The Bones Below

On that long night’s drive back from Los Angeles, as they pass Skull Hill, Victoria can’t resist glancing up at the house. Draped in darkness, it had a funereal look, more like a tomb waiting to receive a coffin than a place where the living resided. Victoria shuddered. How could she have lived there those many weeks without recognizing the evil her daughter so clearly saw? The demonic bones below have won. The house belongs to them now. They have moved in.

Victoria's story of loss and fear and terror begins when she defies a court order giving joint custody of her profoundly deaf 8-year-old daughter, Brianna, to her abusive father. Because she crosses state borders she becomes a wanted felon and must conceal her identity in the new life she hopes to establish. In a small Southern California town she finds temporary employment as a caretaker in an empty secluded house high on a hilltop overlooking the Pacific. The isolation of the house attracts Victoria as the perfect place to stay while she makes plans for a new life with a new identity in a new city. The locals call the house Skull Hill House but Victoria does not find that out till much later. She's ready to move in. However, Brianna, whose deafness has taught her to rely on sharpened eyesight and a keen intuitive sense, quickly becomes aware of an evil presence within the house and grounds. She tries to persuade her mother to leave, but Victoria refuses, thinking she'd not find another place that so well fitted her needs. .As the days pass, Victoria finds logical explanations for ever passing shadow where Brianna sees evil. Not until threatening phone calls begin, not until a murder occurs does Victoria agree they must escape the house.

A sub plot involves a love story between Victoria, a white woman and Tony, a handsome African landscaper. Victoria tries to remain aloof to protect her identity, but her feelings for Tony soon become too strong for her to avoid his company. It is only with his help that she and Brianna are able to survive the evil at Skull House and reveal its cause and its source.