Asylum Daughter

By Natasha Sinclair

Bella Mills survived the brutal slaughter of her family by a madman.
Only 11-years-old, she was assaulted and left for dead.

Twenty-three years later, the past returns in the form of her devil, free of his chains.

A disturbing family history full of dark secrets and seduction unfolds as Bella seeks answers.
When she discovers the truth about her mother, locked away without mercy in the notorious Lochwood Asylum, Bella realizes that terrible ghosts of the past hold the key to her future.
Can she escape their power over her?

A novel of psychological horror, and poetic intrigue, sprinkled with the supernatural.
Bella Mills is "The Asylum Daughter."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clan Witch
• Release date: May 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201777517

Natasha Sinclair

From the heart of Scotland, Natasha finds inspiration to write in just about everything -- from the maddeningly mundane to the utterly horrific. With stories that provoke deep emotional reactions in readers or a twist of a viewpoint that stirs fresh thought.Natasha doesn't subscribe to boxing art off into a single genre or indeed anything in life -- art should be unapologetic in its freedom. Her own writing spans genres including - speculative, horror, psychological and erotica.She has independently published work, compiled and edited collections, and has contributed to several anthologies. Natasha supports other creatives by way of proofreading, editing, and creating promotional material via her Word Refinery services, linked on her site, ClanWitch.comOut-with writing and editing, she's an avid gig-goer, reader, vegan, home educating, nature-loving, adopter of wonky animals.

Book preview

Asylum Daughter

NATASHA SINCLAIR

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© 2022 Natasha Sinclair.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof including all images, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author and publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Any unauthorised use will constitute as an infringement of copyright.

Contact: https://clanwitch.com

[e-mail]

Contents are works of fiction. Names, characters, and events are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Foreword and cover blurb by Ruthann Jagge.

Cover image by Rooster Republic Press.

https://roosterrepublicpress.com

First published 2022.

ISBN: 979-8-2017-7751-7

Other formats available.

Dedication

This one is for the women out there. Every single one; daughters, sisters, cousins, nieces, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, wives, friends. We are each connected through forces and experiences far deeper than biology, sex or gender.

You deserve to be who you are without compromise.

You deserve respect.

You deserve love.

You deserve passion.

You deserve freedom.

You have divine strength within you.

You are strong.

You are a goddess.

Your voice matters.

You matter.

This is dedicated to you.

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 Haunted

2 Bishoploch

3 Mother

4 Esotericism

5 Ouija

6 Daughter of Mine

7 Silk Swinging

8 Quelling Voices

9 Headlines

10 Phoenix and Little Bird

11 Questions

12 Grown Up

13 Letters

14 Cassette

15 Dreaming Water

16 Managing House

17 Child Surprise

18 Soulmates

19 Father and Son

20 Of Girls and Men

21 Welcome Home

22 Revelations

23 Disposal

24 Hollow

25 His Recreation

26 Chattering Cherubs

27 Forever Lost

What Did You Think?

About Ruthann Jagge

About Natasha Sinclair

Discover other titles

Trigger Warning

This book contains dark themes that some readers may find upsetting/triggering. These include (but are not limited to) depictions of ill-mental health, suicide, abuse (including sexual), and graphic violence. These are integral components to the plot and characterisation within this adult horror novella.

Foreword

L ife as a woman merits a content warning. When Natasha asked me to write a foreword for her debut novella, I knew the unique manuscript she was working on would be remarkable. I’ve published with this beautiful, bold, and talented author in several anthologies, and her works never fail to delight and sometimes shock me, only for a smile, however.

She defines the many facets and complexities of a woman, especially one who’s not afraid to bare her soul to the world through her words.

I met Natasha a couple of years ago and was immediately drawn to her ability to craft stories that go beyond the boundaries of polite conventions at times, but always with grace, style, and her brand of lyrical humor. She’s an intriguing woman, dedicated to her family, with a seemingly insatiable thirst for knowledge in her research and skills. Natasha builds characters we relate to, even when they are the most deplorable souls.

As a dark speculative and horror author who writes and reads a full spectrum of work, her talent never fails to shine in a sea of literature. The genre tends to be male-dominated, so when one discovers another writer who not only dares to color outside the lines but is also capable of including her emotions, sometimes pulling from personal experiences as a woman, it’s like a moth to a flame.

