The Presence (ePub)

The owner of a crumbling Victorian mansion returns to it in an attempt to reconcile the nightmares of her past. She's grudgingly reunited with her estranged cousin, Ethan. They are both drawn to the house where, in childhood, a third cousin met with a terrible end. Heather finds the house and its surrounding rural landscape to be warm and comforting, whereas her cousin thinks the house itself is haunted and the woodland surrounding the home is alive with demonic activity. The tension comes to a boiling point when Heather's school friend, Shelly, and her son, Jimmy, come to live with them. Shelly immediately begins having spectral visions and terrifying nightmares. Heather believes Shelly's experiences are the result of an unstable mind, while Ethan argues that the haunted house is to blame, and that Shelly is unusually sensitive to ghostly activity. Heather and Ethan are eventually forced out of the dubious security of their home and into the darkness of the surrounding woodland to search for a missing friend. Heather is unwilling to allow Ethan to accompany her, citing a persistent but intangible sense of foreboding. Ethan is keenly aware of the role he's meant to play and insists on accompanying his cousin. The two become entangled in an environment of confused spirituality and brutal occult activity.