Shades of Death

By Denyse Bridger

Death has many shades and shapes... Deep within the ageless Carpathian Mountains, an ancient evil wakes. Imprisoned many centuries ago, the creature has waited, patiently, for the one destined to grant her freedom. Arienne Lereaux has studied the preternatural menace called "vampyre" for most of her life. She is an expert in the field. Loosely affiliated with a secretive organization called The Institute of Paranormal Research and Investigation, she turns to them when she unearths what may be the first representation of the vampyre ever to exist.

The enigmatic and attractive Head of the Institute, Adam Raven, has spent a lifetime tracking the clues left by his mother's disappearance in the mountains of Romania nearly twenty years past. When Arienne arrives at the secluded island headquarters of the Institute, he wonders if she holds the key to finding his lost mother. But before too many days pass, the city of Vancouver is rocked by a series of grisly murders. As it races to find the culprit, the Institute faces an evil unlike any it has encountered before...

In the middle of their hunt, another branch of their network is making a scientific breakthrough in genetically heightened telepathy. The team responsible may soon hold a weapon that will have world powers at their door—until their lead scientist vanishes after leaving Toronto to consult Raven and his people. Ancient myth is suddenly not myth, and evil may take many guises before the Institute can restore the delicate balance that was destroyed the night Arienne stumbled into a remote castle in the mountains half a world away...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Denyse Bridger
• Release date: Apr 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370470945

Denyse Bridger

Canadian born and bred, and a lifelong dreamer, I began writing at an early age and can’t recall a time when I wasn’t creating in some artistic form. My life has had several on-going love affairs that shape much of what I write, the American West, Victorian England, cowboys, a passion for pirates, Greek Gods, and Ancient Egypt. The other endless love affair in my life is Italia and all its magic, beauty, and dazzling culture. That passion spills into all aspects of my life. A visit to my website will show the diversity of what is currently available, and the mixing of genres and styles that will be employed in many current, and up-coming projects as well. To stay up to date with all these projects, or to just say hello, please feel free to email me anytime, there’s a contact link on the mail menu. I promise I will do my best to answer everyone, though it may take a day or two, so please be patient!

Book preview

SHADES OF DEATH

Denysé Bridger

Death has many shades and shapes... Deep within the ageless Carpathian Mountains, an ancient evil wakes. Imprisoned many centuries ago, the creature has waited, patiently, for the one destined to grant her freedom. Arienne Lereaux has studied the preternatural menace called vampyre for most of her life. She is an expert in the field. Loosely affiliated with a secretive organization called The Institute of Paranormal Research and Investigation, she turns to them when she unearths what may be the first representation of the vampyre ever to exist.

The enigmatic and attractive Head of the Institute, Adam Raven, has spent a lifetime tracking the clues left by his mother's disappearance in the mountains of Romania nearly twenty years past. When Arienne arrives at the secluded island headquarters of the Institute, he wonders if she holds the key to finding his lost mother. But before too many days pass, the city of Vancouver is rocked by a series of grisly murders. As it races to find the culprit, the Institute faces an evil unlike any it has encountered before...

In the middle of their hunt, another branch of their network is making a scientific breakthrough in genetically heightened telepathy. The team responsible may soon hold a weapon that will have world powers at their door—until their lead scientist vanishes after leaving Toronto to consult Raven and his people. Ancient myth is suddenly not myth, and evil may take many guises before the Institute can restore the delicate balance that was destroyed the night Arienne stumbled into a remote castle in the mountains half a world away…

Shades of Death was a great read from beginning to end. Just about the time I thought I knew what was happening, a new twist would come into play. I found myself riveted to my seat each night in front of my computer, reading and waiting to see where I would be taken to next. My only complaint is that this should be a movie and there had better be a sequel. ~~ Penny Adams, avid reader

In Shades of Death, the characters and the storyline draw you in so much that you forget time, you have to keep flipping the pages until the end.... ~~ Patsy Marshall, Book Club member and avid reader

Denysé Bridger's hauntingly suspenseful story kept me spell-bound from the first chapter right up to the last. It was hard to put down, and impossible to forget! ~~ Lisa Vance, Author

Shades of Death

Copyright © 2010 by Denysé Bridger

Online copy provided in Canada

Previously released in 2010

First Published by Evolutionary Publishing: March 2015

Published by Author: April 2017

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-370470945

PROLOGUE

The Carpathian Mountains

Darkness engulfed the region much too quickly, creating an atmosphere of menace and doom that was the stuff of legends and late-night terrors for several generations of Western movie-goers. This wasn’t a film, however, and the woman who was running felt like anything but a B-movie heroine.

Arienne’s legs were weak with fright and exertion, yet she forced her body to ignore its pleas for rest. The trees whispered, soft rustling murmurs that translated into nameless, formless threats in the fertile mind of the Parisian anthropologist.

