Grounded No More Novels & Stories

My husband, Brandon Robinson, threw me a rehearsal funeral for the sake of his first love, Aylin Blessen. He said Aylin had witnessed her family burn to death and had been terrified of death ever since. The cure was to pick someone close to her, put that person through a full funeral process, and then have them reappear on the seventh day. Only then would she be healed. So, Brandon revoked my keycard access to our house, announced my death to everyone we knew, and sent me to a death simulation facility. I was not allowed to contact anyone for seven days. Aylin sobbed as she personally picked out my burial clothes. "Leanna, you only have to be dead for seven days. But this funeral could

A low, deafening rumble echoed across the earth as the ground began to yield beneath our feet, and I looked down at my hands—my skin glowing with the same pale, ethereal light as the photograph of Host Zero. The system pinged one last time, the text burning directly into my retinas with absolute finality. Cycle 7 Terminated. Welcome to the Real Day Zero.

“Which makes it ideal for our purposes.” Jim suddenly felt a familiar rumbling. It was coming from the soft clay walls now, not the ground. It was faint and distant but gathering momentum, getting closer all the time. They were coming from three directions, possessing the earth around them, twisting it into whatever sickening form they took, then moving on. Leaving the soil spent and violated, even at this depth. Jim was unbelievably far beneath the ground, but he still wasn’t safe.

The solid floor beneath me felt as if it instantly collapsed and melted, transforming into bottomless, icy, and bone-chilling quicksand. I am being silently and irresistibly swallowed and sunk by this quicksand, falling straight down into an abyss with no light, no echo, and only boundless cold. My world completely plunged into darkness. “Bleiz!” “Quick, call a healer!” ... Overnight, my family produced another new joke. Yesterday, I left my mate behind at the mate bond ceremony, and today I’m desperately trying to get rid of my mate. My room is already a complete mess. I’ve smashed everything that could be smashed to pieces.

“Good. Stay inside, and if anything changes, call me on this same number.” “I will. And please be safe, Stacy.” "I will. See you later," I hang up feeling relief that both Liam and my mom haven't been infected. --- A few minutes later... The quarantine zone looms ahead, cordoned off by warriors in hazmat gear... The moment we wear our masks and gloves, we are waved through and I can instantly feel the weight of grief and dread in the air. It clings to everything like fog. The gamma parks near a mobile command tent and opens my door. I climb out slowly, my eyes scanning the organized chaos around us, looking for Daniel except I spot Natasha Grey.

Mom and Dad did not love me, and the lack of love ruined me. It was ended now. Mom, Dad. If you had another chance, would you love me?

For some reason being here with these people, the riches of the rich, made me nervous beyond control. After a few comfort words from Cory, I relaxed a little. We finally joined the dancers just as the second song played. It was a rendition of Chandelier by Sia. I recognized the following song by Bruno Mars. Somehow this magical woman with a magical violin made every song sound really good. I was actually beginning to enjoy myself. That is until Cory got called away for the seventh time tonight. Just before we started dancing to the next song. As soon as I heard the sound, I began to think it might be better that he was being called away.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad. Feel this bad.” “Sil…” My fingers tightened in her metal one. “I feel lost, Aelia. Before…before I had something to hold onto. The anger of you being taken, someone to blame. Now…now the ghosts of the ones who took you are all that’s left and I can’t…I have nothing to keep me grounded.”

I fell in love with myself. And that love didn't belong to anyone else. Unlike Eric, I couldn't pretend to love someone I no longer did. I removed his comment and blocked him from seeing any future updates on my social media. … In the month since I left, his life had unraveled. Shirley's overindulgence had resulted in Layla being hospitalized. He had even made multiple late-night calls, desperate for information about Layla's medical history. "Daddy, it hurts. I don't want the shot," Layla cried, tears streaming down her face.

** The words hit all of us at once. The ground did not react. The markers did not flare. Because it was right. There was no boundary anymore. We had erased it. Darius’s voice was low. “It’s not wrong.” Lyra’s silver aura sharpened. “Then we make a new one.” The figure moved again. One step forward. The ground beneath it did not resist. It absorbed. Darkened. Corrupted. The grass beneath its feet turned gray. Dead. My wolf snarled. “This isn’t a territorial challenge,” I said.