Immortal Shadows

By Jannes C. Cramer

“Only when she notices the shadow does she acknowledge the danger and freezes for a fraction of a second. Then she turns and runs.”

Felix’s life is in a constant downward spiral. Since the sudden death of his wife, he’s become withdrawn and moody, and drowning his sorrows is now a part of everyday life. Even his best friend, Melanie, is at her wits’ end with him. After a serious accident, she thinks she’s lost him forever, but Felix miraculously survives. Is he just lucky? Or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Shadows are supposedly the absence of light – and death the end of life. But what if the things we think we know are just misconceptions? What if the rules are not the same for everybody?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jannes
• Release date: Jun 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781547535040

Book preview

ONE

Saturday 16 March

A young woman says goodbye to her friends and leaves the bar, laughing merrily. Night has already fallen over the city and only the pale light of the moon through the cirrostratus clouds and the odd street light illuminate her path. The woman is wearing a long, light grey coat and her dark blond hair is pulled back in a plait. The monotone clicking of her red high heels on the pavement echoes across the street, accompanied by the odd splash as she steps in one of the many puddles left behind by the rain over the last few hours.

At a bus stop, the name of which is unrecognisable in the dim light of a flickering lamp, the young woman stops, raises a cigarette to her lips and lights it. Behind her, a shadow moves across the pavement. The woman is oblivious to it. Feeling a chill she rubs her hands together, takes a deep drag on her cigarette and lets the smoke stream slowly through her nostrils. Once again, the shadow flits past and this time the woman seems to have noticed it. She looks around anxiously, but there isn’t a soul to be seen. She glances nervously at her watch. The bus must be coming any minute.

Out of the darkness of a house doorway, a shadow emerges and slowly approaches her. Only an arm’s length separates it from the woman as she waits.

Felix sat bolt upright in bed, his breathing shallow. Recently, he had been having these dark dreams more and more often. When he woke up, as usual, he could only remember snippets of what he’d dreamt, but the oppressive feeling left by the dream lingered on. With a deep sigh, Felix swung his legs over the side of the bed, switched on the bedside lamp, slid his feet into his slippers and went into the living room. A bit of TV would help take his mind off the dream.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much on at that time of night. Felix flicked through images of shopping channels, talk show repeats, and scantily clad women, moaning lustfully and eagerly enticing callers to ring up. Irritated, he pressed the red button on the remote control and the picture on the screen disappeared.

‘The same old rubbish night after bloody night!’ he muttered, scowling.

Felix looked around the untidy living room. The traces of neglect weren’t to be overlooked. His gaze lingered on a framed picture of a happy couple. He sighed. The young man with blond unruly hair grinned at him tauntingly. Back then, he and Fiona were still happy. She’d helped him through a rough patch and finally, when he’d got pretty much back to normal, his joie de vivre had also been restored.

Barely six months later, things took a turn for the worse. Fiona had gradually distanced herself from him and finally, on 23 January, his thirty-fourth birthday of all days, she had thrown him out of their home. Even now, he still had no idea why she’d ended their relationship. Until the very last minute, she kept uttering the typical clichés like ‘it’s me, not you’ or ‘we can still be friends’.

Pah! Bullshit! So much for his parents naming him Felix, he wasn’t precisely the happy person the meaning of his name implied.

Felix flipped the photo frame over. He couldn’t bear to look at his own happy, grinning face any more. It only rubbed salt in the wound, reminding him what a disaster his life had turned out to be. He got out of his armchair with a groan, walked over to the cupboard and grabbed the whisky bottle; he had no need for a glass. The first few sips soon dissipated his melancholy thoughts. Bottle in hand, Felix went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Finally, after two more large mouthfuls of the supermarket booze, he was able to drop back off to sleep. As he relaxed, the bottle slipped out of his fingers and fell on the floor, its contents spilling out over the already stained carpet.

* * *

Felix didn’t wake up until well after sunrise the next morning. Luckily, it was Saturday and his day off. He couldn’t afford to get to work late again as he’d already received several warnings from his boss, who had made it very clear that another tardy appearance would result in immediate dismissal.

Felix dragged himself out of bed and drew back the curtains.

Damn! The bright sunlight made his head pound even more, forcing him to close the curtains and block it out. Felix squinted and massaged the top of his nose with his fingertips. His nightly alcohol consumption had clearly not done him any good. He had barely sat himself down on the edge of the bed when he felt the bile rising in his throat. He managed to grab the wastepaper basket in the nick of time.

Never again! he swore to himself, his head in the grey bin, knowing full well that his good intentions wouldn’t last.

