Teen Haunted House Mysteries Bundle: Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay & Teen Ghost at Dead Lake
Teen Haunted House Mysteries Bundle contains two complete YA ghost mystery novels by bestselling author R. Barri Flowers, including Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay and Teen Ghost at Dead Lake.
Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay
Three years after her father was killed, sixteen-year-old Peyton Delaney, her mother, Melody, and new stepfather, Vance McIntyre, relocate to Shadow Bay, Minnesota and move into an old Victorian. They are unaware of the house’s dark history–fifty years ago, a jealous husband snapped, murdering his wife, her lover, and sixteen-year-old daughter before killing himself.
But when Peyton begins to have nightmares about the crime and is haunted by a ghostly teenage girl named Caitlyn, she begins to investigate with the help of the caretaker’s cute son, Bryant. As the two delve into the supernatural mystery surrounding the house, they discover that the events that led to the tragedy of fifty years ago are somehow intertwined with the present. In other words, history is repeating itself and Peyton, Bryant, and their parents are being drawn into a disturbing case of jealousy, possession, revenge, and murder, while seemingly powerless to prevent the inevitable from taking place all over again.
Caitlyn is a ghost who has had to relive the nightmare of being murdered by her father for half a century. When Peyton and her family arrive at the house where Caitlyn’s spirit has remained trapped, she feels a connection to Peyton and knows instinctively that it will take the two of them to not only free Caitlyn at long last, but to prevent her tragedy from becoming one that Peyton too must endure.
Teen Ghost at Dead Lake
When sixteen-year-old Paige Preston and her mother relocated to Dead Lake, Michigan, they were unaware that a seventeen-year-old previous resident of their house had killed himself by jumping off a cliff into the lake six months earlier. But was it really suicide?
Noah Snyder is a ghost. At least he thinks so. Only he’s not sure how he died. He recruits the attractive Paige to help him get to the bottom of the mystery so he can move on. Before he died, Noah was the captain of the boys swim team and popular at Dead Lake High School. He had also suffered from depression after losing his father when Noah was just a boy.
Paige, who had initially believed she was dealing with an imposter Noah, is stunned to find out that he is a real ghost and that there were more than a few people who may have wanted him dead. Being attracted to a cute teen ghost is no small feat as Paige tries to adjust to life in a new town and help unravel the mystery of his death. In the process, she soon finds herself in danger, as someone wants to keep a deadly secret at all costs.
Praise for R. Barri Flowers
“Great mystery and I loved the narration. The narrator really brought the story to life! I will highly recommend this mystery to my friends and family!” — Amazon reviewer on Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay
“This was like ‘Sweet Valley High’ meets ‘True Blood’…. Fans of the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ series will enjoy this series. Great for young readers!” – Jessica’s Reviews on Count Dracula’s Teenage Daughter
“This book has some serious potential with a really unique idea!… I think my students would really love this book.” — Brittany Elsen, Book Reviewer on Count Dracula’s Teenage Daughter
“The story was fast paced and had a lot of twist and turns… I would recommend this book for people who enjoy a good vampire YA book, it’s packed with teenage drama and triangles that will keep you turning the pages.” — Ordinary Girlz Book Reviews on Out for Blood
“A very interesting concept and world that Flowers has written. With the introduction of a few more key players, I see some real potential in the future of the series.” — Hot Off the Shelves on Out for Blood
Chapter Excerpts
Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay: Prologue and Chapter One
PROLOGUE
Caitlyn shivered suddenly, which was kind of weird, since she wasn’t even alive. At least not in the way most breathing, talking, walking, and laughing out loud human beings were. Yet her soul was very much alive and restless. Caitlyn longed to be free of the shackles that bound her to that house like a prisoner far longer than she should have been.
Soon she would have that freedom. And the peace Caitlyn’s spirit had been denied would be hers at last.
She looked through dark, billowy curtains out her upstairs bedroom window. Maple and mulberry trees rustled in the wind, as if they also sensed the unrest in the air. Caitlyn could see the bay she fondly remembered swimming in everyday in the summer. It was always a beautiful shade of blue. If only she could put her feet in just one more time. But that wasn’t possible—at least not as things now stood. Spirits were incapable of such, no matter how strong the desire.
Maybe there was a way, the girl thought dreamily. Her gaze turned to the road leading up to the house. She saw the tall boy passing by. He stopped suddenly and looked up at the window, seemingly right at Caitlyn. Of course he couldn’t see her. Ghosts could only be seen by those who were connected to them in some way.
It would be fun to get to know him. Too bad it wasn’t possible.
Caitlyn frowned as he resumed walking. His dog came up behind him and the boy put a leash on its collar. They passed by the house and headed toward the caretaker’s cottage.
The girl looked at the road again. Soon they would come. More specifically, she would come and rescue Caitlyn from the nightmare she had lived for so long now that it hurt to even think about.
Then she heard her father coming and grew frightened. She tensed when he entered the room. He was tall and sturdy, with raven hair and thick sideburns. A grimace contorted his face. He nodded to her in silence and she read the sinister satisfaction in his cold eyes.
It was about to happen all over again. She cringed at the thought.
But deep within, Caitlyn was optimistic that the time was near when her dreams would finally come true.
