Read Online Beneath the Elder Tree by Hazel Black - Free Book Online Page A

‘Your chosen is out here in the middle of all this,’ Emily said glumly as she surveyed the grey surroundings. ‘Can you sense anything yet?’
       ‘I’m picking up a lot of anger from these people. It’s difficult to focus on any one person. It’s like there’s almost too much to sense.’
       ‘It doesn’t matter. The sun will go down soon and we should see the sign again. Are you excited?’
       ‘I don’t know what I’m feeling. My emotions have been all over the place since I died - I’ll never get used to saying that.’
       ‘You will. It just hasn’t sunk in yet.’
       ‘Having to spend my time in this dreary place will make it harder to sink in.’
       ‘Would you rather hide from the reality of what transpires in the living world?’
       ‘I guess not.’ I came to an abrupt stop on the pavement. There was an icy sensation crawling all over me and I was finding it very difficult to focus. ‘I feel cold, Emily. Really cold!’
       ‘That’s a good sign. It means we are close to your chosen.’
       ‘I can feel…’ I shut my eyes and concentrated on the tingling sensation within. It wasn’t just cold that I was experiencing. I was also sensing the aura of a living person. I turned to Emily and smiled. ‘It’s a she. My chosen is a girl.’
       ‘She must be very close if you can determine her gender.’
       ‘I’m sensing deep unhappiness.’
       Emily turned and examined the houses around us and shrugged her shoulders. ‘Can you blame her?’
       ‘No, I can’t.’ I was suddenly determined that my chosen wouldn’t continue to feel this sorrow. She would not be just another person adrift in the sea of poverty. ‘I’m going to make sure her life changes for the better. This girl is destined for bigger and better things than this.’
       ‘That’s the spirit … literally.’
       The sun held the sky in a stubborn embrace that evening. Night seemed to take an eternity to descend over Millbrook. When it finally did, the streets emptied of children, only to be replaced by teenage misfits who roamed from one corner to the next in search of mischief. The living gradually became incandescent with aura. The houses pulsed with colour. It was almost enough to make Millbrook attractive to gaze upon. Almost.
       Emily emitted no visible aura. The colour had abandoned her eyes. Her skin was black as coal. Her movements were painfully slow. Her time in this world was surely drawing to an end. She barely even reacted when the spectacular silver vortex spun out above the estate. I could see now that it was emanating from a flat complex a short distance from the centre of the Millbrook.
       I helped Emily to her feet and we slowly made our way to the epicentre of the vortex. The squat tower was even gloomier than the rest of the town; its ground floor was tattooed with many layers of graffiti, and many of the windows of the upper floors were either broken or boarded. We paused outside the main entrance and I gazed up to see the sparkling beacon was spilling into the night from an open window on the top floor.
       ‘Let’s not dally,’ Emily said quietly. ‘I don’t want others to be attracted by this signal.’
       ‘Others?’
       ‘Unfriendly spirits. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some inhabiting this dreadful place. Come on, let’s get inside.’
       We climbed the steps to the main doors, then sank through to the foyer. The place was in utter disarray: stained and cracked walls, filthy floor that was strewn with litter, broken lights that flickered on and off. There was even a drunk urinating into a bin on the other side of the room. At first I thought the place was derelict, and that my chosen must have been a squatter, but the sounds of TVs and slivers of lights in the corridors above told me there were still people renting some of the apartments.
       We entered the stairwell and I helped Emily up the flights of