Excerpt from Shadow People new book in progress. The shadow people kill Ethan's mom and dad. They reveal themselves to Ethan for the first time.
They didn’t have to worry about me going to deep into the woods. Almost getting lost once was enough for me. I looked back often to make sure the camp was in sight. I could still see Mom and Dad standing by the fire talking to each other. I wanted to at least be out of sight before doing my business. “Do you think he knows?” “No I don’t think so Karen. I thought I had spilled the beans when I said you couldn’t have children but you heard him ask if he was the reason for your condition. He failed to pick up on it. I probably shouldn’t have misled him like I did but we’ll tell him someday when he’s mature enough to handle it.” “I hope we’re doing the correct thing. It’s possible he will grow up and hate us for what we’ve done. At least you didn’t lie about my medical condition. God knows I couldn’t love him more if he was my own.” “Everything will be fine Karen. I love him as much as you do. He’s my son and he will always be my son. Let’s go to bed and get some rest it will be dawn soon.” Robert and Karen failed to see the beasts until they were struck in the chest by large animals. Both were driven to the ground with the snarling creatures on top of them. Robert’s hands grasped the wolf on each side of its huge head. Karen’s screams drew his attention away from the beast that was attacking him. He looked toward his wife in time to see the animal sinking its teeth into her soft shoulder. His screams of protest were silenced as the beast on top of him broke free from his grasp ripping out his throat. Karen screamed as the wolf on top of her husband lifted its bloody face from her husband’s throat and stared in her direction. Robert was dead but her voice was silenced as the animal on top of her spoke. Her mind refused to accept the fact a wolf was speaking to her, but she heard and understood every word. “Your husband is dead daughter of Eve. No one can help you. Soon you will die also, it was this way in the beginning and so it is now.” “But why, why kill us? Ethan! Run, Ethan!” “You are the chosen ones by God our sworn enemy. Yes, call out to your son, Mother. He will die the slowest and suffer the most. Call to your son, Mother.” Karen screamed as the creature slowly lowered its head placing its razor sharp teeth around her throat. Savoring the moment the beast placed her throat in its massive jaws. Its teeth closed on her soft flesh harder and harder until the skin gave way and she was bleeding freely. The wolf eagerly licked the blood from the wound that had been created before ripping the rest of her throat out and silencing Karen’s screams. Looking back I could still see the glow of the fire but could no longer see my parents. I couldn’t remember when I had so much fun. Shoving my shorts down, I let out an audible sigh of relief as the water flow started. “Baby boy.” The voice was no louder than a whisper. The hair on the back of my neck came to attention as fear set in. No one would be out in the woods after dark. It had to be Mom playing a joke on me. “Mom, is that you? You’re not being funny Mommy.” “I’m not your momma baby boy.” “Who’s there?” “Over here baby boy, come over here.” The voice sounded too young to be mom and now they were giggling. Quickly pulling my shorts back in place I took a couple of steps toward the mysterious voice. A girl slightly smaller than me and completely naked stepped out from behind a tree. As I moved toward her she stepped back into the shadows and vanished. Feeling suddenly dizzy I leaned against a tree for support. It must have been my imagination people couldn’t disappear. Screams piercing the stillness of the night made me stumble away from where I was standing causing my legs to buckle under my own weight. Pulling myself back onto my feet I looked toward camp forgetting about the ghostly apparition I had just seen. It was my mom and dad, something was happening to my mom and dad! Fear held me paralyzed as mom’s screams slowly faded away until all was quiet. She had called out my name. Mom was in trouble and was calling for me. I managed two quick steps toward camp before a hand grasped me by the shoulder. Turning around I looked into my mom’s loving face. Like the little girl I had seen, she was completely naked. “Mom, how. . . I. . . Heard. . . Dad needs our help.” “It’s too late for him Son, we need to save ourselves.” “He could be hurt, Mom. We need to help him.” “Listen to me! We were attacked by some wild animals, it’s over your dad is dead!” “Let go of me! I have to try and help him!” “Stop it boy! Quit struggling, you have to listen to me. There is nothing you can do to help him. If we run to him they will kill us as well.” “Let go of me!” Twisting my arm free of my mother’s grasp, I turned to race toward my father. Four sets of bright blue eyes stopped me in my tracks. As they approached I moved backwards until I felt the warmth of my mother’s presence behind me. The wolves slowly advanced, blood dripping from their mouths and fur. A strange voice behind me spoke to the beasts. I collapsed to my knees as one of the wolves spoke back. “Come no closer, this one is not to be harmed. He belongs to me and we are going to take him home.” “We have feasted on the others and now it is his turn. Give him to us.” “I said he is not to be harmed. He is the one that was lost long ago; he is one of us.” and will not be harmed.” “We will wait and see. Have your way with him for now. If you are proven wrong I will be the first to enjoy the taste of him.” The wolf that had been speaking drew so close I could feel its hot breath against my skin as it sniffed my legs and neck. It licked my face before turning away to join the others. The wolves remained silent as they stood side by side. I stepped away from this woman searching her face. She looked like my mom but the voice had belonged to another. “Who are you? You’re not my mom.” “I am your true mother, Luther.” “My name is Ethan. You look like Mom but you’re not! What happened to my mom and dad?” “Your name is Luther. It has been a very long time but I would never forget you. The people you call Mom and Dad are gone. You will never see them again. Crying will do know good, dry your eyes. We need to be home before dawn, you will be coming with us.” “My name is Ethan. Why did you let these animals kill my mom and dad? You could have stopped them. Mom… ! Dad… !” “Yelling for them will do no good Luther. Come here to me.” As I turned to run the woman grabbed me by my arms lifting me onto the back of the largest animal. Grabbing some vines she tied my arms around the beast’s neck and my legs around its waist. She told me to hold onto