Closed at Dark: A Soren Chase Novella (The Soren Chase Series)

by Rob Blackwell

  “You can thank Alex for that,” Ken said. “He kicked the gun just as I was aiming at you.”

  Soren looked over at Alex.

  “Nice work, kid,” he said. “You saved the day.”

  Despite everything that had happened to him, Sara saw Alex beam in response.

  He should be crying, she thought. How is he holding up so well?

  She thought of what Richard had said. “He hasn’t told you, has he?” Sara wondered what secrets Alex had been keeping. But now was not the time to find out.

  Soren and Ken walked over to where Richard lay.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Ken asked. “If we take him to jail, he’ll just dream his way out again.”

  “I don’t think it will be our problem,” Soren said.

  Sara realized he wasn’t looking at Richard any longer, and followed his gaze past her into the woods.

  The shade emerged from the trees, striding forward. She hugged Alex tighter, still worried he might try to take him. But the shade merely nodded once in their direction as he headed toward Richard.

  Both Ken and Soren stepped away from the dreamweaver. When Richard looked up, barely conscious, and saw the shade, he whispered one word. “You.”

  “Me,” the shade replied.

  He looked at Ken, Soren and Sara.

  “It would be best if you left,” he said. “The boy shouldn’t witness this.”

  “Thank you,” Sara said. “Thank you for saving my son.”

  The shade only nodded again.

  “Go,” he said.

  Sara wrapped her arm around Alex’s shoulders and the four of them began walking away. As they did, they heard Richard begin shouting.

  “No!” he screamed. “No, no, no, no, no.”

  Soon after, even that short, repeated word became indistinct and turned into indecipherable caterwauling.

  It took Ken and Soren several minutes to figure out their location. Neither man had been carrying his cell phone when the shade brought them to the forest, and Sara had no recollection of arriving there. They walked for ten minutes and came to a road that Soren recognized and knew would lead them back to his apartment.

  Even from that distance, they could hear Richard’s screams.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Soren didn’t relax until they were back inside his apartment.

  He didn’t want to tell the others, but he was afraid the shade wouldn’t be finished with them. From what Terry had told him, they didn’t just fade away. They needed to find peace. He thought killing Richard would grant peace to Peter Strode, but perhaps he was wrong.

  If the shade came back angry, they’d be in no condition to fight. All four of them were exhausted. They would just have to hope it was over.

  When they got inside, Sara looked Alex up and down and then pulled him in for a long hug. Soren expected him to squirm or be embarrassed, but he hugged his mom back tightly.

  “Is this just a mom and son thing, or can I join in?” Ken asked.

  Sara nodded, tears running down her cheeks, and Ken grasped the two of them in a giant bear hug. To Soren, they looked like a big happy family. He stood staring at them, uncertain what to do. He felt like he’d intruded onto a private moment. He crossed through the living room and walked into the kitchen to fix himself a drink.

  Sara appeared a moment later.

  “You get a hug too,” she said.

  She pulled him in before he could respond and for a moment, the past seven years were wiped away. He hugged her back tightly, afraid this moment would end too fast.

  When she finally broke free, she held his face in her hands.

  “We’re friends again, okay?” she asked. “I know that after the funeral, you needed some space, but... John wouldn’t have wanted you to live like this.”

  “Like what?”

  She cocked her head to the side and gave him a skeptical look.

  “Alone and isolated,” Sara said.

  “I just thought it was better if I left you alone,” Soren said.

  “For me or for you?” she asked. “I don’t blame you for what happened to John. I know that doesn’t take the guilt away for…”

  She paused.

  “Look, we should talk again later,” she said. “My point is that John died, but you didn’t. Don’t become a shade yourself. Don’t hide in the shadows for the rest of your life, Soren.”

  Soren nodded, but his face was grim. He gestured toward the living room, where Ken and Alex presumably still were.

  “What are you going to do about the cop?” he asked.

  She gave him an inscrutable look. He felt bad for asking. It wasn’t any of his business. And what was he suggesting? That she stay a nun for the rest of her life?

