Novels by S.Riah

CHAPTER 7 PART 1 BLOOD IS NOT ALWAYS WARM The gates closed behind Maya with a sound that echoed too loudly in her chest. The Lancaster estate looked the same as it always had wide driveway, manicured hedges, lights glowing softly behind tall glass windows but the familiarity didn’t comfort her tonight. It suffocated her. She stepped out of the car slowly, smoothing her jacket, steadying her breath. Her driver avoided her eyes, hands tight on the steering wheel. “Good night, Miss,” he said carefully. Maya nodded and walked toward the house alone. The front door opened before she reached it. Her mother stood there. Elegant. Controlled. Furious. “You came home late,” her mother said. Maya stepped inside without answering. The door shut behind her with a final click. “I asked you a question,” her mother said sharply. “I heard you,” Maya replied. “I don’t owe you an explanation.” The slap came without warning. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just sharp enough to turn Maya’s hea

CHAPTER 6 PART 1 WHEN POWER SHOWS ITS TEETH Maya knew something was wrong the moment she stepped out of her morning lecture. It wasn’t obvious. Nothing dramatic. No shouting. No confrontation. Just the air. Too still. Too aware. Her phone vibrated in her hand. Unknown Number: Stop seeing him. Her fingers froze. She read it again. Once. Twice. Her chest tightened not with fear, but recognition. She didn’t reply. Another message came almost instantly. Unknown Number: You are embarrassing your family. Her jaw clenched. Then the third message arrived, slower. Deliberate. Unknown Number: He will pay for your stubbornness. That one made her stop walking. The noise of campus faded as blood rushed in her ears. Students passed her, laughing, talking, living in a world untouched by the thing pressing down on her lungs. She typed back with controlled hands. Maya: Who is this? The reply came after a pause. Unknown Number: Someone who can en

CHAPTER 5 PART 1 — THE PLACE HE HIDES Maya woke before her alarm. That almost never happened. For a moment, she lay still, staring at the ceiling, the memory of Ethan’s last message hovering just beneath her thoughts. Tomorrow. Come with me. No explanation. No reassurance. Just trust. She rolled onto her side and checked her phone. No new messages. The silence didn’t make her anxious it made her curious. By late afternoon, she was ready. She wore something simple again, comfortable jeans, flat shoes, a light jacket. Nothing that announced who she was, or where she came from. Somehow, she knew that mattered today. She was waiting near the campus gate when she heard the engine. The sound was unmistakable now. She turned just as Ethan pulled up on his motorbike, helmet on, posture easy and familiar. He cut the engine and removed the helmet, meeting her eyes. “You ready?” he asked. She smiled. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.” He handed her a spare helmet. “I

Chapter 4 PART 1 — Unsaid things By the third week of freshman year, people had started noticing. Not loudly. Not officially. But in the quiet way rumors form through glances held a second too long, through patterns that repeat themselves until they feel intentional. Maya and Ethan. They weren’t a couple. They didn’t hold hands. They didn’t sit pressed together or whisper in corners. But they were always… there. Walking side by side across campus. Sitting across from each other in the café. Leaving lectures at the same time even when they entered separately. Maya noticed the looks before Ethan did. Or maybe he noticed and simply chose not to react. They were walking toward the science building when a group of girls passed them, their laughter soft but deliberate. One of them glanced back, eyes lingering on Ethan, then flicked to Maya with something sharp behind the smile. Maya didn’t slow. But she leaned just slightly closer to Ethan as they walked. He adjusted instantly

CHAPTER 3 PART 1 walking distance The night air wrapped around them as they moved away from the noise of the courtyard. Music faded behind them, replaced by the softer sounds of campus at night footsteps on pavement, distant laughter, the low hum of streetlights. Ethan didn’t touch her, but he walked close enough that Maya could feel the warmth of him through the thin space between their arms. It was deliberate. She noticed. “So,” she said, breaking the silence easily, “you always escape parties this fast?” “I don’t usually come to them,” he replied. “Yet here you are.” He glanced at her briefly. “You’re observant.” “I like knowing what I’m getting into.” “That makes one of us.” She smiled at that, turning her head slightly to look at him. Up close, his face was sharper than she remembered strong jaw, focused eyes, the kind of calm that felt earned, not practiced. “You’re not what I expected,” she said. “And what did you expect?” She shrugged lightly. “Someone louder.

CHAPTER 2 PART 1 “Ethan Cruz… you’re still ruining me.” The words echoed in my chest, folding time in on itself. And suddenly, I wasn’t standing in a glass office anymore. I was eighteen again. Freshman year. The air smelled different back then cleaner somehow, mixed with freshly cut grass and ambition. The kind of air that made you feel like anything was possible, even if you didn’t know what you wanted yet. The university gates rose in front of the car as the driver slowed to a stop. My reflection stared back at me from the tinted window, soft makeup, glossy lips, and hair perfectly styled. I looked exactly like what people expected. A Lancaster. The door opened. “Miss, we’ve arrived.” I stepped out, heels clicking softly against the pavement. Conversations paused around me, not fully, just enough. People always noticed. Expensive cars had a way of announcing themselves before the person inside ever spoke. Behind me, another car pulled in this one carrying my luggage,

