Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) (4 page)

"What do you think of your room?" Ely asked him.

"It's great. Thank you," Oliver said, a little overwhelmed.

"No need to thank me. I'm more than happy to have you here. It really is marvellous to meet you both finally."

"Why
haven't
we met you before?" May asked, turning to face him.

"I'm sure your mother had her reasons," he said vaguely.

"What about our uncle? Where's he?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Pilford? He works for a university," Ely said.

"Can we meet him?" Oliver asked hopefully.

Ely opened and closed his mouth before answering. "Perhaps, one day." He began backing towards the door. "I'll leave you to get settled in."

Ely exited the room before they could ask any more questions.

May eyed the room and ran a finger across a silken throw on the end of the double bed. "I can't believe Mum used to live in this place and she never brought us here," she said, sounding hurt.

She sat down on the edge of the bed as Oliver walked over to the dressing table. There was a selection of necklaces hanging on a knob by the mirror. He picked one up and let it run through his fingers, the small crystal on one end glistening as it caught the light.

May sighed. "Is this it then? Mum's really gone?"

Oliver frowned and turned back towards her. "Just until they find her."

"But where is she? What if something awful's happened to her?" May's eyes watered but she didn't cry. "That Hawking guy, her room - what if we told Ely? Maybe he'd be able to convince the police?"

Oliver picked at the gem hanging on the chain in his hand, avoiding her eye. "Why would he believe us? All the evidence is gone."

"But we could
try
," May implored.

Oliver dropped the necklace back onto the surface and looked up at her. "He'll just think we're making it up, like everyone else does."

She sighed in resignation and Oliver began rummaging through the drawers in the dressing table, curious to see more of his mother's possessions.

"We don't have to start school right away, do we? I can't bear facing people just yet," May said, sounding exasperated.

"At least you make friends easy. I think it took me about four years to make friends at our old school," he exaggerated.

May laughed. "That's because I actually
attend
school though," she said with a grin.

Oliver shut the final drawer, letting out a breath of frustration. "They're all empty."

"I guess Ely must've cleared out Mum's stuff to make room for ours," May said with a shrug.

"I'd like to see her things though," Oliver said, a mischievous glint entering his eye. "I wonder where he put them."

May raised her eyebrows at him. "Maybe he'll show us."

"Or we could just have a look around ourselves?" he suggested.

"I don't know if he'd be very happy with us snooping around," May said doubtfully.

Oliver walked purposefully towards the door. "Well if he has nothing to hide he won't mind us exploring, will he?"

3

Hidden in the Dark

T
here were two other doors in the corridor so Oliver tried the first one, just along from his mother's old room. He turned the handle but it was locked.

Oliver moved to the room opposite and, with a surge of excitement, found it open. He peered inside, finding a gloomy bedroom with heavy curtains drawn across the window and a thick, musty smell in the air.

Oliver ran his fingers across the wall, feeling the grooves of textured wallpaper beneath his touch. He discovered a light switch and flicked it, illuminating stacks of boxes piled on the floor and atop a bed.

"Should we go in?" May asked, peeking under his arm.

Oliver nodded and crept into the room. He brushed his fingers across a box on the bed and found a layer of dust deposited on it. A tingle ran up his spine as he got the distinct feeling that the room was somehow sacred, perhaps having remained untouched for years.

He pushed his fingers under the lip of the closed box and lifted it but the cardboard resisted, unmoving. He frowned and tugged at it harder but the box wouldn't open.

"That's weird," he muttered.

"What is?" May asked, hovering by the doorway.

"I can't open it." He tried the box beside it but was met with the same problem.

He lifted one onto the floor and knelt down beside it. Despite pulling hard, the cardboard didn't even tear.

"Leave it," May insisted through gritted teeth.

He turned to find her looking at him anxiously. "Aren't you curious?"

She nodded and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, but it doesn't look like Ely wants us going through this stuff. He's glued the boxes shut."

"If it were glue I could rip it," Oliver muttered thoughtfully.

"Olly,
come on
," May said with a slight edge to her voice.

He rolled his eyes and exited the room. "Do you reckon we might have another uncle or aunt we don't know about?"

"Maybe," May replied, sounding hopeful. "We should ask Ely."

They descended to the floor below and tiptoed down a corridor that ended in a single, large door. Oliver turned the handle and pushed it open, wincing as the hinges creaked. May clapped a hand to her mouth as she started giggling and Oliver grinned.

