Shadow's Dangers
Authors: Cindy Mezni
Shadow’s Dangers
The Last Hope Series
Book 1
by Cindy Mezni
Shadow’s Dangers
Copyright © 2013 by Cindy Mezni
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Shadow’s Dangers, Book I, The Last Hope Series by Cindy Mezni
ISBN: 978-1-63099-002-2
Published by Evatopia Press
8447 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 401, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
a division of Evatopia, Inc.
Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting
1
A Strange Dream
Under my feet, the ground was reddish and wet. Blood. Everywhere. The rancid smell made my stomach lurch. My head ached, feeling as if someone was trying to break open my skull with a hammer. Yet, the sight in front of me was even more troubling--a black wolf. What was even more disturbing was its size, larger than any I had ever seen.
It stood a few feet away with the dark and menacing taiga just behind it. There, the screams tore through the silence. I had the urge to flee, only my limbs would not obey me. I was transfixed, confused, and scared all at the same time, but still unable to turn away from the emerald green eyes of the beast. While there was no animosity in its eyes, the red land around me and the carmine liquid that slowly dripped from its mouth did nothing to reassure me.
“Deliah...”
The sound was a mere whisper on the wind, but I recognized a male voice. I searched for where it came, but couldn't find anyone. I realized the beast wasn't here anymore, now replaced by the silhouette of a man standing at the edge of the forest. He was in the shadows, his face hidden. Immediately, I found myself drawn to him. But when I took a step in his direction, I was stopped by a familiar voice that broke the spell between myself and the stranger.
“Deliah!”
I turned to face the person who had called me. Standing just a few steps from me was Tess, my grandmother, who looked at me with tenderness. Her hand reached toward me. I wanted to take it, but I couldn't resist the need to glimpse over my shoulder just one more time to see if the man remained. He had disappeared. Forgetting him and the strange setting we were in, I went to her and felt her hand enclose over mine. Neither one of us had ever been the type to openly show affection, but this simple touch was enough to fill me with happiness. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t real. Since her death, it was the first dream I had experienced where I could actually see and touch her. Usually, I saw her far away--quiet and elusive. Her absence weighed heavily on my mind. Life was so hard without her.
“I'm so glad to see you,” she said with quavering tones.
It was only a figment of my imagination, but hearing her words comforted me.
“I'm glad to see you, too, Tess. You can't know how much.”
For some reason, she always insisted that I not call her “Grandma.” Melancholic, I smiled at the memories.
“How are you, Deliah?”
“It's hard,” I admitted after a moment. “I miss you.”
An enigmatic smile came to her lips as she gently stroked my cheek. “I know. But everything's going to be alright, you'll see.”
“I really doubt it,” I replied, gulping down tears.
“Believe me, you will be okay,” she added, but I knew that these soothing words were merely my optimistic nature trying to convince myself that everything would be fine, even if that were far from the truth.
Everyone I loved was taken from me, one after the other. My parents when I was a child, and now Tess. Of course, I still had Annabelle, my older sister. The problem was that she hated me and, after uncountable acerbic remarks from her, the feeling became mutual. The only loved one that I still had was Hayden, my best friend. But in less than two years, we would be away at college and our paths would separate. I'd be alone.
A threatening growl sounded from behind me, making me jump.
“What the...” The rest of my sentence vanished from my mind when I spun around.
The black wolf was back, except now it seemed monstrous. Its size had doubled, his lips curled over his fangs and a trickle of drool mixed with red liquid escaped its mouth. Just moments before his eyes were green, but now shone black as ink. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
“It's dangerous,” I heard Tess say behind me.
As if I had not already figured that out.
Obviously, my subconscious thought I was stupid.
“All this blood is on your hands.” My eyes widened. Not only because of the words that came out of the very mouth of the animal, but also because the blood he spoke of now appeared on my hands, as if by magic.
“Don't let the beast catch you, Deliah.”
Before I had the chance to reply, the scenery changed. The dirt road that only moments earlier had been laden in blood and led into the forest had given way to a landscape covered with a thick, snow coat. The temperature dropped and the light, white dress I wore did little to keep me warm.
The stabbing pain in my head came back with a vengeance and I dropped to my knees suddenly, feeling as if I had been struck by something. I looked around to discover from who or what came the blow, but I was alone. Tess and the wolf had disappeared once again. As I tried to get up, I saw that shards of glass covered my palms, and blood covered my skin.
“It makes no sense...”
“But it does, Deliah,” assured the voice of Tess, suddenly distant. “You just have to find the meaning behind it all. But be careful. Appearances are deceptive and dangerous. You can only trust...”
Her voice vanished.
“Who? Tess? What are you talking about?” I screamed with a sense of urgency.
Her answer never came.
The only sound was a low growl behind me. The gigantic wolf was back again, accompanied by a raven. I had only enough time to face them before they pounced on me and all sight left me.
2
Emerald Green
Ever since I woke up, I tried to remember the dream in order to grasp its meaning, but I had little success. There was no meaning, like all other nonsensical dreams that I experienced since the death of Tess.