  She didn’t answer, but hugged Soren again. He closed his eyes. Had he been a shade, he would have found peace in that moment.

  *****

  Peter Strode appeared the moment Ken, Sara and Alex left Soren’s apartment to return to their homes.

  As before, Strode suddenly stood in the middle of the living room, appearing out of thin air. Soren looked at him without surprise. He presumed that summoning Strode had enabled the shade to find him again.

  “It’s done,” the shade said. “The dreamweaver is destroyed.”

  “I hope it was long and painful,” Soren said.

  The shade merely smiled. Soren found it disturbing.

  “I don’t know how Ken will explain Richard’s body in the park, but I’ll let him figure that out,” Soren said.

  “He will appear human now,” the shade replied.

  Soren paused for a moment, uncertain what would happen next. The shade didn’t appear about to attack, but it was still a possibility. He decided to ask his questions anyway.

  “If you’d successfully taken Alex, what would you have done with him?” he asked.

  “Hidden him,” the shade replied. “No harm would have come to the boy.”

  “Hidden him where?”

  The shade didn’t reply.

  “Why didn’t you haunt Richard Frye?”

  “I did not know who the dreamweaver was,” the shade said. “I only knew when he was close to Alex. I could see the boy in my dreams, just as I saw Alastair.”

  Soren wanted to ask how someone who was dead could still dream, but let it drop. It was the least surprising revelation of his day.

  “So you showed up to take him away,” Soren said. “Then why did you show up when I appeared?”

  “I was lingering in the park, hopeful I would see the boy again,” the shade replied. “I did not think it likely, but I had nowhere else to go.”

  For a brief second, the shade looked sad. Soren thought about the afterlife he was living.

  “I don’t know what would release you from this world,” Soren said. “But I talked to Ken. He’s going to call the Strode family in the morning and let them know the truth. He’ll tell them the police believe Richard was going to kidnap your grand-nephew, and you acted to save him.”

  The shade’s face was impassive, but Soren thought he detected a look of relief in his silver eyes.

  “If it helps, we’ll tell Alastair’s family as well,” Soren said. “Maybe it will at least bring them comfort to know their son’s killer was brought to justice.”

  “I am grateful for this,” the shade said. “I was... incorrect in my assessment of you.”

  “You were trying to save Alex,” Soren said. “That’s what matters.”

  “The boy is special.”

  “The dreamweaver told Sara that as well,” Soren said. “But can you tell me how? I don’t see anything obvious.”

  “You will discover it one day,” the shade replied. “I just pray by then it is not too late.”

  Soren frowned. He found the shade’s words vague, but they didn’t sound good.

  “Too late for what?”

  “To save yourself, to save her,” the shade said. “He is the only one who can bring you what you most
desire.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I must leave now for the unknown,” Peter said. “Our time is running out.”

  He stared at Soren with his unsettling eyes.

  “I thank you for your help in letting me lay down this burden,” he continued. “And I offer you one word of warning.”

  Soren almost wanted to stop him. He knew from bitter experience the dangers of fortune-telling. Knowing what was to come in the future was often more of a curse than a benefit. He didn’t want to know. But the shade spoke before he could say anything.

  “The Council is hunting for you,” the shade said. “They are very close. And when they find you, they will make you pay for what you have done. They will make you suffer.”

  The shade vanished as suddenly as he’d arrived, leaving Soren speechless. From any other person, the words would have felt like a threat, yet he sensed no hostility from the shade. It was simply a prophecy, one that portended dark days ahead. He didn’t know who “the Council” was or why it wanted him, but he knew what he had to answer for, and that was enough.

  He couldn’t think about that now. Nor could he sleep, despite his exhaustion. He felt strangely wired and more connected with the world than he had in weeks, maybe years. The shade’s dire warning aside, he felt satisfied. Alex and Sara were safe and the bad guy had gotten his just desserts.

  He sat down at his computer and opened his e-mail. He expected the usual spam, but instead found a message clearly addressed to him. It was a new case with a mysterious intruder, a man in distress, and disturbing signs of the supernatural. It sounded perfect.