Fifteen minutes later, his stomach was empty and the bin was ready for some thorough cleaning. Felix trailed into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Eugh! I really shouldn’t come in here in the daylight.

His face was pale and unshaven and his hair was long overdue a trim. The reflection in the mirror had very little to do with the grinning snapshot on the sideboard in the living room. Even with half a tube of gel, it was impossible to tame his unkempt hair. Sluggishly, Felix went through his morning hygiene routine, pulled on the worn out tracksuit that he normally wore at weekends and sat down in front of the TV. An open bottle of wine stood on the small wooden table by his armchair from the night before. Felix shook the bottle to see how much was left. Then he downed the dregs in one.

* * *

It was early evening and Melanie was waiting for Felix at their favourite Italian restaurant, Leonardo. They were supposed to be meeting for dinner at half past six, but her best friend was late, as was often the case. Punctuality wasn’t one of his strong points. Over the many years that Melanie had known Felix, she’d been forced to become accustomed to the lengthy wait every time they met up. Today was no exception. With a glass of good red wine in her hand, she had plenty of time to sit and observe the other guests and assign each of them a personality and profession. Melanie loved people watching and paying attention to details that others barely noticed.

Sitting two tables away was a young couple. Both were dressed up, the woman almost too elegantly for this restaurant. She was wearing a navy blue dress, matching court shoes with heels that looked like they needed an arms licence, and long filigree silver earrings which hung from her ears like miniature mobiles and poked out through her wavy brown hair. Her chaperone’s left hand was fumbling in the pocket of the dark blazer that he was wearing with stone-washed jeans and white trainers. His right hand tenderly stroked the back of the pretty brunette’s hand.

If Melanie wasn’t horribly wrong, she was about to witness a somewhat clumsy proposal. Deep in thought, she fiddled with her plaited ponytail. Her last serious relationship had ended three years earlier and, although in the beginning single life had given her a feeling of freedom, she was starting to feel lonely.

Just as the young man had fished the small box out of his pocket and was dropping to one knee, Felix finally walked into the restaurant. Melanie glanced at the time on her mobile. Forty minutes late was a lot even by his standards. He was wearing dark sunglasses, which were of neither use nor ornament in this dreary weather, so he must have been drinking again. Since Fiona had left him, Felix’s life had been clearly spiralling out of control. His alcohol consumption, although he would never admit it, had increased significantly and Melanie was worried about where it might lead. She herself had never really liked the overly jealous Fiona that much. She had ended up spending less and less time with Felix and on more than one occasion had feared that their friendship would come to an end. She was secretly happy that he was rid of that cow, even if he was suffering right now.

* * *

As Felix reached the table, Melanie stood up, put on her most dazzling smile and gave him a hug. ‘There you are! I thought I’d end up drinking myself under the table long before you showed up.’ She laughed so hard that the reproaching tone in her greeting was blatantly obvious.

‘Hi, Lolly. Have you been waiting long?’ Felix felt bad. He and time management didn’t get along. Every time, he swore to make an effort to leave the house earlier and every time, he ended up leaving even later. Hesitantly, he removed his sunglasses. He was sure that Melanie would have noticed his stinking hangover right away, but she didn’t let on. ‘I’m sorry, Lolly. I know I’m a bit late.’

Melanie hated that nickname and Felix knew it. Since she was knocked down in primary school by a St. Bernard, which had licked her face until it looked like a red balloon, she’d had to put up with the constant teasing. However, tonight the banter did nothing to dampen her spirits. She was obviously dying to tell Felix something.

‘Guess what? I got the job!’ Melanie’s deep brown eyes shone happily.

Felix thought frantically. The job? What did she mean by that? The look on her face told him that it was something he should already know about. He’d obviously only been half listening – again – when she’d told him about it.

Melanie saw right through him, realising that he had no idea what she was on about.

‘For God’s sake, Felix,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘You’re impossible! I told you last week that I’d applied for a job as editor at The Gazette. Have you forgotten already?’

‘No, no. Of course not. Congratulations!’ Felix tried hard to remember. Had she really already told him about it? He knew that she’d dreamt of working in journalism for a long time, but an application with The Gazette? Something wasn’t quite right with his memory. Maybe the alcohol that regularly found its way into his bloodstream was to blame. Or maybe the constant nightmares and dark thoughts were pushing information to the back of his mind. Whatever the reason, it was scary how much he’d forgotten lately. It was a wonder that he knew who it was sitting opposite him.

Felix shook off his troubled thoughts. Right now he wanted to raise a glass to Melanie and her new job.

