The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

Bella Forrest




Chapter 1



In the eerie darkness, they seemed to run for hours. Alex’s muscles strained and burned as he helped Natalie along. She could hold herself up, but at times, he felt her crumple against him with a wince, so he held onto her. The last thing he wanted was for her to fall, after what she had just done for them. Right behind, Jari and Ellabell flagged beneath the weight of carrying Aamir.

What had seemed like a reasonable distance from the vantage point of the Head’s office in fact stretched away into an apparently endless field with a dense forest running alongside, filled with the peering eyes of unknown perils. The lake still glittered on the ever-present horizon, but it did not seem to get any nearer as they soldiered on across foreign territory. It was far bigger than Alex had expected. The gleam of it seemed to go on forever beneath the twinkle of the night’s stars. Alex kept looking back, certain they were being pursued, but the ground they had already covered remained empty behind them. So far, nobody was following.

“How much farther is it?” Jari wheezed.

“Not much,” said Alex, for what seemed like the hundredth time. He had just as little idea where they were headed as the others, yet he seemed to have fallen into the role of ‘guide.’

“Do you think we’ll get there soon?” Jari pressed.

Alex tried not to lose his temper. He knew they were afraid; he felt it too. “Hopefully,” he said.

He could have sworn the lake was much nearer, and he wondered if the crackle and buzz of magical energy all around him had something to do with it, altering the perspective of the view from the Head’s window, like the stickers on car side-mirrors that said, ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear.’ It was frustrating, to see their destination and still be so far from it. He wanted to stop and take shelter in the forest to the right of them, but there was something unnerving about the deep shadows within it that he didn’t trust. Not that he knew the lake itself was safe. In this peculiar place they had landed, all bets were off; he had no idea what might be hiding over the next rise. For all he knew, the forest might be their safest bet, yet he was drawn to the glitter of the lake like a moth to a flame.

Finally, as he felt the blood pulsing in his ears and the heave of his chest threatening to give in, the lake came slowly within reach. Listening intently, he thought he could hear the susurration of waves gently lapping against the shore, although the sound of his rushing, overworked blood sounded a lot like that too. He hoped it was the former.

The sight of it coming closer gave him a sudden surge of energy, and Natalie hopped along wearily beside him. She was relying on his strength to hold her up more and more as the minutes ticked into hours.

“We’re almost there,” murmured Alex, glancing down at the exhausted face of his friend. She gave him a tired smile as they covered the last few hundred yards.

The crescent moon shone down with a thin beam of pale light as they arrived at the lakeshore. Alex paused for breath, certain now that the soothing sound was coming from the water lapping against the beach, which was formed from glistening white pebbles that shone strangely in the moonlight. Alex felt a prickle of unease; he couldn’t be sure whether the odd pebbles were made of rock or bone.

The very presence of the lake itself, so close now, also made Alex uneasy. It was as if he could feel his ancestors watching him from beneath the shimmering surface. Standing beside it, he couldn’t take his eyes off the vast expanse of deep, dark liquid as he remembered what lay under the water. The lake made him think of the macabre beauty of a cemetery. He supposed it was one, in its own way. Somberly, taking in the stretch of water, so much larger than he had ever imagined, he wondered just how many bodies were buried there. Impulse compelled him to mouth a silent prayer as he looked upon their final resting place.

Setting Natalie on the ground, he glanced behind once again to check for pursuers. There were none, only Jari, Ellabell, and Aamir bringing up the rear.

Holding his sides as he dragged oxygen into his searing lungs, Alex turned and gazed outwards. A gentle breeze, smelling slightly of ozone, washed over his face, cooling it. Squinting slightly, he tried to make out the other side of the lake, but he couldn’t see it in the faint light of the moon; it was too far away. He shifted his gaze toward the shore they were standing on, which he could see a fair way up, until it disappeared again in a line of twinkling water. In the overhanging shadows of the thick forest that ran alongside, Alex could make out a shape among a thicket of trees. It jutted out slightly, catching the eye.

“Wait,” announced Alex.

Jari and Ellabell had been about to put Aamir down, and their groans were irritated at the sound of Alex’s instruction.

“What is it?” Jari asked, re-shouldering Aamir’s arm. His forehead was slick with sweat, and his sweatshirt was drenched. Ellabell wasn’t faring much better.

“A building, I think,” replied Alex, pointing to the manmade shape within the thicket of trees.

It wasn’t too far from where they stood, which seemed to curb Jari’s annoyance. Their current location was too out in the open; they could all feel it. There was an unnerving sense of being watched, or that they would be snuck up on in their sleep, if they stopped where they were, just on the edge of the lake.

“Fine,” muttered Jari. They set off toward the hidden structure in the tree line.

As they reached it, Alex could see it was a tumbledown shed of sorts, set back in a secluded clearing. A thin line of trees stood in front of it, giving it some camouflage. Behind it spanned the same dense forest, but it did not seem as menacing here, where the moonlight glanced in and brightened the place. It looked as inviting as any spot they were likely to find.

The door to the ramshackle hut was locked with a rusted padlock, and, though it would have been nice to sleep indoors, Alex wasn’t sure they should risk the noise of breaking it, just to sleep inside a dirty shed. Besides, it was a clear, warm night—the perfect kind for sleeping beneath the stars.