The two spirits vanished.
CHAPTER ONE
Peyton Delaney sat pouting in the backseat of her stepfather’s Lexus LX 470. She doubted that her mother, seated in front next to the man she had married six months ago, cared. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made her leave California and all Peyton’s friends to move across the country to Minnesota, of all places. But when her stepfather, Vance McIntyre, was offered a new job as sales director for an advertising firm, the decision was made.
She was about to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dead of summer and there was nothing Peyton could do about it, other than voice her displeasure through stone cold silence. And the occasional barrage of complaints. But even that could only last so long.
At sixteen, this was the second major blow dealt Peyton in recent memory. Three years ago her father was killed in a car accident.
I’ll just have to find a way to deal with this unwanted move. Dad would tell me that.
“I’m hungry,” she complained, tossing back her long blonde hair. “Can’t we stop at McDonald’s or something?”
“We’re almost there, Peyton.” Melody Delaney-McIntyre glanced back at her daughter. “After we make sure the house is still standing, we’ll find a restaurant.”
Peyton rolled her green eyes. “Whatever.”
When her mother and stepfather had twice come to scout the town of Shadow Bay, Minnesota and pick out a house to purchase, Peyton had chosen to stay behind and savor every last moment of home and spend time with her friends.
“You just might surprise yourself and like it here,” Vance said. “The town has character, history, and plenty of open land one can only dream about in San Diego.”
“Yeah, right,” Peyton said. “This is your dream, not mine.”
“It’s our dream of a better life for all of us,” her mother said. “Give it a chance, honey. Is that too much to ask?”
Peyton sighed. “I guess not.”
She was acting like a spoiled baby instead of a girl less than two years away from adulthood. But Peyton wouldn’t hide her resentment over a move she never wanted.
As the car turned off the main road to head down a winding lane, Peyton caught sight of the bay. It was wide, sapphire blue, and very inviting. She couldn’t wait to dive in, imagining the water was a perfect way to cool off in these parts. The view disappeared and it was back to open land dotted with farmhouses and livestock.
She noted a guy about her age playing in a grassy field with a German Shepherd. Beyond them was a cottage, where Peyton assumed they lived. When he heard their car, the boy looked up, seemingly in a straight line at her. Peyton thought she detected a smile on his lips and smiled back.
He’s really hot. Maybe life in Shadow Bay has promise after all.
Vance pulled the car in the driveway of a big white Victorian that stood on a hill.
“Well, this is it!” he said as if they had won the lottery. “Home sweet home.”
Peyton wasted no time getting out, if for no other reason than to stretch her legs after they had driven nonstop for several hours. She peeked in the direction of the guy with the dog. Both were gone.
She hid her disappointment and turned to her parents who were patiently waiting.
“Do you want to see inside?” her mother asked.
“Or we could just camp out here on the lawn and make it our home,” her stepfather joked.
At six-four, he towered over Peyton’s mother.
Peyton sneered at him. She glanced at the house before zeroing in on one upstairs window in particular. Peyton saw a girl standing there. She took an involuntary step backward and shivered.
“What is it, honey?” Melody asked.
“There’s someone looking out the window.”
“Where?”
Peyton pointed to the bedroom window, but the girl had vanished. “I could’ve sworn there was someone—”
“I’m sure it was only your imagination, moving to a new house and all.”
“Either that or the caretaker’s inside and heard us drive up,” Vance suggested, digging a key out of his pocket.
Peyton was inclined to agree, all things considered. But she had a bad feeling about the place. For some reason it reminded her of the Amityville Horror movie that she and her friends had rented and watched one Saturday night. She’d had nightmares for a week afterwards.
Peyton was thankful that evil spirits and wayward ghosts didn’t really exist.
* * *
The movers arrived later that afternoon with the furniture and other household items. Suddenly the place began to look like a home someone actually lived in.
Peyton sized up her room. It faced the front of the house and was painted a pretty shade of violet. She sat on the loft bed as if for the first time and felt a sense of comfort when looking at her computer, television, and beanbag chair. If only her best friend Erica had also relocated to Shadow Bay, it might actually be livable.
Peyton sighed and resigned herself to having to make new friends locally.
She stood up and looked out the window. It occurred to Peyton that this was the same window where she thought she’d seen the girl looking out at her. But when they had gone through the house, there was no one to be found, to which Peyton breathed a sigh of relief.
Must have been the light or shadows, she thought. Or maybe it was the gothic nature of the old house and atmosphere that spooked her.
She headed out of the room, wondering what secrets a house that was probably a hundred years old or more had buried within those walls.
Peyton wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.
* * *
Caitlyn watched with interest as Peyton left the room.
She’s so pretty. I wish my hair was golden like hers.
Though wanting to follow her, Caitlyn realized she couldn’t yet. Her father would be very angry if she did and make trouble for all of them.
She drifted to the window and looked out. Peyton had sensed her there earlier, just as Caitlyn had sensed that Peyton would arrive here to save her.
I knew you would come one day and rescue me from decades of solitude, pain, and regret.
When that time came, she would be as light as a feather and ready to feel her spirit released and soul at ease.
Caitlyn smiled at the mere notion, replacing the perpetual frown that had seemingly been etched on her face forever.