Leaping into Blood

Logline

When a paranormal investigator is called to a haunted citadel, her search for answers uncovers the bloody truth of an old massacre, forcing her into a deadly clash with the powerful patriarch determined to bury his family’s illegitimate past.

Back Cover Blurb

Calibridge Citadel has stood for centuries. Its walls are soaked in whispers of betrayal and blood. When people go missing and strange hauntings stir once more, Lyra Whitesmith, a Paranormal Investigator with the rare gift of Ghost Sight, takes on the case. What begins as a simple hunt for the missing people and searching for answers to the hauntings soon unravels into something far darker—a legacy of fratricide, an illegitimate heir’s revenge, and a curse born in the infamous Bloody Chapel Incident.

But the living are far more dangerous than the dead. Victor Calibridge, patriarch of the family, will stop at nothing—even murder—to keep the truth from emerging. As the shadows tighten around her, Lyra must decide how far she’ll go to expose a history written in blood… before becoming its next victim.

Theme

• Secret and Lies
• The Inescapable Past
• Choice versus Fate

Outline

• Prologue: The Vanishing

  Scene 1: A young couple camps near Calibridge Citadel. Playful banter reveals they're newlyweds.
  
  
  Scene 2: They experience strange disturbances: whispers, strange noises, ghostly shapes, and unnatural cold.
  
  
  Scene 3: They panic as apparitions grow violent. Something unseen drags one away. The other screams.
  
  
  Scene 4: Storm breaks. Morning reveals an empty camp with bloodstains, shredded tent, and broken belongings.

• Act I: Into the Shadows

• Chapter One: A Routine Haunting

  Scene 5: Lyra, Ben, Sarah arrive at a small house in Taveton. Family reports strange noises, and moving objects.
  
  
  Scene 6: Lyra reluctantly uses Ghost Sight. She sees a harmless Ghost but it leaves her drained.
  
  
  Scene 7: Ben teases both Lyra and Sarah. Sarah documents and provides Lyra with emotional support.
  
  
  Scene 8: Lyra persuades the ghost to move on; left shaken, she's worried about the Vatican.

• Chapter Two: Wrapping Up

  Scene 9: Lyra files a report at her office, Whitesmith Investigations. Bitterness toward Vatican comes out.
  
  
  Scene 10: Sarah fields calls, proving her charm and intellect.
  
  
  Scene 11: Ben performs at the local tavern. His charisma and aimlessness come out. Lyra and Sarah watch.
  
  
  Scene 12: Post-performance celebration. The three reflect on their choices in life.

• Chapter Three: A Strange Request

  Scene 13: A woman from Calibridge arrives at Whitesmith Investigations and begs Lyra to find her missing son.
  
  
  Scene 14: Sarah begins digging into records. One mentions the Bloody Chapel Incident.
  
  
  Scene 15: Lyra freezes when she hears Calibridge. Trauma surfaces as she recalls her parents’ deaths.

• Chapter Four: Debate and Decision

  Scene 16: Lyra refuses to take the case, citing that there's too much danger and risks drawing Vatican attention.
  
  
  Scene 17: Ben pushes for adventure, and accuses Lyra of hiding from life.
  
  
  Scene 18: Sarah argues they need the money. Tension between the three escalates.
  
  
  Scene 19: Lyra, torn between fear and duty, reluctantly agrees.

• Chapter Five: The Road to Calibridge

  Scene 20: They leave for Calibridge. Landscape shifts from warm to bleak.
  
  
  Scene 21: Locals along the road give them cryptic warnings, and frightened looks.
  
  
  Scene 22: Ghost Sight tugs at Lyra; she sees flashes of spectral figures along the road.
  
  
  Scene 23: First distant glimpse of Calibridge Citadel, a foreboding silhouette.

• Chapter Six: Arrival in Calibridge

  Scene 24: The trio arrives in the town of Calibridge. Locals are suspicious.
  
  
  Scene 25: They settle into lodgings (inn or rented house). Show Sarah’s comfort in urban settings.
  
  
  Scene 26: They meet the mayor — kindly but firm: don’t stir up trouble, leave quickly.
  
  
  Scene 27: At the tavern, there are whispers of more missing persons.

• Chapter Seven: First Contact with the Citadel

  Scene 28: They walk to the ruins in daylight. Stark and beautiful.
  
  
  Scene 29: Lyra feels pressure of the veil. Nearly blacks out. Ben mocks gently, Sarah worries.
  
  
  Scene 30: Subtle ghostly phenomena — cold, whispers, shadows at the edges.
  
  
  Scene 31: Lyra says they should leave; Sarah pushes forward; Ben smirks.

• Chapter Eight: Victor Calibridge

  Scene 32: At the edge of the Citadel, Victor appears.
  
  
  Scene 33: He is urbane, warm, but his charm has edges. Subtext: he knows far more than he says.
  
  
  Scene 34: Victor veils a threat: “Some doors are better left unopened.” Offers payment to go away.
  
  
  Scene 35: Lyra refuses. Ben cracks a joke, Sarah records. Victor’s smile fades.

• Chapter Nine: The First Night’s Watch

  Scene 36: The trio camps near the Citadel. Storms roll in.
  
