Outcry In The Barrio

My sister was autistic. The doctors called it "severe sensory overload." The rule was simple: No sudden noises. Ever. So my whole life was set to mute. I never wore heels. I never raised my voice. I wasn't even allowed to laugh. It was all to keep her from having a meltdown. My father, Victor, the Don of the Castellano family, would grip my shoulder. His face was a mask of apology. "Sera, you're my good girl. Protecting your sister is our duty. You're healthy and strong. You can sacrifice a little for her, can't you?" That day, I was on the second-floor terrace and accidentally knocked over a pot of white roses. The sound of it shattering sent my sister, who was sunbathing in the garden below, into a meltdown. For the first time, Victor glared at me like I was the enemy. He roared, "Can't you just be quiet? Do you want to drive her insane?" My sister backed away in terror, right into a glass table, and let out a piercing scream. Victor charged past me, a blur of rage and panic. He slammed into me on the stairs as I was running down to help. I lost my footing and crashed chest-first into the sharp corner of a wrought-iron banister post. Pain exploded in my chest. I opened my mouth to scream, but only silence came out. My family swarmed around my shrieking sister. No one even glanced at me. My lungs filled with blood. I was drowning on the floor. They all thought my sister, the one with autism, needed the family's comfort. They thought I just took a fall. That I could wait. They were wrong.

I gave out my special rat poison for free, trying to fix the complex's rat problem. And my neighbor Brenda turned right around and reported me. She demanded I pay out of pocket to have the rats disposed of humanely. I looked around at the neighbors. "I know a place that'll do it at cost," I said. "Extermination plus sanitizing runs about thirty grand. Split it across every unit and that's maybe twenty bucks a household—" Brenda cut me off before I could finish. "Nora, honey, you're the one who decided to trap those rats." "Why should everyone else foot the bill for that?" "And come on, it's a few hundred rats. You really need that kind of money?" "We're all neighbors here. Don't go shaking us down." I looked up at the neighbors, every one of them dodging my eyes. I couldn't help but smile. Fine. They all just want a free ride. Just don't come crying to me later.

The Underboss, Gio Rocco, told me that during yesterday's hit by a rival clan, my husband, Don Domenico De Luca, and his secretary were caught together in a compromising situation. When our men broke in, the secretary had barely managed to put her clothes back on. I don't want to believe it, but when I enter the conference room and see the delicate, helpless woman in Domenico's arms, it suddenly seems laughable. Anger surges through me, and I storm up to Domenico. He instinctively steps in front of the woman, shielding her. I press my gun against his forehead. "Domenico, let's get a divorce," I say coldly.

Nora is the daughter of a poor gardener who works in the magnificent mansion of David Nashville. Living with his two unmarried sons, a scandal appears that one of them had kidnapped the poor girl, taking away her innocence. The truth still remained to be hidden until Nora remembered everything from that disastrous night and exposed the villain.

Cleavira Jashein Zarmeda did not grow up like a normal teenager. She was a victim of sexual abuse that made her life miserable and horrific. At her young age, she experienced living with a demon. She already know how cruel this world could be for weak and coward people. Could she free herself from the chain of her past? It is a battle between you will kill or you will be killed. Would she get the justice she deserve or she will just end her sufferings through a demonic escape? Could she surpass the obstacles ahead of her? Cleavira promised to herself that she will not cry again not until she met the guy named, Zachari Aikee Castellar, a carefree genius who's working as a Detective. —Azureriel

In the alleys of the city, the werewolf Alud and the vampire Bruk-ta-man, resolving internal differences, face an unprecedented enemy trying to pit the clans of the night against each other, old rivals will have to unite to unravel the tangle leading to an unknown enemy with monstrous power. A simple man named Conrod will help them figure it all out. What role is assigned to him? Will the main characters be able to defeat the mysterious enemy?