The heavy forest grew thicker, hindering her flight over the rugged terrain, and the sense of menace grew with the rapidly thickening shadows. A demon pursued her, kept just beyond her perception, yet not far enough away to be completely undetected. Breathless and choking for air, her heart beating so fast she knew it would soon burst; Arienne glanced over her shoulder, perversely curious despite her fear.

She tripped for the umpteenth time and heard another rip take away still more of her clothing. Gasping, she groped for a tree trunk, used the reassuring solid bulk to anchor her whirlwind thoughts and turn them back to something real and sane.

The effort was anything but successful. It gave her the precious minutes to look around to see the results of her reckless foray into an alien world. Tears welled again, then spilled over her cheeks. She closed her eyes, choked on a sob of total despair.

N-N-No... Please... Leave me alone!

She winced at the stricken sound of her voice, and then pushed away from the tree. She twisted her ankle and went down on her knees, long hair falling, forming a curtain over her face. Now crying hysterically, she pounded the ground in futile defiance, anger and fear coursing along her veins with each laboured breath she drew.

* * *

A short distance away, a figure watched the terrified woman. Mist hung in the air and engulfed the mysterious figure, haloed her in shifting, spectral wisps of light. She smiled, totally at ease in the murky night, her enigmatic expression disturbingly tranquil.

After several indeterminate minutes, she moved toward the fallen woman, her feet gliding over the forest floor.

* * *

Arienne stiffened suddenly and her head jerked up, eyes searching desperately for the ghostly presence she sensed. When she saw the apparition, her terror intensified. Unable to move, she waited as the figure came ever closer...

The stranger bent to take her hand, and Arienne gasped. She yanked her fingers away, stared at the limb for eternal seconds, then her gaze shifted, slowly moving upward, reluctance in every unwilling motion.

Who are you?

Your best chance of survival. Will you allow me to help you? She smiled down at Arienne, her expression offering no real comfort to the young woman.

I simply need to know which path to take. If you can—

You would never find your way in this darkness. I can give you shelter. She paused, thoughtful. I can also give you the answers you seek.

Arienne’s sharp look became suspicious, but revealed her insatiable curiosity as well. The offer was tempting. Too tempting. Trembling inwardly, she nodded and accepted the stranger’s hand when it was offered a second time.

Your name? Arienne wondered.

The other woman paused, then her mouth twitched into the smallest of smiles.

You may call me... Zenobia. In an undertone that could not be heard by Arienne, she added, It will do.

Arienne followed her unlikely rescuer, her eyes scanning the wooded area with the same fear that drove her when she ran.

CHAPTER ONE

The Institute of Paranormal Research and Investigation, British Columbia, Canada

The Nest, Adam Raven’s whimsical moniker for his small island home called Raven’s Eyre, was filled tonight with patrons from many of the charities and educational institutions that regularly received grants from The Institute of Paranormal Research and Investigation. There were also the expected number of curious spectators, casual students of archaeology, and reporters.

Standing slightly apart from the gathering was Arienne Lereaux, casually at ease and smiling, but shrouded in an almost visible, self-imposed distance. She held a glass of sparkling champagne, sipping it occasionally as she watched the other guests, her expression pleasant but aloof. She was not a woman who sought the limelight, but she never failed to attract a certain amount of attention in any room. At five and a half feet tall, Arienne was not imposing; yet she was striking. Her voluptuous curves drew men to her, and her cool, sometimes scathing wit just as quickly drove many away. Her hair was shining coffee brown, falling to the middle of her back; her eyes a matching darkness, that when she chose, could be fathomless.

Her features were a disarming mix of soft feminine gentleness, and unrelenting stubbornness when she was crossed. At thirty-three, she remained detached from people, and oddly untouched by the passions of love. In her innermost heart, where honesty is the only rule, she knew she inflicted that isolation on herself because she’d never met anyone who challenged and cherished her in equal measure. She made it an impossible quest for any man who tried, and, so far, none had proven her wrong.

Her expression warmed marginally when she met Adam Raven’s polite gaze, and she raised her glass in a wordless toast to him. His smile reflected amusement, and enjoyment.

Doctor Adam Raven was a man who made her contemplate things she rarely considered. He was intelligent, and an easy match for her swift mind. He was casually arrogant and composed, naturally in control of the responsibility of The Institute. Her woman’s heart also conceded to his charm and his handsome face. Adam was a man that was impossible not to notice–especially when dressed as he was tonight, in the stunning black and white of a tuxedo. Arienne smiled when he scanned the crowd to locate Lorinna Mallory, the most beautiful woman in the room, as far as Arienne could see. Adam smiled again when his colleague nodded in response to his wordless directive.

