In Hell's Shadow: Episode III
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.
The truck jerked to a halt after what seemed like an agonizing eternity. Kate raised her head. A dilapidated log cabin standing in a small clearing beyond the windshield greeted her eyes. Distorted shadows from a surrounding grove of trees blanketed the cabin. No lights shone inside or outside the log structure.
The stranger flung open the door. He plucked the keys from the ignition and stepped out of his truck.
“We’re here. Come with me.”
He left his door hanging open and marched toward steps leading up to a small porch bordering the front of the cabin. The stranger's stride seemed almost mechanical as if he was not used to walking around. Following him into this isolated cabin seemed like a terrible idea. Kate eyeballed the surrounding woods and wondered if she could make a run for it. The stranger did not look back at her as the distance grew between him and the truck. Maybe his inattention would give her enough of a head start.
Kate stared at the ignition sans keys and immediately realized her chances for escape on foot were terrible. No matter how much ground she covered before he noticed her absence, he could run her down in his truck long before she made it back to the main road.
“I wish I knew how to hot-wire this damn thing. That would solve a ton of my problems.”
Her words left her mouth in a hushed tone. The stranger suddenly snapped his head back in Kate’s direction after he climbed the last step and reached the cabin’s front door.
“I can't help you if you stay in the truck,” he called out. “Please come inside.”
Nothing in the world could convince Kate to join him inside that cabin. The surrounding woods felt creepy as hell too, but she’d rather take her chances with a random coyote or cougar than a stranger who kidnapped her and driven her to a remote cabin — most likely to have his way with her.
Kate flung open her now unlocked door and took off on a dead run for the woods. She covered ground much faster than she expected. None of her bones or muscles ached while she ran. The absence of pain caught Kate by surprise. She felt indescribably sore in the moments following her wreck. Adrenaline must have kicked in at the right time to take away her pain.
A loud shout from the stranger followed her once Kate reached the tree line. She ducked under low-hanging branches and plunged into the woods. Rain had stopped falling at this point and the moon emerged from behind the storm clouds. A smattering of moonlight fell on a path before her. Kate followed it until the cabin and truck disappeared from her line of sight. She did not bother to look back and check to see if the stranger trailed behind her. Kate focused only on the path ahead. One foot in front of the other. If she kept going, maybe it would lead her straight back to the main road.
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