The Glass Man - Lila Gray Book 1

Chapter One

I plunged my knife into a log and pried against the bark, hoping for something to eat. How far had I fallen off the rim of civilization if thoughts of choking down another fat grub excited me? It wasn't like I had a choice. Berry season had long since ended, my beloved fishing rod had been stolen three towns ago, and there was nothing else edible for miles. Autumn in northern Pennsylvania was pretty, but the cuisine sucked.

What I wouldn't have given for a burger and fries. Hell, even a measly bowl of broth would have been heaven in my mouth. I hadn't seen real food in over a month, and this slimy insect shit was getting old fast.

A scream cracked open the silence and filled it with sounds nobody should have to make. My hand flinched, causing the knife tip to break through the rotten wood and stab into the side of my other hand.

"God dammit!" I applied pressure to stop the bleeding until the skin knitted back together. My freakishness had its uses, some of the time.

The sound came again, a piteous, frightened cry. What fresh steaming hell was this? I mostly avoided what passed for civilization these days, so I wouldn't have to deal with the growing population of lunatics, but I couldn't seem to go anywhere without finding a herd or two.

I groaned, letting my head hang forward as I considered options. Whoever was out there sounded young and probably didn't deserve whatever they were getting. What else was new? If I interfered, my presence could put them in worse danger. If I walked away, my conscience would turn screws in my mind for weeks. My life would have been so much easier if I could stop giving a shit.

I folded my jackknife and slipped it into the pocket of the army green fatigues I'd lifted from a clothes line last week. After shouldering my backpack, I stuffed my mass of blonde hair beneath a black cap and tossed a handful of leaves over the matted grass I'd knelt on.

My instincts pointed me west.

I sprinted through a thick stand of trees crowned with golden leaves, clinging to a small hope the problem might resolve itself before I arrived. No amount of wishing ever made it come true. No amount of knowing that made me stop wishing, either.

Several minutes of running brought me out of the darkest part of the forest, where the trees began to thin. Light cut wider swaths through the dense shadows along the leaf-littered ground. I broke through the edge of the woods and stopped on a ridge.

Below, a sprawling farm sat at the bottom of a deep valley. At first glance, it looked normal enough. Black barn. Three rusted silver silos. An old fashioned white house with a giant wrap-around porch. Acres of gnarled apple trees stretched beyond it as far as I could see.

Figures someone would build a farm in the middle of nowheresville Pennsylvania. It was probably the headquarters for some doomsday cult or a polygamist colony. I hadn't seen a town for days, so whoever lived there didn't like being around people.

That made two of us.

A closer look revealed power lines snaking along the southern ridge. Maybe I'd gone further off course than I'd thought without my map. The downy hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

At least the screaming had stopped.

I bent down to pluck a flock of burrs from my shoelaces while scanning the buildings for signs of movement. Agonizing minutes passed. Nothing stirred or made a sound to disturb the quiet evening. If my finely tuned instincts weren't certain the screams had come from down there, I'd have thought nothing bad could happen at such a place.

Although I needed to find somewhere safe to sleep before nightfall, my body ignored my commands to move on. It was peaceful here, calm. I didn't come across moments like this often in my cursed, transient life, so I crouched in the damp grass and watched the sun edge closer to the jagged line of conifers on the western ridge. The frogs began their peeping serenade down in the valley, and a hawk cried a haunting melody somewhere in the distance.