the animal’s fur as tightly as possible. Suddenly the woman that looked like my mom leaned forward and was gone. In her place stood a large blue eyed wolf, the transformation happened so rapidly if I had blinked I would have missed it. This wasn’t happening it couldn’t be happening. I started screaming as the creature that once looked like my mother gave the command to move out. The wolf I was on did not hesitate as it raced through the night seemingly oblivious to the added weight and the screaming child attached to its back. We traveled for what seemed like hours. I could no longer force a scream from my sore throat and my tears had dried on my face. My hands and feet had grown numb from the vines having been tied to tightly. As I begged for them to stop the forest suddenly opened revealing a large house. A small niche had been carved out of the woods with the house standing in the middle. No road could be seen. Two of the wolves disappeared, women taking their place. A third wolf changed and in its place was the small girl that had called out to me in the forest. Without acknowledging my presence they went into the house. The fourth wolf changed also, I recognized her voice but she no longer looked like my mother. As soon as the vines were removed she pulled me from the creatures back and it turned into a woman also. She carried me across the porch and into the house. No lights were visible. I wondered how she kept from bumping into things. We went down a long hallway and into a bedroom. She sat me down on the bed. Even in the darkness I could tell there were no windows in the room. “The bathroom is through the door on your right. I want you to get cleaned up and go to bed Luther; we’ll talk after I have had some rest.” “I’m not Luther! My name is Ethan! I can’t see can I turn on a light?” “There are no lights, don’t worry you’ll get use to the dark. You will start to consider the darkness your friend. Forget the name Ethan, from now on you will answer to Luther and you will call me mother, is that understood Luther?” “No! I won’t do it!” The slap across my face came hard and quick. It sent me sprawling onto the floor. Slowly I got back to my feet. “Do not try my patience, Luther. I will ask you one more time. What is your name and who I am?” My name is… Luther, Mother.” “Very good, now get cleaned up like I told you and I’ll come see you later.” She turned and left my room. I could hear the unmistakable sound of the door being locked behind her. Feeling my way around the room I found the door. Even though I knew better I gave it a try, confirming what I already knew. Making my way into the bathroom I did as the creature instructed and cleaned myself up. My fingers gingerly traced the burning hand print left on my face. Lying down on the bed I cried myself to sleep. Mom and dad’s screams haunted my dreams. I could her mommas voice speaking to me “I’m momma’s baby boy, say it Ethan, and I’ll quit tickling you.” The picture vanished as I slowly woke up. Someone was sitting across my stomach holding my shoulders firmly against the mattress. As my eyes cleared I could tell it was the girl I had seen in the forest. I couldn’t believe how strong she was. A little girl had me pinned underneath her. I opened my mouth to scream, her hand quickly silenced my attempt. “Don’t scream baby boy and I’ll take my hand away. Are you going to scream? You can nod your head yes or no. Okay, I’m going to take my hand now.” “Who are you? What are you?” “I’m not allowed to tell you who I am Luther. We watched you and your family until you walked away into the woods. I followed you while the rest took care of your mom and dad. You were lucky our leader showed up when she did or you would no longer be here.” “My name is not Luther, its Ethan!” “If you want to live you better quit insisting your name is Ethan. Our leader believes you are her son and if you manage to convince her you are not, she will kill you.” “Why do you care what happens to me?” “If you really are Ethan, I don’t care. If you are Luther then you are my brother and I wouldn’t want to harm my brother. Besides I’ve never had anybody around that was about my own age. You’re the first one they’ve allowed to live, and a boy to boot. I’ve never talked to a boy before. What else do you want to know?” “Are you a werewolf?” “You are so funny. Werewolves only exist in the movies.” “But I saw you change from a wolf into a person and your mother changed into a wolf and back again.” “Who did my mother look like when you first saw her, Luther?” “She. . .she looked like my mom.” “Exactly, I think you are starting to catch on, baby boy. We can change into anything living and breathing. The little girl you see sitting on top of you is not who I really am. I liked her image so I use it quite often.” “Did you kill her, the girl I mean?” “Let’s just say she doesn’t need her shape any longer. Do you want to see what I really look like? Watch closely it happens quickly.” Before I could answer her question she vanished. I could feel her weight pressing down on me but I could not see her. She allowed one of my hands to escape and trace her form. If I looked very intently I could see the outline of a person. I could not make out any of her facial features. “This is pretty cool isn’t it, Luther?” “What are you?” “I’ll tell you that some other time. I will tell you this. If I would get caught in the sunlight while I am in my natural form I would die.” “Like a vampire.” “No, we are not vampires and the only reason we change into wolves is because they are common in this area and they are excellent hunters. If I am in the form of the girl, or an animal I can walk around all day in the sunshine and it wouldn’t bother me at all.” “So you change into a wolf to kill people so the police won’t hunt you down.” “Hey, stop it! Leave my clothes alone. I can’t. . . I’m not one of you. I don’t know how to anyway.” “It’s easy, make a picture in your mind of what you want to turn into and then imagine the picture swallowing you. Someone is coming. I’m not supposed to be here. Don’t tell and I’ll come back to see you.” I felt her move away from me as the door to my bedroom swung open. In that instance I detected a shadow move out the opening behind the woman standing in front of me. From the movement of her head I could tell she was searching the room. Her head was suddenly replaced with the wolves head. I closed my eyes to this hideous apparition. It was more than my mind could accept as I sat up in the bed with my eyes squeezed shut screaming. A vicious slap across my face quickly silenced me.
“You are very smart, maybe you are my brother. Don’t forget you may be one of us Luther. Change into something. Come on baby boy change. Take your shorts off first.”