title: A Safe Place: a half dead novella (Volume 1)
author:  E M Lacey 
description: E. M. Lacey is a Chicago based author of paranormal, horror, and fantasy. She has been writing since the age of ten. Although she has many interests, writing has been her passion. Being exposed to authors like Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, Octavia E. Butler, and cutting her teeth on horror greats Stephen King and Dean Koontz fueled her love of horror and all things paranormal. Ms. Laceys writing has been described as delicious, out-of-the-box, and fun. Ms. Lacey hails from Homestead, Florida but resides in Chicago, Illinois. She is working on her next piece.
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  ![image](../images/9780062387677_Cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/Titlepage.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE EVENTS IN THIS BOOK ARE REAL.
  
  
  NAMES AND PLACES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE LORIEN,  
  WHO REMAIN IN HIDING.
  
  
  OTHER CIVILIZATIONS DO EXIST.
  
  
  SOME OF THEM SEEK TO DESTROY YOU.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## [PROLOGUE](nav.xhtml#rpro)
  
  
  THE GIRL STANDS ON A ROCKY PRECIPICE, HER toes curled over the edge. A dark
  chasm opens up in front of her, and a few pebbles dislodge beneath her feet
  and fall away, disappearing deep, deep down, into the shadows. Something used
  to be there, a tower or maybe a temple—the girl can’t remember exactly what.
  She stares down into the bottomless hole before her, and, somehow, she knows
  this place was once important. A safe place.
  
  
  A sanctuary.
  
  
  She wants to step back from the steep drop-off. It is dangerous, teetering
  here on the edge of nothingness. Yet she finds herself unable to move. Her
  feet are rooted to the spot. She feels the rocky ground 