Chapter 33 Nora dreamed in fragments. Not images feelings. Fear without a face. A pressure in her chest. The echo of a ringing phone she could never quite reach. It rang and rang, sharp and insistent, slicing through the darkness around her. Her body felt heavy, like it had been stitched to the earth. She tried to move, to answer, to scream that she was here but the sound died before it could form. Somewhere in that endless dark, a voice whispered her name. And somewhere else, very far away, Trisha sat beside her hospital bed, clutching a phone that felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Trisha hadn’t planned to call Nora’s family yet. She kept telling herself she just needed more time. One more hour. One more sign. One flicker of movement, a squeeze of fingers, anything to prove that Nora would wake up and explain everything herself, the way she always did. But the silence was eating her alive. Jaden stood by the window, arms crossed tightly over his chest, staring out at

Chapter 32 Hospitals always smelled the same clean, sharp, unforgiving. Jaden noticed it immediately, the way the scent clung to his clothes as soon as he stepped inside, like a warning he couldn’t ignore. The fluorescent lights overhead hummed softly, casting everything in pale white that made faces look tired, hollow. Too honest. Trisha walked a few steps ahead of him, shoulders tense, arms wrapped tightly around herself as if she might shatter if she didn’t hold on. Her eyes were swollen from crying, lashes clumped together, but she kept moving, one foot in front of the other, like stopping would mean accepting something she wasn’t ready to. Neither of them spoke. The doctor led them down a long hallway. Each step felt heavier than the last. Jaden’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, loud enough to drown out the distant beeping of machines, the muffled conversations behind closed doors. Please let her be okay, he thought, over and over, like a prayer he didn’t know if he deserve

Chapter 31 The first day Nora didn’t show up, no one thought much of it. College had a way of swallowing people whole for days at a time late nights, skipped lectures, mental health days no one talked about. Absence was normal. Silence wasn’t suspicious yet. By the second day, Trisha noticed. Nora never missed their morning coffee on Tuesdays. Never. Even during exams. Even when she was exhausted. Especially when she was exhausted. Trisha stared at the empty chair across from her, fingers tightening around her cup as the minutes dragged on. She checked her phone again. No reply. “Maybe she overslept,” she muttered, more to reassure herself than anything else. By the third day, worry crept in quietly. Nora’s room stayed locked. Her bed untouched. Her sketchbook always open, always messy lay exactly where it had been days ago. No half-finished drawings. No new pencil shavings on the floor. Trisha knocked. Then knocked harder. Nothing. She sent messages. Left voicemails. Trie

Chapter 30 Loneliness did not arrive loudly. It crept in the way dusk swallowed daylight soft, unannounced, unavoidable. Nora felt it most in the pauses between things. Between footsteps. Between breaths. Between the moments when she almost reached for her phone and remembered there was no one she wanted to call. Or worse, no one she trusted enough to hear her voice without turning it into something ugly. The campus still moved around her, alive and careless. Laughter spilled from dorm windows. Doors slammed. Music thumped faintly through walls. People passed her with purpose, with somewhere to be, someone to meet. She felt like a shadow drifting through all of it.Invisible. After James was gone after the truth, the damage, the humiliation everything else seemed to fall apart quietly. Not in dramatic explosions. Not in confrontations or apologies. Just… distance. Jaden didn’t speak to her. He didn’t glare either. That would’ve hurt less. Instead, he looked through her when th

Chapter 29 The campus didn’t celebrate. There were no announcements. No public apologies. No justice served banners hanging from walls. James was simply… gone. And the silence he left behind felt strange l unnatural, like the air after a storm when everything looks calm but still smells like rain and broken things. Nora woke up the next morning confused by the quiet. No buzzing phone. No sharp spike of fear in her chest. No instinctive reach for the light switch. She lay still, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the familiar panic to arrive. It didn’t. That scared her. Because fear had been her companion for so long that its absence felt like another trick. She sat up slowly, listening. Birds. Footsteps in the hallway. Someone laughing far away. Normal sounds. Her body didn’t know how to respond. Freedom, she realized, wasn’t loud. It didn’t arrive with relief the way movies promised. It came softly, uncertainly like a fragile thing that could still be taken away

Chapter 28 James didn’t torture Nora loudly. He did it carefully. After the panic attack, after the campus whispers cooled into something quieter but sharper, he shifted tactics. No more vague posts. No more anonymous messages. He wanted control without fingerprints. He wanted her paranoid. It started with timing. Nora would step out of her hostel, and moments later, her phone would buzz. Nice hoodie. She would be in class, finally managing to focus, when a message slipped through. You still draw sad girls. She stopped opening them. Blocked the numbers. Changed her privacy settings. It didn’t stop. The messages kept coming from new numbers, new accounts, burner profiles that disappeared after one text. James knew her schedule. Knew her habits. Knew when she was weakest. Fear stopped being sharp and became dull, constant like background noise that never switched off. Nora functioned on autopilot now. Smile when necessary. Nod when spoken to. Breathe shallowly so her che

