The Shadow: The Poisonwood Shadows Book One

by Christina Crook

  “Letty! Come on! What are you doing?” A sharp voice dragged her from her hypnosis and she pulled her eyes away to look at Rebecca, whose chestnut curls were stunning against the silky fabric of her forest green dress. “We thought we’d lost you! Come on!”

  She heard it first – an eerie kind of music; a violin, a piano, a double bass, possibly an accordion and more. It soared, sunk and swung around in the most enchanting kind of way. Scarlett followed Rebecca, entirely entranced. A band was performing on the stage, all dressed outrageously in a mismatch of colourful, clashing outfits. It looked amazing.

  She managed to take her eyes off the spectacle long enough to take in the rest of her surroundings. The room was large and broken up into sections with drapes of maroon silk. The walls and booths were also painted with red and gold, while the room itself was warm and rich with the scent of alcohol and perfume. The women wore lace and feathers, stilettos and high boots, corsets and stockings, dresses of leather and velvet. The men wore suits in dark colours - black and indigo, red, violet and green. It was the essence of downtown – an earthy allure with a patchy, homemade charm.

  Scarlett was sure she could spend the entire night doing nothing but watch the people around her and be entirely content. She slowly made her way around the room, fixated once again on the music and the weirdly wonderful performers. Eventually she reached the bar and re-joined her friends, who were queuing eagerly for a drink, then broke away once again to take in her surroundings some more.

  She noticed photographs pinned to a large section of wall. Faded and yellowing, the pictures were of the club’s past patrons. She felt a sad, twisted kind of wistfulness for days long gone, days she had never even experienced herself, as the people in the photos looked down at her smiling, perhaps having the best night of their lives, now reduced to nothing more than paper, ink and possibly a faded memory in the mind of somebody much older than herself.

  Rebecca appeared and handed a small glass to her. Inside was a strong smelling, golden liquid. Scarlett sniffed at it dubiously, her eyes already watering.

  “Beccy, what is this?”

  “It’s delicious, isn’t it? Someone bought me one last time. It’s called a burnt whiskey cocktail. Drink it carefully though. I downed my first one and it burned my throat,” Beccy said matter of factly, her dark eyes twinkling.

  Scarlett sipped her drink and instantly shuddered. The alcohol taste was strong and bitter in her mouth, and though she had only taken a very small amount, it still seared the back of her mouth as it went down.

  “Let’s sit,” Izzy said, before turning and heading towards one of the booths, her head bobbing in time to the music as she went.

  The others followed, but Scarlett grabbed at Rebecca’s arm. “I want to look around some more,” she shouted eagerly above the music.

  Beccy frowned and looked put out. “Don’t you want to sit with us?”

  “Of course I do, stupid. You’ve been here before, but this is my first time. And who knows when I’ll be able to come again!”

  Beccy leaned in closer, the floral scent of her perfume tickling Scarlett’s nose. “I forget you’ve never been out like this before. Are you enjoying yourself?”

  “I love it!” Scarlett beamed. “I don’t want to miss a thing.”

  Rebecca clasped her shoulder and nodded. “Take your time. We’ll just be over there.”

  Scarlett watched as Rebecca joined her friends, before ambling over to the dancefloor to watch the people as they swayed and swung in time to the music. Scarlett saw how relaxed they were. They smiled and laughed freely and loudly, not afraid to express themselves, to socialise with strangers. She wanted this. To be a part of something profound and perfect, to fit in and feel entirely at home. Sighing, Scarlett walked back around the club to join her friends, slowly sipping on her drink.

  Rebecca immediately grabbed her arm and began whispering rapidly, “Look over there. Izzy has spotted a Shadow. He’s beautiful!”

  Scarlett discreetly followed Rebecca’s gaze, thinking of the boy she had met weeks earlier. She had yet to mention him to the girls. The red drapes had been hung in such a way that one of the walls was entirely in shadow and she saw the outline of a person stood against the wall.

