CHAPTER ONE The New House With every crack of lightning Jamie’s shadow was thrown against the wall Lightning lit up his room for a split second before it was covered again with a blanket of darkness Outside the icy night wind swirled around the graveyard whistling through the gravestones and running down the old dirt track past the trees to the house at the bottom of the hill storm had knocked out the power a couple of hours ago leaving Jamie his younger sister Paula and his father Andrew fumbling around their new house in the pitch black falling over unopened boxes and Inside the house was in total darkness The 9
Jamie stood at the bottom of the long spiraling It must be Dad he thought Paula’s too light to as usual in these circumstances trying to scare the living daylights out of each other staircase that led upstairs to their bedrooms He could hear someone moving around squeaking the bare floorboards in his father’s room make that kind of noise Slowly he began to climb the stairs looking for Paula He had an idea where his dad was but Paula could be hiding anywhere waiting to pounce By now the storm outside was getting worse As Jamie crept past the window on the landing another bolt of lightning lit up the staircase and the tall dark figure that was creeping up the stairs behind him Jamie continued to make his way up the stairs completely unaware of the ghostly intruder As he reached the top he paused for a second peering cautiously around the corner The door to his father’s room was ajar but not 10
enough for Jamie to see inside Knowing his family like he did he knew that someone inside the room was waiting to jump out screaming and yelling Then Jamie heard breathing behind him Quick as a flash he turned to see but there was only darkness The tall dark figure that had floated behind him on the stairs was gone The whole house was silent eerily silent The creak of the bathroom door shattered the silence and in a second Jamie dashed into his little sister’s room leaving the door open a little so that he could still see out Then he saw it The tall figure that followed him from downstairs passed through the bathroom door turned and made its way along the hall toward him cloak with swept back hair and bright white teeth that shone in the moonlight whenever he passed a window Before he reached his father’s room the door It was a very tall man dressed in a long black 11
