Prologue
She stood silently in the cold, her breath forming a thick mist around her face before disappearing into the twilight that set her auburn curls on fire. Even from her position on the street front, she could almost sense the house watching her. The blackened front gave her the impression of a demonic face staring back at her. The windows, a pair of dark soulless eyes, stared back at her as if they could see right into the very depths of her soul.
The house itself looked harmless enough during the daylight hours. Just an old abandoned mansion locked in a lost century as time continued to move forward. The once beautiful home was now an empty shell of its former glory. The main level of the house still stood strong. The wrap-around porch making for an inviting place to relax.
She could still see her mother sitting there drinking her morning coffee, relaxing before she began her morning routine of getting herself ready for work and preparing Liliana for school, while waiting for Raven’s babysitter to arrive. She could picture her mother’s smile as she watched her daughters play. Her mother’s laugh still echoed through the air as Liliana ran up to her holding a small bug.
As her eyes traveled upward, the fear she had felt before began to creep back into her system. Her hands began to tremble and her breath came in short gasps. The second and third floor windows glared back at her daring her to enter and relive the horrors she had lived as a child when her family had moved into the mansion ten years ago. It was because of this house that she would spend the next eight years moving from one foster home to the next, battling nightmares of her parents’ and baby sister’s death. The authorities had said she was lucky to be alive. She never felt that way.
As she stood there staring at the building, she thought back to when she was ten and her father came home with the news that the family was moving once again. Her father was an Admiral in the Navy, so leaving her home every few years was nothing new. This time was different though; rather than the women staying at the base with her father, as they had in the past, her parents had taken the time to purchase a home. While her mother was only slightly upset by the news, young Liliana saw it as an adventure and a chance to see yet another part of the world she lived in and was so curious about.
