All Chapters of Loved By A Shadow: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Eden pressed her clammy palms to the cool varnished wood of the dining room table. It was bare now, stripped of the wedding planning book, the lists and the invitations that seemed to have become a permanent fixture over the last few months, but none of it mattered anymore. A year of fussing over the tiniest detail, the guest list, the catering and decorations... the vows. No longer a wedding to plan.. No longer a home with a heart.It had been an entire week since her world collapsed around her it was made of the most fragile material. The first crack in the foundations had appeared quietly, A small, seemingly insignificant receipt in Ben's jacket pocket, for a local cheap motel, dated the day before when he had supposedly been to visit his parents out of town, Eden's world imploded, Heart beating so fast she thought it would burst, a deep congealed darkness pressing in on her from all sides like a giant pressure cooker while she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. There

Eden had only taken four steps when her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket, she took it out, intending to silence the call and continue, she saw the name flashing across the screen and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Aunt Lydia?""Eidie, Thank god you answered" Her aunt's tone was clipped and sharp, already reprimanding her. "Ava told me where you've gone, please, please tell me it isn't true"Eden's jaw tightened immediately, yet another betrayal from her so called sister, would it ever end? "Of course she did" she replied icily."Don't start with that tone, I'm not calling to have an argument, I'm calling because I care, what you're doing isn't safe.. didn't you hear on the news about those hikers a few weeks ago? 6 young men went missing on the trail. Rescue teams worked for 2 weeks and didn't find a single clue to there whereabouts, the found nothing Eden""Well that was them, you know I'm a responsible person and I have experience in this terrain, I know these paths, its perfectly safe

Eden lay frozen inside her plush sleeping bag, her own name still echoing in her ears after hours had passed with no more sounds. Her name, why her name? whispered like a vow, like a claim. The night pressed in thick and heavy, silence stretched to breaking point as she continued to strain her ears.Then came the sound.Soft footsteps were retreating through the undergrowth, slowly, leisurely, as though the owner had all the time in the world. As if the one who had spoken knew she wasn't going anywhere, that she was unable to move.Her throat ached with the scream she hadn't allowed herself to release, she forced herself to take slow, even breaths afraid even the sound of air coming from her tent would call him back. Minutes blurred into hours as she waited for the thing to come back. She didn't remember falling asleep again, or even relaxing her clenched muscles, she only had a vague memory of the surprising mercy of the darkness, swallowing her until the silver light of dawn seeped

No answer came from her whispered thanks, although she knew he heard her, the tether in her chest pulsed with heat as she looked around the still forest, and she realised. It was him that was pulling her onward, he was her destination, her destiny. He left her gifts and seemed to want to help her, so why was she so often afraid? why did the shadow sometimes feel sinister? unless.....She decided to save her pondering until comfortable and safe at her final campsite, she began a slow, careful trek now, her balance still slightly unsteady after her fall, careful of more raised roots and trip hazards. Eden eventually reached a slight curve in the path, she made her way around the bend and then she saw it.A ragged scrap of fabric, snagged on a skeletal branch, at first she thought it was a plastic bag caught by the wind, but as she drew closer, curiosity winning out, its true form revealed itself. A jacket, dark with mud stains, one sleeve torn wide open as if it had been smashed with so