Chapter 10 The dawn broke over the city, golden sunlight glinting off glass towers and streets that had once been battlefields. Clara stood atop the highest rooftop she could reach, her pendant glowing softly against her chest. She had spent the night meditating, channelling the energy she had inherited from her grandmother, the strength of her lineage flowing steadily through her veins. Her team—Mike, James, and Bridget—stood behind her, eyes scanning the horizon. They had tracked the Shadow Council to an abandoned industrial complex near the edge of the city. This time, they were prepared. Clara’s heart beat rapidly. The Shadow Leader had stolen a fragment of her grandmother’s power before, but tonight, she would reclaim it and end this threat once and for all. Mike adjusted his tech visor. “All drones are in position. Energy sensors are active. They’re inside, Clara. And it’s quiet… too quiet.” Bridget’s eyes narrowed. “That’s exactly what makes me nervous. Shadows rarely stay

Chapter 9 The city’s night air was heavy with tension. Clara and her team had been tracking the Shadow Council for days, hoping to recover the stolen fragment of her grandmother’s pendant. Every alleyway, every rooftop felt like a potential trap. Mike scrolled through the drone feed, brow furrowed. “They’ve been setting patterns. Repeated movements near the old docks. I think they’re planning something big.” Bridget’s eyes narrowed. “Sounds like bait.” James gripped his staff tightly. “Then let’s not fall for it. We’ll split up—Clara, you stay with me. Bridget, cover Mike. We move fast and hit hard.” Clara felt the familiar surge of golden energy within her. She had trained hard, but the shadow of doubt still lingered. Could she fully control her power? Could she protect her friends? The team approached the docks quietly, the moon reflecting off the water. The silence was broken by the faint sound of chains rattling. Shadows flickered in the corner of Clara’s vision. “Stay aler

Chapter 8 The city had never felt so tense. Even the hum of traffic seemed quieter, as though it were holding its breath. The aftermath of the Shadow Council’s second strike left the streets scarred: shattered windows, overturned cars, and the faint echo of terror lingering in the alleyways. Clara sat on the rooftop of Mike’s house, staring at her pendant. It no longer glowed faintly—it pulsed strongly, as if calling her, reminding her of what she had lost: the fragment of her grandmother’s artefact stolen by the Shadow Leader. Mike joined her silently, holding a small tablet filled with surveillance feeds. “We’ve traced their energy signature to the east side of the city,” he said. “They’re regrouping—preparing another strike.” Clara clenched her fists. “Then we have to stop them before anyone else gets hurt. I’m ready to try controlling my power fully this time.” James leaned against the railing, twirling his staff. “Finally. No more holding back. We hit them hard and fast

Chapter 7 The night air felt heavier than usual, thick with a strange tension that no one could quite explain. After the Shadow Council’s threatening message, the team knew they had little time before the next attack. Clara barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the burning village, her grandmother’s face, the looming shadows… and now the message echoing in her mind: “The bloodline will fall.” Morning light spilt into Mike’s apartment as the team regrouped, exhaustion etched into each of their faces. Mike stood in front of a large holographic map of the city, pointing at glowing red indicators. “These are the energy spikes detected in the last three hours,” he explained. “They’re moving in a pattern… almost like they’re scanning the city.” Bridget leaned forward. “Looking for Clara.” James folded his arms. “Then we stop them before they find her. End of story.” Clara hugged her arms around herself. “They’re getting stronger. We saw how fast they moved at the ban

Chapter 6 The city skyline glittered under the night sky, but Clara’s mind was anything but calm. After the first battle, her hands still trembled from the raw surge of power she had barely controlled. The team gathered in Mike’s high-tech apartment, every surface glowing with screens and gadgets. “Okay,” Mike said, flipping through holographic files, “we need answers. Who are these villains, and why are they after you?” Clara swallowed. “They mentioned… my bloodline. Something I carry. But I don’t understand.” James paced the floor. “It’s obvious—they’re looking for a power. Maybe your family hid something, and now they want it back.” Bridget leaned on the railing overlooking the city, her face serious. “If they know your grandmother or parents were special… then they’ve probably been tracking your family for generations. That’s why they attacked your village.” Clara’s heart sank. “So all the people in my village… my family…” Mike crouched next to her, placing a comforting han

Chapter 5 The city slept, but Clara couldn’t. She sat on the rooftop of Mike’s house, hugging her knees as the night wind brushed her hair. The glowing symbol the villains left—AWAKEN—still burned in her mind. What did they want her to become? The door creaked behind her. Mike stepped out carrying a small device and two mugs. “Couldn’t sleep either?” Clara shook her head. “No.” He sat beside her and handed her a cup. “Warm chocolate.” She held it carefully. “Thank you.” Mike hesitated. “Clara… whoever those things were—they knew your name. They knew your blood. If we’re going to protect you, we need to be ready.” Her eyes lifted. “You still want to help me?” “Of course,” he said without hesitation. “You didn’t run when things got dangerous. Neither will we.” Footsteps approached. James and Bridget joined them, both dressed in dark clothes. Bridget clapped once. “Alright team—Operation Trap The Shadow Clowns starts tonight.” James grinned, spinning his baton. “Time to figh