Igniting the Shadows Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Igniting the Shadows

  By Rebecca Jayne Heipel

  Copyright © 2018 by Rebecca Jayne Heipel

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

  First Printing: 2018

  ISBN: 978-0-9948656-3-2

  https://www.facebook.com/thestrugglewithinRJH/

  https://twitter.com/TSW_rjh

  http://rebeccajayneheipel.wixsite.com/author-blog

  Ordering Information:

  [email protected]

  I can never thank my Grandma Lavone enough for all of her love and support. Her continuous poking and prodding has keep the pen in my hand all these years. Not a day goes by where I don’t miss you.

  CHAPTER ONE

  WHEN LIAN OPENED her eyes she found that she was not at home but somewhere outdoors where the air was cold and dark. She was enveloped in a black mist that felt sticky and heavy to the touch, reaching as far as she could see and feel. The mist felt like thick cotton candy that clung greedily to her body. She tried to push it away but it stuck, gathering around her body. The sticky strands were growing thicker with each passing moment. She felt her heart jump and her throat clench tightly as panic began to set in. A scream gurgled from the depths of her being and she fought back the overwhelming sense of fear that threatened to engulf her. She sucked in a breath of air, but felt her throat clogging with the mist that enshrouded her. She pushed at it frantically, ripping it away from her body and throwing it to the side. But watched it grow instead of shrink. She stepped forward, as if she could walk away from it. Her feet trembled beneath, causing her to trip. She was suddenly falling over, her arms pinned by the mist and unable to brace her impact.

  She let out a shriek as she hit the ground, more softly than anticipated with the mist quickly evaporating. Rolling over onto her back, she was tried to push away the mist that no longer existed. Opening her eyes, she realized that the imminent danger was gone and pulled herself to a partial sitting position. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tight. Glancing around, her eyes darting from side to side. Suddenly she back-pedalled herself until she slammed into a tree. It shook above, its leaves gently fluttering down around her. She was still gasping for air when she touched her arms and realized that the mist was gone. Her heart began to slow and her breath grew steady and calm. She lowered her head into her knees and took in a long, deep breath.

  After a few moments she looked up at her surroundings and found herself in a forest. A very dense forest with very little light trickling down through the foliage. The tree trunks were a mottled orange colour and the leaves were a mixture of red, yellow and green. She felt a vague familiarity with them, but couldn’t remember where she had seen trees quite like these ones before. She leaned back against the tree, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. As she slowly let her breath out she opened her eyes again and looked down at herself. To her surprise she found that she was wearing a dress; a white paisley dress with pale yellow flowers on it. On her feet were black ballerina flats, neither of which she recalled ever owning. But like the trees, they had a vague familiarity to them. She slid her hands up her body to her chest, or lack thereof, and then her face. She was either dressed as a Lolita or was a child. Her hair was much longer than she had ever had it before and was a mixture of blue, red and black.

  She got to her feet and shouted. But the foliage absorbed all of the surrounding sound so her voice barely came out as no more than a squeak. There was no noise at all. The forest was eerily silent and void of any life other than her own. She felt tiny and insignificant, and not just because she had physically shrunk.

  Ahead of her, she saw a tiny handmade doll, laying on the ground. She picked it up and as she looked it over, she again felt a nagging sense of familiarity. She had seen this doll before. Had played with it before. This entire forest and everything in it was like taking a creepy walk thru deja vu land.

  She was unsure of how she had gotten here but determined to figure it out she set forth to find her way out of the forest. One of these, she thought to herself, must lead out of the forest as she perused her overgrown choices. She started down one, the doll hanging from one hand.

  Time passed, but she was uncertain of how much. It neither got lighter nor darker in the never ending forest. She had convinced herself that it wouldn’t be that long of a walk, but it appeared that she was wrong. The silence nagged her, chirping incessantly in the back of her mind, like a warning bell that wouldn’t stop. There was something wrong about the silence, but she didn’t know what. She found herself lost in her thoughts, her mind wandering aimlessly. The doll swung softly in the air at her side and it made her happy. The smile that sat on her lips had not been there in such a long time.

  The silence was suddenly broken by an unimaginably loud snap from behind. She whipped around to see what had caused it but saw nothing. Another snap caused the bushes to her left to rustle. She called out to it, knowing how foolish it was, but unable to stop herself. She was rewarded with more silence. A branch snapped to her right and she turned to face it. This one was much closer. The air around her grew cold and she could see her breath as she exhaled. Her heart began to jump about frantically in her chest. Every alarm that existed was screaming at her from inside her head.

  She clenched her eyes closed tightly, willing herself to not cry, but felt the tears beginning to well up. Before she could open her eyes she felt the sticky breath of something behind her. Their breath was hot and heavy on the back of her neck. She willed her eyes open and she stifled a gasp as a single nail traced along the back of her neck. She tried to speak but could only choke and gurgle. Her body trembled and shook with fear. The hand lifted a section of her hair and inhaled deeply, letting the hair fall in strands as it slid out of their fingers. She could feel the person behind her lean in close, their breath now hot against the left side of her face.