‘Come on, this calls for a celebration!’ He called the waiter over and ordered a bottle of champagne.

* * *

Arm in arm, Felix and Melanie left the restaurant barely two hours later. Felix was trying really hard to walk in a straight line. He’d been responsible for finishing at least two-thirds of the bottle and his blood alcohol levels from the night before had been topped up, making him feel as good as new. He cheerfully said goodbye to Melanie and walked to the nearest pedestrian crossing, where he leaned on the post and stood playing with his keys as he waited for the lights to change. A few seconds later, the red light went out on the opposite side of the road and the green man gave him the go-ahead to cross the street.

Felix had only taken two steps when his keyring slipped out of his fingers and landed on the tarmac with a clink. Muttering, he stooped down, accidentally kicking the keys dangerously near to a drain hole before he managed to grab them on the second attempt. A slight wave of dizziness came over him once more. As Felix stood up, he swaggered momentarily. I really should drink less.

Honking its horn, a dark sports car passed him, close enough to touch, the draught almost sweeping his feet from under him. His heart skipped a beat. A fraction of an inch had saved him from making contact with the car bonnet and that would have been the last contact he ever made. The pedestrian light was still green; that idiot must have raced through a red light. Felix took a deep breath and carried on, shaking his head.

The last thing he saw was the bright blue light and the radiator grill of the police car as it sped towards him.

Shit! The impact shattered Felix’s legs and his head hit the windscreen hard. He was totally unaware of the ensuing flight through the air and the inevitable heavy landing on the tarmac.

* * *

Friday 11 June, three years earlier

The wedding was a fantastic affair. Leonie’s friends and family had decorated the whole church for the occasion with red and white bows and flowers – a bit too tacky for Felix’s liking, but she loved it and that was what mattered most. Leonie’s father accompanied her as she slowly walked down the aisle between the pews and up to the altar to the pace of the wedding march. The stylist had done a great job. Leonie looked stunning in her long white dress. Subtle makeup and stray curls from her up-do made her bright green eyes, which glittered with emotion in the lamplight, really stand out.

Reaching the altar, Leonie’s father placed his daughter’s hand in Felix’s, nodded to him and then took his place in the front row.

Felix hardly took in anything that the pastor said. The moment was far too overwhelming for him. Only when Melanie brought the rings did Felix come back down to earth. He had asked his best friend to be his best woman. Ever since nursery school, they’d practically been inseparable. For him, Melanie was like the little sister that he’d never had. Her family had taken him in at an early age, when his parents died in an accident, and had become his replacement family. Together with Melanie, he’d got into all kinds of mischief and driven her parents to distraction. Even after leaving school, they’d still stayed in touch; spending time together was part of their everyday lives, like an unwritten rule. At the beginning of his relationship with Leonie this had caused a few problems, but in time his bride had put most of her jealousy towards Melanie to one side. She had become used to Felix and his best friend hanging round at home alone together or going to the cinema without her.

As he stumbled through his vows, tears of emotion streamed down Leonie’s face. Then she said yes, looked deep into Felix’s eyes and spoke, her voice firm and unwavering, ‘My darling. You mean everything to me. With you, I feel complete. I will love and honour you, support you and stand by you through the good times and the bad until death do us part.’

With slightly shaky hands, Felix took the smaller of the two shiny, white gold rings from the cushion and slid it onto Leonie’s ring finger. With a tender smile on her lips, she took the remaining ring and placed it on Felix’s finger.

Then the pastor uttered the final words to complete the ceremony, ‘In the name of God and the Church I now pronounce you man and wife. Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder.’ With a smile, he added, ‘You may now kiss the bride.’

Felix stroked a strawberry blonde strand of hair out of Leonie’s face and softly cupped her cheeks in his hands. As their friends and relatives clapped and cheered, their lips came together in a long kiss.

Beaming with joy, the newlyweds took each other by the hand and walked out of the church to the accompaniment of organ music. Felix looked around for the photographer and, to his relief, saw the dark lens pointing their way. The pictures should give them something to look back on and reminisce about this day in fifty years’ time.

Getting into the stretch limousine took quite an effort and several failed attempts. The ball-gown-style dress looked incredible but was as stiff as a board and made fastening a seatbelt or sitting comfortably on the back seat impossible.

After several kilometres on the main road, their route to the mediaeval castle that was to be the location for the wedding reception led up a picturesque but very narrow mountain road. So narrow that the driver of the white wedding limousine had a hard time manoeuvring the long vehicle around the tight bends and was only able to advance very slowly.

