Fate Fallen, page 1
part #3 of The Gallows Series Series
Fate Fallen
(A Gallows Novel)
SHARON STEVENSON
Copyright
Sharon Stevenson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Copyright © Sharon Stevenson 2013
All rights reserved. By payment you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced to any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without the express permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction and includes the creation of fictional towns. Any resemblance to real persons or places is purely coincidental.
Cover art by Indie Designz
http://indiedesignz.com
Formatting by Polgarus Studio
http://polgarusstudio.com
To Mum
No thank you will ever be enough for all the years of love and support you’ve given me but hopefully dedicating this book to you is a start.
Table of Contents
Other Works by Sharon Stevenson
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-One
Chapter Seventy-Two
Chapter Seventy-Three
Chapter Seventy-Four
Chapter Seventy-Five
Sample: Curse Corrupted
About the Author
Other Works by
Sharon Stevenson
The Gallows Novels:
Blood Bound
Demon Divided
Fate Fallen
Curse Corrupted
Hell Halved
Spirit Splintered
Heaven & Hell (coming soon)
Reality Ruptured (coming soon)
Prophecy Passed (coming soon)
The After Death Series:
Raised: Part One
Raised: Part Two
Raised: Part Three
Raised: Part Four (coming soon)
At Hell’s Gates Anthologies:
At Hell’s Gates: Existing Worlds (Gallows short story: Welcome to Hell)
At Hell’s Gates: Origins of Evil (stand alone horror short: Forget Me Never)
At Hell’s Gates: Bound by Blood (stand alone horror short: Monster)
Forthcoming works:
The Gallows Novels and After Death series are expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Release dates for the remaining books are still to be announced.
Sign up to Sharon’s newsletter to be the first to know about release dates and new works:
http://sharonstevensonauthor.com/newsletter/
Chapter One
“This is… nice.” It wasn’t the most convincing thing that had ever fallen out of her mouth, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. Shaun put their bags down in the corner by the window. He gave her the wry smile she’d started finding cute a couple of months ago.
“Sorry. It’s supposed to be the best hotel in town.”
Given that Shadows Grove had about the same surface area as a postage stamp that she could believe. She took in the dreary little room, one old-fashioned fixture at a time. Every surface was mahogany, brass, or floral-patterned. She felt like she should be waiting on someone’s gran walking in with a pot of tea.
But that wasn’t what was really bothering her. The worst thing was Shaun wasn’t even paying her any attention now that they were there. The hand holding and impulsive kissing on the way felt like false promises now. He stood staring out of the window, not uttering a word. It was hardly the romantic getaway she’d envisioned.
“So, three hours on a train and twenty minutes in a taxi for this?”
He let the curtain fall. She took off her trench coat, draping it over the dressing table chair. The new red dress felt like a wasted effort all of a sudden. She sighed and let her hand drop to her hip.
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“You’re the mind reader,” he reminded. “Do you need to molest me again to figure it out? Cause I might be into that this time.”
“I kind of figured that when you told me you were taking me away for the weekend.” She’d been letting him set the pace for the last three months. She hadn’t done so much kissing and groping since she was in high school. It was kind of sweet but ultimately frustrating as hell. If they’d been managing more than one date every couple of weeks, she’d have said something weeks ago.
“I may have had ulterior motives.” He looked a little guilty.
Disappointment filled her. She looked at the double bed. Even without the garish floral print covers it wouldn’t look appetising, not when her boyfriend had other ideas for their first weekend away together.
“And here I was, hoping you were just bringing me on a dirty weekend.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” It sounded desperate, like he’d just realised how much of an ass he was being. He stared suddenly, gaze straying from her face. “Is that new?”
So the dress wasn’t a total write-off then. She did a twirl as she crossed the room. He smiled.
“Does it make you want to rip it off of me?” She asked, with one eyebrow quirked. He leaned in and kissed her like he always did, tentative and soft to start. The harder, passionate kiss that usually followed just never showed up. She broke away and stepped back from his grasping reach. “You may as well spill, Shaun. I’m not settling for half a kiss.”
