Summary

Chapter One opens with 16-year-old Leigh being brought in a limousine to a large and impressive manor. Leigh’s parents were murdered, and afterward she attempted suicide. Leigh recalls her father, a cop, having taught her about firearms and notes the guards outside holding guns. Leigh is being taken into the home of her distant cousin, Tristin Simmons, along with his wife Peg and daughter Myra. Tristin proudly tells Leigh some of the history of the castle, called Simmons-Pierce manor. Myra excitedly tells Leigh that there are ghosts in the room she will be staying in, but Tristin and Peg dismiss this. Heading into the house, Leigh is overwhelmed by the manor’s grandeur and history. She points out a painting of a woman Myra identifies as Rebecca Florence Pierce, who Leigh says resembles her own deceased mother. Myra shows...