This exercise, doomed to failure, had but one thing that was positive: it helped me to avoid the memory of Tess’s inert body. But these terrible images were determined to invade my mind again. A month earlier, during the summer holidays, my grandmother had died of a heart attack. I found her when I came back home from a friend’s birthday. She was lying on the ground, down the porch steps, her cup of tea broken by her side. No doubt she had waited for my return there, as she always used to do when I was leaving the house. It was a brutal shock to me. I’d never prepared myself for the prospect of losing her one day, naively thinking she would always be by my side. Yet, she was no longer there and the last memory I had of her, would always be that of her pale face, her eyes open, but lifeless and her skin so cold that when I had taken her in my arms, waiting for help, I knew it was hopeless.
Tess had always been the most important person in my life. She took over the role of mother after my parents died in a tragic car accident when I was four. I didn’t remember them and didn’t know whether it was a good or bad thing. With no memory of them, I couldn’t regret them, but at the same time, not having memories of them plunged me into a deep sadness when I thought about it. With Tess dead, I found myself alone with Annabelle. My only sister. The last member of my family and probably the person who hated me most in the world, for reasons known only to herself. And for the next two years, I would have to be stuck under the same roof with her.
Morose at this idea, I concentrated on the sketches that I mindlessly scrawled on one of my notebooks. Black eyes. Those of the raven and the wolf that I saw in my dreams. Their eyes were so expressive they seemed human. The sparkle that I saw in them contained nothing reassuring and I felt a cold fear overwhelm me every time I met those eyes in my nightmares.
At my age, it might seem ridiculous to be afraid of mere animals that I only crossed in my dreams. The problem was that I couldn’t help myself. There was something deeply disturbing in them. Their black eyes seemed to announce pain and horror. At my every waking, anxiety gnawed at my gut and my instinct told me that something was wrong. After a few minutes, the rational part of my mind could convince me that this was ridiculous and was probably the aftermath of recent events. However, whenever I thought about my dreams, I had to repeat like a mantra...
I have no reason to feel this fear
.
“Deliah!”
Looking up, I searched for Hayden, ignoring the scrutiny of many students in the courtyard. I quickly found her, a blonde tornado walking at a brisk pace in my direction.
“Deliah,” she repeated as she sat beside me on the bench, looking relieved.
She hugged me in her arms and, awkwardly, I did the same.
Physical contact was definitely not my thing.
I noticed that the attention of students around us had not diminished. I suppressed a sigh. I was the main topic of conversation in this place. And it was not for my achievements or because I was remarkable. It was just me...Deliah Morgan, with my long, wavy dark brown hair and normal physique; I wasn’t anything special. Except maybe my indescribable gray eyes. And it certainly wasn’t due to my personality, because nobody could be more average than myself. And yet, I was on the lips of everyone in Mensen, our small, Alaskan town. It was because of my family. Tess’s death, to be exact.
I had been relieved when people finally stopped referring to me as the sister of Anna The Terrible – as she was nicknamed by Chief of Police Collins.
The difference about the gossip this time around was that it wasn’t directed at my sister, but me. I imagined exactly what was said: “Poor girl...First an orphan and now this. Stuck with her irresponsible and sassy sister. I wonder what will become of her...” Even though I loathed the idea that these people would talk about things that didn’t concern them, I had to admit that the same question took place in my mind. What would happen to me?
I had the intuition that the current situation was a foreshadowing of a far worse future. How it could be worse, I couldn’t imagine, but that was my impression.
“How do you feel today?” inquired Hayden, ever so slightly moving away from me. A worried expression took hold on her face.
“I’ve known better days...” It was an understatement.
“Um... Sorry, that was a stupid question.”
“It’s not a stupid question,” I replied immediately, not wanting her to feel badly for me. “You’re worried for me. It’s... nice. Thank you. I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”
The discomfort disappeared from her face, giving way to a smile. I didn’t have many close friends apart from Hayden and I realized how much of a godsend it was to have her by my side. Otherwise, I would have been alone in those dark hours. It was probably very cliché, but it was indeed true. Hayden was the archetype of the idea we had of angels with her chubby and innocent face, her beautiful, golden hair and soft, dark brown eyes. Since the disappearance of Tess, she had spent every day of the holidays nearby to support me. She had even given up a few weeks with her father, who lived in Florida, for me. Not many were willing to make sacrifices like she did.
“Damn vultures,” my friend muttered, looking around us.
I quickly understood that her reaction was due to my sudden popularity. Everyone, or almost everyone, was watching us by stealth or no discretion at all.
“Ignore them. They will eventually get tired of staring at us.”
“I doubt it,” I whispered to myself more than to Hayden.
She didn’t hear me anyway. Absently, her eyes were fixed on something behind me. “Or they will find another topic of conversation...”
Curious to know what made her believe such an improbable thing as nothing interesting ever happened here, I turned around to follow her gaze. All the faces of the people in the courtyard turned toward three people. Even if they were too far away for me to really distinguish them, I knew it had to be the newcomers. During one of her visits this summer, Hayden told me that a family--a couple and their nephews and niece if I remembered correctly--had just moved to Mensen. As I stayed home for nearly all the holidays, I hadn’t had the opportunity to see any of them in town or in Palmer, the nearest town from here. I felt grateful for their arrived because the attention they commanded would detract from the prying eyes that were always on me.
I turned to Hayden.
“It’s the new family you told me about, isn’t it?”
“Yes. They arrived a few days after the heart attack...” She paused, grimacing. “Sorry, it was...”
