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. ******* 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 ******* Senseless: The Unnatural Case Of Miss Merritt Holbrook ******* 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}

Eliza Banes, her ambition for adventure and her penchant for trouble, have often been trying on her poor mama's nerves. All her mother desires is for Eliza to be married and settled, but Eliza has other plans. Seizing an opportunity to stow away on a merchant ship to live out her dreams of seeing the world, Eliza has no idea what she is getting herself into. What she thought would be a harmless adventure sees her experience new challenges, rowdy sailors, evil pirates, and it brings her face to face with the surliest sea captain with a heart of pure gold. Eliza is about to discover the true meaning of, "be careful what you wish for."

Katy Fairchild is an orphan and knows that no respectable man will marry her. But when a storm throws her into the arms of a mysterious stranger, will she fight society's opinion of her low status to pursue a forbidden romance? ***** At the age of nine, Katy Fairchild was brought to the small village of Wilshire to live with her distant relations, the Banes family. Brought up as a companion to their daughter, Eliza, Katy has lived a life according to her low rank and limited opportunities, and without complaint. But one day when she is nineteen, she gets caught in a dangerous storm with a handsome man who is unlike anyone she's met before. The encounter throws Katy into a world she never knew. For the first time, a better life may be just around the corner, but is she prepared to fight for it? [[word count: 70,000 - 80,000]] Cover designed by Cil Ojumo