The Amber Light (Black Acres Book 3) Read online

  This was where Dakota had met her end.

  Like Kim, she had gone running from her precious baby. She'd taken refuge in the closet of this room and had, as Kim would soon do, met face-to-face with the thing.

  The closet door had been pulled open from above, and as Kim's eyes were inadvertently distracted from the corpse, she noticed the pale, bare figure of the abomination clinging to the ceiling as if by some supernatural magnetism. Its hands searched the ceiling, the figure defying gravity, as its tendrils of long, black hair drifted downward to probe the ground and search for prey. It gave the impression of a spider, of an enormous pest, but operated in thick lengths of hair rather than webs to trap its victims. And the two, large, dead eyes that festooned its stunted visage were every bit as nauseating to her as the eyes of a massive insect.

  She sank further against the corner, pressed her body into the wall like she could somehow disappear into it altogether.

  But it didn't work.

  The hair slithered into the closet where she crouched, taking firm hold of her like the grasping tentacles of an abyssal titan. Then the thing dropped down onto the ground, secure in the knowledge that its prey was held fast.

  Unnaturally, slowly, the monstrosity leaned down towards her, its dead eyes seeing nothing but the fleshy nubs answering for nostrils flaring up wildly as it did so.

  It leaned further.

  Further.

  It was face-to-face with her now, and the thin line of a mouth, delineated only by a streak of flabby, white flesh, could be seen to part. From behind it there rang a series of discordant wheezes and hushed vocalizations. And then, full-force, came the screaming, gasping cry she'd heard in those night-sainted woods so many nights previous. The sound hit her like a train, sending a shudder through her body like a seizure. Her limbs were splayed out, slapping stupidly against the inside of the closet door. She felt suddenly drunk with fear, incapable of controlling her body.

  Kim couldn't pull her eyes away. Her mind, scrambled and rapidly racing away from her, conjured a final thought before she was ushered into peaceful oblivion.

  What they found in the woods... it wasn't a baby. Marshall was right.

  With her last breath, Kim gave a scream that shook the walls of the small room.

  Then, in the next moment, silence.

  Perfect silence.

  Chapter 11

  At the sound of the scream, Julian bolted up from the sofa. “W-what the hell?” He exhaled sharply, struggling to stand and nearly toppling over a coffee table. “B-babe?” he called, pawing at his eyes and searching the room.

  There was no trace of her.

  Feeling a wave of panic strike him head-on, he worked a hand through his hair and tossed the blankets aside. Her spot on the sofa was cool; she'd been gone from there a while. “Fuck,” he muttered, kneading at his brow and glancing into the kitchen. “What has she gotten into now?” He cleared his throat and jogged to the foot of the stairs. “Babe? Are you up there? What's wrong?”

  Silence.

  Julian gripped the bannister, appraising the stare of the carved cherubs with disdain. “Honey?” He screamed it more than anything, sure in some innate way that she was too far away from him to hear. She didn't go outside, did she? If she got into trouble out in the woods, then there's no way I'll find her at this hour. He hesitated on the first step for a time, wondering if he'd even heard a scream to begin with. Had it been a dream, maybe? The sound of some bird or animal?

  No. He gulped, knowing fell well that it'd been Kim screaming. It'd been too real to be a dream, too raw. And it'd come from somewhere in the house. The basement, maybe? Slowly climbing the stairs, he resolved to have a look around the upper story first.

  “Kim, babe? Are you up here? What's the matter?” His voice wavered, catching in his throat as he rounded the top of the stairs and peered down the hall. Everything was still, quiet.

  Too quiet, maybe.

  Licking his lips, he did his best to keep his head on straight. Don't go to pieces, acting paranoid like her. She probably got hurt. Maybe fell, or cut herself again. Saw something through the window that spooked her. Carefully, as if expecting someone to jump out at him at any moment, he started down the hall, fists balled.

  Julian set about throwing open each door, searching every room along the stretch. First was the upstairs bathroom. He stepped inside, one eye on the hall he left behind him and the other focused on the newly-opened door. Holding his breath, he found the room and shower clear. He paced around, spooked at the sight of his own reflection in the mirror, and then hurriedly shuffled out.

  Next, he ambled back into the hall and selected the first of several closed doors. This one led to his study. It was windowless, dark inside.

  Shoving open the door to the study and hesitating a bit before entering, he got a look at the space. The light from the hall elucidated a series of moving boxes within. A desk, a chair. Nothing looked especially out of place. Slowly, he stepped through the threshold, glancing underneath the desk and making his way to the closet, which sat curiously ajar. “Babe?” he ventured, his mouth feeling suddenly dry. “You in there?” He almost backed out of the room right then, thinking it pointless to search. Surely she was in the cellar, or in the back yard. Instead, he reached out to the closet door and slowly shoved it open, the carved motif on the door feeling sharp against his fingers.

  Then, his lungs filled nearly to bursting, Julian fell over himself and onto a few boxes.

  Scrambling across the floor, eyes wide and face white, he caught sight of Kim within the closet, her limbs hanging loosely at her side, her forehead pressed to the wall.

  Her eyes were blank; the only luster in them was that which was reflected from the dim hall light.

  That the stirrings of life were gone from her was apparent from the very first glance, but still he dove forward and began to shake her, trembling as her form fell slack into his arms. Her flesh was cold, unnaturally so. It didn't seem possible that she could have grown so cold in such a short time. “Kim!” he called out in vain, caressing her face roughly and searching her limp wrists for a pulse. Her black hair spread across his arms in a sumptuous coil as he set her down on the floor, backing away.

  She was gone.

  Dead.

  Julian could scarcely stay upright, his face falling into a series of twitches and his eyes stinging. Stumbling out of the room, banging his knees to bleeding against the nearby desk, he fell upon the floor and scrambled haphazardly to the top of the stairs. He needed to call someone, an ambulance. No... no, it's not too late. It can't be. She'll pull through. I'll get the paramedics out here... they'll save her yet, goddammit.

  He all but fell down the stairs, his feet unwilling to work properly. By the time he reached the kitchen, his face was stained in tears and his hands were trembling too hard to easily dial the number. Sprinting from there, phone in hand, he pressed it to his ear and waited for the connection to stabilize. The receiver crackled in his ear as the phone slowly processed the call and he reentered the study, standing once again before the closet door. I'm coming, babe. I'm coming back for you. I'm going to get you some help.

  Something was different, however.

  Julian dropped the phone, the thing clattering into pieces just as an emergency dispatcher answered.

  The closet was empty.

  Stunned into silence, Julian couldn't even find it in himself to call out to her. He surveyed the dark room slowly, taking care not to overlook an inch. His lungs burned, his heart hiccoughed and seized.

  Still, he found no sign of her within the room.

  That she'd been dead only moments ago he was sure.

  That she was now nowhere to be found he was equally certain.

  To be continued...

  Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this volume of Black Acres. Look for the final volume, coming soon. And remember that you can read the series for free in Kindle Unlimited!

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