Carla Reighard MG & YA Fantasy Author

Storybound: A Portal Fantasy

Storybound: A Portal Fantasy

Free Short Story

When curiosity becomes a trap, courage becomes the only way out.

Layney and Bella should never have entered that abandoned house. Quinn and Gerard should never have followed them inside. But when the girls pick up two, leather-bound books and begin to read, something impossible happens—they vanish, pulled into the stories themselves, leaving only whispers and shadows behind.

Desperate to save them, Quinn and Gerard do the unthinkable: they open the abandoned books and step through the pages. But the stories that await them are nothing like they imagined. Separated into different worlds, each boy must face twisted narratives filled with danger, dark magic, and challenges that seem designed to break them. The rules of reality shift with every turn of the page, and worse—they've forgotten their real world.

Racing against time and battling forces beyond their understanding, Quinn, Gerard, Layney and Bella must find a way out before they are trapped forever. But saving the girls means surviving their own stories first, and in these dark tales, not everyone gets a happy ending. To escape, they'll need more than luck—they'll need to rewrite the rules entirely.

About the Book

What if the stories you read could trap you forever?

Storybound is a spine-tingling adventure perfect for fans of portal fantasy, dark fairy tales, and page-turning mysteries that blur the line between fiction and reality.

Terrifying turn.

Quinn and Gerard’s ordinary day takes a terrifying turn when they follow Layney and Bella into an eerie abandoned house that shouldn’t exist. Inside, the girls discover mysterious books that seem to call to them—and the moment they begin reading, they vanish into the stories, becoming trapped within the pages.

The boys must save them.

With no other choice, Quinn and Gerard plunge into the dangerous narrative worlds where magic is real, danger lurks around every corner. They quickly discover a horrifying truth: they’ve each become characters in the stories, separated from each other and from the girls they came to rescue. Quinn and Gerard must navigate treacherous plots, outsmart sinister characters, and solve the mystery of how the stories work while searching desperately for Layney and Bella.

Time is running out, the pages keep turning, and the stories seem determined to write their own endings.

Can they rewrite fate before the final chapter?

Storybound delivers:

  • Immersive portal fantasy that pulls readers into multiple story worlds
  • Gothic mystery with an atmospheric abandoned house setting
  • Books-within-books narrative that celebrates the power of stories
  • Friendship and courage in the face of impossible odds
  • Non-stop adventure with high stakes and unexpected twists
  • Dark fairy tale elements that will captivate middle grade and YA readers

Perfect for readers who loved:

Inkheart, The Land of Stories, The Phantom Tollbooth, and A Tale Dark and Grimm

Other Books in the "The Aerowyn Companion Tales"

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