Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) (6 page)

"Did you find it?" she asked excitedly as he shut the door.

Oliver nodded, retrieving the pieces from his back pocket. "I think so."

He laid them out on the bed and they started fixing the letter together like a jigsaw, sitting crosslegged opposite one another.

"I think that's it," May said, laying the final piece in place. "Read it out."

Oliver cast his eyes over the words as he read them aloud.
"Dear Mr Fox, further to your enquiry, the situation has been dealt with efficiently as per my usual professionalism. Mrs Knight's children were present but no doubt, being minors, their account of my presence will be dismissed by the authorities. Your cooperation has been most helpful but, perhaps you forget, that discretion is my middle name. I'm in no need of reminding of how these situations are to be handled. Yours sincerely, Orion Hawking."

Oliver looked up at May, seeing the same dawning apprehension in her eyes that he felt himself.

"It's a coverup," May whispered.

"Ely's involved in Mum's disappearance. We have to call Mr Greene," Oliver said in a panic.

May grabbed her phone from the bedside table, pressed several buttons then held it to her ear. She chewed her lip anxiously as she waited for Mr Greene to answer.

"Oh, hi Mr Greene, it's May Knight-" She paused as he responded. "Yes well, actually everything's not alright, we came across a letter that suggests Ely's involved in covering up our mum's disappearance." She paused once more and Oliver waited anxiously. "Yes, it is about Hawking, how did you know-"

Oliver raised his eyebrows in surprise and signalled for her to put the phone on speaker.

She pressed a button and Mr Greene's voice burst into the room. "Yes, your grandfather told us he's been in touch with a private investigator named Hawking who's looking for your mother."

"But that's not what this letter suggests at all," May implored.

"It's all under control," Mr Greene said dismissively. "I'll give you a call in another couple of weeks."

"Wait-" May tried but Mr Greene said his goodbyes and the line went dead.

"Ely's covered his tracks. We have to confront him," Oliver said, standing up.

"What?" May said, sounding alarmed. "No, we should call the police or something."

"The police won't do anything! You saw what that Hawking guy managed to do, Mum's room was destroyed one second and the next it wasn't. How do you explain that?"

May shook her head. "I don't know." She got to her feet, looking at him anxiously. "What are you gonna do?"

"What do you think?" he said, snatching up the pieces of the letter in his fist then marching purposefully from the room.

Oliver's footfalls thundered loudly throughout the house as he hurried down the staircase. He heard the quieter steps of May jogging along behind him, trying to keep up.

Humphrey poked his head out of a corridor then hightailed it back the way he had come as he spotted them barrelling past.

"What's all that racket?" Ely called from a corridor to their right and Oliver veered down it in response.

He strode towards a door which was left ajar; a narrow strip of light stretched towards them across the floor. Oliver took a calming breath and pushed the door lightly so it swung open on creaky hinges.

He couldn't help but be distracted by the vast room that lay ahead of him. It was a library of a thousand books all organised in the most unusual way. The floor was made of crystal-clear glass that looked down upon hundreds of books which were perfectly arranged into a spiral beneath the pane. The walls were similar, rising several floors high in a circle of glass as if they were inside a tunnel of books.

Oliver opened and shut his mouth as he spotted Ely beside a glass podium in the centre of the room.

Ely smiled at them as they entered. "A little elaborate, I know, but this library is state of the art. I had it fitted last year. You can type in the book you'd like to read on this screen and it'll retrieve it for you. And if you don't know what you want you can browse the entire library right here, it's all at your fingertips."

Oliver felt the pieces of the letter in his hand and was reminded of the reason he had been looking for his grandfather. His anger had diminished slightly which, he thought, was probably a good thing. "Ely we need to talk to you about something."

Ely raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh? And what might that be?"

Oliver lifted his hand and opened his palm so some of the pieces of paper fell to the floor.

Ely paused, eyeing it with a fearful look. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a letter from a man called Hawking, addressed to you." Oliver kept his voice steady, gauging his grandfather's reaction carefully.

May looked between the two of them nervously.

"Oh, is it now? And where did you find that then?" Ely asked, walking towards him slowly.

"In your room," Oliver admitted, jutting up his chin.

