Hallow - Book 1 by Panda Bear, Amber DeVore (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📕

since that raven had talked to him, he had felt like someone was watching him. Not to mention the curious looks he kept getting from miss persistence across the room. Every once and a while Elden would catch Ash looking at him with hopeful eyes only to turn away once her gaze met his. Elden sighed tapping his pencil on his desk. Tomorrow was Halloween and Elden was beginning to second-guess himself. Maybe he shouldn’t go. The raven’s words echoed in his head.

“Beware all Hallows Eve. Beware. Beware the Hunters. Beware.”

Elden shook his head. Birds don’t talk. It must have been a dream. He, then, looked at his hand. Then again he was sort of a zombie, so talking birds couldn’t be that impossible. Elden looked outside the window of the classroom. Standing outside under one of trees was hooded figure. It seemed as though he was looking right at Elden. The zombie couldn’t help but jump back, crashing to floor with his chair. Every one was looking at him now, even the teacher who had stopped mid lecture. Elden would have been beat red if he didn’t have such a faint beating heart.

“There was a bee.” Elden lied, recovering from his embarrassment. He picked up his chair, daring a glance out the window. The figure was gone. With a sigh of relief, Elden sat back down. Some of the students giggled at his clumsiness. He gave a small smile at the teacher. “Sorry about that.” 

The rest of the school day went smoothly. He ended up eating lunch with Ash and couple of her friends. They seemed to like him because of how easy it was to talk to Elden once you got past his appearance. Ash ended up introducing him to two friends. Patrick Francis was the student council treasure. He was an all A student and kind of a stickler for following the rules. Sarah Wood, on the other hand, didn’t take any sports at the school. Instead she was taking karate classes after school. At the same time, she wasn’t very good at studying and was an average grade student.

“What’s wrong Elden? You look a little on edge today.” Ash said braking Elden’s train of thought. He couldn’t tell them that he thought someone was stalking him or else they might think he was nuts. “Don’t tell me your nervous for the party?” She said with a sly smile.

“You got me. I really don’t have a costume for the party. Only some hair dye and different color contact lens.” Elden said with a nervous laugh. Ash placed a hand on his shoulder which made him feel like electricity went down his arm. Still, he didn’t pull away. 

“Don’t worry, just use what you have. Its better than nothing, right?” Ash said. Elden nodded giving her a reassuring smile.  

The next day flew by. School was like a blur to Elden. He hadn’t seen that hooded figure last night or that day, so Elden was feeling a bit more relaxed. Patrick and Sarah also were going to the party, so it wasn’t as if Ash was the only one he would know at the party. He was actually excited to go. That creepy raven’s words were slowly being forgotten and Elden had no objection to it.

That night, Elden was getting ready. He threw on a black t-shirt and jeans, putting no real effort into making a costume. A soft knock at his door drew his attention and his foster mother walked in. She had a worried look on her face. He knew what this was about.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?” He asked casually. She glanced at he floor nervously then walked over to him. Elden was a few inches taller than her, so she had to look up a bit to meet his gaze.

“Just be careful with your hair and eyes, okay?” She said fixing his hair. Elden smile softly, grabbing her hand. He gave her small hug then pulled away walking toward the door.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” He said. She nodded as he walked out the door.

----

If Elden had to describe the house in one word, it would have to be big. It was a two-story house with a large yard and a pool in the back. Of course there had to be a pool for a swim team party. Elden mentally slap his forehead. He rang the doorbell and in a matter of seconds the door swung open. Ash was standing there in a witch hat and cape. She gave a big smile as soon as she saw Elden.

“About time you made it.” She said. “Is that your bird?” Elden glanced over and almost jumped in shock to see the same raven from the other night sitting on the rail. It was looking at Elden expectantly, if a bird could do that. Elden scratched the back of his head.

“I guess.” He said without thinking. Right after the words came out he regretted them. With that, the raven jumped onto his shoulder. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought the black bird had a smug look on its face.

“That’s cool, I didn’t know you had a pet crow.” Ash said moving out of the way so Elden could step inside. The raven fluffed up it's feathers obviously irritated by the girl's comment. Hesitantly he walked in, not really feeling comfortable having the bird on his shoulder. “Neither did I.” Elden mumbled as walked through the house toward the back where everyone was. There were a few people in the pool. The others were either standing and talking to someone or dancing.

