Michael White is a man desperate to escape his past. After tragedy costs him his job and marriage, he finds himself abandoned in a world of depression, loneliness and unemployment – until a new start working at a luxurious care home is offered.
But Hill Wood House isn’t like any other care home. What are the shadowy figures that follow Michael? What do they want? And beyond the paranormal, who is stalking Michael? Who is entering his home at night and leaving disturbing messages across his walls?
Can anyone ever really escape their past? Michael is about to go on a dark journey to uncover the truth behind what is haunting him – a truth that will wreak death and destruction to those Michael cares about.
He leaned forward, pressing his face close to her mouth and listened, waiting for breath that would not come. Her skin was a pallid colour, void of the pink that used to tint it, and her lips were blue, an impossible blue. He gaped as he stood upright, looking down at her body while resisting the urge to vomit.
It was the most terrible thing he’d seen in his entire life.
He lifted her wrist into the air and her hand fell limply forward. He felt for a pulse and found none; it was useless, the confirmation of a fact he already knew.
The stale air in the room suddenly became too thick, too hot, and he struggled to find his own breath. He gagged, then lurched over to the bedroom window and pushed it open, allowing the cool night air to swiftly enter. He breathed deeply, the air cold and sharp as it hit his lungs. The moon hanging above him in the navy sky was wide and looming, sending darkened shadows across the lawn below.
Everything looked different, somehow; everything seemed marked.
He turned back, reluctantly, his eyes falling on the corpse lying in front of him.
In life, she had been beautiful, despite her problems. In life, she had been wonderful. Now death had claimed her and the mask of that eternal sleep was already sliding into place.
Soon she would be stiff with rigor mortis, her slender skin toughened under the blanket of death. Soon she would be taken away, zipped inside a body bag, a label attached to her toe or wrist.
He fell to the floor, the weight of the reality sitting firmly on his shoulders as he wept bitterly.
He would never forget this day for the rest of his life.
He felt the world tilt and slide. The only words he heard, before oblivion found him, were small, distant, like a dream. "Don’t worry. I will be here when you wake up."