Chalice of the Dead

Prologue

“HURRY!“ We have to go!” Dad called from below.
“I’m coming!” Emily answered, searching her room with rising nervousness. Where had she put her bag?
Nancy had prepared her for this, but her death had shaken Emily so deeply that organizing even the simplest routine had become a struggle. After the quarrel between Dad and Kellan, she had stopped believing he would ever find it.
So when he had brought the book home earlier, she had been completely unprepared.
She found her shoulder bag under the bed. It was enough for light travel, and she reached for her little notebook to pack first.
But in mid-movement she froze, for in that instant her guardian spirit flared before her inner eye; and she felt the attempted strike. Yet it dissolved into the aether before it could manifest. Something has happened!
Nausea overwhelmed Emily, and a sharp pang struck her heart. Her parents!
Sick with worry, she ran to the hatch of her attic room and all but tumbled down the ladder.
“Mom! Dad!” she cried. No answer. The living room was empty.
Her gaze fell upon the book on the table – the very reason Dad had gone back to the library at all. The book Nancy had begged him for. The book that should never have been brought to Fenhole.
Driven by impulse, Emily slipped the Keymaster into her bag and ran to the bedroom.
“Mom! Dad!!” She flung open the door and screamed. “No!!”
An icy hand seemed to squeeze her heart, and tears streamed from her eyes. “No!!”
Her parents stood in the room, but all life had been stolen from them. They hadn’t seen it coming, hadn’t noticed how every drop of vitality was being drained away.
Emily dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Why had she not protected them?
Why had she not foreseen that She would do it! “Mom…” she sobbed. “Dad…”
Dead… they are dead… Someone stepped onto the veranda, the wooden boards
groaned under the weight. Emily flinched, clapping both hands over her mouth to stifle any sound. Wide-eyed, she followed the steps that moved across
the porch toward the bedroom window.
A massive black shadow appeared at the opening, staring in with malevolent glowing eyes. Panic-stricken, Emily staggered back, only to whirl around as the front-door handle pressed down behind her.
They are here!