Reflections Beyond (Book 1) now published so sample only

Prologue

Hi, thanks for reading my story. Due to publication this story is now a sample size only. If you would like a digital copy you can find one at Amazon, Smashwords, iBooks, Kobo and Barnes and Noble

Copyright © 2012 by Sandra Corton

ISBN: 978-0-9943930-8-1

All rights reserved.

Published by Sandra Corton

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Marianne Nowicki

Prologue

The house stood alone on the desolate hillside. Its ancient windows watched with foreboding as the years passed. No one entered the rickety old gates, except the elderly couple that abided within.

It was believed in the local village that to walk within the house was to march into the arms of death. Many brave souls had ventured within but none had returned. Gobbled up by the forest some said, attacked by hideous creatures, others believed, but no one in the village knew.

Only one knew the truth. The answer lay behind a simple item hidden deep within the mysteries of the house. When uncovered by the right person, all the secrets would be revealed, everything stolen would be returned and all wrongs made right. And so the waiting continued.

Many miles away, a young girl sat looking out the window of a classroom, her face full of misery. She was a determined young person who was average at everything, including her height. Her brown hair fluffed into every spot but where she wanted, and her brown eyes were so boring. She was ordinary and fairly plain as well and it was the bane of her existence.

If only she could excel at just one thing she could prove to her Dad that she was more than ordinary and perhaps avoid the nasty scene she knew was going to occur. She doodled on the paper in front of her as she watched butterflies flit through the trees. School holidays were here and she couldn't even get excited about it.

Dinner, normally a cheerful affair, was silent that night. Charlie's Dad watched her anxiously while her brother Jim studied yet another physics text. The tension built until she could bear it no longer.

"I'm not going." She blurted into the silence while glaring at her father.

"Charlotte please, I have worked to do and Jim has major exams to study for."

"No! And it's Charlie! " She stated defiantly, "I am old enough now that I can be trusted."

"We have been through this before, and frankly I don't want to hear your excuses. You may be 15 but you are still going to your Grandparents." He held up his hand to stop her argument, "For the whole summer."

"Please don't send me. You don't know how awful it is." Charlie begged

"I think I do, Spooky house, creepy grandparents, scary things that happen. You tell me these stories every year. I'm sorry but you are going."

"They aren't even your parents." She argued, determined to win her Dad over.

"Maybe not. They are still your grandparents and they are entitled to see you. Plus I'm sure your mother will be happier in knowing that someone is visiting them."