“Meh…you’ll work…I guess.” Hopefully no one would look at my feet too much. I dropped my feet and looked back at my nightstand where I knew my sketchbook was. Leaning over on my bed, I pulled it out along with one of my pencils and sat it on my lap. Whenever, I had a trouble remembering things I would close my eyes and sketch. And inevitably what I was trying to remember would somehow come out in my sketches. So I decided to give it a try.
In a pool of crinoline and taffeta, I lifted my pencil and closed my eyes. Taking a breath, I cleared my mind and opened my sketchbook. Placing my pencil to the vellum, I let my mind wander.
An image of Briarcliff Manor materialized and then just as quickly slipped right back out.
“Damn it, why isn’t this working? Why can’t I remember?”
Frustrated, I opened my eyes and looked down at the open page of my sketchbook and my heart stopped.
I couldn’t breathe. Pain tore through me as I stared down at the sketch of a boy with a flirty smile surrounded by briars. In that moment, everything I had somehow forgotten came crashing back.
“Adriane!”
♥
BONUS CONTENT
“Please be real. Please be real. Please be real,” I said over and over again as I punched the gas and made a sharp left up the winding road toward Briarcliff Manor.
The lights from town faded out and darkness engulfed my car completely as I swerved around another steep turn. My engine hissed and whined. There was a knocking sound coming from under my car. It sounded like my transmission was about to fall out.
“Come on!” I hit the steering wheel as I punched the gas again.
I wasn’t real sure what I expected to find but I had to know if he was real. Two glowing eyes appeared and I slammed on my brakes. My car fishtailed and gravel spewed out from behind.
My heart was pounding a mile a minute as a deer ambled by.
“Stupid deer!”
That damn thing almost gave me heart failure.
Freaked, I honked my horn and the deer darted across the road.
My heart was pounding so loud I couldn’t even hear the hiss from my engine anymore. “Calm down, Evie. It’s just a deer.”
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, I accelerated up another hill. My phone bleated beside me. I ignored it and kept my hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as I made another precarious turn. Normally, I would have never come here alone, but I had to know. If I didn’t I didn’t’ think I could ever forgive myself or forget how I felt when I was with him. And if he was just some delusion my brain had conjured, I would at least have some closure…at least I hoped I would. Deep down though, I knew what I was doing was crazy. Actually, ninety-nine percent of me was telling me to turn my ass right back around but that miniscule one percent was telling me something different. So, I went against my better judgment and here I was dressed like Sandra Freaking Dee driving to what had to be the creepiest place on Earth. At least I was wearing my Chucks. My fugly flats were on the seat beside me. I still planned on going to the party if or when, my sick mind echoed, that I made it back out of this place in one piece. I was having some serious doubts about that though the closer I came to actually getting up to the Mansion.
The wind whipped and pushed against my car as I rounded another turn. Funny, even when I was driving with Barnaby up here yesterday, it didn’t seem to take this long.
“It’s going to be fine. Just fine,” I told myself, trying my best to keep calm.
Finally, I made it up the mountain and pulled through the imposing, mortared columns. Thankfully, the gate was open because I didn’t want to get out of my car. Instead of pulling over, I kept right on driving up the weed and briar infested drive. My car bottomed out when I hit a pothole. The front bounced up and down and made a loud clunk.
“Oh, great. Perfect.” I had a feeling I may have just lost my oil but I kept right on driving. Briars scraped against the sides of my car, making me seriously reconsider my impetuous decision to come out here all alone. I still didn’t remember everything but I remembered him and that was all that mattered right now.
Slowing, I pulled up into the circular drive and my headlights flashed on the gloomy, imposing façade of Briarcliff Manor. Throwing my car into park, I killed the engine and pulled on my hoodie. Afraid to get out of my car, I stared out my windshield up at the scary mansion. It looked even creepier and bigger than I remembered. The lawn was empty. There were no red plastic cups littering it like I remembered.
“Emil Neerg,” I said stupidly, trying to calm my rampant fear. I spelled colors backwards when I was afraid or bored. Right now, however, I was about to have a full-on-freak-out-panic attack.
“I’m outta my freaking mind.” I knew this and yet, I had to find out. I had to go inside to see if he was real or some figment of my imagination. And even though every part of me was telling me to get the hell out of here, I still couldn’t. Taking a bracing breath, I shut off my headlights. Leaning forward, I looked through the windshield up at the moon. It was full, like the last time I was here except it wasn’t blue like I remembered.
I did three yoga fire-breaths, trying to get my rampant emotions under control but it wasn’t working.
My phone bleated and I almost had a crapfit. Reaching over, I lifted it up and hit silent. “Sorry, Moriah.” I knew if I answered the phone I would second-guess my decision and leave before I even looked inside for him.
Releasing a slow stream of air, I made up my mind. I might be crazy but if I didn’t at least go and find out for myself I would never know if I had imagined everything.
“Well, chicken, it’s now or never.” I blew out a gust of air and grabbed up my phone. Punching my flashlight app, a halo of light beamed down on the ground as I climbed from my car.
As soon as I stepped outside the car, the sounds of the night closed in on me and my body shook as my heart went ballistic. I slammed my door shut.
An owl hooted from somewhere close by.
It was worse here now than it had been before. The trees rustled overhead and the dried leaves made a dragging sound as they slid across the drive, like nails scratching on a wall. Maybe even like Freddy Krueger, my sick mind echoed, sending my heart hammering even harder. He was another bad-guy/creature/sicko/ from one of the horror movies I had watched. Now that I thought about it, maybe I should stop watching horror movies. That is, I would, maybe, probably, definitely, if I ever got out of here alive.
