The Criterion

In an East London lock up, two film makers, Jimmy and Sam, are duct taped to chairs and forced to watch a snuff film by Ashkan, a loan shark to whom they owe a lot of money. If they don’t pay up, they’ll be starring in the next one. Before the film reaches its end, Ashkan and all his men are slaughtered by unknown assailants. Only Jimmy and Sam survive the massacre, leaving them with the sole copy of the snuff film. The film makers decide to build their next movie around the brutal film. While auditioning actors, they stumble upon Melissa, an enigmatic actress who seems perfect for the leading role, not least because she’s the spitting image of the snuff film’s main victim. Neither the film, nor Melissa, are entirely what they seem however. Jimmy and Sam find themselves pulled into a paranormal mystery that leads them through the shadowy streets of the city beneath the city and sees them re-enacting an ancient Mesopotamian myth cycle. As they play out the roles of long forgotten gods and goddesses, they’re drawn into the subtle web of a deadly heresy that stretches from the beginnings of civilization to the end of the world as we know it. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

⚠️ Mature Content Warning: This novel contains adult themes, explicit romance, violence, and emotionally intense situations. Reader discretion is advised. ————————————————————— “I expect loyalty, Margot. We marry in four days and you’re getting calls like that? What the fuck have you been doing?” My voice isn’t calmed down enough but I restrain myself from punching a wall. I wasn’t young and stupid but these rash reactions were making it seem as though I was. Tears welled in her eyes and I silently cursed myself. My bride. Just days before our wedding, I am screaming at her. Is this a product of the Binding? Making me a control freak? I came to her room for alone time with her, not to fight with her. I think she is going to give a meek answer to my question but instead she wipes her tears with the back of her hand and glares at me. “So you can fuck and feed from a Registry whore an hour before we go to the Binding ceremony, but I am expected to be loyal to you? You saw me watch that night. Did I yell at you?” —————————————————————— Every 25 years, a human from one of the five elite dynasties must marry into one of the five vampire houses to keep the peace of the Accord, a treaty between the ten families. Now it’s Margot’s turn to marry except she’s taking her dead sister’s place to marry the King of all vampires. Preserving the peace and producing a Crimsonborn is her duty, but she was groomed for society, not submission. Her immortal husband to be is not only the vampire king, Nathaniel Blackwell, but a calculating man who doesn’t want or need a wife. Or so he claims.

Snow was determined to break the mould. She was going to be the first woman in her long family line not to join The Academy and become a Vampire Hunter. She was set on this ever since she could speak. But when her mother is killed by a Vampire when Snow is only 12 years old, everything changes. Snow is renowned in the Hunting world,. She's only 28 years old and her kill count is one of the highest they have ever seen. Little do they know the only kill count they have access to is the contracted kill counts that are recorded. She's almost double that number of un-contracted kills. Revenge is the only thing she ever thinks about, and who can blame her? Her next kill is Damien… Mr. Edge Enterprises. He's a high priority kill with a 3 million dollar payout. Something is different about him though, something Snow can't quite place. Killing him would prove to be a lot more difficult than she expected. There is much she doesn't know when it comes to Damien… And even more that he isn't telling her. To make things worse, she finds out that The Academy is harboring a multitude of secrets… Snow has to make an inherently difficult choice. Will she choose the man she barely knows, and is supposed to have already killed? Or will she choose The Academy? The place who took her in after her moms death, and taught her everything she's ever known? Follow us as we traverse the mind of a woman scorned. Who's hellbent on revenge while she tries to justify the feelings she shouldn't have, for the man who she should have already killed. Rating 18+ for language, violence, and graphic sexual content.

My grandfather, Tanner Kane, valued loyalty above all else. When his adopted daughter, Alanna Meyer, was sentenced to death for murder, he sent my mother, Florence Kane, to her death. All to preserve the bloodline of his late childhood friend. Alanna took my mother's name, married, and lived a privileged life free from hardship. Meanwhile, my mother died carrying a crime she never committed. My father, Graham Hart, and I changed our names and wandered from place to place. For years, I was mocked as a motherless child. Forty years later, after enduring humiliation and dedicating myself to my studies, I became a judge in Arbor Falls. Today, I am presiding over a controversial campus murder case in which the victim fell to her death from a building. There were no surveillance cameras. Only two girls were present, and each insists the other is the killer. One of them, Nova, comes from a poor family. Her parents are divorced, and she associates with local delinquents. She is known throughout the school as a feared bully. The other one, Scarlett, comes from a wealthy family. Her parents have a loving marriage, and she excels academically. Her grandmother is a beautiful and kind-hearted artist. Her great-grandfather spent his entire life doing charity work and was recognized as a nationally renowned philanthropist. Everyone believes she is a good girl who would never lie, so Nova the bully must be the killer. However, when I looked at the name listed under Scarlett's grandmother, I saw my mother's name: Florence Kane. Without a second thought, I turned to the person beside me and said, "Reject her request for acquittal."

The story-series, "Crimson's Game", is about a girl named Elle, a member of the Death Legion, who is struggling to seek for answers to reveal her true identity. The Death Legion is a constitution where they aim to cleanse the world. A world without murderers, toxicity, and chaos. But it is all a lie, the truth is they are all just bunch of psycho's who find satisfaction by inflicting pain to their victims. The Legion is divided into four different sectors. Sector 1, the Annihilators, they are also known as the doers. They are the ones responsible for assassination. Sector 2, the Final Disposition, their task is to look after the dead bodies and make sure that the place where the assassination was held is taken care of. Sector 3, the Defenders. The Defenders are the lawyers of the sectors. They will defend and make sure that the profile of their Manslayers is clean. Last sector, the Menders. They are the doctors of each group. They also save the lives of those victims who are granted by the Director, the founder of the Legion. Elle is recruited by Archaios, her partner in crime, he will help Elle discover the hell inside the constitution. Archaios will play a big role in her life. Is he someone she could trust? An alliance? Or maybe another enemy she'll have to face. The protagonist will have a hard time finding the right course to her freedom. She will bet her own life just to satisfy her curiosity. Will she be able to handle it all alone? Find out the truth, seek for the answer. Be careful with who you trust, because in this game you will doubt, even yourself. With that, let the games begin!

When Nyx Calder enrolls at Briarcrest Academy, she has no intention of climbing its gilded social hierarchy. The school is built on legacy, power, and unspoken rules, and Nyx is there only to survive it. But survival becomes impossible when she collides with Alaric Moore. Briarcrest’s most untouchable student, the unchallenged ruler of its academic and social elite… and the stepbrother she never asked for. Alaric thrives on control. Nyx thrives on defiance. Their rivalry ignites in classrooms and spills into whispered confrontations after hours, each encounter sharpening the tension between them. Forced into constant competition by the academy’s ruthless merit system, they become obsessed with outdoing one another, until hatred begins to feel dangerously like something else. Something forbidden. Something that could destroy them both. Behind Briarcrest’s pristine halls lies a system designed to crush anyone who threatens its order. As Nyx uncovers how deeply the academy manipulates its students, Alaric is forced to choose between the future he was raised for and the girl who refuses to kneel, and when the rules say she should. At Briarcrest, love is forbidden, rebellion is costly, and bloodlines matter more than truth. But how far does the academy’s power really reach? What happens when loyalty to legacy collides with forbidden desire? And when the system demands one of them fall… who will it be? At Briarcrest, breaking the rules could cost them everything, but not breaking them might cost even more.