Chasers by Lisa Logue (best free ereader txt) 📕

As a child, you might have been afraid of the dark. It might have stemmed from that weird creepy-crawly feeling skidding over your skin while you sat in a room alone. Or it could have been from seeing what looked like shadows dance across the walls and ceiling, filling your chest with a suffocating feeling of fear. Your parents would come in and check all of the normal places- under the bed or in the closet- just to prove that nothing was there. You believed them and felt a little better, but you still felt that icky tingle on the back of your neck.

For the most part, your parents were right. There wasn't anything under the bed or in the closet and they couldn't see anything lurking around when they flipped on the light. Sometimes you would even wave off the fear as childish and, eventually, you'd forget why you were afraid in the first place. All would be well and you'd snuggle under your covers and drift off to sleep.  

The truth, however, isn't quite as easy to forget. Some of those children, and maybe even you, were lucky enough to be afraid of the dark for a short time, only to realize there really wasn't anything there. But there were some who weren't so lucky. The darkness wasn't as innocent and the sickening feeling of dread never left them. No, the truth is much more than a childhood fear. The truth is that there are things lurking, watching and waiting. Those things feed off of the fear of their victims and they have been waiting for the right time to attack. If they catch your scent, they won't stop until they've consumed your soul.

The most heinous of soul-eaters are shades. They look like shadows and naturally shy away from the light. Shades are drawn to places of great despair or broken souls, but it is not unheard of for them to attach to a structure or person for a long time, even after death or demolition. Where darkness is the blackest, Shades are lurking.

Other ghost-like creatures dwell among the shades, picking off the souls left untouched. rogues, apparitions, demons, and countless others flood anywhere the shades have yet to go, waiting for their chance. For centuries, the beings of darkness threatened the lives of all humans and non-humans alike. The night was full of terror and no one went to bed without at least a lantern by their heads.

From this terror, warriors emerged. They were the bringers of light, wielding weapons made to purify darkness and repel the evil it left behind. The warriors had many names over time, but they preferred to be called chasers. That was their job- to chase away the darkness. Centuries evolved chasers into something else entirely. Not only are they the warriors of light, they are the children of angels set to live among the humans to protect them from the evils they don’t even see. They’re the only hope humanity has left in the war against evil.

In the past, chasers were born and raised separate from humans. They were trained in combat and abilities that would have raised much suspicion should a human eye see them. There was an almost equal population of chasers and humans, just as there was equal darkness. Slowly, as the darkness retreated back into Hell, the chasers were created less and less until barely any were left. It was thought that the angels deserted what was left of their children, leaving a thousand or so to procreate and teach their hunting ways.

Present day chasers are few in numbers. Without a true sense of belonging, they live by the strict code of brotherhood. The evil now exists in secret and it is their job to keep it that way, no matter the cost. Humans aren’t as aware as they once were and should they encounter the evil, it changes them irrevocably.

The old abandoned warehouse stood like a shadow against the light of the dock. It creaked and groaned with the blowing wind, warning those who dared to enter. But there were a few who were chosen to walk with darkness. At first glance, they looked like everyone else, but if you looked close enough the small tattoo-like marks would glow a faint red, and that’s how you’d know. They are hunters of a sort. More specifically, they are chasers.

“You’re sure the coordinates are right?” Ben wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hated old warehouses. Any other type of building and he was golden. Nothing good happened in warehouses- ever.

Joey glanced at Ben from the corner of his eye and smirked, “What’s the matter, cuz? I thought you liked your job?”

Ben shook his head, “I do like my job, cuz, but I hate warehouses. Remember the one we had in Boston? We barely made it out of there alive. These things find holes within holes to hide in. If we’re lucky enough, we’ll find them all and the place won’t collapse with us inside.”

“That’s the general idea,” Joey quipped as he strapped on the holster for his handgun. One of his favorite parts of hunting was the prep; when they gathered their weapons and supplies before going in balls-to-the-wall. The cool metal would press lightly into his naturally hot skin, sending chills throughout his body. He could almost compare it to sex; almost.

“What’s the story? Do we know how many are in there?” Ben pulled his brother’s old leather riding gloves over his hands, cracking his knuckles so they wouldn’t slip off. Ethan used to wear them when they chased together, but Ethan was dead. All Ben could think about was killing all of the slimy freaks he could get his hands on.

