Chasing Ghosts: The Quentin Strange Mysteries Book 1 by Dean Cole

Author:Dean Cole [Cole, Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-11T16:00:00+00:00

- CHAPTER NINE -

The Nightmare

IT’S ONLY A faint tapping noise at first, so I ignore it and roll over. But then it gets louder, sharper, like hail hitting glass. I lift my head off the pillow and squint through sleepy eyelids. Moonlight bathes the sheets of the bed in blue light. It’s another second before the sound hits my ears again. And this time I see what causes it, see the stone as it hits the pane of the window.

I climb out of bed, cross the bare floorboards and pull back the curtain. Hilderley Manor’s front grounds with its gravel driveway and manicured stretches of lawn is barely visible in the moonlight. But it’s illuminated enough to see the shadowed figure standing a few feet away from the parking area, staring up at me.

I strain my eyes, trying to see anything identifiable, a face, gender, clothing. But the figure is a black silhouette as it remains ominously still, watching. Hair rises on my nape and arms when I hear a disembodied voice come from behind me. My name being whispered.

Quentin …

Slowly, I turn around and peer through the darkness at the door. The male voice calls out again, the same shiver-inducing whisper.

Quentin …

It’s captivating, enticing, beckoning, a request for me to follow it. And despite the fear cementing my legs to the floorboards, I force them towards the door, answering its call.

I step out into the corridor. In the pale light flooding in from a far off window I can see the wet footprints trailing down the carpet runner. As I walk, I stare down at them. Are they the footprints of someone fresh out of a bath? I squint for a better look, noticing something isn’t right. It isn’t water that made them. It’s a thicker substance I’m looking at, darker, shinier, with smears and splodges. It’s blood.

They lead me to the staircase. I halt at the top, listening out for the voice. I start when it comes out of the darkness in the hallway, louder this time, enchanting, seducing.

Quentin …

I begin down the stairs, avoiding the bloody footprints that continue down each step. Midway down I see the front door is wide open, casting blue light across the hallway’s stone flooring. When I reach the bottom, I hesitate. Cold air from the open door blows in and nips at my exposed toes. I can’t see much beyond the door, but I know the silhouetted figure is still out there, waiting.

Quentin …

I carry on walking, my heart racing now, my shoulders tightening, breath bursting in and out. Why am I so afraid? What am I expecting to find?

I reach the door and step outside. The person stands in the same spot I saw from the window, twelve feet or so from my position at the doorstep. But this time they have their back to me.

‘Hello?’ I say.

I’m startled when a crack of thunder rips through the calm sky, followed by a lightning bolt that illuminates the figure for a split second.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.