He peeped inside and found an enormous bedroom with a fourposter bed draped in grey material at one end. At the other, was a colossal desk made from dark wood engraved with symbols and patterns around the edges. It ran the length of an entire wall and had a hollow space beneath it where a four-wheeled stool was located. Piled atop the desk was a mountain of papers and books.

"This must be Ely's room. Maybe we shouldn't go in?" May said, but Oliver was already crossing the hardwood floor to investigate the desk.

A leather-bound book lay open at its centre portraying a diagram of a hand, facing palm up in the middle of the page. Arrows pointed to various lines on the image with strange words annotating it.

Oliver turned the page to find a more detailed diagram that displayed various fingers and different angles of the hand. A floorboard creaked behind him as May crept up to the desk.

"Do you reckon he's into palmistry?" Oliver asked.

"What? Like fortune telling?" May asked, looking doubtful.

"Yeah, look at these." He showed her the diagrams.

"My friend was into all that stuff. This doesn't look like that, though." May frowned and her forehead filled with tiny creases. They vanished as she picked up a piece of paper that caught her attention. "What do you think this is?"

Oliver cast his eyes over the drawing of a spiral that was interspersed with circles at random intervals.

"No idea," he said.

He glanced around the desk and spotted a pile of books that had been haphazardly placed on a wad of papers. They wobbled precariously as he lifted the top book and the one beneath it slid forward, shooting towards the floor.

Oliver winced as it hit the wood with a loud
thud
and they stood in tense silence, waiting to see if Ely had been alerted by the noise.

Oliver sighed with relief a moment later and stooped down, crawling under the desk to retrieve it. As he lifted the book a small scrap of paper was disturbed from beneath it. He reached for it, grasping the piece between two fingers.

"DINNER'S READY!" Ely's voice boomed up the stairs.

Oliver jerked upwards in shock, hitting his head on the underside of the desk with a loud
crack.

"Argh," he groaned, pulling in a sharp breath of air between his teeth.

"Quick, get
up
," May said in a panic.

"Don't worry about me it's not like I smacked my head or anything," Oliver said, crawling out from underneath the desk.

He stood, placing the book back on the desk and stuffed the piece of paper into his back pocket before rubbing his head to ease the pain.

They snuck out of the room and Oliver shut the door quietly, feeling a rush of adrenalin pump through his veins. He turned to find May grinning at him and he shoved her playfully in the arm before leading the way back to the staircase, tiptoeing as they went.

As they descended, the sound of talking carried up to them from below. They reached the entrance hall and Oliver looked around, uncertain of where to go.

"Ely?" he called out but received no response.

They followed the voices through to a large kitchen where several people were gathered around a breakfast bar that was topped with black, grey-streaked marble.

The group looked young, perhaps in their early twenties; the men were dressed in smart suits and the women in party dresses. They laughed and chatted amongst themselves seemingly unaware of Oliver and May's presence.

"Um, excuse me?" May said but none of the strangers reacted.

The two of them lingered awkwardly in the doorway for a moment then Oliver stepped further into the room and the group turned to face them, looking surprised.

A woman broke apart from her companions, flicking a long strand of white-blonde hair out of her eyes. She glanced back towards the others with a meaningful glare and they fell silent, eyeing Oliver and May curiously.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was smooth and velvety and her smile revealed a set of brilliant, white teeth.

"We're looking for Ely," Oliver said, watching the strangers over her shoulder who were beginning to whisper amongst themselves.

"Oh, you must be his grandchildren. He's been telling us all about you. I believe he's in the dining room." She gestured to a doorway behind her.

"Thanks," Oliver said vaguely, retracting his gaze from the group.

They walked through the doorway and pushed past a trio of older men who were dressed in business suits. There were others gathered around a long dining table, piled high with food. The lighting was dim but not dark enough to hide the strange looks they received as they crossed the room.

Ely was sat on a red, chintzy sofa with a plate of food on his lap. He spotted them just before they sat down next to him.

"You must be hungry. Grab a plate and have whatever you want. The broccoli quiche is delicious," he said, gesturing to the buffet.

Oliver's stomach rumbled but he was too curious to eat just yet. "Ely, who are all these people?" he asked in a low voice.

Ely smiled. "They're just some friends and acquaintances." He stuffed a cocktail sausage into his mouth with a shrug. "Lots of people come visiting here. Grab a plate." He gestured to the food again.