  
  Scene 37: Paranormal disturbances escalate: cold winds, phantom voices, spectral shapes.
  
  
  Scene 38: Lyra uses Ghost Sight — sees fragmented visions of the past (prayers, the chapel before blood).
  
  
  Scene 39: She collapses from exhaustion.

• Chapter Ten: Shaken Foundations

  Scene 40: Morning after. Lyra drained, Ben and Sarah shaken.
  
  
  Scene 41: Sarah presses Lyra about what she saw; Lyra resists. Argument simmers.
  
  
  Scene 42: Locals gossip in the market: “The Whitesmith witch will bring ruin.”
  
  
  Scene 43: Lyra feels alienated from both townsfolk and her companions.

• Chapter Eleven: Threads of the Past

  Scene 44: Sarah researches town records, which reference Teige, Thaddeus and rumors of an illegitimate son.
  
  
  Scene 45: Lyra overhears ghostly whispers — connects to what Sarah finds.
  
  
  Scene 46: The oubliette is mentioned, deepening dread.
  
  
  Scene 47: They decide to return to the Citadel, despite Lyra’s fear, and a warning from a local.

• Chapter Twelve: Point of No Return

  Scene 48: They arrive at the Citadel during a vicious storm. Group banters nervously.
  
  
  Scene 49: Lyra slips into a full massacre vision. Reality and past blur.
  
  
  Scene 50: Teige’s bloody rampage unfolds; Lyra relives her ghostly death.
  
  
  Scene 51: When she awakens, she knows there’s no turning back. They’re bound to the Citadel.

• Act II – The Haunting Unveiled

• Chapter Thirteen: Whispers in the Walls

  Scene 52: They explore deeper into the Citadel in daylight.
  
  
  Scene 53: Sarah sees faint writing on the stones, prayers and warnings from survivors.
  
  
  Scene 54: Lyra hears ghost-voices calling her by name.
  
  
  Scene 55: Ben insists it’s just her imagination, but unease grows.

• Chapter Fourteen: Secrets Beneath the Chapel

  Scene 56: Sarah finds an old floor plan indicating hidden passages.
  
  
  Scene 57: They descend into an open crypt. Lyra feels faint — Ghost Sight shows overlapping timelines.
  
  
  Scene 58: A ghostly child appears, babbling about “the son who should not be.”
  
  
  Scene 59: Victor’s distant presence unsettles them — someone’s watching.

• Chapter Fifteen: The Illegitimate Line

  Scene 60: Sarah uncovers town gossip: Thaddeus fathered a bastard.
  
  
  Scene 61: Locals insist that line was cursed, “the true heirs are in shadow.”
  
  
  Scene 62: Ben gets drunk in the tavern, nearly fights when mocked as “the witch’s brother.”
  
  
  Scene 63: Lyra reflects — are they chasing truth, or only adding danger?

• Chapter Sixteen: Victor’s Offer

  Scene 64: Victor summons Lyra alone to his estate.
  
  
  Scene 65: He’s polite but threatening. Warns her that “the chapel eats the curious.”
  
  
  Scene 66: Offers a fortune for her to leave immediately.
  
  
  Scene 67: Lyra refuses — Victor’s mask cracks briefly, showing cold fury.

• Chapter Seventeen: Shadows of the Oubliette

  Scene 68: Lyra explores lower levels again; Ghost Sight activates against her will.
  
  
  Scene 69: She experiences flashes of the oubliette — walls groaning with trapped souls.
  
  
  Scene 70: She hears a woman’s scream that matches the ghost Lyra met in Ch. 13.
  
  
  Scene 71: She faints; Sarah and Ben drag her back to safety.

• Chapter Eighteen: Doubt and Discord

  Scene 72: Sarah fears Lyra’s gift is killing her.
  
  
  Scene 73: Ben argues they should push forward; Sarah argues to retreat.
  
  
  Scene 74: Lyra feels alienated, caught between them.
  
  
  Scene 75: That night, she dreams vividly of her past in the orphanage, Father Littlechild’s cruelty surfacing.

• Chapter Nineteen: The Disappeared

  Scene 76: They meet more families of the missing. Whispers of blood sacrifices emerge.
  
  
  Scene 77: A farmer describes seeing Victor at the Citadel the night before his daughter vanished.
  
  
  Scene 78: Ben wonders aloud if Victor himself feeds the ruins to preserve his power.

• Chapter Twenty: The Midnight Descent

  Scene 79: Lyra and Sarah sneak into the Citadel at night (Ben reluctantly follows).
  
  
  Scene 80: They descend into sealed crypts. Discover bones — too many to count.
  
  
  Scene 81: Ghosts manifest violently — one nearly drags Sarah away.
  
  
  Scene 82: Lyra burns herself expelling it. The trio narrowly escape.

• Chapter Twenty-One: The Priest’s Testament

  Scene 83: Sarah uncovers a long-hidden record from Eternal Harmony: Thaddeus confessed he sired a child.
  
  
  Scene 84: The document also warns of Teige’s rage, hinting at blood rituals to “bind heirs to stone.”
  
