Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) Read Free Page A

walking myself home, thank you.”
    Mr Chester locked the door behind them and disappeared back inside. He lived alone in the flat above the shop, so in a way he never left work. Scarlet thought it must be depressing, but at least the commute was short.
    Indy headed up the high street to go and get himself a chicken kebab with hot sauce. Scarlet headed the other way, down Unicorn Hill—which was the road that led to the lake. If it had been winter, she probably would have caught the bus, but the summer nights were so pleasant that it was hard to resist a picturesque stroll before reaching home and watching Eastenders . She and her dad had moved from Moseley in Birmingham, where very little was green and natural, so she was enjoying the change. Perhaps the novelty of living in a rural hamlet would eventually wear off, but right now, it was one of the few things that made her feel fortunate. She had no mother, no friends, no hobbies, but at least she didn’t live in a concrete jungle anymore.
    Her dad had moved them from the city when he’d lost his job as an advertiser when a Qatari company purchased the firm he worked for. Relocation had become necessary when he took a job as a marketing consultant for a shipping firm with rural headquarters, so Redlake became their new home. The problem was that her dad was so eager to impress his new employers that he barely spent any time at home anymore. Losing his job had shaken him, but even before that he’d been a workaholic. Long ago she had decided that it was because he didn’t know how to be a parent. When her mother had still been around, Scarlet’s dad had been home for dinner every night, and would always read to her before bed, but once it became just the two of them, he had seemed to close up emotionally. She couldn’t remember the last time they had laughed together. Even when he was home, she felt lonely.
    The lake was just up ahead, so she exited Unicorn Hill and took the pedestrian path that hugged the water’s edge. The sun was hot, even at six o’ clock, but the newly-arrived evening had imbued that heat with a pleasant mildness. Even the usual muddy stench was missing tonight.
    When she made it beside the lake, it seemed to be humming with life. Clouds of insects hovered above its surface while ducks, geese, and swans shaded themselves amongst the gently swaying reeds.
    Scarlet thumbed at her phone and put in the attached earphones. Her favourite music began to play immediately—like she had opened a door on an orchestra—and she hummed along happily as Katy Perry did her thing. Time seemed to pass so much more enjoyably with a soundtrack.
    You could get almost anywhere in town from the path she was on, for the lake sat directly in the centre of town. The wide north end played host to an ancient monastery with a museum, while the southern tip contained a visitor’s centre and yacht club. In between was nothing but leafy paths, woods, and water. A wooden shack sat about halfway around, with pictures of ice cream on its side, but she had never seen it open. A shame, because a chilled ‘99 would be the one thing to make this evening walk a flawless pleasure.
    A sixteen year old girl should have something better to do on a Wednesday night than walk around the lake on her own—she knew that—but it had been tough to make friends at her new school. It was everybody’s final year—their friendships were long-established and their groups nigh on impermeable. Nobody had time for an average-looking girl that they probably wouldn’t know in six months’ time. It’d been a lonely time, but it wasn’t that bad. She was well used to having only herself to rely on by now.
    Water splashed nearby. A goose honked and flapped its wings.
    Scarlet looked to the lake and saw something lying amongst the reeds.
    A man.
    “What the fudge?”
    She crept cautiously down the bank, making sure that her eyes were telling her the truth (they definitely were), and making sure not