The Hexer from Salem - The House at the End of Time (eBook)

Episode 4

Wolfgang Hohlbein (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016 | 1. Aufl. 2016
102 Seiten
Lübbe (Verlag)
978-3-7325-1355-0 (ISBN)

Infos

From the outside, the house looked grim and imposing. Perhaps the appearance was even a bit sinister, like those old, lonely mansions threatening danger. The blackened, decades- old facades exuding something malignant. Really, though, it was just a house forgotten a lifetime ago, alone in the woods for twice that long.
That was the outside.
Inside was unearthly. Unearthly and deadly...

<p>Wolfgang Hohlbein is a phenomenon: With more than 200 books selling over 40 million copies worldwide, he is one of Germany's most prolific fantasy writers. Hohlbein is well-known for his young adult books and above all his novel series, The Hexer from Salem.<br><br></p>

Textauszug

The House at the End of Time

From the outside, the house looked grim and imposing. Perhaps the appearance was even a bit sinister, like those old, lonely mansions threatening danger, the blackened, decades-old facades exuding something malignant. Really, though, it was just a house forgotten a lifetime ago, alone in the woods for twice that long.

That was the outside.

Inside was unearthly. Unearthly and deadly …

Jenny couldn’t quite put it into words. She kept still after Charles broke off the decaying lock on the front door and leaned against one of the panes of the large entryway. A speck of gray light cast itself down the hallway. It was perhaps the first time in years the house’s interior was lifted out of darkness. Jenny was sure she heard short, clattering claws above the pounding of her own heart. Rats, she feared. Of course. The house was vacant and had been taken over by rats and spiders. She hated rats.

That wasn’t all. A strange and formless danger lay within the walls, something that could be neither seen nor heard nor smelled, but palpably felt.

“Let’s go, Charles,” she said haltingly. “I’m … afraid.” She whispered, as though the sound of her voice would awaken whatever ghosts were residing there, but it made no difference: it carried anyway through the hallway’s cavernous darkness. The unpleasant sensation of creeping spiders trickled down her back.

Charles just shook his head and casually touched her arm, trying to smile. “Nonsense,” he said. “There’s nothing here to fear. This house has been empty for nearly fifty years. I played here all the time as a kid. It was our hiding place, but that was a long time ago.”

Jenny shuddered. Charles’s attempt to comfort her only deepened her fear; she couldn’t say exactly why. Her heart beat faster. Saliva was gathering behind her tongue. She felt nausea setting in. Her palms were sweaty.

“I don’t want to stay here,” she said again. “Please, Charles!”

Charles sighed. He looked back through the doorway and into the surrounding wilderness that faded quickly into the gray twilight. “We can’t continue,” he said after a while, his voice sounding both decisive and sympathetic. “They are searching the main road for sure and I have no doubt they’ll check every guesthouse within fifty miles of here.” He smiled. “We can’t sleep in the woods, you know. It’s just for one night.” He shook his head and took a deep breath, looking around. “There must be a candle somewhere,” he mumbled. “There used to be dozens lying around.”

“Charles, I …”

“Please, Jenny,” he interrupted. “By this time tomorrow we’ll be married and then nothing in the world can separate us. But until then we have to be careful.” He stepped close to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and kissing her lightly on the forehead. “You know as well as I what will happen should your parents discover us,” he whispered.

Jenny nodded slowly. Of course she knew. It was exactly why they had decided, like a modern Romeo and Juliet, to run away together and get married at Gretna Green. She was just eighteen and knew her parents would do everything in their power to keep Charles away from her. More than once they had threatened to ship her off to boarding school if she kept seeing him. And her father wasn’t one to make empty threats.

Of course Charles was right. Every word. Yet she regretted her decision as soon as they had set foot in this strange house.

Charles let her go gently, turned around and gingerly stepped inside. Jenny kept to the door, not wanting to leave what little light there was. Charles fumbled in the darkness for a while, cursed to himself, and returned a few seconds later covered in dirt and dust. His cheek was scratched, but he had a candle in his hand. Beaming with triumph, he squatted to place the candle on the floor and fished a box of matches from his pocket. Soon, the candle was lit, pushing the darkness a little further away.

Charles stood up and handed the candle to Jenny so he could close the door. The heavy, nine-foot-tall door moved only with a good deal of effort. It had been warped by time and left Charles out of breath by the time he finally closed it. The lock clicked into place with an eerie, muffled clank.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he suggested. “There are a few rooms still in one piece.” He took the candle back from Jenny, gave her an encouraging look, and moved toward the staircase at the end of the hall.

Jenny followed with her heart still racing. The candle revealed a great deal once her eyes had adjusted. The hall was full of broken furniture, dust, and trash that had been collecting there for decades. Spiderwebs hung everywhere like curtains, and thick strands of dust extended from the ceiling to the floor. Rat droppings covered the stairs, and the smell of festering decay wafted over from a dark corner. This was no house, Jenny thought with a shudder. It was a grave.