He pushed his hand back through his hair, sighing deeply. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
“So why did you?” She was missing a comrade reunion on COD4. KillerAlice21 had been AWOL for the last six months, and she was dying to know where the hell she’d been.
“It’s kind of a long story.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed. “So tell me.”
He didn’t look sure. She had to wonder what had him so twisted up inside. He wasn’t usually this evasive.
“You’re starting to worry me.”
He took off his coat and sat down next to her. “Can’t you just touch me and see?”
She laughed. “You remember how that goes.”
He sighed again. “There’s something here that I feel like I need to find out about.”
“Here, in this tiny little dive of a town?” Dive wasn’t the slightest bit accurate. She’d seen the size of the houses out there. The majority were big and detached with nicely tended gardens. The tiny square the pub was set in was the only place with smaller terraced houses set around it.
“I get weird feelings about things sometimes. I got a weird feeling about this,” he said, bringing a folded magazine out of his pocket.
She took it and looked at the one small section he hadn’t scored through with a pen. It was a nasty little murder story that gave her the chills. “It’s horrible,” she said, handing it back to him.
He held onto the magazine, slumping where he sat. “You don’t get any kind of psychic reading from it?”
“I’m just a mind reader, Shaun. The visions I’ve had are some kind of fluke.” That was exactly what she intended to keep telling herself. The alternative gave her the shivers.
“I just… something about it affected me.”
“Of course, it d
“I need to know who they were,” he insisted. “It wasn’t what happened that affected me. It was the bit about the little girl’s room.”
It had sounded like a minor spooky detail that was added as an afterthought. She frowned at him. “How did it affect you?”
“I don’t know. I got the feeling something about it means something to me. Like personally.” He sounded annoyed at himself.
She put an arm around him. “Okay. What did you want to do about it?”
He looked at her. “You’re seriously entertaining me on this?”
“Until you feel ready to entertain me on something else,” she told him with a smile.
He kissed her, but it was just a quick, impulsive thank you, not a knee-weakening taster of what she hoped to get from him later. The one time they’d come close to sleeping together she’d gotten a call and had to leave. Every other opportunity they’d had he’d shut down. Something was stopping him from being able to let go, and she started to wonder if this might be what it was.
“This has been driving me crazy,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.”
“So we solve this, and we spend the rest of the weekend in bed?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She smiled. “Where do we start?”
Chapter Two
Shaun led Elle to the house. A ‘for sale’ sign was standing in the front garden. It was the only place on the block that didn’t look like a show-home. He took in the overgrown grass and looked at Elle. She shrugged, shoulders brushing the tips of her poker straight red hair. He told himself it just suited her personality better than the peroxide blonde look she’d been sporting when they first met, but he was starting to suspect he was developing a serious thing for busty red-heads. She took a minute to gaze around before she turned her liner-flicked eyes on him.
“I’m not getting anything so far.”
The sky was darkening. He couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t be seen if they tried to break in, but he’d gotten to a point where he didn’t really care. He needed to know why he kept thinking about the place. He had to find out why it was driving him so crazy, why he got shivers every time he read that article. The little girl’s room kept jumping into his head. He couldn’t help wondering if the family had been trackers.
“I think I can break the lock on the back door.”
“You’re not even going to try the front first? You’re smuttier than you’d have me believe.” She grinned at him and he realised the double entendre she’d turned his comment into.
“Only girl I know who makes everything a dirty joke.” He pushed open the creaky gate and motioned for her to go first.
“Maybe it’s a sign of sexual frustration.” She went on ahead, and he rushed to keep up.
The house was locked like he’d suspected. He looked at Elle as he put his hand on the handle.
“You know what I need to be able to break this lock, right?”
“Ah,” she said, nodding. “How would you like your insults this time? I’m assuming you just need to be a tiny bit pissed off for a silly little Yale lock.”
