Festival of Shadows Read Online Free

the darkness swallowed him. The ogre dissolved, but his laughter lingered before fading into the shadows.  
    He felt as if he were swimming in molasses as the darkness swirled around him.  

SORRY!

    You didn’t make a selection. Go back to the previous page. Otherwise, you may get lost.

CHAPTER 2
    Smoke Between the Eyes

    Shadows formed into a vortex around Theo, and he zoomed headfirst through them until he crashed onto an invisible floor. The impact sent a purple shockwave in all directions, causing scary shapes and odd-looking buildings to spring up before the darkness swallowed them again.  
    He yelled for Grant, but his voice lost its way.  
    Believing that he saw Grant’s silhouette ahead, Theo pulled himself up into a half-run, half-crawl.  
    “Grant . . .”
    But the shadows suffocated him. He fell on his back, shaking as several versions of Grant’s face circled him. They were happy, mad, sad, crying.  
    “Save me!”
    “I hate you!”
    “I’m scared . . .”
    “You’re a useless teddy bear.”
    He reached for the faces, but they dissolved at his touch until there was one left—a scowling, angry face.
    “I don’t need you anymore,” Grant said.
    “Yes, you do—”
    “No. I’m a man.”
    “But I’m your best buddy,” Theo said.  
    “No! You never were.”
    “Stratus has poisoned you.”
    “No,” Grant said, frowning. “ You’ve poisoned me. I hope you die.”
    The face exploded and Theo screamed. It had to be an illusion; he couldn’t accept that Grant was gone.  
    The shadows grew thicker, and it was getting harder to breathe.
      “Stratus,” he said, gasping, “Show yourself, so that I may vanquish you from existence.”
    Silence.  
    “I’m an Ursabrand!” Theo cried, and his words faded on their way to nowhere. “You can’t defeat me!”
    Stratus rumbled out of the darkness. He appeared small at first, but soon he towered several stories above Theo. His head was wispy, made of shifting shadows, and his two red eyes glared. He sneered at Theo and let out a booming laugh. His torso was a wall of shadow and fog; where there should have been feet, only darkness swirled. In one hand he clutched Grant by the waist. The boy was asleep. Stratus grabbed Theo by the neck with the other hand, and squeezed hard.
    Theo tried to pry himself free, but he couldn’t. The grip crushed him; he had never felt anything so strong. Stratus’s laughter grew louder, and Theo’s vision grew dimmer.  
    I’m sorry, Grant. I failed you.
    Theo took a final breath and gave in to Stratus. He drifted away into deeper darkness where nothing mattered. He felt light and free. He closed his eyes, thinking of Grant and their playtimes together.  
      He heard a voice, but it was muffled and sounded like it was underwater. Then a flash cut through the darkness, followed seconds later by an explosion.
    Stratus let go. Feeling gushed back into Theo’s body, and all of his memories surged across his vision like the screen of a mad kaleidoscope.
    “Wake up!” cried the strange voice. It grew louder and deeper. Feminine. Theo ignored it and tried to remember Grant’s face.
    The darkness that had become so familiar to him condensed itself into one black eye, and he saw a purple face staring down at him—a round, furry face with a mouth that kept screaming: “Wake up, wake up, wake up—”  
      Theo shot up and sucked in air, and the purple bear smacked him on the back.  
    “Keep breathing,” she said. “Don’t think. Just breathe. You’ve got to get the nightmares out. There!” Her voice was deep and throaty, and she looked just like him. Almost.
    When Theo exhaled again, he saw that he was in a field of dead grass, withered and brown. The calm night sky above was starry and navy blue, and the moon, an enormous yellow crescent, glowed from behind a cloud. The air was desolate and had a tinge of sadness that he couldn’t comprehend. It scared him.
    The purple bear hovered above