The Haunting of Clara Gray - E-book - ePub

The Haunting of Clara Gray"Her past is waiting for her return." Clara: A Portrait in FracturesName: Clara Gray. Age: Thirty-eight. Occupation: Night-shift security guard at an empty office building. Appearance: Pale, gaunt, with the look of a woman who has long been a ghost in her own life. A Life in ShadowsClara was once a woman of potential. There was a time, not long ago, when her face had a softness to it, her eyes unburdened by the weight of things left unsaid, Now, her skin bears the pallor of someone who has forgotten the touch of sunlight, and her eyes-once a deep, warm hazel-have turned hollow, as though they are forever searching for something just beyond her reach.
The years of abuse have etched fine lines at the corners of her mouth and eyes, but it is the emptiness behind those eyes that tells the real story. Her hair, once a deep chestnut, now hangs in limp, tangled waves, streaked with the early onset of Gray that comes not from time, but from the ravages of sleepless nights and the unshakable weight of guilt. She no longer bothers with her appearance. Her clothes-faded jeans, an old sweater too large for her wiry frame-are a reflection of the life she's been living.
Functional, but devoid of care, like a body in motion without a soul to guide it. The Past That LingersClara's past is a bleeding wound, a festering thing she keeps hidden beneath layers of old excuses and half-hearted denials. In her youth, she was wild-a small-town girl with big dreams and a taste for rebellion. She sought escape in all the wrong places. The bottles came first, then the needles, and soon, it was as though her life existed in a haze of blurred edges and forgotten days.
Somewhere in the middle of that haze, she had a child.