Second Hand Kindles Novels & Stories

When I returned home, my mother was almost glued to my side. She accompanied me through every single detail of the wedding preparations. In her words, since a wedding only happened once in a lifetime, it absolutely had to meet my complete satisfaction. One day, Dante Moretti, paid a visit to our home, accompanied by his parents. They brought an array of extravagant gifts. Dante’s mother slipped a flawless, jade-green bangle onto my wrist. "I can't wait for you to join our family so you can keep Dante in line for me." She continued to tease. "He has been cold and detached lately, he lacks any warmth."

She treated me like a toy that belonged to her, and her alone. But when she realized that I had never belonged to her, not even once, something inside her shattered. She wouldn't allow it. She wanted to reclaim me as her possession, no matter the cost. However, she miscalculated. I was not some possession for her to hoard, and I would never forgive her. After taking over the company, I used only half a years' time to double the profits of the small company, to my father's great satisfaction. A year later, he handed the company to me completely, and I immediately started dismantling both the Joneses and the Goldings.

“She wanted me to light it.” Kael steadied him, his grip firm. “What did you see?” Ezra looked at the flame still burning above the pedestal. “This is the Second Flame. There are four. This is just the beginning.” --- That night, they camped on the Cradle’s edge. Ezra sat closest to the emberfire, the silver locket turning over and over in his hand. He glanced down at it, then at the steady burn of the flame in the distance. It hadn’t flickered. Not once.

Coyote exhaled smoke that formed the shape of the Veil (cracked, bleeding, still holding). “Clock’s ticking,” he said softly. “Next hand decides whether the Veil stays cracked… or whether we tear it down and start over.” He looked straight at me and Thorne. “Your deal, key and lock.” The table pulsed once. The next nine cards slid from the deck and landed face-down in front of us. Waiting. I reached for mine. Thorne’s hand covered mine (steady, cold, eternal). Together, we flipped. The Second Hand (Truth or Burn)

Dang, I can’t remember the code! Did my dad say 9122? No, it had an eight in it, I think. I can hear heavy gunfire downstairs and I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. I start to cry because I literally can’t still remember the freaking code! Okay, okay, I need to calm down. Despite the commotion downstairs, I take in a deep breath and I try to calm myself. “9182.” I say to myself and it clicks in my head. That’s the code! “9182.” I say again as I press the numbers on the keypad.

Thank God I am back to my senses because I feel confident that dad is okay and not seriously injured, so I need to calm down and focus on my date with Akira. As we walked together in the Metro, I looked at my wristwatch, it was almost 5 pm, and the sun was about to set. "Let's go to Shibuya Sky, Kira!" I smirked at her. While we were riding the escalator to reach the top, I suddenly grabbed Akira's gentle hand, and I lost my mind that she might immediately let go of my hand and feel uncomfortable. Still, as I looked at her beside me, Her face showed happiness and excitement, so I took the opportunity to touch and hold her hands.

In the span of a few short months, they had lost all three of their children. The mansion that had once been filled with laughter was left with only two living corpses. Every day, they sat in the apartment I had rented, where the traces of my life remained. An old desk, a few worn textbooks, and an empty box that had once held the tie clip. My mother held the box in her hands, running her fingers over it again and again. "Jordan, I received your birthday present." My father stared endlessly at the contract for the artificial heart that I would never use. Silent tears slipped down his face.

But I can’t. I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I have to do this; I say, to encourage myself. Opening my eyes, I saw that the match was still burning, which is when I lit a second candle. “For Aunt Josie,” I said, quickly placing the match on a tray to burn itself out.

Five Years Later The city looks different from the eighteenth floor. Through the large living room window of my apartment, the skyscrapers jut upward like giant shards of metal randomly stabbed into the earth. The sky is a bluish orange. The last light of the afternoon hits the glass, casting a faint reflection of my face.

She stepped into the room where Connel sat, her voice steady and palms shaky. “I'd like to speak with you.” Connel turned towards his right as she stood there, the room held its breath. He didn't answer right away. He reached into his lower drawer and pulled out a slim, skeletonized lighter- complex, metallic like a vault guarded with gears. He tapped the body lightly and deliberately. Ariel recognized the lighter, it was the S.T Dupont complication lighter, rare as well as beautiful. She stood quietly admiring the beauty, the way the cap flipped open to reveal the flames.