Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) Read Online Free PDF

wanted attention, then she could get it from Indy easily enough. He had made no secret of the fact that he fancied her, but she always felt queasy at the thought. He wasn’t bad looking, but he was such a… doof . She didn’t want to call him anything worse because he didn’t deserve it, but she could only imagine what a date with him would look like: McDonald's followed by paint-balling, most likely. She wanted a grown-up boyfriend—someone with a car who could take her places.
    Why was she even thinking about boyfriends right now? Was it because she’d been thinking about Sorrow? Did she fancy him? He was so much older…
    And crazy. Don’t forget the crazy.
    She started to dawdle and, when she checked her watch, saw that she was running late. With a muffled curse, she picked up her pace. With the way Mr Chester had been eyeballing her from his office yesterday, the last thing she could afford was tardiness.
    A jogger dodged around her, and then the path ahead was all clear, right up to the visitor’s centre where she could take the path into town. She considered changing from a walk to a jog, but when she passed the spot where Sorrow had been lying, she lingered. The tracks in the mud were still there, and seeing such evidence made everything surreal again. What on earth had happened to that strange man she had found at the edge of the lake?
    A gust of cold air came across the lake and made her shiver. The sun retreated behind the clouds, taking all colour with it. A noise made her spin around, but when she looked, she saw nothing but an empty path.
    The breeze coming off the surface of the lake picked up, and she shivered again. Summer had left and the trees on the other side of the path rustled. The back of her neck felt like someone had pinched it. The oddest feeling, but something in her blood cried out for her to get away from there. Earlier there had been people about, but now the lake was deserted, aside from the birds which sat perfectly still on the water.
    She embarrassed herself by acting like a frightened little girl. “Hello? Is anybody there?”
    No answer. Of course there was no answer. Either she was being paranoid, or some psychopath was about to kill her—in both situations, nobody was going to answer her calls.
    God, Scarlet. You’re such a wet mess. Why would anybody want to hurt you?
    She decided the only thing to shake off the willies would be to get to work, so she picked up her pace until she was almost jogging. She probably looked stupid, but right now no one was around to laugh at her. She wished she had taken the bus, but the longer she walked, the more she told herself she was being stupid. Eventually, the sun reappeared from behind the clouds and the foreboding greys were once again replaced by colour. The breeze from the lake fell away too, and she felt foolish. Why had she been so worried?
    A man appeared up ahead, strolling down the path in her direction.
    Scarlet laughed, and was glad nobody had seen her freak out.
    The man walking towards her was tall—even from twenty metres away that much was clear. His hair was golden-blond and he wore a bright white shirt. A knight, come to rescue her from her childish fears. Whoever he was, she was glad to see him. This might be the last time she ever took a morning walk beside the lake.
    Now close enough to see the man’s handsome face, Scarlet gave a bright smile.
    The man did not return it.
    With an amount of fury Scarlet had never witnessed before, the man leapt at her like a maniac. It was only the fact that she had already been on edge, already jumpy, that allowed her to react quickly enough to dodge out of the way.
    The man whirled and snatched out again. This time he caught her by the wrist.
    Scarlet screamed as the flesh on her arm burned. The man had something in his hand—something scorching hot.
    “You’re hurting me,” she screamed, tears exploding from her eyes.
    The man showed no concern, looking at her with nothing but