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    What Lies Within: Ash Manor, #1
    What Lies Within: Ash Manor, #1
    What Lies Within: Ash Manor, #1
    Ebook72 pages58 minutes

    What Lies Within: Ash Manor, #1

    By Elysae Shar

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    About this ebook

    When he learns of its imminent demolition, Ash seeks out the house that haunts his dreams. There he hopes to recover his missing memories and figure out why this house is the only thing he can't seem to forget. But Ash soon begins to question his sanity when he starts seeing things from a past too distant to be his own. To make matters worse, the voice that once  drove him to flee halfway across the country starts taunting him again the moment he sets foot on the property. Things only get weirder when, driven by his desire to know, he finds a way inside and is confronted with not only with his missing memories but also the truth of his existence. 
    Now Ash must face the danger hidden deep within the walls of his former home before the demolition crew arrives in the morning or risk losing his sanity for good.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElysae Shar
    Release dateApr 21, 2016
    ISBN9781533788948
    What Lies Within: Ash Manor, #1
    Author

    Elysae Shar

    Born in a small town with little to occupy her time, Elysae Shar developed a love for both books and video games. By the age of eight, that love had become a desire to write. Almost twenty years later, after many false starts Elyse Shar's childhood dream became reality with the publication of John & Other Stories.  Though in and of itself a bad experience, this was mostly thanks to her suffering a stroke at the age of twenty-one and retaining permanent damage. With time for writing now abundant, it still took a further few years until she passed the final hurdle.

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      Book preview

      What Lies Within - Elysae Shar

      Chapter I

      Wrong from the Start

      Ash grimaced as he abandoned the safety of his car and made his way up the dirt path to the out of place looking metal fence. He pressed the heel of his hand to his temple. With every step, the scrabbling in his skull got...not louder but more intense. What he wouldn't give for a set of headphones blaring loud music right now. Oh, and a reason to turn around and never look back. Alas, the reasons cost too much for Ash to afford any. So, he trudged on until he stood before the final obstacle.

      With shaking hands, he grabbed the fence above the chain holding it closed. He gave it a tentative tug, hoping... And almost smiled. What little give there was would barely allow an adult through. With a few scrapes, if the person wasn't in perfect shape. An excellent deterrent for those most likely to seek entrance to a decaying building.

      But Ash was so much more than that. He didn't need shelter and the curiosity driving him came from deep within. To him, the house looming at the end of the too short driveway meant the world. It fueled both his dreams and his nightmares, though the latter far more often. He just didn't know why and the answer to that lay hidden within its walls. He hoped anyway.

      The fence rattled under his grip, mocking him with its unending sturdiness. Ash took a shaky breath and forced his eyes up to...

      In his dreams, the house stood tall and proud, somehow larger than life. He hadn't expected reality to measure up to that. Yet, disappointment twisted his stomach at the sight of the gutted carcass before him. Years of neglect had done the house no favors, though it would make for a nice haunted mansion.

      Specks of paint still clung to the siding, creating roadblocks in the intricate network of cracks and holes. The roof had fared no better with many of its shingles now shattered on the ground. It had rained so much just the past few days. The inside had to...had to... A strangled noise tore itself from Ash's throat. He brought one hand to rest on his stomach, forcing back a pain, he didn't quite feel.

      Ash didn't want to be here. Even the dingy little motel with mold growing on every surface would be better than here. The desire to run grew until his skin vibrated with it. It wasn't too late yet. He twitched, willing his feet to turn him around, but something far stronger than the fear kept him in place. Maybe it was instinct or knowing that this was his only chance.

      By next week, the once grand estate would be nothing but rubble on an empty plot of land. Sooner maybe. Demolition went pretty fast these days. His cowardice had caused this. He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut until his vision blurred. Then he forced air through clenched teeth in a whistling sigh.

      Like this, he could almost see the house in its former glory. Smell the fragrant aroma wafting from flowerbeds, that once ran along the foundation and were now little more than dirt pits. Hear the children chasing each other across the yard.

      Though it somehow wasn't his, the memory of their laughter alone was almost enough to drown out the scrabbling deep within his mind. At night, when the world was really quiet, that scrabbling came far too close to gnawing. Knowing might make it stop.

      For that reason alone, Ash had given in to his latest therapist's prompting. Even then, he'd put it off until he stumbled upon a random article in a discarded paper. He'd hesitated at first, suspicious of it being a plant. The other side of the country shouldn't care about the looming demolition of the only place Ash remembered calling home. Only his therapist—the only person Ash had any real contact with—knew Ash didn't buy papers. Didn't pay much attention to the news at all.

      So, he'd packed up his meager belongings and carted them all the way to Morson where they now waited for his return in a dingy motel room. Then he'd come out here and no matter how much the idea scared him, he was doing this.

      He wanted closure; wanted to find out what he'd forgotten before he'd have yet another bad decision to regret for the rest of his life.

      Besides, other than mountains of dust and maybe rats, there wasn't anything to fear here. An abandoned building could hurt him no more than the wind.

      Now, he just had to talk himself into believing that.

      Beady eyes in the dark. Staring. Waiting. Coming for him.

      Ash rocked back, shoulders tensing painfully for a moment. His skin burned with the sensation of something crawling through his veins. The shadows grew larger, reaching for him with finger-like

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