Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) Read Online Free PDF Page A

walked over to the dressing table. There was a selection of necklaces hanging on a knob by the mirror. He picked one up and let it run through his fingers, the small crystal on one end glistening as it caught the light.
    May sighed. "Is this it then? Mum's really gone?"
    Oliver frowned and turned back towards her. "Just until they find her."
    "But where is she? What if something awful's happened to her?" May's eyes watered but she didn't cry. "That Hawking guy, her room - what if we told Ely? Maybe he'd be able to convince the police?"
    Oliver picked at the gem hanging on the chain in his hand, avoiding her eye. "Why would he believe us? All the evidence is gone."
    "But we could try ," May implored.
    Oliver dropped the necklace back onto the surface and looked up at her. "He'll just think we're making it up, like everyone else does."
    She sighed in resignation and Oliver began rummaging through the drawers in the dressing table, curious to see more of his mother's possessions.
    "We don't have to start school right away, do we? I can't bear facing people just yet," May said, sounding exasperated.
    "At least you make friends easy. I think it took me about four years to make friends at our old school," he exaggerated.
    May laughed. "That's because I actually attend school though," she said with a grin.
    Oliver shut the final drawer, letting out a breath of frustration. "They're all empty."
    "I guess Ely must've cleared out Mum's stuff to make room for ours," May said with a shrug.
    "I'd like to see her things though," Oliver said, a mischievous glint entering his eye. "I wonder where he put them."
    May raised her eyebrows at him. "Maybe he'll show us."
    "Or we could just have a look around ourselves?" he suggested.
    "I don't know if he'd be very happy with us snooping around," May said doubtfully.
    Oliver walked purposefully towards the door. "Well if he has nothing to hide he won't mind us exploring, will he?"
     

3
    Hidden in the Dark
     
    T here were two other doors in the corridor so Oliver tried the first one, just along from his mother's old room. He turned the handle but it was locked.
    Oliver moved to the room opposite and, with a surge of excitement, found it open. He peered inside, finding a gloomy bedroom with heavy curtains drawn across the window and a thick, musty smell in the air.
    Oliver ran his fingers across the wall, feeling the grooves of textured wallpaper beneath his touch. He discovered a light switch and flicked it, illuminating stacks of boxes piled on the floor and atop a bed.
    "Should we go in?" May asked, peeking under his arm.
    Oliver nodded and crept into the room. He brushed his fingers across a box on the bed and found a layer of dust deposited on it. A tingle ran up his spine as he got the distinct feeling that the room was somehow sacred, perhaps having remained untouched for years.
    He pushed his fingers under the lip of the closed box and lifted it but the cardboard resisted, unmoving. He frowned and tugged at it harder but the box wouldn't open.
    "That's weird," he muttered.
    "What is?" May asked, hovering by the doorway.
    "I can't open it." He tried the box beside it but was met with the same problem.
    He lifted one onto the floor and knelt down beside it. Despite pulling hard, the cardboard didn't even tear.
    "Leave it," May insisted through gritted teeth.
    He turned to find her looking at him anxiously. "Aren't you curious?"
    She nodded and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, but it doesn't look like Ely wants us going through this stuff. He's glued the boxes shut."
    "If it were glue I could rip it," Oliver muttered thoughtfully.
    "Olly, come on ," May said with a slight edge to her voice.
    He rolled his eyes and exited the room. "Do you reckon we might have another uncle or aunt we don't know about?"
    "Maybe," May replied, sounding hopeful. "We should ask Ely."
    They descended to the floor below and tiptoed down a corridor that ended in a single, large door. Oliver turned