Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) Read Free

town’s mosque. Mr Chester was mad about old books, but she saw nothing but dust and hard to read words. Better to collect something useful, she thought, like records. At least you could play those—if you had a record player.
    Mr Chester had returned to his office now, but he seemed to be keeping an eye on her. She’d only been working at the shop for a few months, but she enjoyed it and felt like she was doing a good job. Her dad wanted her busy during the evenings and holidays, and a job was what he had decided would be the right distraction. Life experience, he had informed her, would do her a lot of good. She didn’t have any friends after having moved to the town of Redlake just six months ago, so she had to admit that it was nice having something to do when she wasn’t at school. Also, the money was pretty great. It might be minimum wage, but it was the first money that had ever been entirely hers. Soon as she was seventeen, she was going to splash it all on driving lessons. Long as Mr Chester didn’t fire her first, of course—he was still eyeballing her from the office.
    What did I do? I thought he liked me? Now he’s looking at me like I spanked his dog.
    Mr Chester had been a substitute History teacher at Scarlet’s new school. One day, while he had been covering for Mrs Flowers, he’d spoken about a new shop in town he would soon be opening. Having been looking for a part-time job at that exact moment, Scarlet had begged for a position—and got one! She’d only been able to do so many hours at first, but now that school was broken up, she could work longer. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on all that money.
    “Hey, yo, Scar! I need to go real bad!”
    Scarlet saw Indy sticking his head through the door and grimaced. “ Yow , Indy, I forgot, sorry. Go, go!”
    Indy raced off towards the toilet like a cartoon mouse— areeba areeba, andale andale— while Scarlet went and manned the shop floor, content that she wasn’t going to need to get a mop to clean up any of Indy’s pee.
    ***
    Scarlet didn’t greet a single customer for the remainder of the day, and by the time she’d pulled on her favourite peach cardigan and was ready to go home, she wondered how Mr Chester managed to keep Little Treasures afloat. She had experienced that most days were slow, but it never seemed to faze her boss. In fact, Mr Chester seemed to fret very little over actual sales. If people came and bought, great. If not, then it never seemed to be a big deal. How on earth did he make enough money to keep on adding to his ‘personal collection’?
    “Thank you for today,” Mr Chester told her as he wiped at the already-clean desk with a cloth. “Mind yourself on your way home now, won’t you?”
    Scarlet frowned. “Redlake isn’t exactly known for its mean streets.”
    “All towns have their dangers, Scarlet, no matter how big or small. You should always be careful.”
    “The night is dark and full of terrors,” Indy muttered from the back of the room. He had put on his luminous green baseball cap and looked ridiculous.
    Mr Chester folded his arms and scowled. “What have I told you about quoting Game of Thrones , Indy?”
    Indy shrugged. “Don’t do it?”
    “That is correct.”
    Scarlet kept a slight grin on her face. “I’ll keep an eye out for muggers, Mr Chester, I promise.”
    “I’ll walk you home,” said Indy with a wink. “I’ve been meaning to check out your bedroom anyway.”
    “Mr Chester, I wish to report sexual harassment in the workplace.”
    He sighed. “Must I have you castrated, Indy?”
    “No sir. That would be unfair to all the ladies who want a piece of my Valerian Longsword.”
    “That’s it! Go! Get out! Please leave.” Mr Chester waved his arm dismissively, but his usually stern face had softened to an almost-smile. “I will see you both tomorrow, okay? Enjoy your evenings.”
    Indy winked at Scarlet again. “Oh, we will.”
    Scarlet punched him on the arm. “I’ll be