“Just start pissing me off already,” he told her.
“I’m starting to think you’re gay, Shaun.” She folded her arms. “Keep me waiting much longer, I’ll start telling people.”
He burst out laughing.
She shrugged with a smile. “That’s all I’ve got.”
“You’ve got nothing.” She knew how to piss him off, she just didn’t want to. It wasn’t the most useful time for warm fuzzy feelings, so he tried to be pissed at himself for being too much of a pussy to satisfy his girlfriend’s needs instead. He’d been ready to sleep with her for a while now; he was just afraid of what might happen after they did. It was pretty pathetic.
He turned the handle and pushed. The lock broke. He wasn’t altogether sure if it was the weird destructive power he appeared to have or just brute tracker strength. Either way, the door swung inwards when he let it go.
“I like a man who can break down doors.”
“Right, this is it. Let me know if you sense anything.”
She rolled her eyes. “If I see something, you’ll know about it.”
He would, too. She always seemed to get a fright, like she wasn’t expecting it. He knew it wasn’t the most pleasant of sensations. “If you don’t want to do this…”
“Get moving. I want to see that hotel bedroom this side of midnight.” She stalked past him, no sign of trepidation.
Shaun closed the door over and followed her. His tracker senses didn’t pick anything up. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected.
The interior of the house was in a better state than the exterior. The dust couldn’t be helped, but under that everything looked expensive from the granite work tops and proper hardwood floors in the kitchen to the plush carpet, thick velvet drapes and crystal chandelier in the living room. He doubted the house had been owned by trackers. Aside from the expense of the furnishings, the Council would have redistributed it to another family. It wouldn’t be lying there empty.
The massive hallway had a wooden staircase and dark stains on the floor at the base. Elle stood in the doorway, staring at the floor. Shaun moved forward and felt that strange shiver cross his body. It was like someone had just stomped all over his grave. He turned to Elle. She had her hands over her mouth. The wide-eyed horror was directed at the stained floor.
“What is it? Is…”
She just shook her head and turned away. He should have known it wouldn’t be pleasant for her. He couldn’t even kid himself; he’d known. If she was picking up any of what happened it was nasty nightmare fodder, and he’d subjected her to it without a second thought.
“We can go,” he said quickly, coming in close and putting an arm around her. She shook with a stifled sob, her hands still firmly clasped over her mouth. He had to have been born without a brain. There was no excuse for bringing her there. “I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head and shrugged out from under his arm, slowly removing her hands from her mouth. Wiping at the tears that had just spilled from her eyes, she looked at him, determined.
“Damn it,” she swore. “I knew it was coming, and it still fucked me over.”
“I’m sorry I brought you here. Let’s just…”
She gave him a deadly look. “I’m fine, so don’t get all worried about my fragile little girly mind. We’re here now, let’s do this.”
“I was thinking about going upstairs,” he said, trying not to sound uncomfortable about it.
“Then let’s go upstairs.” She moved past him, taking as wide a berth as she could around the stains. He followed, hoping to find something that might explain the weird feelings he was getting. He couldn’t help picturing the stone rising above the map and falling back down again directly over Shadows Grove. The soul-mate test was a load of bull, probably. That didn’t stop him from wondering about it.
“He was surprised when he fell,” she spoke in a hollow, empty tone about the little boy who’d killed his own parents with a kitchen knife. “Something surprised him.”
She walked along the landing and pushed open a door. The pink room was there, waiting. Elle stiffened, staring into it. If he was reading her right, she was having another vision. She was still afraid but her terror was waning, slipping into shock.
“There was a little girl. She… I don’t know what she did, but it was something. She made him fall.” She shivered, hugging herself as she turned back to him. “He was going to kill her too.”
“Who were they?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. The little girl was protected somehow. Spells. I think her mother cast them every night to protect her. I know the little boy went in there,” she said, pointing to the door down the hall. “There’s blood on the door. Someone came, after. Police first and then… a couple found the girl. They took her away, someplace safe.”
