Soul of Darkness by Vanessa Black Read Free Book Online Page A

road, staying at Bed and Breakfasts along the way, making sure to uphold the sleeping arrangements Malcolm had been so adamant about.
    In the wake of Aidan’s attack ― when he had invaded my soul with his ligh t― I hadn’t felt any immediate changes. Feeling as numb as before, I’d believed his attempt had failed. But in the last two days, stray feelings had started to fight their way through to my consciousness.
    I was no longer completely frozen.
    The views the Antrim Coast Road offered were sensational, and I’d never seen any landscape to equal its sheer, raw beauty. High above the ocean, sharp, ragged edges of enormous cliffs jutted out over the water’s edge at severely slanted angles, giving the impression that they were about to dive into the churning currents below.
    Driven by the force of the slightly stormy weather, gushing waves of white frothing sea water crashed against the faces of the cliffs, were divided into sprays of tiny single drops and collectively whirled up high into the air before falling back to the ocean.
    Though the convertible’s cover was down and the weather was far from being warm, my body didn’t shiver. With the car cruising rather slowly along the shore line, the wind abruptly letting up, and the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, the air didn’t feel cold.
    I should have kept my eyes ope n― who would willingly shut out such beaut y― but I just hadn’t been able to. A million sensations at once had streamed toward me…it had been too much.
    And so I’d closed my eyes, taking…at the very least…the sense that was easiest to suppress out of the equation. With my eyesight out of the picture, my other senses were heightened, but at least there was one less pushing at my mind.
    Nevertheless, I felt too much to be at ease.
    Soft gusts of wind gently caressed my skin, the breeze flowing all around me…through me with every breath I took.
    Saltwater sprayed my body as crashing waves reached out from the sea toward the road that snaked closely alongside the coast.
    I tasted the tang of the ocean on the air with every breath, smelled the seaweed in its depths, and felt the residue the breeze had left as it had swept over m e― salt on my skin.
    The sporadically appearing rays of sunlight heated my body as much as the following breezes cooled it back down. Hot…cold…hot…cold; that was how I felt inside, as well.
    One minute, the onslaught of sensations seemed to stir emotions buried deep down; so deep, in fact, I hadn’t realized there was anything there. The next minute, the darkness inside of me swallowed them up and they were gone.
    After we’d driven for quite some time, Aidan parked the car in a small bay to the side of the road and we made our way toward the beach below, climbing down the side of a small slope to reach the bottom.
    The climb wasn’t difficult, seeing as a path had been carved over the years by others who had made their way down toward the water.
    Not caring why they wanted to take me to the beach, I went along without putting up a fight or asking any questions…I couldn’t find a reason not to go.
    And so I went.
    The three of us headed toward the water’s edge and started to walk alongside it in complete silence. The only sounds were those of the roaring waves and the screaming sea gulls high above our heads.
    Sunlight shot through a break in the clouds, making millions upon millions of tiny water drops glisten as they sailed through the air…like water spun into gold.
    And for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, I felt at peace. It was a strange kind of peac e― not one induced by silence, but by a crashing, wild, and free symphony of nature.
    And just as quickly as this serene feeling had swept over me, it disappeared again without a trace.
    We walked on for a long time before heading back to the area we had started out from. Darkness was closing in fast, and all warmth had left along with the last rays of borrowed