Changeling: Zombie Dawn by Steve Feasey Page A

son’s facial expression turned from one of discomfort to a wide-eyed look of fear and disbelief at whatever he’d seen over his dad’s shoulder. Robert turned to see what it was the boy had witnessed. That was when he saw the source of the tumult for the first time. There, in the middle of the Fulham Road, was a black tower that had no place in this world. It had materialized out of nowhere, the inky dark rocks that made up the base of the thing replacing the painted brickwork of the houses and shops that had once stood there. Where those buildings, or the people might have been inside them, had gone was unclear. He let his eyes travel up the ghastly citadel, his panic rising as he did so. It was a vision which would haunt Robert Holt’s dreams for evermore.
    Now everyone in the street had turned to face the monolith, a look of utter incredulity on each and every face as they took in its gothic grandeur. It towered up into the heavens, a black stiletto blade that dwarfed the other buildings around it and resonated with a dark force that struck terror into those that looked upon it.
    Robert Holt could feel the fear pouring off his son; it matched his own. He hugged the boy to him, murmuring comforting words, knowing that he could not let his son sense the horror, bafflement and despair he truly felt. Because Robert was sure of one thing: whatever that dark tower was, it spelled danger for everyone who had seen it.
    Father and son both flinched as a loud boom came from the tower. Looking up again, they saw a wave radiating from the structure, the air shimmering and appearing to bend as the invisible force spread ever outward. Screams and shouts of panic could be heard from all sides, and people began to run in every direction, hoping to escape the malevolent force.
    Robert grabbed his son’s hand and tried to pull him around the back of the burger van, but the boy was frozen to the spot. When the wave passed through them they cried out in unison. They had been touched by evil, of that they were certain, and the wrenching of their insides as the wave penetrated them was nothing compared to the feeling of doom they were left with on its passing.
    There was a moment of stillness then. A perfect stop. Until suddenly the sky turned a dark and terrible purple, the air itself taking on a strange aspect, so that looking through it was like peering through the bottom of a glass bottle. At the same time, the air was filled with a putrid stench of something rotten and foul and fetid that made everyone gag and cover their mouths and noses with their hands.
    The Shield had been activated. It produced an impenetrable dome-like perimeter around the central point of the tower, extending the estate of Leroth by 500 metres in all directions and bringing the Netherworld to the area confined within it. Everything and everyone inside was trapped. There was no way in or out. There was no communication with the outside world. There was no hope of escape.

16
    Alexa sat alone in the living room. The apartment hadn’t been this quiet in weeks, and the silence was more than a little unnerving. She shifted her weight, the soft white leather beneath her sighing in response.
    She began to prepare herself for what lay ahead, going through the mental processes that Hag had described to her before she had left with her father and the others. Performing any kind of sorcery was never easy, but trying to combine two separate and very different spells was going to require all her effort and skills.
    Although under a great deal of stress and pressure herself, Hag had found the time to take the teenager into one of the meeting rooms and explain her theory on how Alexa could locate the whereabouts of Trey.
    ‘You must try to amalgamate the locating spell I used earlier in front of your father and Tom with the thought transfer spell that you are already very adept at. I believe that the special bond you share with the young lycanthrope will allow you to