Ely's nostrils flared. "You went in my room?" His voice was a little too high for Oliver to be fooled by his calm tone.

"Yes," Oliver said.

"We just wanted to know more about you. You haven't told us anything," May tried to explain.

"That letter is private," Ely said.

Oliver stiffened and tried to bite back his anger but it burst from his lips anyway. "You're involved with covering up Mum's disappearance. You know what happened to her, don't you? Where is she?!"

Ely's face contorted angrily. "How dare you? I've done no such thing!"

"That Hawking guy hid what happened to her room. It was ripped to pieces and no one believed us!" Oliver shouted, unable to control his rage.

"You don't understand!" Ely retorted.

"How can we understand? You don't tell us anything! We know nothing about our family and you've hidden anything that could tell us about them!" Oliver snapped.

"That's
enough
," Ely growled. "Go to your rooms. Both of you!"

"Ely if you'd just explain-" May begged, looking painfully uncomfortable with the confrontation.

"I said
enough
! Out.
Now
," Ely demanded, pointing towards the door.

Oliver threw the handful of paper to the floor in a shower of white pieces then stormed from the room, hurrying upstairs.

May followed Oliver closely and shut the door behind them as they entered his room.

"We need to call someone," Oliver said, turning sharply around to face his sister.

"You just threw away the evidence!" May said, sounding frantic.

Oliver swore loudly at his stupidity.

"You don't think straight when you're angry," May accused.

"I'm sorry, alright?" he snapped.

She rolled her eyes and marched out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Oliver threw himself down on the bed, balling his fists in the sheets as his mind rushed with questions.

5

A Dark Fate

O
liver had spent the rest of the day in his room, passing out finally at midnight to the sound of heavy rain which was destined to wash away the snow. He was haunted by strange dreams, making him toss and turn in a hot sweat.

He looked down to find the strange, heptagonal pendant in his hand. His name blazed on the back of it, glaringly bright.

"Oliver?" A familiar, female voice spoke.

He looked up and saw his mum. A hazy, golden light emitted from the pendant, illuminating her form but barely penetrating the darkness surrounding her.

"Mum? Where are you? Please come back."

She looked sad and lost then she vanished and the scene changed. His hand was still outstretched but the pendant was gone. Someone took hold of it and pulled him forward. He could see the back of a large figure, a man, dragging him toward a bright, blue sphere of light.

"No, stop," Oliver said, tugging his arm back as fear invaded his chest.

The man turned to him but his face was indistinct, hidden by shadow. "Come with me son."

"Dad?" Oliver said and a sense of hope grew inside him. "I thought you were dead."

"I am dead," he said and his face became clear. It was a bloodied skull but the eyes were intact, gazing at him out of boney sockets. Sinews dangled from the bone.

Oliver gasped and tried to tug his arm away once more but the skeleton dragged him on towards the light.

"No-"

A scream ripped through Oliver's dream and he awoke with a violent jerk. It sounded again and a chill engulfed him as he realised it was May.

In a panic, he ran flat-out to her room and flung the door open.

Oliver fumbled for the light switch, squinting into the darkness as he desperately tried to find it. He cursed as he gave up and hurried into the room, his eyes adjusting slightly and focusing on a solitary figure on the floor.

May was curled up in a ball, squirming and writhing. She let out another, shuddering scream and Oliver threw himself to her side, rolling her over to try and stop her body from spasming.

Panic set in and he shouted for Ely.

It seemed as though an age passed before Ely appeared in the doorway though Oliver knew it couldn't have been more than a minute.

"What's going on? I can't see a thing," Ely said, sounding frustrated.

The overhead light came on and the blood drained from Ely's face as he spotted May. He leapt to her side, suddenly a man in control. A look of concentration crossed his features as he examined her carefully.

May's eyes were open but they roamed unseeing, bloodshot and red. What scared Oliver more were the dark bruises that covered her body and the thick, black veins that slithered like snakes between them under her skin.

The marks weren't like anything Oliver had ever seen, they swirled and pulsed as if they were alive. Those that ran down her neck were larger and darker than the others and led towards the worst mark, sitting just above her heart.

"What's wrong with her?" Oliver asked frantically.