  Soren clicked the reply button and got to work.

  THE END

  Did you enjoy this novella? Please leave a review here! Every review makes a difference.

  Closed at Dark is the prequel to a series about paranormal investigator Soren Chase. The first full-length title, The Forest of Forever, was published by Kindle Press on March 24, 2015.

  In The Forest of Forever, Soren’s investigation into the haunted Reapoke woods may be his most dangerous case yet. Hired to find a missing girl and unlock the forest’s secrets, what he discovers is far darker than he imagines and forces him to confront his tragic past. Buy it on Kindle here!

  And be sure to check out Soren’s next adventure in Carnival of Stone, coming soon! Sign up here to ensure you don’t miss its release!

  And for another great series (that shares connections with this one), check out The Sanheim Chronicles, Rob’s highly-rated bestselling Dark Fantasy novels for Kindle. Available also on audiobook.

  Acknowledgments

  This story is what happens when you spend too much time on playgrounds.

  First off, I know that playgrounds are supposed to be bright, happy places, but have you ever passed one in the dark? All those shapes, like a slide or the “net” detailed here, seem ominous and creepy.

  Secondly, all the talk about “stranger danger” has left me feeling anxious even when it is a sunny day. I usually have one eye out for somebody who shouldn’t be there. A year or two ago, my wife told me that people on the parent’s listserv were reporting the existence of a “white-haired man” who was stalking kids. Several people reported encounters with him in and around the area.

  I was certainly bothered by the stories — I still am, because for all I know, the guy was perfectly real. Yet at a certain point I began to wonder if he wasn’t an urban legend. Most of the people detailing stories about the guy hadn’t actually seen him; they’d just known someone who had. Either way — real or imagined — I spent a good chunk of my time at playgrounds keeping an eye out for anyone who could be “the white-haired man.” You worry about something long enough and eventually it becomes a story.

  There are two people who made this novella possible.

  The first is my wife, Maia. She was understandably skeptical that in addition to writing a full-length novel (The Forest of Forever) I could also turn around and write two novellas to accompany it. I assured her not to worry: I was going to keep the novellas short and sweet. And I’m here to tell you that I failed completely. This endeavor turned out to be far longer and tougher than I imagined. The only reason I survived was because of Maia’s help, love and support. Maia was also the novella’s first reader and suggested several ways I could improve it.

  Secondly, I want to thank my editor, Evelyn Duffy, who helped shape this novella into what it is. When I initially wrote it, I kept trying to keep it short. The result was that I missed several opportunities to expand the story and make it more exciting. Evelyn was the one who challenged me to return to the narrative to flesh several parts out. She suggested a couple ideas that were only hinted at in the original draft, including Sara’s nightmare of a fire in her room and a dream confrontation between Soren and Ken. And once I wrote those parts, they seemed so essential to the story I couldn’t fathom why I’d tried to skip over them. In short, the novella is much, much better as a result of her comments.

  I’d also like to thank my beta readers: Brian Gill, David Miller and Daniel Wolfe. All three made valuable suggestions and I’m grateful for their help. As an aside, Brian is the narrator for the audiobook versions of A Soul to Steal and Band of Demons, the first two novels of The Sanheim Chronicles. If you haven’t checked them out already, I urge you to give them a listen. He does an amazing job.

  Finally, I want to thank Travis Pennington, my cover artist, who nailed this cover in his first attempt. I am fortunate to work with such talented people.

  As for what’s coming next,The Forest of Forever, the first full-length Soren Chase novel, will be published shortly as part of Kindle Press. If you liked the novella, I think you will really enjoy the novel. Soren will also return (soon) in Carnival of Stone. Please sign up here so you know when it’s released.

  I want to thank everyone again for all their support, including those who nominated The Forest of Forever for Kindle Scout, left reviews for any of my novels, tweeted about the books, etc. I could not do this without your enthusiasm.

  Rob Blackwell

  October 2014

  Copyright 2014 by Rob Blackwell

  Cover by Travis Pennington

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This work is entirely fictional. Any similarity between characters and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and pretty much all in your head.