Ancient Strengthening Technique

Coincidence is a gamble, a deck of cards with loads of probabilities. Coincidence leads them into an experience that haunts them still after so many years.Coincidence drags them into decisions that scar their consciences forever.Coincidence drags them into the drama that ensues as a resultant effect.But no, it is not the regular drama.For the country is on fire, the government is burning and lives are in chains, ravaged by the demon of their past - Medusa.But lo, Medusa is not a demon.It is not an ancient Greek myth.It is not a god or goddess.It is not a religion.It is not alive.BUT IT IS HERE!

I set fire to my painting in front of the entire academy. Thunderous applause erupts from the crowd as everyone thinks it's some kind of performance art. Unlike them, Willow Laurent is distraught. She rushes up and grabs my hand, questioning in a shrill voice, "Cassidy Seymour, have you gone mad? This is your only chance to prove yourself!" I shake her hand off me coldly. My only chance? No… What she means is that it's her chance. In my past life, I created this masterpiece with all my heart and soul. But she stole it from me and submitted it as her entry first. Whether it was the composition, the colors, or even my original dot-stippling technique… She replicated every detail flawlessly. Then, she won the National Young Artists Gold Award, signed with a top gallery, and became a rising star. And what about me? I was condemned as a shameless plagiarist. Insults and curses gradually drowned me. "You shouldn't be an artist!" "Plagiarists are scum! They should just die!" Her fans stormed into my studio, smashed my art supplies, and broke my right hand. As I saw no end to the hell that I was living in, I jumped down from the top floor of my studio. When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the very day she first accuses me of plagiarism.

In a haunting piece of paranormal fiction, after the ancient forces of light and darkness harness their powers into eight separate rings, humanity itself becomes its only hope. However, things go horribly wrong when jealousy, family, love and secrets cloud the sane judgement of the ring bearers. Will humanity be able to save itself, or will our fate be to fall into the hands... of Kayos?

In the quiet of the forest, the darkest fears are born. The people of Dunballan, harbour a dark secret. A secret more terrible than the Beast that stalks the dense forests of Dunballan. A secret that holds David McCavendish, last in a long line of Lairds, in its unbreakable grip. It’s down to Sally, David’s lover, to free David from the sinister clutches of the Beast. But, with the whole town against her, she must ally herself with an ancient woodland force and trace Dunballan’s secret back to its bitter origins. Those origins lie within the McCavendish family history, and a blasphemous heresy that stretches back to the beginning of time. Some truths are too terrible to face, and the darkest of these lie waiting for Sally, in the Quiet Places. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

WARNING: Explicit Content, Trigger Warnings, Adult Eyes only. *** Liliana Larsen has spent years suppressing the trauma of her family’s death, burying it beneath her work as an Ethnocultural Advisor. But when Eamon Quinn—a deadly half-breed werewolf-vampire—enters her life, Liliana’s carefully built world begins to crack. Eamon knows what Liliana doesn’t: she’s a dormant she-wolf, her wolf Skadi bound by powerful witchcraft since birth. Now, that binding is breaking. Liliana’s awakening unleashes a primal bond between them that is as dangerous as it is undeniable. As their connection deepens, so do the threats. Ancient covens with a dark history of hunting Liliana’s bloodline resurface, and a brutal supernatural war is on the horizon. To survive, Liliana must learn to control her wolf—fast. But each step toward control pulls her deeper into Eamon’s dangerous orbit, where pleasure and pain blur, and every instinct demands she surrender to the wild power inside her. As their enemies close in, the only thing more lethal than the forces hunting them is the bond between them—a bond that could either save them or destroy them both.

~“Hello, Daniel.” The man growled as his lips contorted into a twisted grin. Daniel’s eyes widened as he backed up a bit. There was something eerie about this man which gave him the creeps. “ Who are you and how do you know me?” He said fearfully. T he man chuckled darkly and Daniel noticed a sudden change in the atmosphere. For some reason the air around him began to feel chilly. “How do I know you?” The man smiled. “Lets just say I’ve known you since you were born. And as for who I am?....” The man walked slowly and stealthily towards Daniel. He removed his hood to reveal an angular face with a permed hairstyle. His nose was pointed and his eyes were sharp with red glowing irises. “Let’s just say I’m your debt collector. You have something I want, Boy. And I have come to take it!” ~ Daniel Johnson is a university student hunted by an ancient powerful vampire,Luke, who isn't after his blood, but after something something Daniel was born with. Along the way, Daniel meets a mysterious female,Annabelle who is around his age but also affliated with the vampire after him. What is that thing within Daniel that Luke wants? Who is Annabelle? Is she a friend...or a foe?

When Exalia's 18th birthday coincides with a mysterious dream and a long-awaited meeting with the alpha, Jake, her life takes a drastic turn. Rejected by the one she loves and humiliated in front of the pack, she is mated to another, the most dangerous Alpha. Exalia must do everything in her power to save her pack and mate from the world of werewolf politics and ancient magic. With a powerful wolf awakened within her and a prophecy unfolding, Exalia must embrace her true potential and confront the forces that seek to destroy her. Will she find the strength to rise above her circumstances and claim her rightful place, or will the shadows of a mysterious woman define her future?

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

In a world of ancient magic, Cullen Steiner, Alpha of the Good Ole Boys Pack, must prepare the Weres for the coming war. Along with his friend, Colin Andrews, an ancient vampire, he must solve the mystery of the supernatural past before the war spills over into the human world and the Weres become exsposed, all the while learning about his soul and its mate.

"A thousand years is all it takes to see you again. A thousand years of pain is all it takes to pay for my mistakes. And a thousand years is all it takes to return to our rightful places.~" Set in an ancient dynasty, a lonely princess fell in love with the enemy's king. Princess Everly fell in love with King Dominique, the ruler of the enemy's kingdom. Both of them sacrificed everything for their forbidden love. Until a war evoked causing King Dominique to lose his life to save the princess. Left in despair, Princess Everly decided to follow him in the afterlife until the Moon Goddess appeared in her sight. The Moon Goddess took pity on their unforgettable love and gave Everly a chance to meet her love once again. Everly has to find the reincarnation of King Dominique before the red moon appears for them to have their second chance in love happen. Failure to complete the condition will result in her existence vanishing forever. Everly accepted it wholeheartedly since she's confident that his reincarnation will still fall in love with her. But what if the love you knew changed? What if the man you once loved is different from the man you knew? Would you take the risk to fulfill the love you once had or move on and accept that you two aren't destined with one another?