  “How can you even make out what he looks like? It’s completely dark,” Scarlett said, feeling confused.

  “Izzy went and had a closer look,” Rebecca giggled. “She said he’s the most handsome man she ever saw. I think she’s going to try and talk to him. We’ll have to get a few more drinks in her though.”

  “How does she know he’s a Shadow?”

  “He’s uniformed. He must be on duty. My father said the owners had requested their presence here because there’s been more trouble in the clubs.”

  Scarlett turned again to try and make out the mysterious figure, but there was really not much to see. The other girls giggled and gossiped some more, encouraging Izzy to down her drink and talk to the boy. Scarlett shrugged and looked away, feigning disinterest, though a small curiosity began to simmer inside her. So little was known about the Shadows.

  She finished her own drink with a shuddering gulp and set her gaze on the band again, though for the next half hour the conversation remained on the Shadow. Standing suddenly, Scarlett looked to the girls and said, “I’m going for another drink. Does anyone want anything?”

  Of course they did, and armed with money, Scarlett headed back to the bar. The music stopped and a new song started, even catchier than the one before, fast paced and desperate to be danced to. The barman saw her coming. He leaned on the shiny stone counter enigmatically, dressed all in black with gold buttons on his shirt. As Scarlett approached, he raised his eyebrows and she cautiously prepared her order, worried she would get it wrong.

  Once Scarlett returned to the table with a tray of drinks for all, she saw that the girls were now involved in some other drama. Izzy was sat with her arms folded. Her olive skin was flushed and there was a look of disappointment and anger on her face.

  “The handsome Shadow is gone,” Rebecca said quietly.

  “Oh. Well, there goes your chance, Iz…”

  “He’s just disappeared!” Izzy cried. “He left!”

  “How do you know he left?”

  “I checked! I walked around the whole club and he’s gone. I could cry.” Her tight black curls shook as she continued to look around desperately.

  “He might be back,” Scarlett offered consolingly.

  “Huh. I doubt it. I bet he’s moved on. There’s nothing exciting happening in here tonight,” Izzy sighed.

  “Well, I got you your drink. And there are plenty more handsome men. We’ll find someone else for you.”

  “I wanted him,” she said selfishly, taking a long gulp of her gin and poisonberry juice. “Yum, this is delicious!”

  Almost feeling as if she were babysitting, Scarlett glanced over at the wall to confirm that the mysterious figure was indeed gone. She smiled slightly as Izzy continued to moan, before grabbing Rebecca’s hand and pulling her up.

  “Let’s not spend the night wallowing over Shadows. They're untouchable anyway,” she said in a bright voice. “Let’s dance.”

  Izzy stood up, huffing. “But he was handsome.”

  “Oh, he’ll be back, I’m sure of it. Come on.”

  They downed their drinks, and feeling suitably relaxed and mildly intoxicated, the girls joined the throng. Tittering, Rebecca and Vivien pulled the other two into the centre of the dancefloor and the quartet lost themselves in the music. The evening flew by and then, inexplicably, it was the middle of night, though surely only minutes had passed?

  Izzy and Vivien quickly became weary and returned to the booth with two young men, where they sat talking for the remainder of the night. Rebecca and Scarlett continued to dance, never tiring. The club was filled and it was difficult to move freely. They had more drinks and Scarlett felt warm, happy and confident, a girl utterly separate from who she usually was.

/>   Eventually, Rebecca noticed the time on the large, golden clock behind the bar. “Letty, we have to go! The car will have arrived for us ten minutes ago. I need to get the others!” She screeched.

  “Okay, I’ll meet you there!” Scarlett said breathlessly, hoping to finish one last song.

  Once it had finished, a long bell rang from behind the bar and the dimmed lights suddenly came up. Scarlett had no idea what this meant, but she guessed that it signalled closing time as the crowd began to move towards the exit. She found herself caught up in a sea of bodies, unable to go with the flow, but unable to break free of the crowd. She noticed that every single person was moving with urgency, as if they were trying to get out of the club as fast as possible. Knowing that her car was outside waiting for her, Scarlett allowed herself to be overtaken until she was one of the last people left.