Ely shooed him away and continued examining his sister.

May gasped suddenly as the black veins reached up towards her temples.

"
Help her
." Oliver clasped May's face as if he could stop the veins himself. He felt helpless and lost as he gazed at her, his world collapsing around him.

"I've never seen anything like this. I may be able to harness the curse temporarily..." Ely trailed off and continued to mutter to himself under his breath.

Oliver couldn't make out the words.

"Curse? What do you mean? She's sick. We need to get her to a hospital." Oliver stood up, meaning to find a phone, his brain finally clicking into gear.

Ely grasped his arm tightly and pulled him back to his knees.

"You need to listen sharp, Oliver. I'm only going say this once and it's going to sound all shades of crazy, but you better trust me because I'm the only chance she's got. Got it?"

Oliver nodded, stunned.

"There's no doctor in this world who can cure May from this-"

"But-" Oliver cut in.

"No buts. You listen to me. No doctor in
this
world can help her, Oliver. But there are other worlds. And that's where this curse can be healed. I know someone who might be able to help but we'll have to go through the Gateway."

Oliver pulled away from his grandfather, gazing at him in astonished horror. "You're mad. She needs a doctor. She could
die
." The word left a bitter taste in his mouth and he felt his shoulders begin to tremble as he pressed his palms into the carpet, readying to stand once more.

Ely grabbed his arm again, not letting him get up. "I know it sounds mad and I wouldn't tell you at all if it weren't a life or death situation. But I need to get her to Aleva."

The word rang a bell in Oliver's head but he couldn't place it.

May screamed again.

"Hold her still for me, Oliver," Ely said, firmly.

Oliver didn't move, the rhythmic beat of his pulse sounding in his ears like a war drum.

"
Now
," Ely commanded, his eyes blazing at him.

Oliver wordlessly did as he was told, staring wide-eyed at the man. Ely rolled up his sleeves and waved his hands slowly over her body. May struggled beneath Oliver's grip but he held her firm.

A light appeared, glowing orange and warm from Ely's palms. Oliver blinked to try and clear his eyes of the strange hallucination he was having but the vision didn't fade.

Incredibly, as Ely's hands hovered over May, the veins receded and flowed back into the black, pulsing patches dotted across her body. They paled and decreased in size before flowing like water towards the largest patch on her chest.

Ely pulled away, out of breath.

The remaining mark faded slightly and stopped pulsing, resembling a large bruise.

Oliver fell back, gasping and looked at Ely in shock. "H-how?" It was all he could manage to get out.

Ely pulled a half smile through his deep breaths then said, "I told you so."

May groaned and her eyes refocused as she looked up at Oliver.

"How do you feel?" he asked gently.

"I'm okay. What happened? Did I fall out of bed?"

Oliver smiled with relief and pulled her into a hug. "You're fine now, you lunatic."

"I'm not a lunatic," she said, her voice muffled by his t-shirt.

Oliver laughed. Relief swept through him in a wave, washing away the fear in an instant. Ely patted him on the shoulder and squeezed May's arm.

"I think you two had better come downstairs for some hot cocoa. We need to have a little chat.

Ely exited the room and Oliver pulled May to her feet. They followed their grandfather down to the kitchen where two steaming cups of cocoa were waiting for them. They took seats around the breakfast bar and waited for Ely to speak.

"We need to talk about that mark, May. But first it's best if I give you some information that will help you understand."

"What mark? What's going on? What happened?" May asked, her brow furrowing anxiously.

Oliver described how he had found her on the floor covered in the strange bruises and how Ely had somehow saved her. She looked just as unbelieving of the story as Oliver would have been if he hadn't witnessed it himself.

She looked down at her chest where the remaining bruise was peeking out above her top and touched the mark in shock.

"Am I going to die?" she breathed, sounding panicked.

Oliver squeezed her arm. "No chance."

"Of course not. I wouldn't let that happen. I have a friend, Grelda Grey, who's a specialist in curses. There isn't a curse she can't cure, trust me," Ely said confidently.

"Curse?" May said in confusion.

Ely nodded and ran his finger slowly around the rim of his mug, letting out a breath that sounded as though he were relieved. "There are other worlds. Seven in fact, including Earth."

