The Collector

By Sandra Madera

Getting comfortable with her new-found independence, Kyleigh Blaire is a normal college girl, looking for adventure. So when her roommate, Isobel Keith, invites her to join her on a vacation to an old Scottish castle, she is excited. However, as soon as she arrives Kyleigh finds she is uneasy. With every step into the castle, she feels an unsettling familiarity. Kyleigh is aware that all is not right and begins to have weird dreams at night of walking through the halls as if being led by an unseen force. Will she allow herself to be guided in order to unlock the mystery?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Madera
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310863486

Sandra Madera

Sandra Madera currently resides in New York and is a college graduate, obtaining her bachelor's degree in science. However, her true passion has always been reading and writing. She has been writing short stories since she was a child. Upon publishing a number of free short works, she published full-length YA works; the Restraint Trilogy and the Wicked Willow Series. She is currently working on her next novel. For free YA short story downloads and for information on upcoming novels visit www.sandramadera.com and http://sandra-madera.blogspot.com.

Book preview

THE COLLECTOR

by

Sandra Madera

Edited by Susan Blevins

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY

SandraMadera.com

The Collector

Copyright © 2013 by Sandra Madera

Ebook Edition License Notes

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Isobel and I had arrived in Caithness after a few hours of flying from London to Edinburgh and catching a connecting flight to Wick Airport. When my feet touched the ground, I nearly cried, feeling relieved to have made it to Scotland unscathed. When we exited the glass-paneled, automatic doors of the airport, there was a car waiting for us. After loading our oversized luggage into the trunk, the well-groomed driver ushered us to the backseat door and opened it for us with a curt bow. We slid into the back row and, without further hesitation, were whisked off towards Isobel’s ancestral home. My friend told me nothing of its history, except that it was hundreds of years old and needed some airing out.

Thrown together at the beginning of the year, Isobel Keith and I, Kyleigh Blaire, were dorm-mates at a prestigious boarding school. She was new to the all-girls boarding school experience, having been home-schooled in her native Scotland before transferring to England for what her uncle called a superior education. Although I may not have exactly agreed with her elusive uncle, I was glad for the company, having very few friends to converse with.

It wasn’t long after moving in that she brought up the idea of traveling to Scotland on our winter break. I jumped at the opportunity. Before her invitation, I was prepared to spend the holidays on campus since my parents were set to take their yearly vacation to Bermuda. Sadly, their trips never included the child they had abandoned in boarding school at the tender age of eight. Now in my final year of school, I was a mere burden that had to be pawned off so that they could be free to enjoy the pleasures in life. Raising children was obviously not what they had in mind when contemplating such pleasures so they quickly agreed to my request to travel to another country without parental supervision.

Although I saw how easy it was for them to cast me off, I harbored no hard feelings towards my parents, choosing to forgive their flaws rather than let my own bitterness gnaw away at my soul. I realized early in life that not all parents were meant to be mothers and fathers. As pathetic as it was, some were destined to be eternally immature for such an undertaking, leaving their offspring to raise themselves rather than meet the challenge head on.

Tucking a few strands of dark red hair behind her ear, Isobel smiled at me brightly. We’re here, Leigh! she exclaimed excitedly, throwing her door open and jumping out of the car before it had reached a complete stop.

Sliding across the seat, I stepped out of the car slowly, looking up at the massive structure before me. As my eyes focused, they brushed across the dark gray stone surface of a large, rectangular tower. The center portion of the structure was taller than it was wide, standing at least five stories tall, with two smaller