  “Out, out, out! Don’t you all have homes to go to? Get off safely now, off you go,” a sweaty, tubby little man in a waistcoat and bow tie was saying, as he waved his arms around. Scarlett could only presume he was the owner.

  Once out on the street, she saw that people weren’t lingering. Cars lined the road on both sides and Scarlett felt intimidated as she realised she had no idea which one was hers. They were all black and identical and there were way more than there had been when she had arrived. She quickly ran alongside the nearest vehicles, peering inside to look for the others, but they were all filled with strangers and ready to set off to carry them home. Others were already moving through the road.

  While the street was quickly emptying of both cars and people, the door to the club was slammed shut, its outside light switched off. It was almost as if time had sped up, while Scarlett had slowed down. She couldn’t understand what was going on and quickly ran for the remaining cars to no avail – she did not know the people inside and no one seemed willing to talk to her or help. The silence set in, yet it felt like the loudest sound she had ever heard.

  Chapter Three

  It was an ethereal experience, almost as if she had stepped out of her body. The calm set in, and rather than panic, Scarlett became surprisingly clearheaded.

  ‘I need to get home,’ she thought to herself.

  There was still hope. Perhaps they were just around the corner? Something might have happened. They could show up at any second. Scarlett tentatively walked to the end of the street, keeping to the shadows, barely breathing and making a conscious effort to be silent. Looking down the next street, all she saw was darkness and deserted roads. No cars. Fear was rapidly creeping in as intense obscurity pressed in from all around. She walked back, passed the club and up to the other end of the street. Her heart dropped yet again - more empty roads. Growing desperate now, Scarlett knocked on the red, metal door of the club. There was no handle, not even a keyhole. On any other occasion she wouldn’t have even realised the building was there. Nobody answered, so she furiously pounded on the door, before springing back, suddenly afraid of drawing the wrong kind of attention.

  At a loss, she waited by the road hoping a car would drive by and pick her up, but after a few empty moments passed by, Scarlett remembered Rebecca telling her that after the clubs closed, the cars did not tend to stick around for long. In fact, once that last bell had sounded, it seemed that the whole city had vanished. Frantically fighting the urge not to breakdown and cry, she leaned back desperately. The wall behind her felt sharp and uncomfortable. Poisonwood was quiet now, except for the occasional distant howl, which only served to worry her more. It was cold and she just had to do something. She had to move.

  Her feet hurt, she was not dressed appropriately and an eerie mist was creeping out of the alleyways. Scarlett slowly began walking, praying that the streets truly were empty and that no gangs lurked in the alleyways. Cursing herself for her desire for adventure and cursing whatever unseen force had thrown her into this situation, she summoned all of her courage and began to pick up the pace, ready to face whatever the consequences might be. The whole time she walked, Scarlett remained guarded, eyes wide and wild, fists clenched, teeth gritted. All of her senses were focused on what might be going on around her and the slightest possibility of danger. Hating the situation and quietly seething to herself, she continued onwards. The stillness of the city remained and her hopes began to rise. Maybe she would be okay?

  And then…then she found trouble. Perhaps they heard the sound of her boots hitting the concrete pavement. It was over.

  There were two of them waiting around the corner of King Street. She tried to ignore them and hoped they would leave her alone. Bravely, Scarlett crossed the cobbles to the other side of the street. She contemplated running or perhaps even stopping and asking for directions. They could be kind men. But she knew…she knew that this was it. This was the end.

  A chill ran down her spine as she passed the men, who stood watching her on the opposite side of the road. She could see them in the corner of her eye and everything about them screamed danger. Once she had passed by, she still felt their gaze behind her and sensed exactly what they were feeling – glee, like they couldn’t believe what had walked passed them. She was exactly what they were looking for.

