A New Fear (7 page)

Had Rosalyn’s father sent someone after him already?

Nicholas kept walking. He did not want the man to know he had been seen.

When Nicholas reached a large elm tree, he ducked behind it. He wanted to get a better look at the man.

Nicholas peered through the branches.

The road stood empty.

Where did he go?

Nicholas heard a shuffling sound behind him. He spun around.

The man stood in front of him.

“It cannot be!” Nicholas cried.

The man looked just like him.

Chapter 13

“W
ho are you?” Nicholas demanded. He hoped the man could not see him trembling.

How could the man look exactly like him?

The man stared back at Nicholas in silence, his face blank.

Nicholas felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Who are you?” he shouted again.

His eyes darted over the young man. Same dark brown eyes as mine, Nicholas thought frantically. Same straight brown hair. Same height.

Calm down, Nicholas ordered himself. Calm down. It is only a strange coincidence. Brown hair is not uncommon. Brown eyes are not …

No. That does not explain it, Nicholas thought. He does not look like me. He
is
me.

“What do you want? What are you?” Nicholas cried.

The other man opened and closed his mouth. But no sound came out.

“Can’t you speak?” he barked.

The man stared at Nicholas pleadingly.

He opened his mouth again. “Shadyside!” he croaked.

The man’s face contorted. As though speech were agonizing to him.

The man began to fade.

“I don’t understand,” Nicholas cried. “What did you come to tell me?” Nicholas could hardly see the man now.

“Shadyside,” the man shrieked.

Then he was gone.

Chapter 14

“O
ne ticket to Shadyside,” Nicholas said.

He anxiously watched the man behind the counter in the train station. Nicholas did not know if a place called Shadyside even existed. But the man gave him a curt nod, took his money, and handed him a ticket.

Nicholas had been unable to sleep the night before. He kept thinking about his strange vision.

Then he knew what he had to do. At dawn he packed his few possessions and made the long walk to the train station.

He did not know what he would find in Shadyside. But he had to start his search for his father’s legacy somewhere. Perhaps the vision had been sent to guide him.

Nicholas paced up and down the platform. He could not wait to leave and find out what awaited him in Shadyside.

Nicholas straightened the lapels of his new brown suit. He had bought it on the way to the train station. He was off to seek his fortune. He did not want to look like a poor fisherman.

His mind on his journey, Nicholas bumped into a woman in a straw hat. She stood hunched over, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Nicholas said.

The woman glanced up. Her brown eyes held his.

“Rosalyn!” he cried in surprise.

He grabbed her arm and led her away from the few passengers waiting to board the train.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when they were safely out of sight.

“I wanted to see you one more time,” she explained. “So I decided to come to the train station. I knew I would find you!”

He squeezed her hand. “I am glad you did,” he told her. “I have something to tell you. When I was walking home last night, I had a vision.”

Rosalyn gave a little gasp. “What happened?”

“It is difficult to explain,” Nicholas told her. “It was a vision of myself. This vision of me spoke only one word—Shadyside.”

Nicholas pulled out his ticket and showed it to her. “I did not even know if such a place existed. But it does. So that is where I will begin my search for my father’s legacy.”

Rosalyn shivered. “I do not like the idea of you following this vision,” she said. “You do not know if
it came from good or evil—even though it took your form.”

“I know it is a strange thing to do,” Nicholas admitted. “But I feel it is my … my destiny.”

Rosalyn nodded. “I understand. Good luck, Nicholas. Stay well. I will count the minutes until you return. But I must go. My father will be furious if he finds out I saw you.”

Rosalyn thrust a small package into his hands. “Here. I want you to take more than my love with you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Nicholas held her tight and breathed in the scent of roses that always clung to her.

Then she pulled her shawl over her head, glanced around, and scurried away. Nicholas slipped the package into the pocket of his jacket. He heard a whistle blow and spotted the train far down the tracks.

He could not wait to begin his journey. Faster, he silently urged the train. Faster, faster. Finally it pulled into the station, the brakes squealing.

Nicholas climbed aboard and made his way to a padded seat next to a window. He had never been on a train before. He had never been anywhere outside Shadow Cove.

The train whistle blew and black smoke raced past the window.

The train lurched forward.

