Novel & Cerita The River: A Novel

As the ambulance sped away, its siren blaring, the house fell into dead silence once more. I was brought back to the cold, dark night when I was abandoned all by myself, with only the darkness for company. Clutching my head, I crawled up slowly from the floor. No matter how much I relented and how much I gave way, Vivian wasn't willing to let me go. If that was the case, then I was willing to play this game with her.

Author’s Note to the Reader Dear Reader, What you are about to step into is not just a love story. It’s a tangled web of passion, betrayal, secrets, and the quiet ache of discovering the truth behind the people we think we know. Jacqueline’s journey is one many of us know too well, the journey of holding on when we should let go, of chasing stability while craving fire, of mistaking comfort for love. Her story unfolds in layers: through the haunting grip of her dreams, the unraveling of a once-promising engagement, and the magnetic pull of a man who exists both in her subconscious and in the shadows of her waking life.

" I can't help but flick my eyes over to River as I say it. Perhaps I'm laying it on a bit thick, but here, I can claim him as mine without the spectre of loss hanging in the air and I mean to make the most of it. Ezra extends River his hand. By the light of the fire, I notice River biting his lower lip. For an instant, I think the action is motivated by lust, but the light from the campfire dances in his blue eyes and is catching the cluster of tears on the brink of falling onto his cheeks. "Nice to meet you, River." River clears his throat and brushes at his eyes with his left hand, having a hard time getting the words out. "Man, you're all I listen to. You have no idea how much you've hel

“Jace.” Jace rushed forward, stopping just short of the table. “They said you killed someone named Miranda Vegas. River, what the hell is going on?” River blinked, confusion flashing across his face. “Miranda… Vegas?” He shook his head slowly. “That’s not possible.” “You know her?” River hesitated. “I did. A long time ago.” Jace frowned. “Who is she?”

Suddenly freeing herself from the security guards, she pulled out a tiny glass bottle from her handbag that contained a dark brown liquid. My eyes widened—it was acid! It all happened so fast. As Susie laughed maniacally, and the crowd screamed in panic, she unscrewed the cap and splashed the acid at my face. I closed my eyes before I knew it, resigning myself to fate… However, the pain I expected never came, and I eventually noticed the broad chest right in front of me—all the acid had splashed all over Harry's back. Hiss! "Ugh!" He groaned in pain, as the acid burned through the fabric of his clothes audibly, and the pungent scent of charred flesh swirled in the air.

Before I could say another word, the line disconnected, leaving behind nothing but the hollow beeping tone. The cold grew sharper and sharper, carving straight into my bones. Gritting my teeth, I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. Suddenly, my phone lit up with a notification. I turned my head slightly and saw that Morgan had just updated his social media. In the photo, he wore nothing but a thin short-sleeved shirt with a popsicle hanging from his mouth. 'So lucky Ms. Sheffield brought me a generator, or I would have frozen tonight too.' I stared at the picture for a long time.

All that was left was to shake on our deal of devilry and destruction. River's massive hand engulfed mine, hot and calloused. His grin held only cruelty and ambition's vicious delight. We had found our match in each other - the demented and the damned. "I will wait eagerly for the day your purpose comes to fruition, Kristy," River purred as I made my withdrawal. "Rarely have I encountered one with such delicious ruthless vision as you." He laughed, his admiring tone raised bile in my throat, but I merely inclined my head, unwilling to show weakness before the beast whose bloody services now belonged to me.

Jordan Ford lost a bet, and I was forced to remove my makeup in front of everyone. The whole crowd goaded me on while his friends laughed especially loudly. “Don’t be a buzzkill. Eira already did it. “Come on, Clara! You’re not chickening out, are you?” Three years prior, I had saved Jordan from a car accident. Glass shards cut my face and left a scar that could barely be concealed with makeup. “Go on, remove it.” Through the smoke, his gaze met mine with nothing but casual indifference. I dragged a makeup-removing wipe across my face, again and again, revealing the ugly scar. “It’s just makeup. Quit being so dramatic. “You killed my mother back then. That scar is just a light price

River guesses. The next day River is in her office clock watching, as its nearly time to call it a day. When she gets a call from Dan. She opens her link as she answers the phone “Dan, is there a problem?” she asks “I was locking up and a cat ran into the warehouse. I sent everyone home early, as they’d worked hard these past few days” he tells her. “A cat, we can’t leave that in there. We don’t know what it’ll do with things and it won’t have anything to eat or drink” she exclaims. “Stay there, I’ll see if I have anything to coax it out” she adds before ending the call.

She croaked and began to wail. “Come on, baby. She’s okay. She’ll be okay, I promise.” He retorted. ___________ River happened to stumble in a bar when she became thirsty. She had been walking around taking pictures of wooden sculptures of creatures and human figures for a good hour and a half. She had already fallen in love with the small town and the breeze that flowed at night. Even during the day, it didn’t feel as hot and humid as in Texas. It was the opposite.