Skinned Read Free

in the churchyard than it had been on the road. Callum knew from experience that if he didn’t take care, he’d trip over tombstones or the iron railings marking Victorian graves and end up flat on his face. The church loomed like an ice-bound ship, faintly etched in frost.
    â€˜Can’t see anything,’ said Melissa. ‘Maybe he’s not here –?’
    The doorway of the church was suddenly swallowedin darkness. Callum and Melissa stumbled against each other as a rope of wind even chillier than the night itself wound around their legs. White, gleaming fangs flashed in the middle of the inky shadow in the door, and a terrifying rumble reverberated around the cemetery as the enormous beast let rip a supernatural canine growl.
    It was Doom, the Churchyard Grim and Jacob’s companion.
    The giant dog loomed in the ruined doorway, fangs bared. Now he backed away – an invitation to proceed. Gritting his teeth, Callum went first, and Melissa followed. He hadn’t always trusted Doom, but Callum couldn’t deny that it was his icy fangs that destroyed the Fetch. The spectral dog was on their side, or at least seemed to be . . .
    Doom turned and loped into the church after them, the bone-birds darting about his great shadowy form.
    â€˜Jacob?’
    Callum’s voice echoed inside the cold, ruined walls of the sanctuary. He and Melissa stood still, side by side, peering at the jagged shadows thrown in all directions by the light of the soaring moon outside.They had both been there before, and it was never exactly a settling experience, but this felt different. For Jacob to summon the two of them here so late in the evening must mean something serious.
    As Callum’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, he realised that Jacob was already there. The ghost-boy stood just beside the ruined altar in his long black coat, fingers clenched, hands by his sides. Longish, black hair shadowed his faintly gleaming skin.
    Doom moved to stand next to his master, and Callum saw Jacob’s pale hand reach up to grip the dark fur at the back of Doom’s neck.
    Suddenly, there came a tremendous flash of lightning, which tore the night in two and caused Callum to stagger back in shock. For one second he could see everything as though in broad, clear daylight – every stone of the ruined church, every leaf of ivy and stem of nettle winding among the stones picked out in perfect detail – the bird skeletons in mid-air, the spectral figures of Jacob and Doom, starkly outlined in black and glowing silver. Then the light was gone and Callum could see nothing.
    But he heard Jacob’s echoing, bell-like voice cut through the darkness.
    â€˜The Shadowing has begun.’

Chapter Two
    Callum could feel Jacob’s eyes fixed on him expectantly.
    â€˜Well, what do you want me to say?’ he asked.
    Things didn’t feel any different – there was no sudden change, no flood of demonic energy. Just the bone-trembling cold. Jacob pointed towards the ruined wall of the church, through the space a window would once have been, and towards the night sky. His finger dripped with the black blood that often seeped from his fingernails.
    â€˜This,’ the ghost began, ‘is merely the first moon of the thirteen. The full force of the Shadowing is not immediate. But that does not mean we are able tolinger. Already, there is much danger.’
    Melissa looked over at Callum, then to Jacob. ‘Well, it’s all a bit of an anti-climax so far,’ she said with a tentative grin. But Callum couldn’t bring himself to smile.
    â€˜What do you mean, the full force is not immediate?’ he said.
    â€˜When the Shadowing commences, the floodgates do not simply open,’ Jacob said. ‘The Boundary between the mortal world and the Netherworld remains in place but, as the cycle of the moons progresses, there will be a steady increase in the number of gaps in its fabric.’
    Callum cleared