A Legacy of Fear

By Roberto Santiago

Lila always felt something lurked beneath the surface of Red Ridge. Her town's uncanny luck in a harsh world was more curse than blessing.

 

When her grandmother vanishes into the shadowed heart of the ancient forest bordering the village, the whispers Lila spent her life ignoring gain a terrifying truth. A monstrous pact fuels their prosperity, each generation paying the price in whispered disappearances and hushed-up sacrifices.

 

Lila, inheritor of this chilling legacy, refuses to be the next offering. Driven by fear and defiance, she breaks the silence, igniting a desperate rebellion. But breaking the pact means facing unimaginable creatures, the lingering darkness that poisoned Red Ridge long before the monsters crawled from under the mountain.

 

"A Legacy of Fear" unravels the true cost of easy living, a chilling exploration of how far communities will go for a taste of unnatural prosperity, of how easily a haven of safety can transform into a monstrous trap of their own design.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roberto Santiago
• Release date: May 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224664351

Book preview

Chapter 1

The air was thick with the smell of pine and decay - a sweet, sickly scent that Lila couldn't seem to shake as the ancient Greyhound bus rattled her up the last stretch of mountain road. Red Ridge had been a speck on the map when she'd first laid eyes on the faded inheritance papers. Now, the looming peaks closed in like teeth, promising to swallow her whole. Every lurching turn had her stomach mirroring the winding road, and her city-worn nerves were jangling an off-key song against the steady drone of the engine. She dug her fingernails into her palms until they left crescent moon indents, trying to ground herself.

Last stop, Miss, the driver's voice jolted her from a half-sleep. The bus hissed, its air breaks releasing a desperate sigh that mirrored her own. She realized she'd been clenching the worn leather seat until her knuckles ached; a habit born from too many late-night walks home, keys clutched between her fingers like makeshift claws. Lila apologized, the word coming out too soft for her usual city bravado. The driver eyed her in the rearview mirror, a flicker of pity softening an otherwise gruff face.

Red Ridge, with its faded store signs and peeling paint, confirmed every doubt she'd harbored since that fateful day a month ago when a lawyer's letter revealed this forgotten place was hers. The farmhouse, specifically, which sat on a lonely patch of neglected land on the outskirts of town. Her inheritance, it had said. A hollow word that failed to conjure images of home, or warmth, or even stability. Yet, here she was.

Shoulders hunched, she wrestled her oversized suitcase down the narrow bus aisle, a silent goodbye to the driver and the lingering smell of diesel exhaust. The chill of the mountain air seeped through her thin jacket, raising goosebumps on her exposed arms. Even in the dying light of afternoon, she could see why her mother had fled this place. The same mountains that seemed so picturesque in old, faded postcards now held an ominous quality, casting long, inky shadows over the quiet town. There was a palpable weight in the air, something heavy and expectant, as if the silence itself was holding its breath.

Lila had no such luxury. Years of scraping by as an underpaid freelance artist had left her with nothing but a pile of overdue bills and the remnants of a toxic relationship that had finally, mercifully, imploded. This crumbling farmhouse, this unwanted legacy, was a lifeline – or a noose. She wasn't sure which yet.

A battered pickup truck stood idling in the half-empty town square, its engine growling like a disgruntled dog. A weathered man leaned against the hood, his narrowed eyes scanning the street. You the Bennett girl? his voice boomed. No introductions, no niceties. His gaze swept over her, taking in her worn sneakers and oversized bag with a flicker of disdain.

Lila nodded cautiously, the last tendrils of hope that