Free The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake Page A

worried he might crush Debbie’s hand in his grip, he was even more afraid to let it go. Self-preservation and adrenaline pushed them forwards. It didn’t matter where they ran, as long as they were moving it meant they were still alive.
    Lightning flashed around them, followed by echoing peals of thunder, and Matt saw the impossible. The earthquake, the storm, the deafening noise—it was only happening at Debbie’s house. The neighbors slept peacefully on, their homes untouched.
    Then, as if someone dropped a curtain, impenetrable darkness fell. It was impossible for them to move even one more step, so they stopped, and Matt pulled Debbie tightly against him, comforting them both.
    As Matt’s eyes adjusted, from out of the blackness appeared something even blacker. A shadow in the night. Matt was paralyzed with terror and couldn’t move when the thing wrapped what seemed to be its hands around their shoulders. But he clutched Debbie even harder in his arms, keeping her small body safely against his, afraid to let go.
    “Close your eyes,” the creature ordered.
    Matt swallowed hard, then obeyed. The next moment he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet. He couldn’t keep his eyes closed forever, despite his fear. He squinted as cold morning air stung his face, then gawked with disbelief. They were flying. The shadow hovered behind them, its grip cold and hard on his shoulders as they rushed above a straight line of a highway flanked by scopes of barren sand. The wind wailed, and Debbie pressed her face harder against him so that her hair tickled his face. He tried to turn away from the wind, but his muscles wouldn’t move.
    He was caught by surprise at the bizarre sound of a phone ringing somewhere within the Shadow’s cloak. After a moment, their captor released them, and they plummeted to the ground in a free fall. To Matt’s horror, Debbie slipped out of his hands and drifted apart from him.
    “No!” he screamed, watching helplessly as the wind grabbed her body and whirled it around like a lifeless doll.
    The ground sped towards them. When collision became inevitable, Matt shielded his face with his hands and tried to curl into fetal position. He hoped Debbie, wherever she was, could do the same. But when he crashed, he found the land wasn’t as hard as he’d expected it to be. In fact, it reminded him of cushions stacked together to break his fall.
    So this is what heaven feels like, he thought.
    But when he opened his eyes he discovered he lay facedown on pavement, and he was very much alive. Debbie lay nearby, unmoving. Before he could slide closer to her, Matt turned his head and spotted the creature who had captured them. The tall, cloaked figure hid his face under a cowl as he strode, unharmed and confident, towards Matt. Then he reached within the cloak and pulled out his ringing cell phone.
     

Chapter 12
     
    Jason watched Emily expectantly, feeling as worried as she looked. The phone had been ringing a while, and hope seemed to wash from her eyes with every beep. Finally, Jason heard a click and a hoarse male voice.
    “Yeah?”
    “Tyler! Where are you? Why aren’t you in the Hall yet?”
    “There was a trap,” the voice answered, sounding calm.
    Jason listened hard, relieved that he could hear what was going on. If he was kept in this state of confusion for too much longer he was sure he’d lose his mind.
    “Pariah, in propria persona,” the voice continued, “wished to destroy Jason Walker’s friends. I got there just in time. Managed to leave the bastard behind. Don’t worry.”
    Jason clenched his teeth, realizing that was why the Shadow had let them escape back at the E&L building: it had wanted to kill Matt and Debbie. After Jason had initially questioned Emily, he never considered they might be in danger. He had been so consumed with his own panic that he’d simply forgotten about his friends. He bit his lower lip hard enough that the salty taste of blood spread in his