  A soft, feminine voice whispered into her ear, “Run,” and she immediately took off.

  Her arms quickly pumped along her side and her feet flew like Hermes wings. She heard the woman behind her laugh and she risked a glance over her shoulder. She saw a tall woman with hair like hers, wearing a crop top and a long skirt with a slit up the side. In her right hand was a scythe that stood as tall as the trees. She slowed down as she realized that the woman was just standing there. She wasn’t even attempting to give chase. The woman abruptly stopped laughing and locked eyes with her. She slowly shook her head from side to side, as if indicating that Lian shouldn’t have stopped running. With a flash she was suddenly in front of Lian, her long bony fingers wrapped tightly around Lian’s small childlike throat.

  The woman cackled. An evil smile danced on her lips as she said, “I’m going to get you.”

  Lian was tossing and turning in her bed when Bruce’s sturdy hand gripped her shoulder and shook her awake. She flailed onto her back, her long black hair grazing his chin slightly, and stared up at him wide eyed. Her skin was paler than normal and her petite frame looked thin beneath her bedsheet, the blanket having fallen to th
e ground in the middle of the night. His lopsided smile grinned back at her like an annoying beacon. His perfect hair was honey blonde, chin length and wavy. His face was clear of acne and his lips the plumpness all women dream of.

  “Well, isn’t this a first? I’m ready before you are.” Bruce said with a laugh.

  Lian groaned and rolled over onto her side. Bruce pulled her back to face him, his forehead crinkling as his eyebrows furrowed. He eyed her over carefully, placing a hand on her forehead. As he touched her cheeks, he sighed at how cold and clammy she felt.

  “What time is it?” Lian mumbled, pulling the blankets up to her chin.

  “Nine am. Get up, we need to leave soon.” Bruce said squishing her mouth into a fish pucker.

  Lian pushed his hand off of her face and blinked her eyes. Yawning, she did a full body starfish stretch and sat up. She scratched her head and got out of bed, grabbing her journal as she did. Bruce stood up and walked over towards the bedroom door. Lian pulled the sheets off of her bed and dropped the pile into his arms.

  “Haven’t you more important things to do first?” Bruce said, questioning her actions.

  Lian pointed towards the closet, pen cap clamped between her teeth, as she began to scribble in her journal. Opening it he discovered two large suitcases, one laptop bag and a small backpack. She pointed to the bedroom door and waggled her finger at him. He rolled his eyes with a laugh and left. By the time he had returned from depositing the bedding in the hallway laundry chute, Lian was already in the shower and her journal sitting on her nightstand. He loaded himself up, backpack slung over one shoulder, laptop bag in the crook of his arm, the suitcases being dragged behind and left the room.

  Seconds later Lian popped out of the bathroom, dressed only in a towel, her wet hair dripping over the floor precariously. She stood in front of her closet, smiling at the emptiness of it. Its only contents, aside from a bunch of empty hangers, was her outfit for the flight. A pair of tight dark blue skinny jeans, a flowered button up blouse and a hooded pullover with their high school logo of an eagle on it.

  Lian let the towel fall to the ground as she reached out for her clothes. Her right hand began to shake slightly and she clutched it to her chest, focusing her breath and willing it to stop. It passed by quickly and she dressed, humming softly to herself. She disappeared briefly back into the bathroom as Bruce came back into the room. He held a mug of green tea in one hand and a cheese croissant smothered in Nutella in the other hand. He placed them down on her desk and picked up her towel. The sound of a hair dryer could be heard from her bathroom. He walked over to the open window past her bed and looked out at the tree that spanned their adjoining properties fondly. How he would miss crawling between their bedroom windows, he thought to himself. Although, now both eighteen, they seldom did that as much as they once had. He closed the window gently and turned to face Lian who was smiling brightly.

  She glanced at her watch and then back at Bruce. She flashed a giant grin, her pearly white teeth sparkling. “Still have ten minutes to before our taxi arrives.” She grabbed the tea and croissant and inhaled them both. She looked back at her watch, “Eight.” She grabbed her journal from the nightstand and her towel from Bruce and dashed off into the hallway, calling after him to hurry up.

  He raced after her, leaning over the stair railing. “Forgetting something?” he asked.

  She shook her head before noticing the damp towel still in her hand. She tossed it up at him and he leaned over snatching it in the air.

  He put it in the chute and made his way down the stairs where Lian was impatiently tapping her feet. “Don’t you want to say goodbye?” he asked her softly. “We are about to cross the ocean for an undetermined amount of time.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and pranced out the front door. “Nope. I don’t see the point.”

  Bruce sighed and went to follow her out. He stopped, holding the door in his hand. He could hear her parents in the kitchen eating their breakfast. He gave one last look and closed the door behind him.

