Page 1 of Unbound By Shadows
Chapter 1
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
The Gaia Plane
Selene Riley looked down at a new text message on her phone and rolled her eyes. She glanced over at her sister and said, “So apparently, not only are there ghosts where we’re going but Bigfoot too.”
“Perfect,” Cass said as she eased her car onto the congested interstate. “I’ll get a photo of him, and we’ll be millionaires.”
Selene took a sip of her Grande sugar-free vanilla latte and held it tightly as Cass tapped the brakes. Even on a Saturday, Nashville traffic was a nightmare, so Selene was glad her sister was driving for their impromptu road trip to the tiny town of Rugby, Tennessee. It was the least she could do, after all. Selene was only partially functioning after being woken up an hour ago by a knock on her apartment door, followed by her sister’s voice squealing, “Road trip!”
“He’s lured by the smell of bacon, according to Evan,” Selene said as another text about Bigfoot sightings in East Tennessee popped upfrom her younger brother, Cass’s twin. “Thank goodness we’re not camping. Wait… we are sleepingindoors,aren’t we?”
“Of course. But I want to do a little hiking tomorrow morning. You’re up for that, right?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really,” Cass chirped.
“Great,” Selene sighed. She began twirling the ends of her shoulder-length brown hair between her fingers. With her boyfriend out of town, Selene had been looking forward to a weekend of lounging by the pool and reading. But apparently, her plans weren’t as important as her sister’s desire to enter a photography contest. Cass had argued that the historic buildings of Rugby were the ideal subject, and the June weather was perfect for a little sisterly bonding trip. Selene had protested but quickly gave up. It had always been easier to go along with the plans her family made.
“You’re lucky I love you,” Selene said, stifling a yawn.
Cass gave her a worried look. “Are you mad at me? I thought you’d always wanted to go to Rugby to see the library.”
The anxiety in her younger sister’s face made Selene feel instantly guilty. She dropped her eyes to her lap.Stop acting so spoiled,she told herself. What was so great about staying home alone when Cass was generous enough to take her on a weekend getaway? After growing up with a small-minded mother and living with a boyfriend who hated flying, most of her time was spent dreaming about faraway lands rather than visiting them. Reaching over to squeeze Cass’s elbow, she said, “I’m not mad, and you’re right. I have always wanted to visit Rugby. This was a great idea. I’m just sorry Evan couldn’t come too.”
When Cass beamed, relief flooded through her. Selene had spent so many years trying to shield the twins from difficult emotions that offering reassurance was practically a reflex. And her words weren’t a complete lie; Rugby had been on Selene’s travel radar for a long time.
With a population of only seventy-five,Rugby was a tiny place with a fascinating past. It was founded in 1880 as a utopian community by upper-class English colonists and boasted over three hundred residents at its peak. Although sickness and poor management caused the social experiment of Rugby to fail, Cass was planning to photograph the handful of Victorian buildings that still stood today. Among them was the oldest preserved historical library in America, complete with all 7,000 books from its original collection.
Selene’s phone chimed with another message from her brother. “Here he goes again. Do you know what a Wampus Cat is?”
“Another story Evan made up to scare us when Dad was out of town?”
“No, this seems real,” Selene said, squinting at her phone. “Well, as real as any of Evan’s stories are. He says the Wampus Cat is a cryptozoological creature with bright yellow eyes and huge paws. If you hear her cry, you will die in the next three days. There was a sighting recently in Rugby, near the woods by the cemetery.”
“By the river? That’s where I want to do a few sunrise shots tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t say exactly. The headline is, ‘Monstrous Cat Spotted Near Rugby.’ It goes on to say a few people saw a huge gold cat limping around some empty bear traps.”
“Yikes.”
“But if Bigfoot is there with the cat, maybe that’s to our advantage,” Selene joked. “They’ll be too busy fighting over their territory to bother with us.”
Cass laughed, and Evan began to entertain them with texts about Rugby’s most famous ghost legends. He’d always had a keen interest in the supernatural and was a wealth of information on that sort of thing. Selene, on the other hand, preferred to dwell in reality.
The sisters giggled about the stories, but once they left the interstate and began traveling along the small roads leading into Rugby they grew quiet. The overgrown fields and rugged forests of the Cumberland Plateau echoed with loneliness as the number of cars sharing the road dwindled until they seemed to be the only ones left.
They passed several empty churches, barns decorated with folk art, and an old gas station turned general store. Once they reached the ancient sign announcing their entry to Rugby, the sisters cheered even as a prickle of unease crawled down Selene’s spine at the sight of the village.
Selene knew Rugby was small, but she didn’t expect the town to be a handful of buildings scattered on either side of a single road. After driving past the gift shop, historic printing works, and restaurant, Cass pulled into the Rugby Visitor’s Center parking lot.
When Selene stepped out of the car, she couldn’t suppress a shiver, though it was 70 degrees out. It was like a veil of crushing silence had dropped over them. The air was dead. Oppressive. There were cars in the parking lot, but the town was completely, eerily hushed.
The sound of Cass’s car door shutting cracked like a hunter’s shotgun, making Selene jump. Cass inhaled deeply. “Wow, it’s so peaceful.”
“Yeah,” Selene replied. Quiet had always been a comfort to her, a soothing companion. But this quiet was unwelcoming.
