A Midnight Profound: An Urban Fantasy Thriller: (A Harker & Blackthorn Novella) by J. A. Ironside

Author:J. A. Ironside [Ironside, J. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Stone Press
Published: 2022-12-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six – Supposed to be Dead

I was standing in the middle of the cellar holding a small lead casket in my hand, without any idea of how I got there. There was no memory of finding the box, just a strange sense of pressure inside my head, as if my mind were too full. I felt bruised, like I’d been in a physical fight. Steve’s hair was dishevelled, and his coat hung off one shoulder. He looked back at me helplessly, apparently no more aware of what had happened than I was. It was like staring into a deep lake only to discover that it wasn’t a water; it was mercury. Or an ice floe where the many layers of ice formed sheets, one laid on top of the other. Each reflecting the light differently in raised images and shadows that almost seemed like scenes of life. There was a whole in my memory and a nagging prickle, like a thorn. The image of a face both familiar and strange. Someone I had perhaps met once or twice but could not now remember fully. It aroused feelings of fear and urgency.

“Amy, we need to get out of here,” Steve said.

“Can’t argue with you there,” I replied.

We started back towards the cellar steps, and my right toe caught against a brick lying on the floor. There was a dark gap in the wall where it had been prised free. I supposed that explained where the box had been hidden. It was a shame it didn’t explain how exactly we had found the hiding place or retrieved the box, or what we had been doing for the last ten minutes. I really didn’t like this place. Then something occurred to me.

“Should we check what’s in the box before we go?” I said.

“No!” Steve exclaimed.

I looked at him in surprise.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s just…that seems like a really bad idea. I have a bad feeling when you say that…but I can’t explain why.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I glanced around the cellar again. “There’s clearly something really weird going on. So situation normal, for us at least.”

He laughed shakily, took my hand and led me up steps.

Somehow, we’d forgotten about the revenant. It should have been impossible, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that a lot more had happened in the cellar than we could currently remember. Everything felt shaken out of place in my mind. The oppressive weight of cold that bit into us the moment we stepped up into the hallway, jogged our memories fairly sharply.

“Shit,” I hissed. “We weren’t in time.”

Steve’s hand tightened on mine. In front of us, a vaporous white shape coalesced out of the gloom. Whoever the revenant had been in life, he had done a much better job at putting himself together this time. His limbs were elongated and far too thin, his body was an amorphous blob somehow crammed into a waistcoat and knickerbockers. His hands had long iron-grey nails which came to sharp points.

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