  Heart pounding, Scarlett carried on walking, urging her sore feet to go faster. Perhaps they wouldn’t hurt her? Maybe she would get away and they would leave her alone? Her heart dropped however, when she heard a quiet laugh coming from behind her. It chilled her to the bone.

  Turning to look back at them, she saw that they had crossed over onto her side of the street and were now following. They matched her brisk pace initially, but then picked it up and were soon going faster than Scarlett. Then they were running, chasing her down the street, and all of her fears seemed to rise up at once. She had no choice but to run too, dashing out into the middle of the road in the hopes that here they had less chance of carrying her into a hidden alleyway.

  Scarlett realised that she had never really experienced fear before. Not this kind of fear; the sickness inducing, afraid for your life, moment before death kind of fear. Now all she saw in her future was evil - kidnap, torture and murder. She allowed it to consume her for a few crucial seconds, stumbled and fell down into the road, cutting her knees and twisting her ankle. As she fell heavily, she made a decision. She would fight. She didn’t know how because she wasn’t strong enough to take on two men who were both much larger than she was, but she would fight them, whatever it took. The fear overwhelmed her to start with, but Scarlett Winchester would not allow these men to hurt her tonight.

  The first man, dirty and burly, leaped on her and tried to pull her up violently. Scarlett summoned every ounce of lung power and screamed as loud as she could. It echoed and resonated along the streets. She desperately wished for the presence of a Shadow. Surely this was when they were supposed to jump in and save the day?

  The other man hovered close behind the first, ready to help him. Scarlett’s arms were in his grip. He had her pinned on the ground in the middle of the road and she felt nothing but the sheer force of his strength. He seemed to be a hundred times stronger than she was, overpowering her with ease. She couldn’t move her entire upper body, but her legs were free, so she kneed him in the groin as hard as possible. He cried out, a ghastly howl, and fell down on Scarlett, his weight crushing her, knocking the air out of her lungs. With great difficulty, she rolled him off her and stood, leaving him lying on his back, his eyes closed in a painful squint.

  The second man was ready and winked, then perversely licked his lips. “Don’t even think about trying that with me,” he said, his voice a gravelled whisper.

  Scarlett ran again, but she knew she wouldn’t get far. The second man was smaller and faster. He grabbed her from behind and smashed her whole body into a nearby wall, the pair of them now hidden in shadow. He was strong like the other man, but this one exuded a jittery, depraved energy, as if he would deeply enjoy whatever it was he wanted to do to her.

  Unwilling to allow him to hurt her however, she reiterated her earl
ier promise to herself, ‘I will fight,’ and she screamed again, more pained and guttural than before. Scarlett twisted herself around and clawed at the man’s face with her long nails. She dug them in as hard as she could and dragged them down, pulling off skin and drawing blood. It distracted him for a few seconds as he fell back clutching his face with an agonised shriek. It was enough time for her to push him away, and he staggered back into the road. She set off at a run again, praying they wouldn’t come after her, that they would be too hurt to carry on the chase.

  Scarlett heard them growling behind her, even angrier now. She carried on, because she had no other choice, all the while silently imploring help from the Shadow Army. Why had nobody come? Her ankle felt like it was burning and blood ran down her legs, but Scarlett ignored the pain and kept on going. Eventually, the streets behind her grew quiet and she was able to slow down. Overcome by adrenaline, she found that she was shaking violently. Close to hyperventilation, she desperately tried to control her breathing.

  Scarlett quickly wiped away the tears that were rolling down her smudged face and glanced up at the street name to find out where she was – Opium Street. She knew the general direction she would need to go in to get home, but it still seemed so far away. Scarlett reached a point where she was too afraid to stop, but unable to carry on. She made a turn at the next corner, doing her best to conceal herself in the alleyway behind the Opium Street Apothecary. She knew she wasn’t safe, but didn’t want to risk stopping out in the open in case the men caught up and found her. She leaned back against the damp wall and attempted to catch her breath in great, shuddering gasps. Shaking with fear, all Scarlett really wanted to do was collapse into the ground and cry. And then she realised that yet again, she wasn’t alone.