Hunted By Shadows

Hunted By Shadows

Fountain A. Gidado

103.7k Words / Ongoing
576
Hot
576
Views

Introduction

Psychic investigator Sam Drewsbury has spent three years hunting the demon that murdered her twin brother, using her ability to see death echoes to track supernatural killers through Seattle's underground. But when she's hired by mysterious tech mogul to find his missing daughter, Sam discovers the girl wasn't kidnapped—she was sacrificed to open a portal between worlds.
Enter Kieran Braut, a centuries-old hunter bound by ancient magic to destroy demons before they can establish permanent footholds in the human realm. Cursed to feel every death he causes, Kieran has sworn off working with humans after his last partner's betrayal cost innocent lives.
But this isn't just another demon incursion. Someone is systematically weakening the barriers between dimensions, and Seattle is becoming a supernatural battleground. As Sam's visions grow stronger and more dangerous, she realizes her psychic gifts aren't natural—they're the result of demonic blood passed down through her family line.
Kieran needs Sam's unique abilities to track the portal locations, but her demonic heritage makes her both the key to stopping the invasion and the perfect vessel for the demon lord trying to cross over. With each use of her powers, Sam becomes more connected to the demon realm, slowly losing her humanity.
Read More

Share the book to

facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

About Author

Fountain A. Gidado

Chapter 1

The concrete is still warm with blood.

I crouch in the alley behind Pike Place Market, pressing my fingertips against the stain where victim number four died three hours ago. The familiar chill of death echo preparation runs up my spine, and I close my eyes, opening myself to the psychic residue that clings to violent endings.

"Um, Sam? This is really gross," Tyler whines behind me. "Can't you just, I don't know, look at the crime scene photos like normal investigators?"

I ignore my assistant and let the death echo hit me.

Ice water floods my veins. Claws tear through flesh like paper. Inhuman snarls fill the air as something massive pins a struggling woman against the brick wall. Her final scream cuts through the night, terrified, desperate, hopeless. But underneath the victim's terror, I taste something else. The killer's satisfaction. A hunger that feels ancient and intelligent.

The vision ends and I gasp, yanking my hands back from the concrete.

"Jesus, Sam, you're white as a sheet." Tyler's voice carries that familiar mix of fascination and revulsion. "What did you see?"

"Help me up." I extend my hand, legs shaky from the psychic drain. Tyler pulls me to my feet, his college-boy strength surprising for someone who looks like he survives entirely on energy drinks and ramen.

"So?" He bounces on his toes, notebook ready. "Serial killer? Psychopath with a knife fetish? Ooh, maybe it's one of those guys who thinks he's a vampire!"

"It wasn't human." I dust off my jeans and examine the alley with fresh eyes. The death echo always reveals details the crime scene techs miss. "Look at the claw marks on the wall."

Tyler squints at the brick. "Those could be from a knife. Or like, really long fingernails."

"Eighteen inches long?" I trace the gouges with my finger. They start at shoulder height and rake down to the pavement. "And look at the spacing. No human hand made these marks."

"Okay, so maybe it's a really big dog. Or a bear. Do we have bears in Seattle?"

I want to shake him. "Tyler, the victim was found with her throat torn out, not bitten. And bears don't arrange bodies in ritual positions."

"Ritual positions?" His pen freezes over the notebook. "You didn't mention ritual positions."

Because I haven't told him what I really saw. The death echo showed me more than claws and screams. I saw the killer's face, or what passed for one. Yellow eyes that burned with hellfire. Skin like charred leather. And when it finished killing, it arranged the woman's body with careful precision, whispering words in a language that made my blood sing with recognition.

But Tyler doesn't need to know that. He already thinks I'm half-crazy, and he's not entirely wrong. Normal people don't see the last moments of violent deaths by touching bloodstains. Normal people don't hunt things that go bump in the night through Seattle's darkest corners.

Then again, normal people don't have twin brothers murdered by demons.

"Sam?" Tyler waves his hand in front of my face. "You're doing that thousand-yard stare thing again. Are we dealing with some kind of cult?"

"Something like that." I pull out my phone and snap photos of the claw marks, making sure to capture the angle and depth. "I need you to cross-reference the locations of all four murders. Look for patterns, occult symbols, underground tunnels, anything that connects them besides the MO."

"Already on it." Tyler's chest puffs with pride. "I've been mapping the crime scenes while you were doing your... whatever you call this psychic detective thing. All four locations form a perfect square around the Pike Place Market area."

I stop mid-step. "A square?"

"Yeah, look." He pulls out his tablet, showing me a map of downtown Seattle with red pins marking each murder site. "Four corners of a square, with Pike Place right in the center. That's not a coincidence, right?"

The pattern makes my stomach clench. Four sacrifices to anchor a summoning circle, with the market—one of Seattle's most spiritually active locations—as the focal point. This isn't random killing. It's preparation.

