Under the Carpet

UNDER THE CARPET is an 85,000-word Young Adult speculative thriller standalone with series potential. This dual timeline story is Steven King’s The Institute for the YA audience, bringing together the survival and self-empowerment in April Henry’s The Girl in the White Van with the secrecy, hidden truths, and team cooperation of Holly Jackson’s Five Survive. 

Sophie, Drew, and Lydia long for the day they can leave the New Beginnings Orphan Home, where they live with a diverse group of exceptionally intelligent children, all of whom cannot remember their lives before the Home. While Sophie craves adoption to live a life with a loving family and Drew desires freedom to escape the abuse he experiences, Lydia is hiding a secret. Her frustrations with the Home’s barbaric rules and regulations set her apart from the other, more compliant, children. 

As tensions rise and as Lydia witnesses a devastating interaction between a friend and a counselor, she decides to divulge the story of her traumatic past to Sophie and Drew, mentioning her abduction, a failed memory wiping procedure, and a mysterious note stating that the Home is dangerous and that they must find a specific door in order to escape. The trio takes off on a quest to explore the Home’s forbidden corridors, where they are confronted with clues as to the true purpose of the orphanage. As children vanish and whispers grow that “adoption” may not mean a new family at all, a chilling truth takes hold: New Beginnings isn’t a refuge; it’s a trap.