Read Online Abode of the Damned: A Dark Supernatural Fantasy by Matt Cole - Free Book Online

ABODE OF THE DAMNED
    By
    Matt Cole
    SMASHWORDS
EDITION
    * * * * *
    PUBLISHED
BY:
    Matt Cole
on Smashwords
    Abode of The
Damned
    Copyright
© 2011 by Matt Cole
    www.TalesFromTheDark.wordpress.com
    This eBook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment. It may be shared, but not duplicated and redistributed
for commercial use. If you would like to gift this book to another
person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you wish
to gift it. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this
author.
    This eBook is a work of fiction. Characters
and events are a product of the author’s imagination. Any
similarities to actual persons and or events are wholly
coincidental.
    * * * * *
    Pain radiated throughout Cole’s body like the
lingering kiss of high voltage.
    Awareness of flesh, of pain, he was alive or
so it seemed. And with this - Cole’s consciousness now emerging
from the shadowy depths of nothingness - his eyelids opened
reluctantly, as if weighted down. All he could see at first was a
stew of colors: black, reds, oranges, and every shade of brown.
    Cole lifted his head from the hard, pale earth and
propped himself up on his elbows. Alive, it seemed incredible to
him, but he could not recall why right away. His memories were like
lost children wandering back to him in no great rush or in any
particular order. Then, as his vision slowly began to clear, the
memory surfaced. He had been executed, only moments ago on the
gallows of Arkwood Penitentiary.
    Hanged - moments ago. Cole met this
perception with utter confusion and suspicion. These pains were
inflicted from no hangman’s noose. Clearly his neck was not broken.
No, there was still missing time and memories – if there were
memories of this lost time.
    Still, the memory of his execution was as
real as any and could not so readily be discounted. Now, here he
was, consciousness and body intact within this physical realm.
    Yes, but where – what was this realm?
    Cole, now able to visually discern
some detail, observed the surrounding terrain to be completely
barren. The hard, flat earth beneath him - dry and split open,
baring many tiny fissures - stretched out to a dark and menacing
mountain range far off in the distance. Above these Black
mountains, a fiery red-orange horizon accentuated the range’s
jagged peaks and gave way to a darker bloody-brown vaporous
sky . The air was
dry and devoid of any breeze. There was no vegetation of any
kind.
    Had he somehow escaped his execution? Perturbed, Cole
struggled to answer this question even as an internal voice assured
him he had not escaped it.
    Cole studied his hands before him,
stretching out his fingers and supinating his forearms to inspect
his palms. His hands trembled mildly, yet they were his hands. And as Cole
looked upon them, he realized he still wore his prison reds .
    Suddenly, a monstrous roar - as if some prehistoric
beast had ripped open the sky – thundered down from high above.
Cole quickly rolled onto his back and searched for the demonic
source – searched the dark, ominous clouds. There was something
there, moving in and out of the murky cloud cover. The creature
appeared to be large and black with a massive wingspan and a long
neck and tail.
    Again the sky trembled from the beast’s roar and Cole
shuddered violently. Then, quickly came two more ferocious cries in
rapid succession, as two more black winged beasts appeared
overhead. The creatures moved directly above Cole, circling and
criss-crossing, in and out of the bloody brown vaporous gloom.
    Cole lay absolutely still, unsure if to flee - to
chance drawing attention to himself, if in fact these creatures
were not there for him. Then, as one of the winged beasts let out
another ghastly roar, a rolling rumble emerged and grew stronger as
it traveled along the earth - horses at hard gallop!
    Cole turned his head to the left, his ear to the
earth, still very aware of the great black creatures circling
above. He could not see the horses. So,