Joey pulled a roughly drawn map from his vest pocket, “The radar pinged where each of the X’s are drawn. With a place this big, there could be layers of these suckers underneath each other. If all else fails, we blow the place. I don’t feel like repeating Boston tonight, either.”

Ben and Joey are no different from the other chasers except that they are blood related. Cousins by blood, brothers by rite, they are inseparable. Years earlier, Ben’s older brother Ethan made sure to bang it into their heads that it was rare for blood to fight together and how important it was to stay together. The Guard didn’t like pairing blood family together in case something happened, which usually meant they didn’t want to kill the bloodline because of someone’s mistake. Ben watched Ethan leave camp without him only one time in his entire life, and Ethan never came back. That’s when Ben knew that he couldn’t let Joey make the same mistake. Blood stuck together, end of story.

“Do we have a point of entry? If the wind blows too hard this place is gonna cave. Fucking warehouses,” Ben popped a piece of gum into his mouth.

Joey slipped the last holster up his leg and synched it tight. He pulled the dip can from his back pocket and stuffed the minty tobacco into his cheek. “Are you gonna bitch the whole time? Jeez, anyone else would swear you were a Rook.”

“I might. Just remember this conversation the next time we have to go to a mausoleum. Who’ll be the Rook then?” Ben threw Joey his pack and shrugged into the rest of his gear. It was almost time to go and they were both tense.

Ever since Ethan’s death, Ben was more anxious than normal. He was a little too cautious for Joey’s taste, but he couldn’t blame the kid. Joey might have been his cousin, but he grew up with Ethan and Ben, spending so much time with them he considered himself more of a brother. With Ethan gone, he couldn’t lose Ben, too. Then he’d really be alone and there wouldn’t be anyone left. Chasers weren’t easy to come by these days.

Joey eyed the map of the warehouse, “It looks like we’ll go in through the south-side door, here, and work our way around. There’s no tellin’ where these bastards are hiding. This place is at least fifty years old. The walls have more holes than Swiss cheese.”

“Yeah, lots of places for things to hide. You ready?” Ben checked the safety on his handgun before holstering it. Joey sheathed his crossbow between his shoulders, “I’m good. Let’s go get it before they realize we’re here.”

Chasers were supposed to rely on stealth and the element of surprise, but Ben and Joey were the polar opposite. Their weapons were loud, as were their mouths, and they didn’t care if they blew up the place as long as everything evil inside was dead. They used more human weapons than traditional chasing weapons. Ben was especially gifted in adapting them to meet their needs.

He could take a normal handgun and modify the ammunition to radiate light before exploding and eradicating the shades or other demons. The crossbow he made was Joey’s favorite by far. The arrows were blessed and dipped in holy water before being run through black fire, thus making black arrows. No matter what Joey shoots, they disintegrate and so does everything else in the vicinity. There was something about exploding force fields and black arrows that could make a guy go weak in the knees. No doubt, Ben was a bad-ass at forging.

Joey took the lead, following the lines he memorized from the map. Ben followed closely, keeping an eye on the dark spots the night created around them. The knot in his stomach tightened with each step. He swallowed down the anxiety before Joey could notice how bad it really was. Ethan’s death haunted him more when they were working.

Once they reached the dilapidated doors, Ben took the grenade from his vest and pulled the pin before tossing it into the pitch black room. It took mere seconds for the flash-bang to go off and that was their queue.

Joey kicked the door in, shooting any and every thing that moved with the black arrows. Ben aimed for the larger masses as they began to retreat into the darker parts of the warehouse. He launched another flash-bang into the air above them, shooting as many lighted bullets into the giant coagulation of darkness as it writhed in pain. The room exploded in light, causing the shrieking demons and black souls to explode to dust.

Joey wiped the ash from his face and looked at Ben. He was standing in the middle of the room as the light faded, ash raining down on him from above and glowing red with the sigils of a true chaser. Ethan would have been proud, he thought. As Joey pivoted his foot on the worn wood, something grabbed his ankle and pulled hard. “Ben!” He yelped before falling into pitch blackness.

“Joey!” Ben ran to the edge of the hole and looked down. His stomach hit the floor. All he could see