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Meredith Vaughn

A decade after the near-extinction of humanity by the Crimson Fever, Hollow’s Edge, once a quarantined Appalachian town, now stands as a macabre tourist trap. Managed by the shrewd Cynthia Andrews, it draws desensitized survivors craving a glimpse into the raw horror of the past. But beneath the staged displays and curated ghost stories, a darker truth festers, woven into the very soil itself.

Dr. Eliza Kane, a botanist studying post-catastrophe flora, arrives with detached scientific curiosity, drawn by the abnormally vibrant ecosystem thriving within the quarantine zone. Phosphorescent fungi, crimson lilies pulsating with unnatural light—the mutations hint at something far more sinister than adaptation. Hired by Cynthia to enhance the town’s morbid appeal, Eliza soon realizes the sweet, floral scent masking a metallic tang is a subtle warning: beauty here conceals a predatory nature.

Whispers from the town's few remaining elderly residents, like Elara Vance, whose eyes hold chilling secrets, unveil a quarantine far more brutal than history records. Mass graves lie hidden beneath a thriving orchard, fueled by hushed-up experiments on those immune to the Fever. The documented history is a tapestry of fear and fractured community.

Meanwhile, Joseph Brady, a stoic local haunted by his family’s role in the quarantine’s dark secrets, warns Eliza away, his cryptic pronouncements about disturbing the earth echoing the town's unresolved trauma. But as Eliza's discoveries escalate, Joseph, yearning for atonement, is drawn into her investigation.

The flora exhibits increasingly unsettling behavior. Vines reach, lilies glow hypnotically, the once-sweet scent turns cloying. The line between plant and animal blurs, the ecosystem gaining sentience, fueled by the countless bodies enriching the soil. Hollow’s Edge isn't haunted by ghosts; it’s being consumed by a new lifeform, a horrifying fusion of nature and death.

Eliza uncovers hidden tunnels, once used for moonshining, then repurposed as a clandestine laboratory for unspeakable experiments. Within these subterranean passages, mutated plant life intertwines with human remains, revealing a symbiotic relationship more sinister than anything imaginable.

Cynthia, her greed blinding her, offers Eliza a chilling choice: complicity or silence. The townsfolk, their eyes reflecting the flora’s unnatural glow, turn hostile, protecting their gruesome origins. Trapped between a powerful entrepreneur and a town seemingly possessed, Eliza must decide how

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Secrets of the Soil

The Silence Beneath the Soil: Unearthing the Roots of the Forgotten Quarantine Town

Secrets of the Soil - The book series

Secrets of the Soil - The book series

Secrets of the Soil books in order

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