"
What?
" May said.

She caught Oliver's eye and the expression on his face silenced her.

Ely watched May for a moment, running a hand up into his beard and scraping his fingernails down the skin.

When she said no more, he continued. "It's called an intraverse: a universe within a universe. It's been named Heptus. The worlds are connected to each other in what you can imagine as a spiralling string."

He waved his finger in the air and a glowing, blue spiral materialised in front of them which reflected on the ceiling in flickering strands of light as if they were underwater.

Oliver leant back in his chair and May gasped. He remembered the spiral diagrams they had found and realised what they were.

"One world is connected to the next and that one is connected to another, all via Gateways."

Coloured spheres representing each world appeared along the spiral and, as the names of the worlds materialised beside them, Oliver recalled the words from the diagram.

Ely paused before continuing. "There are also mages in our intraverse: people who possess magic. As you can see, I am one of them."

His eyes flicked between the two of them, gauging their reaction.

"This is crazy," May said, blinking hard as she looked to Oliver for support. "What is this? Some sort of hologram?"

Oliver didn't answer. He had seen it twice now and could come up with no better explanation for what it was.

"It's magic," Ely stated.

May snorted and glanced at Oliver once more but he stared back at her with nothing to offer.

Ely rubbed his fingers together and lightning appeared in his palm, crackling and sparking.

May jumped to her feet. "Oh my God," she said, eyeing the magic with fear.

Oliver felt his entire body tense as he gazed at the lightning. He wondered what else his grandfather was capable of and then, in a panic, what he himself might be capable of. He stared at his hands like they were about to combust.

"There's no chance I'm a, I mean, I'm not a-?" Oliver asked in a fluster, gesturing towards Ely's hands.

"No, you're not a mage. Magic inheritance is complicated." Ely tittered, extinguishing the sparks.

"You wish." May laughed halfheartedly, keeping her eyes on Ely's hands.

"Shut up," Oliver said, his cheeks warming.

"And now I can stop looking this old." Ely chuckled and ran a hand over his face, the lines decreasing and the grey in his hair disappearing.

Oliver narrowed his eyes as he took in Ely's appearance. "This is how you looked when we first met."

Ely nodded. "Mages age a little slower than other people. I was careless not to have aged myself before we were introduced, it completely slipped my mind."

May's eyes roamed over his face. "And do you not work? You never leave the house."

"The tree within Oakway Manor contains the Gateway to the next world, Aleva. I am its Keeper. I'm employed by the Council to regulate the challenge for those who wish to go through to Aleva."

"And that's why so many people are here all the time? They're from the other worlds?" May said slowly, clearly trying to understand.

"Yes, precisely," Ely said. "Your arrival coincided with the celebrations for those who had just won keys to Earth. Anyone coming through from Aleva for the first time has to be briefed about the rules here. I've also been telling anyone who came through the Gateway that you two were unaware of the other worlds so they didn't reveal the truth."

"Why don't we already know about these other worlds though?" Oliver interjected, confronting the notion.

"A King decided long ago that Earth wasn't to know the truth. It was at a time where Britain was undergoing great change; the Normans had just taken the throne and the new King, William the Conqueror, wanted the secret kept."

"How come?" May asked, tilting her head to one side.

"The King wanted to be the first to step through to the other worlds but he was unable to complete the challenge. So, in the meantime, he established a secret society to make sure word never got out, on pain of death. However, he never passed the test and instead told his son the truth about the other worlds.

"But as each King was succeeded the secret was passed down from son to son, none of them ever managing to complete the challenge. Today, the descendants of that society still uphold it, though it is unknown whether today's royal family are aware that it exists. You, yourselves have met a member of that society."

They looked at him with confused expressions.

"Hawking," Ely revealed.

"But why did he hide evidence of Mum's disappearance?" Oliver asked angrily.

Ely frowned. "There are very few people on Earth who know about the other worlds and the society has a list of every single one. Alison is, of course, on that list. So if anything mysterious happens to someone involved with the other worlds the society will step in to ensure that nothing compromises their secret. It would appear that Alison's room was destroyed by magic and, as she seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, they have concluded that she actually has."