Echoes (Whisper Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

littering the floor. Free of the bulk of the detritus, he hurried to catch up to his friend.
     
    II
    The river was incredibly loud as they stood at its edge, looking into the swirling black waters. Cody hopped up on a cut-down tree stump and began to film the remains of the house while Scott kept a wary eye on the trees on the opposite bank.
    “Doesn’t look like much from here, does it?”
    Scott didn’t answer. It was colder down by the water and, although he was away from the house, it didn’t make him feel any better. He glanced over to the fallen tree trunk, which spanned the length of the river.
    “Who do you suppose did that?” he asked. Cody switched off the camera and hooked the strap over his neck.
    “Kids probably. Who knows?”
    Scott nodded as Cody shook his rucksack off his back and started fishing inside.
    “Drink?” he said, holding a bottle of water out.
    “No, I’m good,” Scott mumbled.
    He shrugged and took a sip himself, pushed the bottle back in beside the wire-cutters, and slung the bag back onto his shoulder.
    “You up for going across?”
    Every fiber in Scott’s body screamed out against it, yet he really had no other choice unless he wanted to be left alone.
    “Yeah, why not. Like you said, there’s nothing over there to be scared of.”
    “Come on, let’s go,” Cody said, beaming and striding towards the tree spanning the icy water. He tested his weight on the trunk, hopped up onto it and began crossing. Scott still hesitated. He glanced back at the remains of the house and then to his friend, who was now almost halfway across. He felt the wind nudge him in the back, almost imagining it was pushing him onwards. Pulling his hat tighter around his ears, Scott followed his friend onto the makeshift bridge.
     
    III
    There were no devil-worshipers or any of the other abominations Scott had imagined on the other side of the river. They were following a natural trail cutting through the trees, and now he was over his initial fears he had actually started to relax. The chill wind barely penetrated the dense tree canopy, and he was enjoying the sound of nature as it went about its business despite their intrusion. Even Cody seemed a little less intense, and was content for now to walk the barely visible trail with his hands thrust into his pockets.
    Shades of yellow, brown and green grew increasingly dense on the ground as the winter trees shed their leaves in a dry, brown rain.
    “Do you know where we are?” Scott said, almost losing his footing on a moss-covered stone buried under the layer of leaves.
    “Yeah, I think so,” Cody mumbled.
    “What does the GPS say?”
    “It’s stopped working.”
    Scott jogged to catch up, pulling alongside his friend.
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s dead,” Cody replied, handing the phone over.
    Scott examined it, seeing that the phone was switched off. He tried to power it back on to no avail. Cody looked straight ahead, leading them deep into the forest, his eyes flicking at the trees every few seconds as they went ever deeper.
    “Cody, do you even know where we are?”
    “Yes,” he muttered.
    “How?”
    “I just… know.”
    “Hey,” Scott said, grabbing his friend by the shoulder. “What’s going on man? You seem weird.”
    Cody blinked, and Scott couldn’t help but notice how dazed his friend appeared to be.
    “I’m fine,” he said, forcing a smile. “Just a little bit spooked I think.”
    Scott nodded. Earlier, such an admission of fear would have been cause for jibes or laughter, but not anymore. Not when they were standing so close to those branches which resembled long, clawed arms now they were mostly devoid of their leaves.
    “That must be it,” Cody said, nodding to a break in the trees ahead. “Let’s go take a look, and then we can get out of here.”
    The duo moved towards the clearing, neither in so much of a rush now they were leaving the overhanging canopy behind. Scott had expected to see a shrine, maybe