This is a small snippet of a novel I started, but never got around to finishing. I plan on tweaking it a bit and starting again after I publish my short horror stories. What do you think?
When Cadence Grey goes missing, there's a stir among the quaint town of Louisville, Kentucky. There are multiple suspects and little time to narrow them down before Cadence's young life is threatened. Will older brother, Ashton Grey get to the bottom of things or will he cower under the pressure?
Ashton Grey stumbled after his little sister. "Cadence! What did I tell you about getting too close to the water?"
The small girl appeared doe-eyed. She shifted her gaze to the lake, studying her own reflection. She stood there for a while without responding or so much as acknowledging her older brother's presence.
"Cadence? Answer me!" Ashton firmly grasped Cadence's shoulders, forcing her to look directly at him. She began to cry.
This made him start to worry a little. This was the second day in a row that Cadence seemed to be distracted by something in the lake.
"Hey," Ashton gently caressed his little sister's cheek. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Then why are you behaving this way?"
"I want to swim."
"If you want to swim, all you have to do is ask me to go into the water with you. Cadence, don't ever attempt to go alone. Do you understand me? It's very dangerous, and I'd hate to lose my baby sister."
Ashton's dark eyes burned into hers like hot coals. They softened a bit as Cadence tossed her tiny arms around his neck, and embraced him in a warm hug.
"Don't scare me like that ever again. OK?"
She nodded repeatedly, her cropped pigtails bouncing like springs.
"Come on. Let's head home. It's getting dark out," he said, grasping her pudgy hand.
Cadence froze. She pointed to a man sitting alone on a bench. What was strange is that he happened to already be staring at them.
"It's not nice to point at people, Cadence" whispered Ashton, nudging her.
The man wore a grim expression. His sullen glance was enough to signal that he was dangerous.
"Don't you ever go near that man," said Ashton. "If you do, you just might regret it."