Even my ugly flats made a creepy crunching sound on the gravel drive as I made my way to the front steps. Stepping onto the stair, fear tore through me. What was I doing? Was I out of my ever-loving mind? I had to be.
Shivering, I wrapped my free arm around my stomach, while I used my other had to keep the slowly dwindling beam of light in front of me as I climbed higher.
When I got to the top, I stopped. There were broken pieces of stone near the door. My hand shook as I placed it on the handle and turned it. Creaking eerily, the door swung open. I took a deep breath and stepped inside.
A Personal Note from Lorraine
Dear Reader -
Writing this series has been a lot of fun for me. Every night while I was writing this, my mind took me off to a party in a creepy mansion with secret passageways as the antics of my characters played out. It made me remember my own youth, which was really fun and oftentimes, for me, a bit embarrassing.
I first got the idea for this series from writing my Ravenhurst Series and although, I realize my books are a bit unconventional, I truly hope you have enjoyed getting to know my quirky characters as much as I loved writing about them.
Originally, I was going to write a fourth book in the series, but as of now, I don’t feel there is enough interest in this series to continue at this time. However, if you would like me to keep going with the story, and continue with this series, I would reconsider if I saw more interest in it. So if that is the case and you would like me to continue, take a moment to send me a quick note to the email b
elow and let me know what you think.
[email protected]
I know there are a lot of books out there to choose from, so I really appreciate you taking a chance on my books.
Lorraine Beaumont ♥
RAVENHURST SERIES
#1 Bestselling Time Travel Series
“If you have ever wanted to take an adventure through time, this would be the one to take! Loved every single moment of these books and did not want them to end!” Bewitch Me Romance
A once forgotten legend...
Katherine Nicole Jamison never imagined when she took a job at a prestigious auction house for the summer, that one moment of impulsiveness could change her life forever. When she "borrows" an ancient amulet, she inadvertently sets in motion a series of events, which results in her waking up in 18th century England, betrothed to an arrogant, self-centered Earl.
Sebastian de Winter ~ The Earl of Ravenhurst, is a renowned womanizer who always prided himself as being a ladies man, until he is left standing at the altar. His betrothed Marguerite vanishes and as if by magic reappears months later. But is she his betrothed?
Ravenhurst ~ locked somewhere within the gloomy confines of this ancient edifice is the key that will unlock the door of time itself.
SCOTTISH TIME TRAVEL SERIES
LOST IN THE HIGHLANDS
“Irresistible characters, fresh voice, and a hero to die for…what’s there not to like!” Jamie Scott, Award Winning Author
A Bewitching Interactive Scottish Time Travel Romance—Magic, Mystery, Steamy Romance, Treasure, A Loch Monster, and a whole lot of Hunky Highlanders
When Paige Walsh attends the annual Scottish Highland Games on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina and makes a deal with a Gypsy, little does she know that her illustrious plans to find a Hunky Highlander for her own would backfire. Instead of one man wearing a kilt, she somehow ends up in the past, facing an entire clan of them.
Gavin de Grey, the current laird of Greystone Castle, located on the Northwest shore of Loch Morar, is cursed. Or so he had been told on numerous occasions throughout his life by his family and also the women he bedded. Sentenced to death for a paltry crime or two, mayhap three, Gavin would tend to agree. However, after weeks of imprisonment he believes his luck may have just turned around. When an old crone strikes a deal with him for his freedom in return for the smallest of favors, he cannot refuse.
Together, Gavin and Paige must not only battle against their differences, but also, their growing feelings for one another. Will Gavin make the ultimate sacrifice to break the curse or will he damn them all for eternity?
TRY IT FREE!
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
EDENBROOKE HOLLOW SERIES
“Poof! Magically Entertaining!” R Hart
Novice witch Melody Granger is on a mission to not only learn the spells she needs to get into the elite circle within her coven but also get the guy of her dreams with one. But when she inadvertently buys a defective spell book from a Charlatan at the local Potions, Broomsticks, and Beyond and her spells start to backfire she realizes that someone may not only be trying to derail her carefully laid plans to join the elite circle within her coven but also get rid of her for good.
Derrick St. Claire -A Vampire with an insatiable appetite... striking good looks and too much money to spend in his many lifetimes wants his ancestral home back from the Black Hat Society's Patronesses who have taken it over for their coven and yearly witches' ball. As far as he is concerned, like oil and water, Witches and Vampires don't mix, but when he encounters Melody Granger, a novice witch with a penchant for getting herself into trouble he realizes that some rules, even his own, are made to be broken.
TRY IT TODAY!
BRIARCLIFF SERIES
“A paranormal romance for those who are not afraid of the dark!” Sookie Stackhouse Reviews
The paranormal romance that centers the story and pulls you into its embrace like a lover you had forgotten how much you enjoyed kissing. There is mystery and more than anything there is the need to find out what dark secret lies at the core of it all.
Briarcliff Township may look like any other town snuggled deep within the forests of the New England coastline but it harbors a dark secret. When the winds change, old stirrings arise from forgotten misdeeds and a thirst for vengeance. Something wicked this way comes…
TRY IT FREE!
ABOUT LORRAINE
Lorraine Beaumont is a #1 Bestselling Author and an Award-Winning poet. Even though she writes is several genres’ all of her books are written with an ensemble cast of characters, filled with plenty twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end. She has four series to date and is in the process of working on another series.
She lives in what she calls (Farm Country) Maryland with her family and is currently working on her next novel. For more information, connect with her online: She LOVES hearing for her readers!
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“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”
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