The Shadow by Marianne Curley

Author:Marianne Curley [Curley, Marianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

Jesilla

We take off downstairs, when halfway down a high-pitched pinging alarm goes off and, wham, the titanium shutters close over every window, door and glass wall in the house. It’s the ultimate security system, effectively shutting us inside and everything else outside, turning the complex into an impenetrable fortress.

Keziah rushes out of the downstairs lift, stopping at the foot of our stairs with an armful of guns.

Bastian jumps down on silent feet, taking the gun Keziah hands him in his left hand, a pistol in his right. ‘Where’s the breach?’

‘There is something dark and misshapen crawling up the stairs of our rear deck.’

I’m one step behind and hear this description. What kind of creature can get through our fences? He hands me my guns. As I check them over I mind-link, When did you check on Rochelle last?

She’s out cold. Nothing will wake her until morning.

With that confirmed, I hurry to the living room, which accesses the back deck and rear yard.

My security team of Zander and Pearl, along with two of our best soldiers from below, Ian Banner and Jacob Guiro, both dressed in official black uniforms, are already in positions spread out across the rear living room wall. I nod at each of them. Ian, the more senior soldier nods back while Jacob touches his cap. I look for Peter, finding him behind a workbench that doubles as a bar. He jumps on a stool and begins working the cameras while slipping his arm into his remaining shirt sleeve.

‘Do we have a visual yet?’ Bastian asks, positioning himself to the right of the door. ‘What’s taking so long?’

‘Coming up now,’ Peter says.

There are four screens in this open living area, the nearest is left of the door, where a split screen appears with two different camera angles. Peter switches cameras, giving us clearer images.

I throw my hand over my mouth to contain a gasp.

Sprawled across the back deck is a human. At a guess I would say male with both legs broken and a displaced shoulder. Covered in blood, some dark red, but some black like the beasts. His face is also a mess, with deep gashes around the jaw where part of his chin appears to be missing, and one eye dropped down to his cheek due to a broken socket. These disfigurements make it hard to identify him, but who could be this desperate to reach us? Who knows enough about the complex to get through all the sensors and invisible electric fences, especially in that condition?

The man moves, dragging himself over a few more timber slats with one shoulder higher than the other, his head barely off the deck as if he has no strength to raise it. Lifting up on one forearm with great effort he lunges forward, emitting a guttural scream when his torso slams into the timber deck.

‘Holy cow,’ Zander exclaims. ‘Are you people watching this?’

No one volunteers a credible explanation or can identify him.

The man seems to gather himself for

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