I’m fortunate to call Natasha a friend. We may be on different sides of an ocean, she is in Scotland, and I live in Texas, but the connection we share through our shared appreciation of all things brooding and mysterious results in a magical friendship.

She’s published in numerous best-selling and successful anthologies, released Murmur, an atmospheric collection of short stories, and is also a respected and confident voice in the community regarding her skills as a gifted editor. Natasha’s body of work is impressive, and as a sister author, I hold her in the highest regard. She’s only getting better, and if Asylum Daughter is any indication, she’s on track to be an unstoppable presence in the genre.

I stopped reading several times while getting lost in the messages and story of Asylum Daughter. From Natasha’s initial descriptions of the early morning sirens wailing, inspired by a nearby facility in her hometown of Scotland, there’s a sense of foreboding and insidious energy. Her use of descriptive imagery regarding the structure sets the pace for an original novella that left me considering her words long after reading it.

Her story of a young woman, Bella Mills, borrows from Natasha’s memories, experiences, and of course, fictional events. It also suggests how the historical treatment of women who don’t conform or who society perceives as a threat receives less than favorable treatment.

Every family has secrets. In Asylum Daughter, Natasha introduces us to her brand of shock-inducing reality from the start, then proceeds to weave a web of complex relationships within a family born under the banner of dysfunction, abuse, and madness. She spares no feelings regarding the brutalities in life that can result in psychological horrors more profoundly affecting than the sharpest knife to the throat.

Readers may appreciate Natasha’s warnings, they are issued from the heart and with intention, but the events leading up to the actions that shape Bella Mills’ life are an integral part of her story. Growth as a woman can involve a bit of controversy, and if we’re lucky, it serves to shape us into remarkable creatures rather than destroying everything we are.

We’re female authors in a genre sometimes misunderstood. Speculative fiction is complex and can wreak havoc on a reader’s emotions. By nature, we are often able to go deeper and further into areas of the mind, heart, and soul of a character, especially when it includes wandering through the darkest corridors of Lochwood Asylum, or life in general, to write a memorable story.

I have no doubt Asylum Daughter will tap into recesses and corners of this often-ignored darkness. None of us wants to admit we’re haunted by the ghosts of our past, whether real or imagined.

Natasha’s unflinching invitation to discover what lurks behind the red brick walls of a forbidding mental institution will force the faint voices buzzing at the back of your mind to consider our private dances with devils and whether or not the madness remains when the questions stop.

I’m honored for my inclusion in Natasha’s debut novella.

I have no doubt her story of Bella Mills, the Asylum Daughter, will not only tug at your heartstrings but will also ignite an ember that will remain smoldering long after you visit Lochwood Asylum.

Here’s to the secrets we share, but more importantly, the ones we bury to survive.

Ruthann Jagge

February 2022

Author of The New Girls' Patient.

Preface

Now that you have made it here, it may seem a little off flavour to dedicate a book that contains such triggering themes to anyone, let alone an entire gender. But life as a woman merits a content warning. Our experience in life can often be, yes, triggering . We attempt to pacify the monsters, manage their fragile egos for our own safety. For the record, that is not a statement towards all (or indeed) only men.

There are many shared experiences amongst women worldwide that connects us all in great, deep fault lines. We are bound together with greater things, yet the persecutions and shame hammered down from simply being a woman is unavoidable in our societies — both historically and in modern times. Isn’t it deplorable — in this day and age?

Sure, we are sat here (in some parts of the world) with more rights than we may have ever had, at least more than we’ve had for many generations. We can choose education, we can vote, we can choose whether to bear a child or not. We can work, we can decide if and who we marry, we can say ‘No!’. We have choices that sisters before us did not have. Does this make us equal? Should this make us grateful? Is it enough?

Rights should not be considered a privilege; those should be standard. And although my comments have come from my pondering on my fellow women and feminism, they are not restricted to just us. It applies to how any group of humans persecute another.

And yet... women are still so very far from equal in the eyes of many male counterparts and even some other women who continue to pigeonhole and restrain their sisters’ freedom to be whatever and whoever she is and wants to be.

Now, I love men as much