In Hell's Shadow: Episode II

A paranormal horror story

Trapped in an unfamiliar place far from home following a traumatic car accident, Kate is forced to confront a once-buried nightmare anew. Will this specter of her past lead her to certain destruction?

In Hell’s Shadow is a paranormal horror story set in Deer Falls — the same fictional Colorado town featured in my stories The Ghost Diaries, Snow Dragon, Pandora Reborn, and The Crimson Reaper. First published through Samak Press in April 2020, In Hell’s Shadow will be republished in six episodes here in the Strange New Worlds newsletter in celebration of the story’s fifth anniversary.

I | II | III | IV | V | VI

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She stumbled toward the idling vehicle and shielded her eyes from bright beams with her forearm. The driver's side door opened, and a shadowy figure emerged from inside the cab. Judging by the stranger's outline, her rescuer was a man. Any other identifying features remained hidden. He did not venture into the beams cast by his truck's headlights but allowed surrounding shadows to obscure his face and his identity. Kate hesitated to approach him. She drew in a deep breath and tried to focus on picturing those same ocean images she normally used to begin meditation sessions. Although she found herself in a bad situation, letting random fears overtake her would not make things any better.

“What happened to you?”

“I had a rollover.” Kate gestured at the broken guardrail. “What's left of my car is lying in a mangled heap below that guardrail.”

“Really? You look pretty unscathed.”

She gave him a puzzled look. Was this dude trying to hit on her? Or was he making an unwarranted sarcastic remark? Either way, Kate wanted none of it. After crawling from that twisted metal and fiberglass heap which used to be her car, Kate figured her outward appearance matched how she felt inside. Her clothes were already tattered rags, soaked with mud and stained with her blood. Her face and the rest of her body were no doubt in equally rough shape.

At least, it felt that way to Kate.

“Do you had a cell phone I can borrow?” she asked, brushing off his earlier remark.

“No. I don’t carry one with me.”

He had to be lying. Kate never met a person who did not carry a cell phone. Hell, even her grandpa carried an old flip phone around with him when he traveled. If this guy worried about her chewing up his minutes while making an emergency call, maybe he needed to sign up for a better plan.

“I don’t know what to do. Sarah is probably calling everywhere, trying to find me.”

“Sarah?” The man repeated.

“My best friend. We used to be roommates until she graduated last semester. I'm staying up at her cabin for the weekend. We’re planning to go mountain climbing tomorrow.”

As soon as Kate rattled off the hasty explanation, she scolded herself internally for doing it. Since when did it matter if he knew about Sarah or their plans? Why did she tell him all these things? Kate always had a bad habit of turning into a chatterbox whenever she became nervous. Right now, she felt more on edge than the last time she had to give a PowerPoint presentation to her entire advanced psychology class.

“Should you be up here all by yourself?”

“Should I? I don't know.” Kate kicked a small pebble near her foot. “I didn’t count on getting lost while driving through a rainstorm.”

“This is no place for a girl to be alone.” The stranger gestured toward the darkened mountain terrain. “You never know what could happen or who you could run into around these parts.”