Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
“‘WF’. Knight, it was William Fane’s,” Elliot squealed, pushing Gray to the side as he kneeled between Jake’s legs.
Jake cocked his head. “I thought you hate him now…”
Elliot hissed, prodding at the rusty padlock with a tiny knife. “Not now, Jake. It’s complicated. Yes, I think William Fane was a psycho murderer-bastard-rapist, but this is still connected to my family history.”
Since Elliot wasn’t getting anywhere with the lock, Gray looked back at the lake where Shadow was slowly emerging from the water.
Like a monster from an old horror movie, it dragged its feet over the sand, immaterial in the way its presence didn’t stir the surface even the tiniest bit. This time, Gray didn’t feel the creature’s invisible gaze on him. All of Shadow’s attention was on the secretive chest, which Knight and Elliot were trying to force open. Finally, the lock gave, and Knight pushed up the cover with a yell of triumph.
Inside were bones.
Gray swallowed, overwhelmed by the realization that this body had been hidden in the lake this whole time—yet another victim of the monster who had owned this land two centuries ago. Now reduced to a curiosity.
“Oh look, look! There’s a ring in there!” Elliot was like an over-excited puppy when something inside the trunk glinted in the glow of the flashlight.
Shadow sped up. “Leave it!” it said in a voice reminiscent of a crackle.
Knight shielded Elliot with his own body when Shadow charged right at them, all four hands curled into fists, but the monster stretched as if it were made of chewing gum and jumped past him, landing right next to its goal.
Gray stopped breathing when, in the white light, he saw a ruby glinting in the band Elliot held in his thin fingers. In the blink of an eye, Shadow leaned over the chest, and its black torso swallowed Elliot’s hand as if it were made of soft jelly.
Elliot’s face paled, and the shadows created by its angles in the bright light made it resemble a skull. “I saw it first! You said you wanted the bones!” he yelled, only shutting up when Knight grabbed him from behind and pulled, to no effect.
“Leave it,” Shadow said in a low growl, standing still, as if the force Knight and Elliot put into their struggle had no effect on him whatsoever.
Gray stared at the arm lodged deep in Shadow’s chest, his heart picking up its beat when he noticed the smooth surface of Shadow’s skin rippling. “Elliot, let go.”
Vars rubbed his face, staring at the same thing in disbelief. “Are you high? Do what it says! It’s a fucking demon from hell.”
Elliot only let go when Knight whispered something into his ear, but the scowl on his face was still plain to see. The moment he pulled out his empty hand, Shadow turned to liquid and fell to the sand in a splash of black goo. Gray had to back away to avoid getting it on his shoes, but the dark mass moved toward the chest with a single purpose, and crawled inside like latex lava.
Gray stilled, watching bubbles appear on the surface, as if the bone-and-shadow mixture was about to boil over.
“Should we lock it and throw him back into the lake?” Vars asked, but nobody laughed at his joke.
The black soup twitched and rippled as it went through a cycle of solidifying, only to turn into pudding-like goo yet again. Gray heard Vars whisper encouragements to Jake, but it was only background noise when the contents of the chest finally stilled.
Elliot wasn’t so brave anymore, and when a pale, muscular arm shot out of the black surface elbow-first, he yelped and hugged Knight. Gray didn’t dare blink when a hand appeared next, trembling as it touched the outside of the chest. If the arms were anything to go by, Shadow would be as big in human form as he’d been before.
When a head emerged from the chest next, long black hair covered the face, sticking to it as if the creature were covered in slime. Bit by bit, the black goo transformed into flesh, and the creature crawled out onto the sand in its new form, loudly gasping for air and shivering like a newborn calf.
Its body was definitely that of a man, even if overcome by trembles and curled up in the most undignified of positions. By the time the chest fell over, empty inside, the hulking naked body was on show in all its glory, finally giving the shadow monster a human form.
This one only had two arms, thank fuck.
No one moved a muscle as they all watched the hybrid try to kneel, only to fall face-first into the sand again and start coughing as if its lungs were on fire. Finally, Shadow spat something out, and in the glow of the flashlight, Gray recognized it as a golden ring. Even with the obstruction in his throat gone, Shadow heaved, pushing some of the thick hair out of his face. He eventually flopped to his back like a fish thrown out of water, and looked up at Gray with eyes that glistened like the most precious red crystals. For a moment, Gray found himself entranced by the rapid change Shadow had undergone within minutes.