by CK Dawn
A Netherwalker Short Story
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Copyright © 2015 by CK Dawn
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, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author recognizes the trademarks and copyrights of all registered products mentioned within this work.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ckdawn.com
Cover Art by Holt Graphic Design
Dedication
Prologue: Letter Writing
Sanity Fading
Rain Numbing
Radioactive Reckoning
Neophyte Stalking
Emotion Surfing
Family Reuniting
Epilogue: Impromptu Hunting
About the Author
Other Books by CK Dawn
Sneak Peek: Cloak of Shadows (Netherwalker Series Book 1)
To my editors Joseph Howe, Celine Fowler, and my ultimate die-hard beta readers, your never-ending support and encouragement mean the world to me. And to my fans and Cloaked Crusaders, to put it mildly, y’all rock!
Rachel Kincaid looked up from the letter she was writing and stared at her baby girl sleeping soundly in her crib. Stay small as long as you can little one. The shadows may be real, but we still have time. Rachel felt a tinge of guilt patter out of her heart and into her throat. Emma was an absolute blessing, but her arrival had changed everything. Rachel was used to keeping secrets from others, even from her loving husband, but now those secrets wouldn’t be hers alone to keep. They would be passed on to her innocent daughter. All Rachel wanted was a normal docile life for her daughter for as long as she could give it to her, but plans had to be put in place. She looked at the letter in her hands and shook her head.
Just then the wind kicked up and whistled through the nursery’s open window. The young mother got up and rushed to the window to close it. Lightning struck the ground in the distance and illuminated the entire sky for only a fraction of a second, but it had been enough. Rachel’s attention and head snapped to the end of the alley as the thunder cracked in the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it. An out of place shadow shifted and slithered away rattling and vibrating with power. You can’t have her, she thought. You will never have her!
Rachel’s emotions must have stirred Emma. Even while sleeping the newborn sent out soothing thoughts to her that filled Rachel with an empathetic warmth that she dreaded. The comforting sensation had been instinctual in her daughter from the moment she was born and was the cause for Rachel’s concern. She went to the crib and touched Emma’s cheek reassuring the sleeping babe that everything was okay.
The thunder must have woken her husband. Rachel could hear his footsteps just outside the nursery door. Robert peered in and whispered, “You girls okay?”
“We’re fine,” Rachel whispered back.
“Coming back to bed?” he smiled.
“In a couple more minutes.”
Robert yawned. He’d been working double shifts in preparation for Rachel’s maternity leave. “Let me know if you need anything, my love.”
“I will, my love.”
Robert shut the door and Rachel heard him walk back down the hallway to their bedroom. Should I tell him? It was the question Rachel struggled with even before they had married. Sighing, she picked her letter back up, sat in the overstuffed nursing chair, and began writing again. She couldn’t help the tears that fell as she signed it and placed it in a manila envelope. Pulling out her phone she glanced at Emma again before sending out a long overdue text. ‘It’s done.’