Lord of the Shadows Read Online Free Page B

out.
    I was relieved but angered at the same time. I knew the pain the vampaneze had brought to that city, the lives they’d destroyed. It wasn’t right that such a grim story should be turned into the stuff of funny urban legends, simply because it happened in a city far away from where these people lived. They wouldn’t have found it so amusing if the vampaneze had struck here!
    I made a quick check on issues from the next few months, but the paper had dropped the story after news of the escape. I turned to the local paper. This was slower going. The main news was at the front, but local interest stories were scattered throughout. I had to check most of the pages of each edition before I could move on to the next.
    Although I tried not to dwell on articles unrelated to me, I couldn’t stop myself from skimming the opening paragraphs of the more interesting stories. It wasn’t long before I was catching up with all the news — elections, scandals; heroes, villains; policemen who’d been highly commended, criminals who’d given the town a bad name; a big bank raid; coming in third in a national clean towns competition.
    I saw photographs and read clips about several of my school friends, but one in particular stood out — Tom Jones! Tommy was one of my best friends, along with Steve and Alan Morris. We were two of the best soccer players in our class. I was the goal-scorer, leading the line up front, while Tommy was the goal-stopper, pulling off spectacular saves. I’d often dreamt of going on to be a professional soccer player. Tommy had taken that dream all the way.
    There were dozens of photos and stories about him. Tom Jones (he’d shortened the “Tommy”) was one of the best keepers in the world. Lots of articles poked fun at his name — there was also a famous singer called Tom Jones — but nobody had anything bad to say about Tommy himself. After working his way up through the amateur ranks, he’d signed for a foreign, world-famous club, and made a name for himself, eventually becoming captain of the national team.
    In the most recent editions, I read how local soccer fans were buzzing with excitement at the prospect of a vital World Cup qualifier, which was being held in our town. It was Tommy’s first game here in several years, and even non-soccer fans had been caught up in the hype. Organizers were expecting a huge, enthusiastic crowd on the day of the game.
    Reading about Tommy brought a smile to my face — it was great to see one of my friends doing so well. The other good news was that there was no mention of me. Since this was quite a small town, I was sure word would have spread if anyone had heard about me in connection with the killings. I was in the clear.
    But there was no mention of my family in the papers either. I couldn’t find the name Shan anywhere. There was only one thing to do — I’d have to dig around for information in person by going back to the house where I used to live.

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HE HOUSE TOOK MY BREATH AWAY . It hadn’t changed. Same color door, same style curtains, same small garden out back. As I stood gazing at it, gripping the top of the fence, I almost expected a younger version of myself to come bounding out the back door, clutching a pile of comics, on his way over to Steve’s.
    “May I help you?” someone asked behind me. My head snapped round and my eyes cleared. I didn’t know how long I’d been standing there, but by my white knuckles, I guessed it had been a few minutes at least. An elderly woman was standing close by, studying me suspiciously. Rubbing my hands together, I smiled warmly. “Just looking,” I said.
    “At what, precisely?” she challenged me, and I realized how I must appear to her — a rough-faced teenager, gazing intently into a deserted backyard, checking out the house. She thought I was a burglar casing the joint!
    “My name’s Derek Shan,” I said, borrowing an uncle’s first name. “My cousins lived here. In fact,