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    One Not of the Blood
    One Not of the Blood
    One Not of the Blood
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    One Not of the Blood

    By Lila Maddock

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    About this ebook

    When Elsa begins her career as an investigative journalist she is strangely drawn to unexplained and odd stories. From her articles she captures the attention of a group calling themselves ANONYMOUS whose purpose is to protect the existence of inhumans, werewolves and others, from becoming human knowledge. ANONYMOUS knows Elsa is special. Elsa has felt special since she was young but doesn’t understand why.
    Stories are hard to come by and Elsa needs stories to make a living. When ANONYMOUS offers to provide them with a few rules she hesitantly agrees. Things have gone pretty smoothly so far. She has learned more about why she is special and is feeling confident. But her new case will test all she thinks she knows and push her emotions to the limit.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWoolysWagon ePublishing
    Release dateDec 9, 2016
    ISBN9781370754229
    One Not of the Blood
    Author

    Lila Maddock

    Lila Maddock is the pen name used by Lisa C. Maddock from Lancashire in the United Kingdom. As a child Lisa loved animals and dreamed of being a veterinarian. She was employed in several jobs before she made the decision to stay home and care for her two sons, Matthew and Alex. As a child Lila found she liked being alone reading and writing poems and later, stories. She found she had numerous stories taking form in her mind and felt her characters wanted her to tell their stories. With her eldest son's encouragement she began putting the stories to paper. Finding the solitude she discovered she needs to write remains her biggest hurdle. Lila resides with her partner, David and her two sons along with their pets Tiger, the cat and Sonic, a bearded dragon. She enjoys watching television and reading, particularly Paranormal Romance. Please write to Lila and let her know what you thought about her book. LilaMaddock@woolyswagon.com

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      Book preview

      One Not of the Blood - Lila Maddock

      DEDICATION

      I am dedicating this book firstly to my children, Alex and Matthew, who have been my sounding board and encouraged me to keep writing. Secondly, to all my friends on T.S.O. (The Settlers Online). Thanks, Intel, for being supportive and for beta reading this book.

      Thank you. All of you.

      PROLOGUE

      No, you cannot do this! Elsa shouted. Lying on the floor with one arm over her face, she held the other out in front of herself in defence. You cannot kill me.

      She heard a loud crack, then nothing. Elsa woke up on her sofa at home with her arm across her face; she sat up and began to check herself over. What the hell is going on? she said out loud to the empty room. How did I get back here?

      Just then her phone rang and Elsa pulled it from her pocket and just sat there staring at it. She stared not only because of the caller I.D. that came up on the screen but she was also wondering how it remained undamaged after the fight. The continued ringing roused her from her thoughts.

      The phone’s screen did not show a number, just a word. ANONYMOUS. Who on earth is that? she wondered. Then she answered.

      Ah, Elsa, it is about time you answered. I guess about now you are wondering how you got out of your situation and are now alive and well at home. That would be because of us. I have a deal for you and I would recommend that you take it. I have left a package on your coffee table. In that package is all the information you gathered from your last case and a cheque to cover all the expenses you acquired while investigating it. There is also a file on another case we would like you to investigate along with an anonymous credit card with unlimited funds for expenses. We will also send you other cases from time to time. In return for your hard work we will allow you to write up these cases and submit them to your editor at the newspaper on the condition that you leave out anything you come across during your investigations that seems inhuman. Do you understand?

      Who are you?

      That does not matter. All you need to know is that we saved your life and are offering you a unique opportunity. We need you and you need the money. So do you agree to the deal or not?

      Yes, okay. I’ll do it.

      Good, Elsa. Just one more thing. Don’t ever tell anyone about any otherworldly things you see on any of these cases; we need to keep them secret from the public.

      Elsa put her phone down on the table with a shaky hand. She looked at the envelope for a few minutes then picked it up and opened it, pouring its contents out onto the table. She found that it contained everything the man on the phone had said it would. Picking up a file which had the word OLD written on the front, she found that it contained all the information about the case she was recently working. She then picked up the other file. After briefly reading the contents, she closed it and placed it back on the table. Elsa looked around her living room and smiled. This could be fun, she said out loud. She rose and walked to her desk where she turned on her laptop. She began to write her article for the paper.

