Changeling: Zombie Dawn Read Free

shut, the interior dark and uninviting, but the window packed full of comics and graphic novels looked interesting, so he approached it to take a look.
    The lack of lighting inside the shop, coupled with the bright sunshine outside, made it difficult to see the display properly, and Trey was forced to make a visor out of his hands, curling them round his eyes and pressing them against the glass to get a proper look inside. He spotted a compilation book of one of his favourite Marvel characters, and he strained to see if it was one he already had or not. As he did so he got the uneasy feeling that he was being watched – a strange sixth sense that made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle and a cold shiver run through him. He turned round, looking to see if he could locate the source of the uneasiness.
    There was nobody in sight.
    Get a grip, Trey, he told himself, remembering his earlier overreaction to the tourist. But the uneasy sense of being watched would not leave him, and lately Trey had learned not to ignore his gut feelings.
    He quickly walked off to his right, pulling his hood back from his head now, not wanting his peripheral vision restricted. He sped up, turning left, then right, and entering a narrow street with rows of garages on one side and ugly, squat business premises on the other. At the end of the road he could see an arch in a brick wall that looked as if it led into a children’s playground; brightly painted swings and slides were just visible through the gap. In the background beyond this appeared to be a high-rise block of flats. That feeling of being followed was stronger than ever. Trey started running in the direction of the park, quickly lengthening his stride until he was sprinting. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his knee, he ate up the ground in front of him. He burst through the narrow brick archway, skidding to a halt as he did so and taking up position to one side of the opening. He quickly glanced about him, relieved to find that the playground was empty and that a line of tall trees at the far end obscured the view of most of the windows in the flats. At the last second he decided to remove his trousers and sweatshirt, kicking off his trainers too so that he stood there in nothing but his underwear, socks and a T-shirt.
    Please God, don’t let anyone look out now and see me standing in a children’s play area in nothing but my pants!
    It occurred to him that this could all be yet another episode of paranoia. He was losing it. He was imagining—
    He stopped, holding his breath. Sure enough, Trey heard the sound of running footsteps approaching. That uneasy feeling he’d experienced at the bookshop was back, setting his nerves jangling and his heart thumping against his chest. He closed his eyes, praying that what he was about to do was the right thing.
    He Changed.
    The huge barrel-chested seven-foot werewolf that he now was crouched, and as his pursuer emerged through the bricked archway Trey threw himself forward, knocking whoever it was down to the ground. There was a loud ‘Unfgh!’ as they hit the small grassy mound on the other side of the opening. Trey was quickly on top of his quarry, pinning it down with his weight. He reached forward and pulled the hood back off its head.
    But it was no demon beneath the hood. A pair of piercingly blue eyes stared out at him from behind a tangle of blonde hair.
    Ella blew the hair away from her face, her annoyed expression quickly turning to amusement as she took in the astonished look on the werewolf’s face.
    ‘Hello, Trey,’ she said.
    When Trey had got over his shock at seeing Ella again, he pulled her back on to her feet. Growling an apology, he turned his back, returned to his human form and put his clothes back on. The ripped and ruined mess of his underwear and T-shirt were picked up and placed in a bin. Eventually he turned to look at Ella again and offered her an awkward smile.
    ‘We should go somewhere and have a