Return to Red Creek by Nathan Hystad (free ebooks romance novels .txt) 📕

of her life was emerging amidst the chaos of their current situation, and her family would have to find a new way to adapt, assuming they could lay this to rest once and for all. Already she felt rejuvenated, and Brent was giving her a knowing grin.

“I just needed to feel something,” Taylor told her boyfriend.

Isabelle came up behind them and placed a hand on both of their backs, nudging them forward. “Let’s hurry this up. I can’t feel my fingertips,” she said, and Taylor started jogging forward, trying to catch up to her dad and uncle.

The forest was dense here, the land never developed in this part of town. Taylor wasn’t surprised, since even agriculture, the one half-decent industry of the region, didn’t seem to be a priority any longer. Her dad always said Red Creek was a dying town. It had been that way when he was a kid, and still was when he’d come here twelve years ago. From what she could perceive, it was only getting progressively worse.

Taylor knew it had to do with the Schattenmann. It had to be the creature preying on the town’s children. They were in some sort of stupor, like their minds didn’t quite understand the constant danger they were in. Her aunt talked about the years when the abductions were rampant, and how they’d knee-jerk for a week, then give up and move on, almost as if nothing had ever happened.

It was unnatural, and Taylor couldn’t understand why her aunt and uncle had stayed here. Isabelle was happy enough, but when this was all over, Taylor was going to do whatever it took to bring her younger cousin out of here, even if it meant dragging her to Bellton and hand-delivering her.

Taylor was trying to think about everything and anything but the wet storm around her, and the impending altercation with the creature. She knew they were going to come face-to-face with it at some point. It was out here. Trevor Hayes had seen it on numerous occasions, and she believed every word from that boy’s mouth.

She couldn’t wait for her dad and uncle to track this thing and stop it from hurting anyone else. Taylor was looking forward to going back to Gilden Psychiatric Hospital and demanding they release Trevor Hayes into his mother’s care. She was going to explain that Ms. Hayes’ son wasn’t crazy after all.

Brent was beside her as they walked quickly, flashlight beams bouncing over the soaked ground. Taylor saw another crack of lightning, and she looked behind them, something catching her eye.

“Dad! What’s that?” she asked, and Paul stopped to survey where she was pointing. They saw a light near the ground.

“Darrel, how much farther? Someone’s coming after us,” her dad asked, and Darrel shouted from ahead.

“Turn the lights off. We’re almost there. Another minute. Follow me!” Darrel yelled, and shut his light off. The rest of them did the same, and as soon as Taylor’s was turned off, she felt exposed to the night. Brent must have noticed, because he grabbed her hand, half-holding, half-dragging her along as she spotted the barn between two bare trees.

It was hard to tell, but in the darkness, the structure seemed solid, and it stood there like a sanctuary on the edge of the forest. The barn was on a slight hill, with old farmland stretching in the distance, the grassy ground undulating, and Taylor wondered if the fields had ever borne healthy crops.

Her shoe stuck in a deep muddy mess as they ran for the barn, and she stumbled, the flashlight flying through the air to land on its side. The impact jarred the on button, and a beam cast out, spreading onto the wall of the building. Taylor screamed as she saw a tall shadow project over the rust-colored wooden walls.

“Honey, it’s only me,” her dad said. He’d planted himself between the barn and the flashlight, and grabbed the light, turning it off. Her heart was racing as Brent helped her up.

Her uncle was already bearing down on a door, kicking at the lock. Brent went to his side, and together they managed to break through the wooden door enough to give them leverage as they pulled it open, the corroded hasp falling to the ground.

Isabelle waited for Taylor, and they entered together while Paul shut the broken door behind them. She instantly felt better for the amnesty from the constant rain, but it only lasted for a moment. Her dad turned a flashlight on, and Isabelle screamed at what the light revealed.

The barn was wide open inside. A few hay bales lined the walls, and in the center of the space, a ten-foot pentagram was painted in red on the dirt floor. They all stood in a row, staring at the ground. All Taylor could hear was their heavy breathing, surrounded by the heavy rainfall on the old roof. Somehow it was still sealed tightly; none of the recent storm water had broken through into the barn.

“What is it?” Brent asked, kneeling on the ground. His fingers hovered over the marking, and Taylor’s dad grabbed her boyfriend roughly by the shoulder and tugged him back, nearly sending him to his seat.

“Don’t touch that!” Paul warned. “This is a pentagram. See the candles in each of the star’s points? This is used for summoning.”

“Summoning what?” Isabelle asked, and Paul shrugged.

“How do I know? I’ve used them in a book. Taylor, do you remember Moonlit Summer?” Her dad had always loved that book, even though it was one of his lesser-selling novels.

“The one about the young witch who’d been trying to create a love potion for a guy at her college? She’d set the pentagram in the forest as directed, but what she didn’t know was that if you chanted that particular spell during a full moon, you summoned a demon. The demon appeared, and she fell in love with the perfect specimen, whom she thought had stumbled into her circle while out on a walk.