Halfway up the hill, he miscalculated a sharp left-hand bend and upon turning ended up with the right-hand rear wheel on the soft verge. The heavy limousine tipped to the right and came to an abrupt standstill.

The newlyweds looked at each other in alarm.

‘What was that?’

Through the panel that separated them from the front of the vehicle, they could hear the driver swearing. Felix looked out of the side window. There wasn’t much to see to his left. When he got close up to the window, he could just spy a part of the castle keep protruding majestically over the treetops. He slid a little to the right and leaned over the puffy material of the wedding dress towards the window to look out.

Without warning, the vehicle lurched and subsided even more. Leonie let out a shrill cry and Felix froze, not daring to move. The limousine was visibly tilting to one side and Leonie had to brace herself with her right arm against the door to avoid being pressed against the glass.

In the meantime, the driver had hurriedly got out of the car and pulled the back door on Felix’s side wide open.

‘Come on, get out of there!’ he cried, gesturing frantically.

The car lurched again and slid a little further, together with its occupants, towards the steep, tree-covered embankment. Felix grabbed Leonie’s hand.

‘Push your feet against the door and I’ll pull you up!’

She obeyed without hesitating and held Felix’s hand tight, trying to climb up the sloping back seat with his help. Getting out of the vehicle in her wedding dress was already a challenge under normal circumstances and the perilous situation did nothing to help matters. Only now did Leonie notice that her dress had got stuck in the door when she closed it. She let go of Felix’s hand momentarily and tried to free the fabric by pulling on it with both hands. Too late, she realised that the door hadn’t shut properly because of the trapped material. It suddenly burst open and Leonie slid out through the opening.

In a knee-jerk reaction, Felix grabbed for her outstretched hands, looking into her wide-open, frightened eyes as they begged him for help, but he wasn’t strong enough to stop Leonie from falling. He watched helplessly as his bride slid screaming out of the car, banging her head against the door frame as she went. Then it all went silent. Like a lifeless, floppy doll her body slid and rolled until it disappeared among the trees.

Stunned, Felix stared at the spot by the open door where the love of his life had been sitting just a few seconds earlier.

* * *

Saturday 16 March, present

Daniel Lohkamp was still sitting at his desk preparing the documents for the next day. The sun had gone down some time ago and his workstation was the only one in the office with the light still on. He had a long, tiring day behind him. After several pretty catastrophic interviews, he had finally found a new editor who, on first impression at least, seemed to meet his requirements. Starting right away, the next day, she was to take over some tasks from her predecessor, who Lohkamp had had to dismiss after just a two-month trial period. She had simply made no attempt to satisfy his personal needs. Now, he hoped that the new girl would meet his expectations in her everyday work and, more importantly, beyond.

* * *

Sunday 17 March

A woman with dark blonde hair gets off bus number 15, its destination Railway station/South displayed above the windscreen in bright yellow letters. It is pouring down with rain and the woman pulls her light-coloured coat around her even tighter. Slightly hunched over, she walks past the dark house façades, coming across the odd passer-by on the way, some in a hurry and some more relaxed, but none of them so much as glance at her. With the passing of each streetlight, her shadow appears from the darkness behind her, overtakes her and gets longer and paler with every step until it disappears again. The blonde woman rummages around in her handbag, pulls out a bunch of keys and walks up some steps to a house door. The motion detector activates the light beside the matt white door and the young woman’s shadow appears dimly in the diffuse light on the steps behind her.

Gradually getting darker, it moves forwards, rising to form a human silhouette on the house door. Startled, the young woman turns around, but there’s nobody to be seen. Her heart racing and fingers trembling, she puts the key in the lock and unlocks the door. She tries to take a step into the house but her feet refuse to move as if glued to the floor. Within seconds, an icy cold takes hold of her, climbing up her legs and spreading through her body. The young woman opens her mouth, trying to scream, but nothing comes out. A second later, the colour drains from her face and she sinks to the floor, devoid of life.

Felix opened his eyes. Another of those dreams – this time with a worse ending than before. Now fully awake, the memory of the dream faded away as his thoughts took over. Only an oppressive feeling and a vague recollection of what had happened were left behind.

Around him, it was pitch black and for a moment he thought he’d gone blind, but then he noticed a small, weak dot of light over his face. Felix froze. He tried to sit up, but something was stopping him from moving very far, let alone sitting up straight. It felt like a tough plastic sheet. How did he get here? And why the devil was he naked? The last thing he could remember was having dinner with Melanie.

Felix punched and kicked at the plastic, the panic slowly growing inside him. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was closed spaces.