Hunter Beaumont doesn't understand his grandmother's deathbed wish: "Destroy Beaumont House." He'd never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother's wishes, Hunter flees to Beaumont House.<br><br>But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter realizes he may not be alone. And who -- or what -- he shares the house may plunge him into a nightmare from which he may never escape.<br><br>Sparks fly when he meets his handsome neighbor, a caretaker for the estate next door, but is the man salvation...or is he the source of Hunter's terror?

A Demon Inside

As they got farther and farther from the hospital and neared Stoketon, Hunter asked if they could stop by Beaumont House before continuing on to Michael’s.


Michael knitted his eyebrows together, frowning. “Why would you want to do that? There’s nothing left.”


“I know. But I need to see it for myself. You know?”


“I guess that makes sense.” Soon they were heading up the stone driveway Hunter had had repaved in what seemed like another lifetime. As they turned a curve and came to the clearing where the house had once stood, Hunter saw the majestic pines and oaks that had grown near the house were now nothing more than blackened stumps. The woods near the old house were blanketed with ash. Already he could make out green creepers twisting their way through the ashy soil. It was amazing how quickly life regenerated itself.


Chapter 98