"Tyler, I need you to research any missing persons reports from the past week. Focus on people with unusual backgrounds; psychics, mediums, anyone involved in the supernatural community."

"The supernatural community?" Tyler's eyebrows climb toward his hairline. "Sam, you're starting to sound like one of those conspiracy theorists who thinks the government is run by lizard people."

"Just do the research." I start walking toward my car, parked on Western Avenue. "And see if you can find any connection between the victims and tech companies. Specifically quantum computing or dimensional research."

"Dimensional research?" Tyler scrambles to keep up with my longer stride. "What the hell is dimensional research? Are we talking about parallel universes now?"

I unlock my Honda Civic and slide behind the wheel. "We're talking about people who think the barriers between worlds are thinner than they used to be."

Tyler climbs into the passenger seat, shaking his head. "I swear, Sam, sometimes I think you actually believe this stuff. Like you really think demons and ghosts and whatever else goes bump in the night are real."

If only he knew. I've been hunting the supernatural for three years, ever since something with glowing red eyes tore Danny apart right in front of me. Every case brings me closer to finding his killer, and every death echo shows me more of the hidden world that exists parallel to normal life.

But Tyler is just a college kid who needed a job that paid better than minimum wage. He doesn't need to know that monsters are real, or that his boss is one paycheck away from losing her mind to the darkness she hunts.

"I believe in following the evidence," I say instead. "And the evidence says our killer isn't human."

Tyler pulls out his phone and starts typing. "Okay, missing persons with supernatural connections. Do I include people who've been to psychic readings, or are we talking full-blown crystal-wielding witches?"

"Cast a wide net. Anyone who's ever dabbled in the occult, visited a medium, or claimed to have psychic abilities." I start the engine and pull into Seattle's late-night traffic. "And Tyler? This stays between us. If word gets out that I'm looking into supernatural angles, I'll lose what's left of my credibility with the police department."

"Your secret's safe with me." Tyler grins and taps his temple. "Besides, who would believe me? 'My boss thinks demons are real and she solves crimes by touching dead people's blood.' They'd have me committed."

I wish I could laugh at the absurdity, but the death echo is still fresh in my mind. The killer's satisfaction wasn't random violence or mental illness. It was the pleasure of a job well done, a ritual completed successfully.

Four sacrifices in a perfect square around Pike Place Market. Whatever summoned those claws is just getting started.

"Tyler, one more thing." I glance at him as we drive through the empty streets. "If anything weird happens during this investigation; and I mean anything, you run. You don't try to help, you don't stick around to see what happens. You just run."

"Define weird." Tyler's fingers pause over his phone screen. "Are we talking about finding more claw marks, or like, actual supernatural encounters?"

I could tell him the truth, that I've been fighting things that shouldn't exist for three years, that my psychic abilities make me a magnet for supernatural trouble, that working with me puts him in more danger than any college kid should face.

Instead, I turn onto Pine Street and head toward my apartment. "Just promise me, Tyler. If things get dangerous, you run."

"I promise." But his voice carries that stubborn note I've learned to recognize. Tyler might act like a scared kid, but he's got more backbone than he lets on. Which means I'll have to be extra careful to keep him away from whatever I'm about to uncover.

Because the death echo showed me something else, something I haven't told Tyler or anyone else. When the killer finished arranging the victim's body, it looked directly at the spot where I was crouching tonight. Like it knew I'd be there. Like it was leaving a message specifically for me.

The hunt is just beginning.

Comments

No comments yet.

You Might Like 😍

Accardi

Accardi

Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
1.5m Views
From Best Friend To Fiancé

From Best Friend To Fiancé

Ongoing · Page Hunter
“You have no idea what you’ve done to me. I’ve been replaying every sound you made, every way you came apart for me.” His grip tightened. “I’m not letting that go. I’m not letting you go. Fuck the friendship. I want you.”
I let out a little gasp. His thumb rubbed across my lower lip.
“I don’t just want to fuck you—I want to keep you. You’re my favorite sin, and I’ll commit it again and again until you understand you’re mine.” His lips twitched a little. “You’ve always been mine, Savannah.”
——-
Her sister is marrying her ex. So she brings her best friend as her fake fiancé. What could possibly go wrong?
Savannah Hart thought she was over Dean Archer—until her sister, Chloe announces she's marrying him. The same man Savannah never stopped loving. The man who left her heartbroken… and now belongs to her sister.
A weeklong wedding in New Hope. One mansion full of guests. And a very bitter maid of honor.
To survive it, Savannah brings a date—her charming, clean-cut best friend, Roman Blackwood. The one man who’s always had her back. He owes her a favor, and pretending to be her fiancé? Easy.
Until fake kisses start to feel real.
Now Savannah’s torn between keeping up the act… or risking everything for the one man she was never supposed to fall for.
1.8m Views
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