Nicholas pressed his forehead against the window. When I return to Shadow Cove, no one will recognize
me, he thought. No one will believe I am Nicholas Storm, the boy who always stank of fish.

Nicholas reached into his pocket for a peppermint and felt Rosalyn’s package. He had forgotten all about it. He unfolded the note and read the words she had written in her beautiful flowing script:

Dearest Nicholas,

When I was a child, I often walked along the shore. One evening as the sun began to set, I saw something shinning just below the sand. A gift from the sea.

It is my most precious possession. And it has always brought me good luck. I was wearing it the day I met you!

I want you to take it with you on your journey. I know it will bring you safely back to me.

Love always, Rosalyn

He pulled on the string tied around the package. It fell free and the brown paper opened to reveal Rosalyn’s gift.

Rosalyn’s favorite necklace. He had seen her wear it so often. He held it tightly in his hand. It felt warm to his touch. Warm from her skin, he thought, although he knew that was impossible.

Nicholas opened his hand and studied the necklace. It was unusual. The flat silver disk held a circle of sparkling blue stones. The disk was bigger than the ornaments on most necklaces. It is more like an amulet, Nicholas thought.

Three claws attached the amulet to the chain. “Strange decoration,” Nicholas muttered. He ran his thumb over the silver claws.

Oww! A drop of blood fell from his thumb into the center of the amulet. Those things are sharp, Nicholas thought.

He started to shove the amulet back into his pocket. Then he caught sight of an inscription on the back.

These are Latin words, he realized. He struggled to remember enough Latin to translate them.

“Per.” That was easy. “Per” meant “through.”

“Dominatio,” he whispered to himself. “Dominatio.” Oh, right. “Dominatio” is like “dominate.” It means “power.”

Now “malum.” Think. What does malum mean?

Evil.

Nicholas’s fingers tightened around the amulet as the meaning of the inscription came to him.

DOMINATIO PER MALUM
.

POWER THROUGH EVIL
.

PART THREE

Chapter 15

The Village of Shadyside
1919

A
storm was brewing.

Nicholas could feel it in the wind as he climbed onto the narrow concrete platform of the Shadyside train station. He could smell it in the air.

Lightning flashed in the darkening sky. It outlined part of a large mansion looming in the distance.

Nicholas had planned to find a room in a hotel and explore Shadyside the next day. Instead he picked up his suitcase and wandered through the town square and down the tree-lined main street.

He passed the barber shop, its peppermint-striped pole out front. A young marine was getting a shave inside. Just back from the war, Nicholas thought. And he is not much older than I am.

He peered through the window of the general store. The shelves were crammed with tools, dishes, bolts of cloth, bags of flour, jars of candy—everything the
townspeople might want. Nicholas thought about going inside for a cold drink, but decided to continue on.

He felt as if the mansion were a magnet, drawing him nearer. Pulling him closer and closer. He did not want to stop for anything until he reached it.

Nicholas passed the telegraph office and the newspaper office. He gave the wooden Indian outside the tobacco shop a pat on the shoulder as he went by. And he whistled in appreciation when he spotted the shiny new Mercer Runabout parked in front of the bank.

Someday I will have an auto such as that, Nicholas promised himself.

Nicholas walked faster and faster. He had to see that mansion. He turned off the main street and hurried down a row of small houses. Almost every one had a vegetable garden.

At last Nicholas found the street leading to the mansion—Fear Street. Strange name. Who would want to live on a street with such a name?

A stretch of the winding street had been paved. The rest had not. Someone must have had plans for this land, Nicholas realized. But it appears that they abandoned their project long ago.

Nicholas heard thunder rumble in the distance. He knew he should turn back. Find a place to spend the night. But he needed to see that mansion.

Nicholas rushed down the winding road until he reached the iron gate leading to the mansion. He pushed the gate open, and the hinges squealed.

Thorns snagged the pants of his new brown suit as
he struggled up the overgrown driveway. He did not care.

Nicholas’s heart beat faster and faster as he approached the house. I belong here, he thought suddenly. I belong here.

He stopped in front of the mansion. It towered over him. It was huge. Nicholas could not imagine living there. The first floor alone would hold five or six cottages such as the one he and his mother had shared.