      She remembered the warning the mysterious man had given her and made sure not to mention that the man who was arrested had managed to escape. He had controlled the minds of the four guards on duty, all at the same time, before killing them without even touching them. The man had tried to control her, albeit unsuccessfully, so had tried to kill her physically instead.

      After she had written and emailed her story to the paper, she picked up the other file and began doing research for her next case.

      CHAPTER ONE

      TWO YEARS LATER...

      Elsa sat in front of her laptop staring out of the window. All she could see was the rain running down the glass and the foggy grey haze that shrouded everything outside.

      Well at least the day matches my mood, depressing. My bills are due and I don’t have anything to write about, she thought.

      Elsa was a freelance investigative journalist, but she was only as good as the next story she could find to investigate. Right now that was the problem, she had nothing.

      *PING* Elsa’s laptop notified the arrival of an e-mail. She turned to look at the screen and saw that the sender was ANONYMOUS. She sighed and returned her gaze to the window. ANONYMOUS was actually someone she recognized. He sent her weird stories to investigate; the last one involved a blood sucking serial killer. ANONYMOUS had sent her to investigate a lot of these stories and allowed her to sell the resulting stories to the paper on the condition that she helped to cover up the supernatural side of what she witnessed.

      Elsa was not sure she really wanted to get involved again. The investigations could get quite dangerous. But at the same time she needed the money so she turned back to her computer and opened the e-mail. All it contained was a link to a website. Elsa clicked on the link and then went to the kitchen to get a coffee. I will just take a look before I make my decision, she thought, as she filled her cup.

      When she returned to her laptop she saw that the link had taken her to a site for a town called Rye. Rye’s local paper had a picture of a young man and the story said he had been attacked and killed in the woods near a manor house just outside of town.

      The article continued, reporting that the local lad’s body had been found in the woods on the edge of the manor property line and the injuries sustained seemed to indicate some sort of animal attack. It also said that this was unusual because only deer and other small animals were known in the area and there were really no large animals capable of inflicting the trauma found on the man’s body. There were rumours that it could be a local pet of some kind that had escaped from a farm, but there was no mention of names connected to this rumour. It continued to say that the police had no leads but was keeping the investigation open.

      She thought about whether to take on the story. The town was a bit of a distance away. But she was desperate to sell another story. There was also something about this one that seemed to call to her. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt there was much more to this death than what was currently known.

      She had a few quick ideas on how she would start the investigation but first she had to get to Rye. She picked up her phone and called the number ANONYMOUS had given her. When they finally answered she told them that she would take the case. She was told to do anything she needed to do, just solve the case quickly and quietly. There had been too much publicity already. They reminded her to use the credit card for all expenses. Elsa told them she would and promised to keep them informed of any developments. She hung up and did a search for rental accommodation available in Rye.

      She booked a property and agreed to meet the landlord, Mason Ford, the next morning. She packed her bags for the trip and left. Elsa drove to the bank, took out the agreed rent for the week and then started the long journey to Rye.

      As Elsa got closer and closer to Rye she was starting to get excited. She had the feeling that this was the case she had been looking for; the one that would change her life.

      When she reached Rye, what she saw took her breath away; it was beautiful. Rye was a small town with stone buildings and a small stone school. A church sat in the middle of the town with a park across the road–a small children’s park surrounded by grassy areas, the whole of which was surrounded by a thick hedge of bushes. Near the park was a shopping area that had a post office, bank, coffee shop and a butcher, green grocer, bakery and general store.

      I love places like this, Elsa thought, It just shouts community. Everyone will know everyone and people are friendly. They will be curious of an outsider. Places like this are ripe with gossip, a reporter’s dream. She sat in her car near the park for a few minutes to orient herself to the town.

      CHAPTER TWO

      Elsa found the address she had been given and pulled up in front of the building. She got out, pulled out her mobile phone and called Mason to say she had arrived. After he said he would be there in five minutes she dropped her phone in her pocket and admired her surroundings.

      The building she was standing in front of was of the same design as the ones she had seen since entering the town. Steps led down to a path to the front of the house

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