  Lian’s nose was pressed firmly against the glass of the passenger window. As the taxi pulled up to the international departure gates she flung the door open and stumbled onto the sidewalk. Bruce apologized to the driver as he handed him some cash and got out himself. Lian had already disappeared into the terminal as Bruce and the driver emptied the trunk of the taxi onto the curb. He shrugged his backpack over his shoulder, grabbed all three of their suitcases and made his way into the airport.

  As the doors closed behind him, he stared at the vastness of the terminal. While he had been in the airport before several times with his mother to pick up his father from business trips, it was the first time he had ever flown himself. End to end rows of people in long lineups, impatiently waiting for their turn to hand in their luggage at the check in counters. People sat on benches drinking expensive coffee while others hugged, sadness choking their voices as they said their goodbyes. Looking to his left he could see Lian, bouncing from foot to foot, her backpack jiggling with each step, her laptop bag swinging from side to side. Her skin had gotten more colour in it since they left and her long black hair, normally tied up in intricate braids, was loose, swaying back and forth. Her mere 5’3” stature compared to his staggering 6’2” normally made her look like a tiny doll in comparison, but today with her energy she appeared almost equal to him in height. She was biting her lower lip, attempting to maintain a poker face of calmness and serenity, but her constant fidgeting and light hopping from foot to foot kept creeping back as did her enormous grin.

  Bruce let go of the suitcases and stood upright, his lean muscles flexing as he did. She noticed the beginning of week-long scruff on his face. He ran a hand thru his hair, pulling it all in neatly until the breeze from the sliding doors caused it to fly off in all directions. He gave her a bored look and feigned a yawn.

  Lian swatted his shoulder playfully while grabbing her suitcases. “I know you’re just as excited as I am.”

  “Well, maybe. Just a little,” he said. He held his fingers so close together that a piece of paper wouldn’t fit between them. She went to bat his hand down but her body began to involuntarily twitch. It started as a small tremor in her right hand, but quickly moved through her right arm and into her left.

  Her laptop bag slipped through her fingers but Bruce caught it easily. “Klutz much?” he teasingly mocked her, trying to keep the tone light as he put her laptop bag under his arm.

  She stopped twitching almost as quickly as it had started. She tried to slug him in the shoulder, but he easily dodged her punch and grabbed her arm instead. Bruce quickly grabbed Lian’s other arm and squeezed the two of them together at the wrist. She gave hi a dirty look as he moved both of her hands into one of his, then shrieked as he began to tickle her side. She kicked at his leg and glanced at her laptop which was now sliding down his side. Still holding her hands he placed the laptop between his knees and resumed tickling her. She squirmed about, trying to fight back, but was unable to pull free from his grasp. Her cheeks grew beet red and tears crept out of the corner of her eyes, streaming down her face as she squealed in mock anger.

  A voice crackled over an intercom, announcing that business class for the flight to Engelberg was scheduled to start boarding in twenty minutes. The flight attendant talking asked that all passengers please approach the boarding gates. Bruce and Lian abruptly stopped and looked straight into each others eyes, their matching grins growing wide on their faces.

  “That’s us!” Lian shrieked. She pulled her hands free from the momentarily distracted Bruce, scooped up her belongings, ran for the check in counter with Bruce doing his best to keep up with her. Their line was short and they quickly handed over their suitcases then made their way thru security.

  As Bruce put together the contents of his backpack Lian pulled her boarding pass out of her pocket and waved it in the air above her head like a toddler. “C’mon, Bruce. I want my free drinks!” She called out to him. He laughed, shaki
ng his head slightly as he followed her towards the boarding gate. She continued to giggle as their passes were scanned and then they bounded down the walkway to the plane.

  Midway, Lian abruptly stopped to look out the window. Her excess energy quickly dissipated as she pressed her face against the glass and looked from side to side.

  Bruce laughed and tousled her hair. “What are you, five?”

  She rolled her face away from the glass and gave a little pout. “Just enjoying the view one last time. We won’t be back for a long time.”

  “Who knows, we may never come back here,” he said solemnly, then laughed. “Unless we flunk out!”

  She put her hands on her hips and gave her best preteen poser stare. He tried to match her seriousness, but failed miserably, cracking up. He was still laughing when she turned on her heels and ran down the corridor. He watched as she disappeared into the airplane before casually strolling down towards the plane himself. By the time he caught up with her, she had changed into her pyjamas, had the complimentary headphones dangling around her neck and was fully wrapped in a blanket. Her backpack was at her feet, her laptop bag on her lap and she was holding two flutes of champagne in her hands.

  He put his bag in the compartment above her head. “Don’t waste time do we?”

  Bruce slid into his seat and buckled himself in. Lian took a sip of her champagne, pondered, and then took a sip of his. Bruce snatched the glass closest to him and playfully rolled his eyes at her.

  He made himself comfortable as he buckled in and turned to her, a serious look in his eyes. He held his champagne up in the air between them, “To interning in Switzerland.”

  She smiled back and held her glass up high, “To being the best paramedics ever.”