Oliver frowned and gazed around at the party. He stood and heard May follow him as he approached the table, picked up a plate and filled it. As he returned to his seat a thought occurred to him.

"Are any of these people related to us?" he asked his grandfather curiously.

Ely shook his head and Oliver felt dejected.

"Will we get a chance to meet any other family?" May asked him eagerly as she swallowed a mouthful.

"Um, probably not. No," Ely said in a high pitched voice then cleared his throat and continued to eat.

"Why not?" Oliver asked in frustration.

"Well, my children live quite far away, you see? I rarely get to see them myself." He sipped at a glass of red wine as he spoke, avoiding eye contact with them.

"Wait, how many children do you
have
?" May asked.

"Four," Ely said airily.

"
Four?
We have three aunts and uncles we've never even
heard
of?" Oliver asked incredulously.

"Yes. There's your uncle Pilford, who I mentioned earlier, then your uncle Eugene. And, um, well, your mum's twin sister, Laura." Ely downed the remainder of his wine.

"
What?
" Oliver blurted, sharing a shocked look with May.

Ely continued to stuff food into his mouth so there was little opportunity for him to respond. Oliver narrowed his eyes at him. "Did Mum fall out with the family, then?" he pressed.

"Something like that," Ely said, getting to his feet. "I better just see how everyone's getting along," he muttered as he walked away.

Oliver raised his eyebrows at May.

"Mum has a
twin
," she said disbelievingly.

Oliver nodded, feeling dazed. He looked closer at the people standing around the room. The group they had bumped into in the kitchen were chatting animatedly at one end near the men in business suits, a cluster of teenagers were whispering together in one corner and a pale-faced lady was standing alone, hovering by the buffet.

One of the teenagers noticed him watching them. She had long, black hair which she curled around a finger as she spoke to the red-haired girl beside her. They both glanced at Oliver and May then burst into a fit of giggles. The two of them moved away from their group and started talking excitedly.

"We should speak to those girls," Oliver said suddenly.

"Why? They were laughing at us," May said, gazing stubbornly away from them.

He nudged her. "Which is exactly why we should talk to them. Find out what's so damn funny."

May grinned and raised her eyebrows at him in challenge. "Okay, after you."

Oliver placed his plate beside him on the sofa, stood up and walked over to the girls.

They started as they spotted him approaching and he felt a distinct feeling of satisfaction at riling them.

"Hi, I'm Oliver, this is my sister May," he said with an overly friendly smile.

May stepped to his side and he almost wanted to laugh at the look of surprise on their faces.

The girls shared a look then the one with long, black hair spoke. "I'm Dawn, this is Zara."

Up close, Oliver noticed that Zara's hair was more copper than red. She had an upturned nose which gave her a permanently snooty expression. She smiled but didn't say anything.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Oliver asked, aiming his question at Dawn who seemed more approachable.

"Oh, you know. Just visiting," Dawn said, throwing Zara another look.

"Where are you guys from?" May pressed.

The girls burst out laughing and Zara even snorted.

Oliver scowled at them. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Dawn said airily, trying to suppress her laughter.

"Aww, it's like watching animals at the zoo," Zara said in a baby voice, making Dawn shriek with laughter.

"What's that supposed to mean?" May snapped.

"Well an animal bred in captivity doesn't know there's anything beyond its cage does it?" Zara continued, looking at them with feigned pity.

"What's your point?" Oliver said, straining to understand her insult.

"Don't bother Zara. I'm not sure their little brains could understand even if we
did
explain," Dawn said, her mouth curving up into a cruel smile.

Oliver grimaced and turned away from the girls, anger bubbling under his skin.

"What the hell was their problem?" he snapped as they walked away.

"I dunno. Let's try talking to someone else," May suggested, glaring back at the girls.

As they moved through the room, it seemed that everyone at the party was actively avoiding them. Backs turned as they walked and the odd glance they did receive was quickly withdrawn as Oliver tried to engage the onlooker.

"I'm sick of this. Let's go upstairs," Oliver said eventually and May nodded, looking disgruntled.

They returned to the entrance hall and climbed the staircase, heading for their rooms. When they reached the turning, Oliver was suddenly filled with the urge to do something defiant and decided to keep climbing.

"Where are you going?" May asked as she hurried to keep pace with him.

He didn't answer but continued to ascend the stairs, passing corridors where the walls were barely visible beneath masses of tangled vines. They reached the top and exited the stairwell.