The moon did catch on him as stood outside. He had to explain on several occasions that it was simply hair dye that turned a different color in the moonlight. Luckily no one really wanted to know how it worked, so they just left it at that. Elden made sure he stay a safe distance from the pool so no one would get any funny ideas. However, his luck didn’t last. He did end up a little too close. A girl ran by being chased by her boyfriend in a small game of cat and mouse. Elden lost his footing and tripped over a poorly placed towel. Before he knew it, he was splashing head first into the pool. The raven had conveniently fluttered away before he hit the water.

Elden sunk like lead to the bottom of the pool. His limbs and joints stiffened so he couldn’t move. ‘Crap’ Elden thought. ‘This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Hopefully someone saves me before I stay down here longer than a human can.’ He suddenly saw a figure dive in and grab his arm. Soon another pair of hands found his other arm and he was dragged to the surface. They laid him out on the ground. Elden choked out water. Even though he couldn’t died from drowning, it was a bit painful on the lungs.

“Elden, are you alright?!” Ash asked poised for CPR. Elden held up his hand to stop her. “Yeah, thanks.” He said. “Told you I couldn’t swim.” Ash blushed a bit.

“Your really heavy.” Another voice said. Elden looked over to see it was Patrick who had helped Ash drag Elden out of the water. Elden chuckled sitting up. The raven hopped over Elden and held out a wing pointing at something. Elden looked over to see the hooded figure in the crowd of kids. It was as if they couldn't see him. Elden got up onto his feet, his stomach doing a small flip. The raven flapped back onto Elden’s shoulder.

“Beware.” It whispered. Elden began to sprint. He had no destination in mind. All he knew is he had to get away from that hoodded figure. He climbed over the wood fence and began to head straight for the woods. Yes, not the smartest decision for someone being chased, but Elden really wasn’t thinking straight. It was as if he running on instinct. “Where are you going, fool?” The raven cawed.

Elden suddenly stopped, starring at the bird, who had been flying next to him. It landed on a nearby stump. “What are you and why can you talk?” Elden asked. The raven fluffed up its feathers clearly annoyed.

“My name is Age and I am your familiar. All familiars can talk.” The bird replied calmly. Elden racked his brain. He had read something like that when he was looking up his ‘condition’. Familiars were demon servants that usually took the form of animals. That was impossible, though. He never summoned or made a pact with a demon. Elden’s head was reeling now. What was going on? He thought he was just a half-dead person. Now he was some sort of witch?

Rustling in the bushes made Elden jump. Before he could move, someone came out of the underbrush breathing heavily. It was Ash. She had followed him out here. Elden relaxed a little bit. “Ash, what are you doing here?” He asked glancing the sides half expecting the hooded figure to be in the shadows. She caught her breath and looked up at him. “I should be the one asking that.” She said in a stern voice. “You just ran off like a bat out of hell. What happened back there?” She asked.

Before Elden could answer, someone jumped down from the trees. It was the hooded figure, though now his hood was down. It was a boy about two years younger than Elden. He had wavy black hair and very dark sapphire eyes. He had a bow and in an instant an arrow was in Elden’s chest. It really didn’t faze the boy since the arrow tip wasn’t iron. The boy scowled in disappointment. Ash screamed in surprise. “Run you fool!” Age cawed flapping his wings. Elden turned to run, but was caught by the boy roping him around the ankle. He was strong for his size, causing Elden to trip and fall. Next thing the zombie boy knew, the attacker was on top of him. Using the butt of his sword, he gave a sharp blow to Elden’s head. Stars dance across Elden’s vision and he blacked out.

Chapter 3 : The Other World

Elden woke up tied to a wooden post. He was feeling a bit groggy and confused on where he was. When his head cleared, Elden realized he was in some sort of prison. Not only was he tied up, but he was also behind iron bars. Great, it had to be iron of all things. The last thing he could remember was that boy. Elden quickly looked down to see a hole where the arrow had ripped his shirt. The wound, however, was already healed.

“Yes, you did capture the zombie, but was it necessary to get the Witchkin? She is probably just a second or third generation. Probably doesn’t even know she has magic in her blood.” Came a gruff voice. Elden strained forward to see who was speaking, but couldn’t get a good look. Elden struggled to loosen the rope. Even though he had monster strength, the rope was tightly bound.

“How was I supposed to know?  I felt magic from her and thought she was an accomplice. We can let her go,