Echoes Of Shadows

Just one week before my marking ceremony with Lucien, I discovered his heart already belonged to someone else. His secretary, Anika, walked out of his office with a smirk that was a little too knowing. Her blouse was askew, her usually neat hair a tangled mess, and only the faintest trace of her crimson lipstick remained. My heart seized in my chest, and my fingers went cold on the doorknob. Two years ago, she had been a timid girl fresh from the countryside. All that pretense of innocence had vanished, replaced by a brazen ambition written across her face. Her relentless eagerness around Lucien had always grated on my nerves, and I had asked him more than once. "Lucien, can't you replace her?" His smile would always fade. "Anika saved my life," he'd say. "I can't be so heartless." Now, that single triumphant smirk was all it took for me to understand. What others once envied in me had already been trampled beneath her heels. My phone vibrated. It was a new proposal from the event planner. [The marking ceremony plan is nearly perfect. Can we finalize it?] I refused to be consumed by sorrow. I wiped a tear from my cheek and made one last adjustment to the document.——Replaced the bride's name withAnika I didn't want a false love, or a fake Alpha Lucien. Let them have the marking ceremony. Let Anika stand at his side as his Luna, his chosen mate. In seven days, I would be gone with my pup.

Welcome back to Clifton Heights. Sheriff Chris Baker and Father Ward meet for a Saturday morning breakfast at The Skylark Diner to once again commiserate over the weird and terrifying secrets surrounding their town. Sheriff Baker shares with Father Ward the story of a journal discovered in the ruins of what was once an elaborate koi pond and flower garden, which regales a tale of regret, buried pain, and unfulfilled debt: “Sophan” – Jake Burns has always been a bit...off. Rude, awkward, sometimes brutish, he's tolerated by Nate Slocum and his friends because he hits a mean line drive, and because they all know but don't discuss the abuse he faces at the hands of his troubled father, a Vietnam veteran consumed by his demons. But Jake is suffering something far worse than domestic abuse, and when Nate discovers what, he faces an impossible choice: help Jake and put himself in the path of evil, or abandon him, only to damn himself in the process. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Ezmira Franchild was adopted at the age of eleven. No one knew where this silent little girl originated from, all they knew was that she was found under an old broken-down bridge, curled up into a ball and trembling with fear. It took her an entire year before she began to speak again but once she did, she never spoke of where she came from or who her parents were... she simply clutched to the dirty old bag that she was found with and never allowed anyone to search it or take it from her. Years later, Ezmira is still a quiet child, living in a small town with her sister, Liza Franchild and trying to make the best of her life. Little did she know that her past was not something she could run from or ignore. Once a witch, forever a witch. “I'm afraid to live. I'm afraid to let people in again because I'd never know when they'd leave. My existence is a curse.” ~Ezmira “I've been cursed for many years, but you're the first curse that I've ever willingly accepted. If you're afraid just hold onto me, we can face our fears together.” ~Axil Book 1 of the Divinity Series.

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won't find the killer. After all, the year before her father's body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids. So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can't just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

Riley Cates was a happy 23-year-old woman because her dream was coming to a reality and she was getting married soon. She had a nice and rich family, but unfortunately, her family did not love her, the way they should. Her mother died 18 years ago and her father remarried Tabitha, a cruel cold woman who only cared about her interests. Tabitha had a daughter called Lisa and a son called Mark from her previous marriage and loved them dearly. Riley's father cared deeply about his children but did not show the same attention to Riley as he did to Lisa and Mark. For him, Riley was a girl, who reminded him a lot of his deceased wife, so he did not want to attach too much to her. Mark was a good guy, who decided to go and live abroad. Riley had a boyfriend Erick, whom she loved a lot. They were together for 3 years and wanted to get married. A few weeks before the wedding, while Riley was trying on her wedding dress she saw Lisa and Erick making out in front of the shop. Her world collapsed, she did not know what to do, how to act so at that moment she decided to get revenge, to make them both pay. That same day on the other side of the city a letter arrived in the Cates's household. It said that the Knight family is asking one of their daughters to marry their only son. The family had already heard about Bruce. They knew he was an ugly crippled and bad man. He had a temper as well. When Tabitha read the letter she had a plan in mind. She knew what she will do…

