The Sisters: A Mystery of Good and Evil, Horror and Suspense (Book One of the Dark Forces Series) Read Online Free Page B

had lived in a brownstone not far from the one he now owned. And, finally, the deep sense of loss he had carried for all these years, wishing he could share mornings like this with his father and mother, yet knowing it would never be.
    The dull ache of loss never quite went away, but Nathan was not the type of person to dwell on such matters. And so he thrust the feelings deep into some inner pocket of his soul, to be taken out, he supposed, and dealt with at some future time.
    The eastern sky was still dressed in shades of ruby and amethyst behind a quickly rising sun as Nathan turned the corner off Beach Avenue onto Howard Street. “Red sky at morning, sailor take warning. A change must be on the way,” Nathan said to himself as he headed into the heart of the small town. Cape May had a rich history and it was evident in just about every corner.
    Originally explored by Cornelius Mey in 1621 for the Dutch West India Company, the area still bore his name. It grew slowly into a prosperous whaling and farming community and then, as southern gamblers seeking to escape the summer heat came to the area in the early 1800s, it became an internationally known resort. Still later, society up and down the Eastern seaboard made it the “Playground of the Presidents.” A disastrous fire destroyed the center of the resort and many of the hotels in 1878, but it was quickly rebuilt, establishing the treasury of Victorian architecture.
    Nathan walked more quickly now as hunger pangs awakened within him, and he reached the Chalfonte Hotel at the corner of Sewell Avenue and Howard Street. Built in 1876 by Col. Henry Sawyer, the fine old hostelry still served one of the most magnificent family-style breakfasts in the area. Sawyer, a prisoner of the Confederacy during the Civil War, achieved greater historical note when, during the war, he was exchanged for Col. R.E. Lee, Jr., son of the Confederate leader.
    Nathan ordered hot black coffee, a full ham and egg breakfast with a side order of fluffy biscuits, and pulled out a small notebook to begin planning his day.
    Sarah was still sleeping while Nathan was having breakfast. Her night had not been a pleasant one, with bizarre dreams she did not understand. In the dreams, she flew about the house as though transported by spirits, witnessing first one horrific scene and then another.
    it wasn’t the alcohol that made him do it, you know
    well, then, what was it, my dear?
    it was the terrible jealousy that had turned him into
    a floating slaughterhouse, full of slaves still pinioned by their legs to their berths but lying now in staggered heaps that buzzed with bluebottle flies and
    couldn’t be the same wife he married in 1858, just before the War. This one had no eyes because he had gouged them out before
    turning to the youngest daughter, crying in a corner of the room as she blindly stumbled about the beautiful morning-drenched kitchen, innocent as a mother’s love but now dangerous as an early autumn hurricane, riding in on
    the blood-covered backs of rats, running for cover as he drew a practiced bead on each one and fired the single-shot musket until it
    fell smoking from his own dead hands, the last shot traveling on a straight line from the roof of his mouth and out the back of his head.
    “No!” shouted Sarah as she sat straight up in bed, drenched through her cotton nightshirt in cold sweat. “No! No more!” she cried aloud. Her eyes flew open and she was astonished to see bright morning sunlight flooding the room. But the voices, the voices still echoed in her mind. Already they were fading, but they left a pounding―a throbbing sensation that could not be attributed completely to the wine from the night before.
    “Oh, man,” she said finally. “Sarah, when you decide to get drunk and have a nightmare, that is one area in which you excel. Man!” she said again. “Your imagination puts Stephen King in the shade.” And suddenly Sarah laughed, for she could not stand the