partner. Both men walked into the room and stood beside the bed.
"Alec Carson?" the older cop asked. He was in his early forties, hair just starting to gray at the temples and strands of silver woven through his brown hair. His eyes were blue and had crow’s feet around them like maybe he squinted into the sun too often. He had an open kind of face you could easily read and Alec could tell he didn't want to overburden him. But the man had a job to do. The younger officer had dark, wavy hair and an olive complexion. He shuffled slightly in place, eager to get to the information and the bad guys.
"We are with the Eddings County Police Department. I'm Officer Clarke and this is my partner Officer Dalton."
The younger man nodded his head once.
"We have a few questions for you about what happened tonight."
Alec found his voice and finally croaked, "Okay."
"How old are you Alec?"
“Twenty-three," he answered and coughed. His throat still hurt slightly from all the vomiting and the smoke he had inhaled.
Officer Clarke opened up a small black note pad and scanned the page quickly before looking back at Alec.
"It says here that you were found by a fire fighter, naked and in a ditch, off to the side of an old abandoned house that had been set on fire."
"So the doctor tells me," Alec croaked quietly.
"What were you doing there?"
Alec thought for a moment and swallowed before answering. "I signed up for Jordan Community College today and I had gone out looki
ng for some cheap school supplies. I stopped and got something to eat at Bailey's and was getting ready to head home when someone hit me in the back of the head and knocked me out."
The officer scribbled notes onto his pad as Alec talked.
"About what time was this?" officer Clarke asked.
Alec thought about it. "It was a little after seven PM. It was just starting to get dark and I was in a parking lot that was mostly empty. Next thing I know, I wake up naked and tied up, laying on the floor."
"And was this at the location of the fire?"
Alec nodded and Officer Clarke kept scribbling.
"I tried to get loose but the ropes were too tight and my hands and arms were numb. Then after a few minutes, I started hearing this weird sound. Like retching."
"Retching?"
"Yeah, like someone being sick."
Clarke nodded and scribbled.
"Anyway, as I struggled to get loose, this woman comes in and just smiles at me. It was a cold, crazy smile, like she wasn't all there."
"What did she look like?"
"She was close to thirty, reddish blonde, shoulder length hair. Maybe weighed a hundred and five pounds. And her eyes were very green. She had this strange, manic look in her eyes. I'll have nightmares about those eyes for the rest of my life." The last was said very quietly and his eyes were squinted like he was in pain.
Officer Clarke looked sympathetic, and nodded. Officer Dalton looked ready for action. Alec hadn't seen him enter the room with the officers, but suddenly Doctor Schubert was standing behind them, listening carefully. He nodded for Alec to continue.
“She stood there like she was in a trance, she didn’t say or do anything at first. Then…" Alec stopped and swallowed hard several times before he could continue. "Then, she picked up this sharp knife off of one of the tables against the walls and slit my wrists and collected my blood in this huge bowl."
Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles Page 1