Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee - September 13, 1882

The year is 1879. When thirteen-year-old Ruth Merritt Holbrook emerges from her family's burning estate, bloody and charred, but entirely numb--She makes headlines. Reporters believe she is deranged. They accuse her of having set the fire. All the headlines read: "UNSUSPECTING FAMILY SLAIN BY DERANGED DAUGHTER." Everyone believes it. How else could a highbred girl exit a burning building, injured yet senseless? Why did she not scream or cry? The police tell her she is a killer. The doctors tell her she is mad. The nuns at St. Agatha's tell her she is possessed. Perhaps, Ruth Merritt Holbrook is all of those things-or perhaps she is much more.

Mysterious and Paranormal. Romance. More than meets the eye.

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Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee
September 13, 1882

The following is an account sent to our office on the first of this month. The whereabouts of those listed in this document are currently unknown.

Case Notes:

Personally, I don't believe a word of this. It seems like a child's story to me. Best not to be taken too seriously. Read at your own folly as it is quite the elaborate tale and you may find yourself wasting the entirety of a day on it.

Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee

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Senseless: The Unnatural Case Of Miss Merritt Holbrook

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Author's note: This is a novel I wrote for my undergraduate thesis. I studied the Victorian era/ genre and wrote a novel in the styles of "Dracula" and Leanna Renee Hieber's "Darker Still." There are a lot of sections but they are all fairly short. Also, it may not be perfectly edited. To the wonderful grammar wizards out there, don't worry about it. Just sit back and enjoy the story and characters, I'll deal with the grammar later. Thanks for reading! Enjoy. :)

First Posted: August 31, 2018

{On the Wattpad featured list 9/20/18}