Prologue: The Dream That Binds Us

Penumbra is, in the most abstract and seductive ways, a story entangling beautiful characters who fall victim to addiction and slowly harm themselves under the pretenses that they are feeling "alive". After the very traumatic death of her Grandmother, it has been decided that Katrina Masterson will attend St. Esterloch Catholic Academy for Gifted Young Ladies, a prestigious private boarding high school in the small town of Wellden Heights, Massachusetts. The strict, Victorian school, containing various secrets, is where she encounters Jolie "Jo" Clark, a rebel student and a poet whose dorm is right next door to Katrina's. While struggling to maintain a stable status in a school for stuck up rich girls, Jo whisks Katrina to a world of adventure in the underground poetry setting and the supposed Haunted Cathedral at the south end of Wellden Heights. However, this new adventure comes with various dangers. Conflicted with her sexual desires and dealing with the dilemmas that Jolie gets her in, Katrina has to make some very important decisions. Will she focus on her school career and disregard Jolie, or will she lose herself in the seductive taboo in order to be by her side? Fumbling through the torrent that is life, Jolie and Katrina, along with their companions, will discover what it means to truly feel "alive".