Ongoing · Riley Above Story
On the day Evelyn thought Liam would propose, he shocked her by getting down on one knee—for her stepsister, Samantha. As if that betrayal wasn’t enough, Evelyn learned the cruel truth: her parents had already decided to sell one daughter’s future to a dangerous man: the infamous War God Alpha Alexander, who was rumored to be scarred and crippled after a recent accident. And the bride could’t be their precious daughter Samantha. However, when the "ugly and crippled" Alpha revealed his true self—an impossibly handsome billionaire with no trace of injury—Samantha had a change of heart. She was ready to dump Liam and take Evelyn's place as the family daughter who should marry Alexander.
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
Accidentally Yours

Accidentally Yours

Ongoing · Merffy Kizzmet
“Who the hell are you and why are you tied to my bed?”

Lola Marlowe’s morning-after is a disaster. She’s got a killer hangover, zero memory of Burning Man, and a half-naked, sculpted stranger tied to her bed with her own lavender silk ropes. To make matters infinitely worse, the furious (and frustratingly handsome) “accidental hostage” is Enzo Marchesi, Vegas’s most notorious mafia Don.

For Enzo, this is the ultimate security breach. But the fiery, unpredictable tattoo artist is the most intriguing thing to happen to him in years. To stop his crew from “neutralizing” the threat, he makes an impulsive claim: she’s his fiancée.

Thrust into a world of high-stakes lies and feral attraction, they must navigate rival families and their own explosive chemistry.

One wrong move sparked it. Now neither of them wants out.
1.8m Views
The Prison Project

The Prison Project

Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?

Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.

Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.

Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...

At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…

Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?

Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?

What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…

A temperamental romance novel.
The Biker's Fate

The Biker's Fate

Completed · Piper Davenport
"You are absolutely my fucking woman, Dani. Got me?"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
After One Night with the Alpha

After One Night with the Alpha

Completed · Sansa
One Night. One Mistake. One Lifetime of Consequences.

I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.

My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.

But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.

In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.

"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.

"Who the fuck is Jason?"

My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.

I ran away for my life!

But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!

They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.

Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”

There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.

WARNING: Mature Readers Only
Invisible To Her Bully

Invisible To Her Bully

Ongoing · sunsationaldee
Unlike her twin brother, Jackson, Jessa struggled with her weight and very few friends. Jackson was an athlete and the epitome of popularity, while Jessa felt invisible. Noah was the quintessential “It” guy at school—charismatic, well-liked, and undeniably handsome. To make matters worse, he was Jackson’s best friend and Jessa’s biggest bully. During their senior year, Jessa decides it was time for her to gain some self-confidence, find her true beauty and not be the invisible twin. As Jessa transformed, she begins to catch the eye of everyone around her, especially Noah. Noah, initially blinded by his perception of Jessa as merely Jackson’s sister, started to see her in a new light. How did she become the captivating woman invading his thoughts? When did she become the object of his fantasies? Join Jessa on her journey from being the class joke to a confident, desirable young woman, surprising even Noah as she reveals the incredible person she has always been inside.
Goddess Of The Underworld.

Goddess Of The Underworld.

Completed · sheridan.hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her. Then finally into lycan princess, stronger, faster, the moon finally answering back, giving her exactly what she needs to protect her family.

When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armor, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of a border pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to stay; of cake, iron, and daylight negotiations. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
1.1m Views
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Crossing Lines

Crossing Lines

Ongoing · medusastonebooks
MM | Coach/Player | BDSM | Forbidden Romance | Power Imbalance | Age Gap | Sports Romance
Noah
I was here to prove myself—
One last shot at football, at freedom, at a future no one ever thought I’d deserve.
And then I met him.
Coach Aiden Mercer.
Cold. Demanding. Built like a legend and twice as ruthless.
From the first command, I wanted to fight him.
From the first Sir, I wanted to kneel.
But this wasn’t just about the game anymore.
He looked at me like he saw through every mask I wore…
And spoke to me in a voice I knew far too well.
The same one that called me baby boy in the darkest corners of the internet.
Now I didn’t know if I wanted to win…
Or just be his.
Aiden
Noah Blake was supposed to be a challenge.
A cocky, reckless quarterback with raw talent and no discipline.
But one message had changed everything.
One night on ObeyNet, a stranger with attitude and submission tangled in his words.
And when I saw Noah in person—his fire, his fear, that ache to be seen—
I knew it was him.
He didn’t know who I was. Not yet.
But I was already testing him. Pushing him.
Breaking him down until he begged for what he swore he didn’t need.
This was not supposed to get personal, but every second he disobeyed made me want to claim him harder.
And if he crossed the line…
I’d make damn sure he never forgot who he belonged to.
677.2k Views
Take you Fall into Fantasy.

Download AnyStories App to discover more Fantasy Stories.