THE CODEX OF SHADOWS: AWAKENING OF DERICK GREENWOOD

CHAPTER 1 — THE BOOK THAT SCREAMED

The scream didn’t sound human. It was sharp, metallic, and impossibly close, coming from the bottom shelf behind the counter.

Derick Greenwood froze, his hand hovering mid-air above a stack of returned books. “Tell me that wasn’t you,” he muttered.

Mr. Halden, the elderly shop owner, popped his head out from between two aisles. “Wasn’t me, kid. You good?”

“No,” Derick whispered. “Something just”

The scream came again. Louder. A tearing, frantic shriek that made the light bulbs flicker. “What the hell…” Derick crouched, hand trembling as he reached toward the source.

A leather-bound book lay wedged between two old encyclopedias. Its cover was blackened and scratched, as if someone had dragged it across asphalt.

A thin chain wrapped around it was broken, the links snapped clean. Derick whispered, “Mr. Halden… did someone drop this off?”

“Nope.” Halden’s worn shoes shuffled closer. “Never seen it.”

The book vibrated violently, rattling the shelf. Halden jumped back. “Okay, nope, I’m too old for demonic nonsense, have fun, kid.”

He shuffled toward the back room, muttering, “I don’t get paid enough, I swear…”

Left alone, Derick reached toward the book, and it stopped vibrating instantly, as if it recognized him. That scared him more. “Alright… easy,” he said softly. “Just a book. Probably some weird prank or”

The moment his fingers touched the cover, blinding heat shot up his arm. Derick jerked back. “Ow! What the hell?!”

The book pulsed. A voice echoed, faint, like a memory half-submerged under water. “Open me.”

Derick stumbled back into a bookshelf. “Who said that?”

Silence. He looked around. Empty store. Dust drifting through the warm light. Nothing out of place, except the book that acted like it had a heartbeat.

“This is insane,” Derick whispered. “Books do not scream. Books do not talk. Books do not”

The shop door chimed violently as a man stumbled inside. Derick straightened. “Sir, are you ?”

The man’s eyes were bloodshot, his breaths ragged. “Hide… it…”

Derick blinked. “Hide what?”

The man’s gaze locked on the leather book behind Derick. His face twisted with terror. “They’re coming,” he rasped. “They can smell it.”

Derick’s skin prickled. “Who’s coming?”

The man collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. “Don’t… let them… take it.” His voice dropped to a trembling whisper. “Or they’ll take you too.”

Derick rushed forward. “Hey—sir, look at me. I’m calling an ambulance”

The man’s shadow suddenly stretched, not in the direction of the light. It stretched toward Derick, long, thin, and reaching like fingers. Derick stumbled back. “What the ?”

The shadow lurched, snapping into a monstrous form: spiked limbs, hollows where eyes should be, a mouth curled wide. The man didn’t notice. He sagged unconscious.

But the shadow noticed Derick. It charged. Derick froze. His brain betrayed him, his body locked. Then, The book behind him screamed again.

A violent pulse exploded outward, knocking over shelves. Papers flew. Books fell. Light bulbs shattered. The shadow staggered and recoiled, screeching.

Derick threw an arm over his face. “WHAT IS HAPPENING?!”

The Codex’s chain snapped completely, scattering metal across the floor. It fell open. Pages flipped in a rapid blur, stopping on a single handwritten line. A line written in Derick’s handwriting. “Run, Derick.”

His breath died in his throat. “That’s not possible,” he whispered. “I didn’t”

The shadow lunged. Derick grabbed the unconscious man by the shoulders and dragged him behind the counter just as the creature slammed into the floor where he had been standing.

“Wake up!” Derick hissed, shaking the stranger. “Come on!”

Nothing. The shadow hissed, its limbs elongating. Derick grabbed a fallen metal sign and held it out like a shield. “Stay back! I’m serious—I’ll, I’ll hit you!”

The creature advanced. Derick’s heartbeat roared in his ears. “Stay AWAY!”

The Codex pulsed again, once, twice, like a heartbeat syncing with his own. Heat rushed through Derick’s chest. His skin burned. His vision blurred. “Wha, what is”

The creature lunged. Derick screamed, And something inside him snapped open. Light burst from his hands. Not warm, gentle light, this was something ancient, violent, and furious.

The shadow shrieked as the light struck it, ripping its form apart. Derick staggered back, gasping. “What… what did I just?”

The creature reformed instantly. It laughed. But it wasn’t a human laugh, it was layered, distorted, like multiple voices weaving into one. “You are awake,” the shadow hissed. “Finally.”

Derick’s blood froze. “You… can talk?”

“You should not exist,” it whispered. “Your kind was meant to be erased.”

“My what?” Derick backed up until he hit the counter. “What do you mean ‘my kind’?”

The shadow surged forward. Derick instinctively grabbed the Codex. The book snapped shut with a violent crack, And a shockwave blasted outward.

The shadow evaporated in a scream, dissolving into black smoke. Silence.

Derick collapsed to the floor, chest heaving. Unspeakable cold dripped down his spine. He stared at the book in his hands as it slowly cooled.

Footsteps approached from the back room. Mr. Halden peeked around the corner. “Hey, kid, what was that sound? Did a shelf fall or somet”

He froze at the destroyed aisles, shattered bulbs, and Derick clutching a scorched leather book. “What… in God’s name… happened here?”

Derick opened his mouth, but the Codex vibrated again. A new line of text appeared on the first page, written as he watched. “This was only the beginning. Don’t trust them.”

Derick’s voice trembled. “Trust who…?”

Halden frowned. “Derick? Who are you talking to?”

Derick snapped the book shut. “N-No one,” he lied.

Halden sighed heavily. “Kid… we need to talk. There’s… something you should know.”

Derick stiffened. “What?”

Halden’s gaze darkened. “That book wasn’t left here by accident.”

Derick’s heartbeat spiked. “What do you mean?”

Halden hesitated, and that hesitation terrified Derick more than the shadow. “Because,” Halden whispered, “someone came in this morning asking for you specifically. And he said”

A sudden crash sounded from outside, like claws scraping metal. Halden jolted. “Did you hear ?”

Derick grabbed his wrist. “Turn off the lights. Now.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Derick whispered, staring at the door as the glass vibrated, “I think the thing that left that shadow behind… isn’t done with me.”

The lights flicked off. Darkness swallowed the store. And outside the door, something breathed.