A girl was sitting on her bed. Her forehead covered with sweat was indicating the amount of fear which was making her stomach churn and heart beat go wild. She knew for sure that maybe these days she was luckily survived….but today is the last day she is breathing….she is alive. Maybe that was the last time she had seen the love of her life…the reason for her life. Before she could think anything, the door burst open revealing her nightmare. "Welcome again,Sweetheart. " Ankita Sharma was living her life peacefully with her parents and sister….. But one night….one single night changed everything…..every single thing.

Ara Sandoval is a beautiful and smart housemaid. A housemaid with a beauty that can make any man lose their sanity. Her quite life become chaotic when the son and daughter of her boss came back from America. But Nathan Madrid feel in love with her in the first place, while Crissy is her opponent and hated her. But how will she face a trial If she herself will voluntarily fall in love with the man far away from her. Will Nathan fight his feelings for Ara towards her sister?

The Chinese and The British were engaged in a deadly scramble for Zambia’s abundant mineral resources. Their fight attracted the attention of the Insaka- the secret organization that controlled all the Zambian government institutions from the President to a common worker on the streets. Amidst the corruption, and almost a failed government, the Insaka involuntarily enlisted two young, beautiful and ambitious women on opposite side of the law. Ima and Subi the sworn and bitter rivals were the only two people the Sextet placed to liberate the rapid extinction of the country. Will the two work together to liberate Zambia from the new colonialists from Asia?

"You are no wife to me, do you get it?" He said, stepping forward crushing my already thinned personal bubble. "I am marrying you because of circumstances. The sooner you feed that to your peanut size brain, the better it will be for you and me. Do you understand?". Pushing me back against the wall with so much force it made me grunt at impact. Intense pain shot through my body when he pressed himself on me. It was like he was trying to ram me into the wall or something! - idiot- Big fat S-O-B. All these curses were going through my mind. All I want to do now is scratch his arrogant face and give him a feel of his own medicine. However, in this compromising position, I am right now! I can hardly move. So, all I did was look straight into his eyes and glared back with the same intensity. I try to break free by pushing and squirming. Alex had me in a grip so tight it felt like a hulk holding me down, so hard that it was painful. I tried to look away, but his voice made me freeze. "Answer me. Do not look away when I am talking to you bit*h!”. “Do-You-Get-What-I-Just Said? Or do I need to make myself a little clearer? hmm?" "Yes, I get it. I'm-Not-Your-Wife." "Believe it or not, I have no interest in being your wife," I said, more like spat it out, it was like poison coming out of my mouth. "Why are you smirking at me ?" he asked. Completely oblivious to what is about to come. I composed my happiness concealing it with my ‘I’m am innocent, like a kitty look’. "Oh, you're about to find out," I said.

My brother, Theo Sorento, died in a plane crash on his way back home just to celebrate my birthday. They never found his body—only wreckage. Ever since, my parents forced me to kneel in front of his grave every year on my birthday, demanding that I repent for surviving when he didn’t. Then came my eighteenth birthday. I realized someone was following me. Panicked, I sent a few messages asking for help. Just then, Mom called, not to check on me but to lash out. “I know exactly what you're doing. You’re just making up excuses so you don’t have to kneel in front of your brother’s grave! You’re a liar. Why wasn’t it you who died instead of him? You’re a walking curse!” Before my phone was smashed under a boot, the last thing I heard was the cold click of her hanging up. Then, I was cut up into pieces, and what was left of me was tossed across the city. My father, the lead forensic pathologist on my case, didn’t even recognize me. Later, Theo returned alive with his wife, whom he had eloped with eight years ago. When they found out the pile of rotting flesh was me, they all went insane.