Walking Shadow by Emma L. Adams

Author:Emma L. Adams [Adams, Emma L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2016-07-06T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tombstone Hill

Mist surrounded me, wrapping around my body like a cocoon. Even the ground beneath my feet was masked. I moved forwards, shoes crunching like I was walking through snow, but I couldn’t see where I was going. Shapes appeared behind the mist, hazy and unclear. They could have easily been shadow-beasts, or harmless objects like trees.

The demon heart around my neck burned against my skin.

“Ashlyn.”

I shuddered at the death-cold voice. It cut through the mist, making the shapes take on a sinister familiarity. I saw figures, appearing for a second before being swallowed up by the mist again. Cara, Alex, Sarah. My parents. Aunt Eve. Leo, Claudia, Cyrus, Berenice, Howard… all appeared, yet as soon as I drew closer, vanished like shadows.

“You think you aren’t like us. You think you’re above us. But you don’t know what you are capable of, Ashlyn. You’ve barely tapped into your power. We can help you.”

“What does that even mean?” I said, aloud. The mist caught my voice and smothered it. “You’ve done nothing but try to ruin my life. And I told you. I’m not like you.”

“You think that because you haven’t used your power, it doesn’t exist?”

“You think you’ve never done anyone harm?” Another voice joined the first, and this was familiar, human. My heart turned to ice.

Terrence stepped out of the fog. He glared at me, grey eyes narrowed. Scratches marked his face, four of them from forehead to chin, deep red cuts.

I looked down in shame, remembering how my own nails, strengthened with ice, had ripped open his skin like paper.

The mist began to swirl around me, violently, changing from white to thundercloud-grey, then to black as shadows. Horrible, hissing laughter echoed in my ears, and another demon’s voice spoke. I couldn’t pinpoint what was different about it; only that it wasn’t the same. It was lower, more menacing-sounding, if that was possible.

“You set so much by the so-called virtue of your humanity? You don’t even have a heart. You can’t love. You can’t be loved.”

The black smoke cleared slightly, just enough to reveal Terrence. His grinning face, forehead pierced with a demon’s heart, violet light shining from his eyes.

“I am you, Ashlyn. You are a part of us now.”

I shook my head. “No.”

But the form of Terrence was changing before my eyes―next second, I looked at my own reflection. The girl resembled me in every way, from her tangled dark hair and pale features down to the black trench coat, jeans, and Converse I wore myself.

The girl grinned at me. I put a hand up to my own face, convinced I’d feel my own expression mirrored. It’s a trick, I thought.

The demon laughed again, and so did the girl.

“Ash,” she said, softly. “Poor Ash.”

“What?” I said, staring right into her eyes. I saw the tell-tale violet light appear, briefly.

“You have no idea what you’re up against.”

“Care to tell me?” I said. “I’m dreaming, anyway.”

The girl and demon laughed again, their voices becoming one.

“You’re fascinating to me, human-demon. You think you’re safe in your little university house? I can find you, Ashlyn.

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.