Tangled Worlds

By Alin Silverwood and G. Alin Barnum

In Tangled Worlds, things aren't always what they seem.

When Shadows Fall: Introducing Grayson Manes, reckless paranormal researcher, investigating the mystery of a lost boy and a sticky supernatural shadow.

Degeneration: What happens when our search for health and beauty goes too far? Too far… back?

The Crying Man and The Singing Man: Two tales from a world where mere mortals assume supernatural roles of great service to humanity – but at what cost to themselves?

The Paradise at The End of All Realities: You only think your dreams are just that – but guess again. They're portals to other realities which you can learn to use if you dare. Be careful, though… others may be doing the same, with devastating consequences.

This collection of short stories features paranormal tales of the unusual, unexpected and unlikely. These stories will thrill and chill fans of such fiction as The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. But keep the lights on…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Popskull Press
• Release date: Feb 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524234553

Book preview

Acknowledgements

IT'S HARD TO INCLUDE everyone who deserves acknowledgement, because everyone in your life contributes to what you write. Especially when dealing with multiple stories written over a period of time.

Having said that, I'll try.

Thanks to Sheila Finch, Tom Barclay, Mary Lynn Reed and the rest of our Long Beach Writer's Consortium who suffered gracefully through the earliest drafts of many of these tales and to Ashley Rechten Clarke and Myra Megill who provided much-needed feedback on later drafts. And to Chuck France for a valuable technical consult.

Thanks to Theo Fenraven for speedy edits, Bonnie Toering for fast formatting and Amanda Kelsey for outstanding cover art.

Extra special thanks to Shéa MacLeod, without whom these stories would still be rotting in the depths of my digital files. Thank you for lighting my way and being my compass to this place.

Dedication

For Sheree, who told me the earliest ghost stories I remember,

Aaron, who still tells them from time to time, and Ali and Calen, who listen to mine.

WHEN SHADOWS FALL

Corey wasn’t sleepy at all. He’d just finished watching the ball game and was all wound up, but he still might have been able to sleep if only his mom hadn’t turned out the lights.

Corey, at just ten years old, had recently developed two theories about the dark. The positive and less scary of them was that at least there were no shadows in the darkness. The darker theory was that the darkness itself was a complete and total engulfment of everything under one big shadow. This was the thought that now crossed Corey’s mind, and it terrified him.

A few nights ago, Corey had noticed something odd around his bedroom door after it was closed. A sliver of light from the full moon had fallen through the drapes of his bedroom window, illuminating the bottom half of the door. The night had been windy, and he heard the twigs and branches of the tree outside his window writhing and cracking under the pressure. Lying in his bed, he had turned away from the window and toward the door, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

There, at the base of the door, was a shadow.

It moved, and he wondered if it had crept in under the door. It seemed to pause when he noticed it, and he froze in terror. There was no object nearby for the moonlight to cast any kind of shadow with, much less a moving one.

The shadow moved some more, and then slipped away. Corey was uncertain if it slipped under the door or through it. He only knew that it appeared darker than the dark, and left him paralyzed with a chilling fear.

Now he lay in bed again, surrounded by darkness, with no moonlight from the overcast sky to alert him if the shadow came back. Another thought occurred to him as he burrowed deeper under the blanket, pulling it up over his head. He peered out into the darkness. Was the shadow still there and he just couldn’t see it in the darkness?

Corey, exhausted, finally succumbed to sleep before he had the chance to notice.

PAIGE CARUTHERS DIDN’T know what to do. Her son had taken to fighting her at bedtime every night.

She woke early today, hoping Corey had gotten a good night’s sleep. She made his breakfast, as she did every day, noticing again the way her hands had begun to age. He was basically too old to start being afraid of the dark, but lately it seemed like Corey was afraid of his own shadow.

She blamed Corey’s father for this. Corey had been mostly solitary and less sociable since his father had taken off. Paige had been sure at first he would be back, but the little tramp he'd stolen away with wouldn’t get over it and send him home. She dropped a saucer into the sink in her moment of frustrated recollection, and it shattered loudly. She hissed and waited for Corey to notice and wake up. When he didn’t, she was relieved. Maybe he was finally getting some decent sleep.

Moments later, Corey appeared in the kitchen doorway, and Paige dropped another saucer.

There was something wrong. He had dark circles under his eyes, appeared to have lost weight, and just seemed less somehow. Like he was fading away or something was missing. Sweetie, she asked timidly, are you all right?

Corey stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak. Nothing came out, and the last thing Paige remembered about the day her son disappeared was that as he vanished, his shadow lingered for some time before it slipped away on its own.

MRS. CARUTHERS, I’D like to ask you a few questions. Grayson Manes hated seeing people in this condition. The woman looked as if she’d seen a ghost and was obviously in shock. She sat at her kitchen table, hands in her lap, staring into nothing with her mouth hanging open. If he got any useful information at all from her, it wouldn’t be much. I need to know what you saw.

Manes glanced over at Detective Chuck Norman. He had been asked by his old college friend to have a look at this case. Back in school, the two frequently discussed myths and mysteries of history as a hobby. Chuck had gone into crime investigation, and Manes had taken a less tangible road. He’d become an advertising copywriter, but he was an author and paranormal investigator in his spare time, a hobby that earned him a little extra income. The two had always kept in touch, but this was the first time Manes had ever been called in for a professional consultation.

Mrs. Caruthers? Paige? There was still no response. Whatever had happened here, it was obviously something Paige’s mind couldn’t handle. However, he considered, that could possibly be anything that ended in the tragic disappearance of her son. Chuck had told him on the phone she’d mentioned something about shadows, and her condition led Chuck to wonder if there might not actually be a little more to this case than the usual, terribly unfortunate circumstances.

The doctor’s on his way. Chuck put his hand on Manes's shoulder, leaning in to see if he could make eye contact with Paige. She’d been unresponsive since before Manes showed up, and there was just no change. Manes followed as Chuck motioned for him to step into the other room.

Look, Gray, Chuck began. Her husband ran off with his research assistant a few months ago, and her neighbors say neither she nor the boy have been the same since. Our first thought was maybe the father came back for the kid, and she’d just blocked it out. But we tracked down the father, and he's actually on his way here now. I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time, but it’s good to see you.

Oh, no problem, Manes replied. But you were creeped out when you called me, Chuck. Tell me more about what you were able to get out of her.

Chuck sat down on the living room sofa, a sort of off-green thing with rough material. Manes dropped down next to him, still holding a black notebook that, so far, he’d been unable to put anything down in.

Shadows, Chuck said. She said Corey—that’s her son—had been telling her he was seeing strange shadows at night. He wasn’t sleeping much, and she’d been about to take him to a shrink. Figured it had to do with his father running away. Nothing you don’t hear about sometimes with kids in these situations. Now here’s where it gets weird. She says this morning he came down for breakfast and basically vanished before her eyes. Looked like hell, I guess, and then just sort of... faded out. His shadow didn’t go away when he did, though. She figures it stood around for a good few minutes like it was lost or something. Then it finally left. She couldn’t do anything but watch it slip out under the back door. Chuck paused, shook his head, and shrugged. Maybe we should look under the rosebushes out back. He winked at Manes. Then he was serious again. Ever hear anything like that?

Manes reclined, tapping his chin with his pen, considering. He was a man of average build and dark hair, with the singular outstanding feature of a pair of piercing blue eyes. He focused them on Chuck, still trying to