Dark Soul Silenced - Part One by Simon Goodson Read Free Book Online Page B

wake.  The other two were too deeply asleep to even notice being moved.
    Finally he sat down, enjoying the warmth from both the fire and the sun.  With the sound of seagulls in his ears he stared out over the ocean, for the first time in many days feeling truly relaxed and at peace.  Smiling slightly he let his mind drift.
     

Chapter Eight
    At the sound of Sarah stirring Daniel blinked, surfacing from his quiet meditation.  He realised with surprise that several hours had passed.  The sun stood high in the sky, yet he didn't worry.  He knew that had anything approached he would have known immediately.  Stretching he smiled, feeling strengthened by his rest – almost as if he'd had a full nights sleep.
    Surprisingly the fire still burned, the pile of spare wood was significantly lower.  Daniel could vaguely remember having added more wood without ever emerging from his tranquil state.  He stretched his hands out to the fire, enjoying the warmth, and waited for Sarah to speak.  After stirring she had gone quiet but Daniel knew she was awake, he could sense the change in her breathing, the tense way in which she held herself.  She was clearly studying him, making her mind up about something.
    “ You know I'm awake, don't you?”
    He turned to face her, smiling gently.
    “Yes, but you put me in my place.  I was waiting for you to speak, pleased that I could tell you were awake, and that you were studying me.  I thought you oblivious to my study of you.  It was arrogant, and I thank you for the lesson.”
    She pushed herself up to a sitting position, studying him suspiciously.  She was clearly worried by something.
    “What are you?  Really?  You appeared from nowhere, saved our lives, helped Mary save Jon and then suddenly we all fall asleep, trusting you – a stranger – to protect us.  I don't buy it.  You did something to us, didn't you?”
    “ I did nothing to Jon and nothing to Mary, other than lend her my strength.  Jon's injuries were severe, he was dying.  Even with the healing his body was severely weakened.  His sleep was natural, a response to everything he had been through.  Mary exhausted herself.  You saw that, you knew she was pushing herself too far.  Without my help she would have burnt out her own life, and Jon would still have died.”
    “ And me?  You did something to me then?”
    “ Yes, I did.  You were exhausted, not surprisingly.  The outlaw attack would have been bad enough, especially with the fatal wound your husband took and the sight of your daughter risking her life to save his.  On top of that you had the terror of the night-time attack.”
    Sarah went very still, staring intently at Daniel.
    “How do you know about that?  I didn't tell you.  How could you possibly know unless you were there…” 
    A look of horror swept over her face, followed by an iron-hard determination.  She produced a knife from the folds of her clothes, with a long and viciously sharp blade.  Daniel was impressed that her hand hardly shook as she pointed it at him.
    “Stay away from my family!  Don't you dare try and hurt them.  I don't care what you are, how fast you are.  You come near us and I'll slice you apart!”
    Daniel raised his hands slowly, otherwise sitting very still.  He could tell that Sarah's heart was racing, her breath was coming in short bursts.  She was clearly terrified yet she remained outwardly strong.
    “Please, let me explain.  You have all been sleeping for several hours.  If I meant you harm don't you think it would have happened already?  For that matter, why would I have saved Mary and Jon if I meant you harm?”
    “ I don't know, but don't think that means I'll trust you.  Mary was terrified last night, you were going to hurt her weren't you?  Kill her even?”
    “ No, I wasn't going to hurt her.  Something else was, something that was trying to take me over.  It is hard for me to explain, I still don't fully understand what happened