Dark Hollow Road (Taryn's Camera Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

it got too cold. Slipping her jacket on, she took what she needed and set her easel up on the wooden floors. It had been awhile since she’d painted trees, or a nature-based landscape of any kind, but she was looking forward to the challenge of finishing it. The sky was plain, devoid of color, and not a cloud broke up the monotony.  But the dreariness gave the surrounding fauna an almost ethereal appearance, some branches and brown leaves still holding on fading into the whiteness with the evergreens stark against the sky, reaching into the white like claws. There would be fog tonight, she could smell it, but for now it was clear. The air was as silent now as it had been the night before, but thick. Heavy. There was a dampness, too, and it closed in around her and settled on her hands and hair, dragging her down until she felt rooted to the porch beneath her feet. 
    She painted for nearly a half hour without any distractions, lost in the pale world she created on her canvas. Matt was inside doing something, but she didn’t feel guilty leaving him alone. He liked his solitude as much as she liked hers, and he was never bored with his own company. He’d read, work, or play his guitar. He wouldn’t watch television because that wasn’t really his thing, but he’d find some way of entertaining himself. She’d talked to him earlier about her needing some time by herself, and he said he understood. With that being said, he’d left the curtains open so that he could look out at her.
    The wind was picking up, causing the branches to sway with more potency. Fallen leaves swirled around on the ground, a multi-color dance moving across the dead grass in a frenzy. Taryn’s hands were growing colder, her joints already stiffening and throbbing from the damp air. She was just about to start packing it in when she was once again struck by the scent of smoke. It wasn’t an unpleasant aroma as it wafted through the trees and curled around the porch, lapping at her. It smelled of fresh wood and something else–maybe aluminum or metal. She couldn’t see any smoke but it was so powerful she coughed a little, sputtering into the wind.
    “Matt!” she called in the direction of the window, hoping he would hear her. She was afraid to move, afraid the moment would be lost. “MATT! Come here for a second, please!”
    She could hear his footsteps coming towards the door and saw the handle turn just as a wail, loud and female, pierced the air.
     
     

     
     
    “ I looked around,” Matt shrugged. “There’s nobody out there.”
    “You heard the scream,” Taryn declared as she paced back and forth across the living room floor. “It was closer this time. And there was smoke.”
    “I agree about the scream,” he drawled, a rare hint of accent creeping into his normally mild, controlled voice. He sat back on the small loveseat, his hands folded neatly in his lap. “It sounded like it wasn’t far from the porch. But there wasn’t anyone there. As for the smoke, I didn’t get that I’m afraid.”
    “It was a girl, though, right? And not something silly like a coyote or bobcat or whatever could be out here in the woods?”
    “I’m not up-to-date on my Georgia wildlife, but I’d venture to say it was a female,” he agreed.
    Taryn paused and gazed out the window. The fog was setting in now, like she knew it would. She could barely make out their car as the low clouds swooped in and covered everything in their path. “Do you think she sounded… scared?”
    “I don’t know,” he replied, studying her. She could see his uneasiness. “Maybe. It could’ve been a cry for help. Or…”
    “Or what?”
    “It could’ve been something else. We don’t know , Taryn.”
    “It’s happening again, I know it,” she muttered, mostly to herself. She felt keyed up, energized. There were sparks in the air now and they were coursing through her skin and veins. She felt like her entire body was on fire, pummeling her to something she