The Institute workers discreetly made their way to the far end of the room, and positioned themselves in a loose semi-circle at Adam’s back. The reception room grew hushed, and all attention became focused on the draped pedestal that was so clearly the reason for tonight’s party.

The Institute headquarters on the small island off the British Columbia coast was a grand, vaguely mysterious place, rarely made accessible to the public, except on occasions such as the one that opened the house tonight. The rich dark shades of gleaming wood dominated the atmosphere; books were a natural part of the decor; antiques of varying ages and places of origin; and a staff of demure, well-trained people ran the house with discreet efficiency.

Arienne knew that somewhere in its depths, the mansion also housed one of the most advanced laboratories on the planet. That was one of her reasons for coming to the city. A few seconds later, her attention was diverted from the estate and her internal wanderings.

Lori stepped forward and smiled.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we could please have your attention for a few moments?

The crowd quieted, and Adam once again glanced at Arienne, who made her way to the front of the assembled group, but had not joined the Institute team. For the first time since they’d met, her smile was radiant, and she nodded.

You all know Adam Raven... Lori continued, and took a step back to her position beside Robin George, a psychologist and M.D., and relatively new to the eclectic team.

Adam halted next to the shrouded pedestal and felt the focus of the entire room settle on him with expectant intensity. The unconscious force of psychic energy battered him for a moment before he imposed the control that kept such sensations from overwhelming him. Composed again, he smiled and addressed the people in front of him.

As you are aware, the Institute Museum is home to many valuable and rare from all over the world. He waited out the expected spurt of applause. Tonight we are honoured to add to our collection a piece many scholars and researchers believed to be pure myth.

With the theatrical flourish of an accomplished magician, Adam lifted the small sheet that had hidden from view a figure of ancient stone. It was hideous in appearance; fanged, skeletal, winged and Vampire-like. Clutched within its talons was a human skull. There was an odd, eerie luminescence lurking within the dead eyes of the figure.

A quick scan of the room told the Institute members that their guests were wary of looking too closely at the small statue. That unease created its own wash of anxiety among them. Adam once again became the center of attention as he broke the uncomfortable silence.

This piece has been dated at well over 30,000 years old. It was discovered in, he smiled, expression faintly ironic, perhaps appropriately enough, the Transylvanian Alps. Tonight, we have with us the woman who found the piece, Doctor Arienne Lereaux.

He gestured to Arienne, who responded with a tiny bow of acceptance of the polite burst of clapping.

Doctor Lereaux, would you do us the of explaining the significance of this piece?

Arienne frowned briefly, then her expression smoothed, and she went to stand at Adam’s side. The slinky ripple of her gown as she moved made her overly conscious of herself, and she mentally berated herself for allowing the saleswoman to persuade her to purchase the outrageously priced designer dress–scarlet was not a colour that left its wearer unobtrusive, as Arienne generally wished to be.

Thank you, Doctor Raven. She turned to the people who awaited her explanation of the find, and its significance. "We’ve all heard the legends of vampires and many of the myths most commonly found in our culture were born from Bram Stoker’s novel, DRACULA. There are vampire legends from virtually all cultures; they vary in types and abilities, but all have two things in common. They are creatures reputed to have died, and they feed off the living. This, she touched the figure with reverent fingers, is one of the oldest representations of the mythical being we call vampyre. The people of the Alps believe to possess this figure is to be enslaved to the vampire spirit entombed within it. Arienne shrugged, and her features shifted to an expression of wry. I guess that makes me Renfield."

The guests laughed weakly, still unreasonably agitated in the presence of the idol. Adam and the other Institute members were also growing apprehensive along with the mood of the room.

Adam moved to go to Arienne’s side and halted abruptly, his eyes suddenly filled with the flashes of psychic vision plaguing him in recent years. As they often did, the images blurred together, a rapid series of impressions that would not make sense immediately: .....He and Arienne in a passionate embrace... making love... Arienne screaming... blood on Adam’s hands... Then, lastly, Arienne’s eyes... terror-filled... glowing...

The vision ended as precipitously as it began. Adam, inwardly shaken, completed his interrupted step to Arienne’s side. She was gazing at the crowd, seemingly oblivious to his closeness.

The first record we have of this figure in our culture links it to Christianity, though it’s not clear how or why there is a connection, she said quietly.

Adam glanced again at the crowd, aware that they were shifting nervously, hardly concerned with what Arienne was saying. He touched her elbow, and when she looked at him, he shook his head.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. As always The Institute is grateful for your support and your continued interest.

Adam glanced back to the other members of the Institute team, his request silent, but understood. They broke up and began to mingle with the guests, carefully leading them into the banquet room.

Discreetly, Adam took Arienne by the arm and led her toward the stairs. They exchanged smiles and comments with various guests