They went up the stairs, Charles moving quickly, forcing Jenny to keep up. At the top, a wide, open gallery branched off through countless doors. Jenny was sure she heard sounds — whispers of voices, pattering of steps, hushed breaths, and a light, deeply evil cackle …

Panic surged through her, but she pulled herself together, balling her fists so tightly her fingernails dug painfully into her palms.

“Charles,” she whispered. “I want to leave.”

Charles stopped and turned around slowly to look at her. His face was serious, and Jenny thought she could glimpse a hint of fear in his eyes.

“I want to go,” she said again, a bit louder than before. “Please, Charles. I’d rather sleep out in the woods than here in this house.”

The whispers were growing louder. Someone laughed, softly with malicious glee. Charles’s mouth trembled. The candle’s flame began to flicker, throwing jittery reflections and soft shadows against the walls — shadows that moved on their own and began closing in on them …

“Please,” she said again. “I … won’t stay here.”

Charles gave an uncertain nod. Sweat broke out on his forehead, although it was quite cold. Jenny realized he was hearing the same things. She wasn’t imagining the voices and steps.

“You … are right,” he said tensely. “Let’s find somewhere else to stay the night …”

He was cut off as the whispers subsided, the laughter stopped, and the shadows retreated. No longer were they scurrying about, but had formed together into a massive, impenetrable darkness around the young lovers. It was suddenly uncannily quiet.

But just for that moment. Then a quick, whining screech tore through the silence like the opening of a door to another time.

Jenny swung around. Her eyes widened with fear when she saw all the doors behind her swing open one after the other.

At first, she could see nothing more than dark shadows and formless shapes hiding behind them. They soon closed in — silently, insidiously, and relentlessly.

She only started screaming when she saw what emerged in the gallery, silently coming toward them.

“You said, Salem?”

It took a moment for Howard to react. He’d been sitting half asleep for the last two-and-a-half hours next to the window, making no noise other than the occasional sigh. Like Rolf and me, he was waiting for those passengers who’d gotten on at Carlisle to disembark. Howard had bought up the whole compartment so we could travel and talk undisturbed; however the train was overfilled and the conductor answered him with a shrug and pointed out that the additional passengers couldn’t be put in the coal car. It was a man and two women (based on their conversation, a married couple and mother-in-law) who showed how awkward the situation was for them. Actually, they were quite friendly, but their presence meant there could be no discussion about hexers, magic, and the Great Aged.

“What?” Howard asked.

I repeated my question: “Salem,” I said. “Speaking with Priscylla yesterday you mentioned Salem.” Surely, he noticed how halting my voice was? Try as I might, I hadn’t yet recovered from the recent events, let alone forgotten them. How could I? I loved Priscylla more than ever. Howard, however, didn’t respond with the same urgency.

“I said Salem,” he answered, leaning back as if he wanted to fall asleep again. It wasn’t the first time I directly addressed the things he had said.

Nor was it the first time he evaded my question or didn’t answer. This time, however, I wouldn’t let him get away with it. His words didn’t make any sense, except …

I shook those thoughts away and looked him square in the face. Howard smiled, feigned a yawn, and stared out at the passing scenery. The train was going at full speed and the landscape was sliding by just as quickly. We’d reach Glasgow in less than two hours. Then, at least, as Howard explained it, we’d continue from the station by the coach for which he had already telegraphed. At that point, he’d definitely have plenty of opportunities to distract himself from answering me.

“And?” I pressed.

Howard looked up in obvious displeasure. He wasn’t trying to hide the fact that he didn’t like me pursuing this line of...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.10.2016
• Reihe/Serie: An Occult Fantasy Series
• Reihe/Serie: An Occult Fantasy Series
• Illustrationen: Les Edwards
• Übersetzer: William Glucroft
• Verlagsort: Köln
• Sprache: englisch
• Original-Titel: Das Haus am Ende der Zeit
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: 18. - 19. Jahrhundert • Cthulhu • dark creatures • Dark Fantasy • Demons • England / Großbritannien • Fantasy • Fantasy Bücher • fantasy series • Grusel • Horror • horror books • horror classics • horror ebooks • Horror Fantasy • horror fiction • horror kindle books • horror, warlock, horror kindle books, horror ebooks, john sinclair, john sinclair demon hunter, dark creatures, horror fantasy, mystery, suspense, horror classics, horror fiction, demons, Cthulhu, H.P • H.P • H.P. • H P Lovecraft • john Sinclair • john sinclair demon hunter • Lovecraft • Mystery • occult series • Suspense • Warlock
• ISBN-10: 3-7325-1355-6 / 3732513556
• ISBN-13: 978-3-7325-1355-0 / 9783732513550