  
  Scene 85: Lyra realizes the Citadel itself may be infused with the family’s sins.

• Chapter Twenty-Two: Victor Strikes Back

  Scene 86: Victor confronts them in town — not with charm, but violence.
  
  
  Scene 87: He warns the mayor and townsfolk not to help the Whitesmiths.
  
  
  Scene 88: That night, their lodgings are set on fire. They barely escape alive.

• Chapter Twenty-Three: Revelations at the Organ

  Scene 89: Lyra returns to the chapel alone. She plays the organ — the walls shift.
  
  
  Scene 90: She glimpses the massacre again, but this time sees the moment Thaddeus’s son was smuggled out.
  
  
  Scene 91: Victor interrupts — almost kills her.
  
  
  Scene 92: Sarah and Ben arrive just in time to drive him off.

• Chapter Twenty-Four: The Weight of Blood

  Scene 93: Lyra connects the dots: Victor’s illegitimate ancestor was Thaddeus’s son.
  
  
  Scene 94: Lyra, Ben, and Sarah talk about how Victor’s family line comes from betrayal and fratricide.
  
  
  Scene 95: Sarah insists the truth must be revealed.
  
  
  Scene 96: Lyra knows Victor won’t let them leave alive.

• Act III – Legacy of Blood

• Chapter Twenty-Five: Preparing for War

  Scene 97: The trio regroups, battered. Decide they must expose Victor.
  
  
  Scene 98: Locals are too afraid to help. They’re on their own.

• Chapter Twenty-Six: Father Littlechild’s Shadow

  Scene 99: A letter arrives from the Vatican — they’ve learned Lyra is using Ghost Sight.
  
  
  Scene 100: Threat: if she doesn’t return to them, they’ll brand her heretical.
  
  
  Scene 101: Lyra realizes she’s being squeezed on all sides.

• Chapter Twenty-Seven: Storm Gathering

  Scene 102: A violent storm rolls in. Symbolic of the coming clash.
  
  
  Scene 103: Lyra has another breakdown — feels her body is failing.
  
  
  Scene 104: Ben comforts her, admitting he hides his fear by joking.

• Chapter Twenty-Eight: Descent into the Oubliette

  Scene 105: They locate the true oubliette. Lyra forces herself to enter.
  
  
  Scene 106: Ghosts swarm her. She relives her strangling by Teige.
  
  
  Scene 107: But instead of breaking, she demands release for the trapped souls.
  
  
  Scene 108: Some ghosts begin to rally to her side.

• Chapter Twenty-Nine: Victor’s Gambit

  Scene 109: Victor kidnaps Sarah as leverage. Threatens to kill her if Lyra continues.
  
  
  Scene 110: Lyra and Ben must infiltrate the Citadel during the storm.
  
  
  Scene 111: Ben insists he’ll fight to the end for his sister.

• Chapter Thirty: Blood on the Altar

  Scene 112: Victor reveals his plan: to “bind” Lyra, using her Ghost Sight to control the Citadel’s spirits.
  
  
  Scene 113: Ritual at the chapel mirrors Teige’s original massacre.
  
  
  Scene 114: Lyra chained to the altar. Sarah restrained.

• Chapter Thirty-One: Breaking the Veil

  Scene 115: Lyra activates her Sight in full, despite her fear.
  
  
  Scene 116: She summons Thaddeus, Lyra-the-handmaid, and the massacre’s victims.
  
  
  Scene 117: The chapel becomes a battlefield of living and dead.

• Chapter Thirty-Two: Clash of Inheritances

  Scene 118: Victor claims the Calibridge legacy belongs to him, even if born of betrayal.
  
  
  Scene 119: Lyra counters: “A family built on blood is already ash.”
  
  
  Scene 120: Ghosts turn against Victor. He fights desperately — a man consumed by fear of irrelevance.

• Chapter Thirty-Three: Ben’s Choice

  Scene 121: Ben saves Sarah but nearly dies.
  
  
  Scene 122: Lyra almost loses control of the ghosts.
  
  
  Scene 123: Ben grounds her, reminding her she’s not alone — the family they chose is stronger than bloodlines.

• Chapter Thirty-Four: Victor’s Fall

  Scene 124: Victor's dragged screaming into the oubliette by the spirits of his ancestors.
  
  
  Scene 125: Citadel begins collapsing. Ghosts finally released.
  
  
  Scene 126: Lyra hears the voice of her ghostly namesake — thanking her before passing into Harmony Veil.

• Chapter Thirty-Five: Dawn Over Calibridge

  Scene 127: Survivors emerge from the ruins. Storm clears.
  
  
  Scene 128: Locals see Victor gone, Citadel quiet at last.
  
  
  Scene 129: Sarah records testimony. Ben quietly sings for the dead.

• Chapter Thirty-Six: The Inescapable Past

  Scene 130: Lyra writes the final report at Whitesmith Investigations.
  
  
  Scene 131: She knows she can’t run from her gift — it defines her.
  
  
  Scene 132: The Vatican will still come, but she’s stronger now.
  
  
  Scene 133: Final note: she looks at her family (Ben and Sarah) and chooses them over fear.