Lost Words: Beyond The Page Novels & Stories

Content Warning: This chapter contains themes with institutional abuse, psychological manipulation, and implied violence. Reader discretion advised. The dormitory lights clicked off at eleven and I lay in the dark counting every breath like it might be the last one that still belonged to me. The key was warm in my palm. I kept running my thumb across the letters scratched into the metal and trying to decide what they meant now. T-O-B-Y. Either the most real thing in this place or the most carefully constructed lie I had ever been handed.

I gritted my teeth and used the last bit of money I had to buy a cheap plane ticket to find him. What I saw was Morris holding Courtney under a tree, kissing her deeply. When they pulled apart, he gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. They smiled at each other, their eyes sparkling. A spring breeze drifted by. The streetlights glowed dimly. Maple leaves rustled overhead. They looked like a painting, like a poem filled with tenderness. I lost it. I rushed over, forced them apart, and hurled the cup I was holding at Morris's face.

It was only five short, trembling, pain-fuelled steps, but it felt like I had run a marathon and I was light-headed. I clung to the frame of the bed, steadying myself and catching my breath for a moment before pulling myself upright and reaching for the shelf for stability. My eyes scanned the spines. A bible, obviously, made sense and I had predicted as much. The English Pilot, Fourth Book, Treatise of the Sphere and of the Art of Navigation, A Mariner’s Guide to the Coasts of the Spanish Main, De Iure Praedae, and something that looked totally out of place, Clarissa’s Folly: Or, The Wager of Hearts. There were also a number of books that were blank on the spines, which was interesting.

Across the way, light flickered in Lucan’s chamber. I didn’t look long. Just enough. That familiar ache stirred in my chest again. The one I couldn’t name. I whispered to the dark: “Why do I feel like I’ve lost something I never had?” The wind didn’t answer. But it didn’t feel quite so cold anymore.

“Same here.” He rolled out of bed, and I couldn’t help but watch as he started getting dressed. His movements were effortless, confident and I found myself staring at the way his muscles shifted under his skin, the lines of his body strong and defined. I bit my lip, a flush creeping up my neck. Last night had been… intense. More than that, it had been a reprieve. Lately, depression had been a heavy fog, clinging to me, making every step feel like wading through quicksand. My father’s death, my mother’s breakdown, the endless questions with no answers—it was all too much. But with Alex, in those stolen moments, I could forget. In his arms, I could let go of the pain, even if just for a little

Hunter says looking over my shoulder. I look round at him and then back to the book as I feel my wolf dart from my mind slamming the door behind her. "Right here" I say as I look back down to the blank page in front of me. I gasp. The words, the drawing it was gone! I quickly flick through the book. Every page blank. Except I knew it wasnt! "I swear.... It was right here and there was a drawing of a wolf!" I rant. "I believe you" Hunter says reassuringly.

The realization struck her with an overwhelming force, as she comprehended the magnitude of everything she had lost, forcefully stripped away from her. A solitary sob escaped her throat, carrying the weight of her extensive and aimless wandering, the perpetual feeling of being forsaken, and the persistent void within her. And that void was indeed tangible. Lenore had assured her that it was an aspect she wouldn't yearn for, but she did, with every fiber of her being. "Please don't cry," Randi interjected, offering comfort by gently rubbing her back. "This is actually a positive thing. I mean, I know we can be quite intimidating as werewolves and all..."

I just want to enjoy my life, this is my second life already because of what happened yet revelations keep breaking me. I am a broken glass, I glued myself but then now I am broken again and this time I do not know how to fix it anymore. If it can still be fixed. “Sshh, sshh. Cry all you want, I am here okay? I’ll be with you,” Aunt Elina murmured as she pulled me into a tight hug once again. I may be so drained already that after I rested my head on Aunt Elina’s shoulder everything went black. VALEN

Whatever happened to him, or whatever happened around him, he would always look calm, almost expressionless. Maybe only his mother can reach Althan to his true self, who is buried deep inside there. Althan suddenly remembered what happened this afternoon, when Evie approached him to give him a wish list. There was some kind of unpleasant coincidence between them, Evie lost her father while she lost her mother. However, Althan knew it must be the same, what he felt was what Evie felt. He ever read a question what is heavier? Abandoned or left? In his heart he replied, it must be harder to leave. Especially when it comes to death. People often say that the dead can watch their family from heav