Angel Manor (Lucifer Falls Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

away and found it spattered with blood. A chill ran up her spine as she glanced at Angel Manor.
    Why am I so afraid of something made from bricks and mortar?
    “That’s pretty creepy.” Freya looked from one friend to the other. Bam scrambled to her feet and blinked, her childlike smile faltering for a moment.
    Oliver handed them each a tissue to wipe the blood away with. There wasn’t much; nevertheless, the three friends looked at each other in mute silence for a moment. Bam’s eyes were round and the smile was frozen on her face. Freya wrapped her arms around her chest again, squeezing her bosom tight.
    “I guess we just paid for the house in blood,” Oliver said in a Transylvanian accent, dragging out the last word. He forced a laugh and put his arm around Bam, but his words made the hairs on the back of Freya’s neck stand on end. She stared at the bright red stain on her tissue, and quickly put the whole thing in her pocket, out of sight.
    “I’m a little freaked out,” Bam admitted.
    “Don’t worry about it. We’re pretty high up here, so I expect that we’ll get nosebleeds more often. Seriously, don’t blow this out of proportion, Bam. We all know what you can be like.”
    “Yeah… no.” Bam forced a smile again, her eyes dull. “I won’t make a big deal.” Bam visibly collected herself and turned away from the stones. Then, as if a switch had been pushed, her round face lit up. At that moment, Freya felt grateful that her friend had the attention span of a squirrel, a blessing which often steered Bam clear of a potential freak out.
    “I can’t wait to see the inside… you know, see what I have to deal with, being the interior decorator. I’m thinking we should stay with the Victorian style. Keep it looking authentic.” Bam’s words rang across the courtyard as she skipped ahead, dragging Oliver along with her to the front door. Freya barely paid attention to Bam’s prattling, her eyes focussed on the house as she walked forward. A slight movement from behind one of the third floor windows caught her attention and she slowed her pace.
    There’s nothing there. It’s just your imagination.

    Bam and Oliver’s chatter hummed in her subconscious, and she followed them to the large wooden doors. Freya glanced up at the third floor window again, but she didn’t catch any motion this time, and she scolded herself inwardly for letting her imagination get the better of her. Her friends’ excitement was almost tangible, and Bam jumped from one foot to the other as she stood by the front door.
    “Let’s look inside. Get out your key.”
    The key was old and made of brass, as old as the house itself, Freya suspected. With shaking fingers, Freya pushed the key into the lock and turned it. There was a faint click, and she could have sworn the door shuddered.
    All three friends held their breaths as the door creaked open to reveal the stale darkness lying on the other side. Light streamed in from behind them, reflecting off the tiny dust motes floating through the air like melancholy fairies, and the mouldy scent of old age invaded their nostrils.
    “This is not what I expected.” Oliver stood in the doorway, looking as if he’d been hit by a truck. “How long has your aunt been dead? Five hundred years?”
    Her eyes followed his, and through the beams of light, she could see what remained of the entrance hall. The furniture lay in shattered ruins, and everything was covered in cobwebs. The faded yellow wallpaper, splattered in pungent, black mould spots, curled back, showing the brickwork underneath, and a gelatinous brown liquid oozed through large cracks in the wall. The remains of two large staircases curled up each side of a large oak door. Most of the steps were missing, and those that remained hung limp like wooden teeth in a rotting mouth.
    “I… I don’t understand. My aunt died less than two months ago. This place looks like it’s been abandoned for years.”
    “I’m not