Zzz Hollow Zero

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My boyfriend and I had been together for eight years. We were already discussing marriage when Robbie suddenly asked me to wait a little longer. He said he needed to hold a grand wedding with his first love before he could marry me. Because, as he explained, for his first love—who struggled with anxiety—marriage was her greatest wish in life. He couldn't bear to see her spiral into self-harm under the weight of her illness, so with tears in his eyes, he promised to give her a home. Stunned, I asked what would happen to me. Instead of answering, he snapped impatiently, "Can't you show some empathy? It's just a year or two more. Are you really that desperate to get married? "And another thing… lend me your ring. Let Lucy wear it for now. You won't be needing it anytime soon." I stared at the man before me, someone both familiar and suddenly a stranger, and felt only a cold, hollow ache in my chest. But at last, I saw his true face behind the mask. Later, I chose to attend their wedding. I brought with me a very special blessing.

At the sacred Moonfire Festival, Sera Vane suffers a betrayal that shatters her life and drives her from her pack in shame. In a moment of heartbreak and desperation, she disguises herself and takes part in a secret ritual meant for the Alpha and it changes her fate forever. No one speaks of what happens during the Moonfire Ritual. But five years later, the consequences have returned with sera as she returns to Crimson Hollow with a young son James whose striking resemblance to Alpha Aldric Thorne sparks whispers throughout the pack. Her unexpected reappearance threatens to disrupt the carefully guarded hierarchy, especially for those who once cast her out, and for the Alpha himself, who remains unaware of the truth behind that fateful night. Bound by duty Aldric agrees to Sera’s bold demand: a union that secures her son’s place… but keeps their hearts locked away. As political tensions rise and enemies close in, Sera must navigate a dangerous game of power, betrayal, and buried emotions. In a world where bloodlines determine destiny and love is both a weapon and a weakness, Sera must rise from the ashes of her past to protect her child, uncover the truth, and claim the strength she never knew she had.

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Daniella Thornhill, a hybrid and orphan has endured seven years of silent torment as the loyal assistant—and secret lover—to Liam Garvalle, the cold and calculating Alpha of the hollow pack. Trapped by love, duty, and her own frail humanity, Daniella has silently borne the pain of a one-sided mate bond, a cruel twist of fate that Liam himself remains oblivious to. When Matilda, a perfect purebred re-enters Liam’s life claiming to be his true mate, Daniella’s world begins to unravel. Lies, betrayal, and cruel manipulation follow Daniella at every turn as Matilda's schemes tighten the noose around her. What Liam sees as loyalty to his pack and legacy, Daniella feels as suffocating control. With her unborn child at stake and no one to trust, Daniella faces a devastating decision that could break her completely—or awaken a long-dormant strength within her. Unknown to them all, secrets lie buried: a father searching for his lost daughter, a wolf waiting to emerge, and a bond more powerful than any deception. As Daniella’s carefully maintained composure begins to crack, the cost of love, vengeance, and survival looms large. Who will emerge unscathed when fate turns its merciless wheel?

My fiancé proposes to my stepsister Thalia Yates in front of everyone at our engagement party. Furious, I pack my stuff and leave home. That's when Jude Pearson, heir to an international medical group, entered my life. He's a surgeon rumored to have zero interest in women. Yet he pursued me passionately for six months. Eventually, I accepted his proposal. For seven years after our wedding, he's been gentle and considerate, always putting my needs first. Then, I overhear his phone conversation with his mother, Helena Roberts. "Jude, it's been seven years, but you still have no kids. It's time for a divorce." "Since I couldn't marry Thalia, it doesn't matter who I married instead. I'll keep playing this role forever. As long as I'm around, she'll never be able to intrude upon Thalia's happiness." That's when the truth hits me—Jude has given up the family business to become a surgeon just to treat Thalia's heart condition. Our years of marriage are actually his way of protecting Thalia from afar. If that's the case, then I'll disappear from their world and let my absence be their happy ending.

I worked for a restaurant, and our boss loved making empty promises about giving us restaurant shares. The boss said we would start with zero shares, but we could earn 0.01% for every two hours of overtime, covering someone else’s work or saving the restaurant 1,000 bucks. I suggested she write this down in an official document and have someone track it properly. She just smiled and told everyone to work harder. She never actually put it in writing. The experienced staff did not believe her, but one prep cook took it seriously. At the end of the year, he went to the boss to claim his shares. The boss said, “Sorry, the head chef told me there’s no official document, so it doesn’t count. You can’t claim any shares.” The prep cook worked hard all year and got nothing for it, so he took his anger out on me. The day before I was going home for the New Year, he killed me with a knife. “If you hadn’t said it doesn’t count without an official document, this whole restaurant would’ve been mine!” I lay in a pool of blood. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day the boss first made those empty promises.

Adrian Sinclair has his life carefully planned—straight A’s, a flawless academic record, and zero distractions. As a top student at Oakridge University, he’s always been more comfortable buried in books than dealing with people. But when he’s assigned to tutor Liam Hunter, the school’s star athlete, his perfectly controlled world is thrown into chaos. Liam is everything Adrian isn’t—charming, reckless, and effortlessly popular. He needs to pass his classes to stay on the team, but studying has never been his strong suit. When he meets Adrian, he expects another dull tutor, not someone who challenges him in ways he never expected. What starts as a reluctant partnership soon turns into something deeper. Late-night study sessions, stolen glances, and unspoken words blur the lines between friendship and something more. But as feelings grow stronger, so do the obstacles—fear, expectations, and the undeniable truth that love isn’t something you can plan for. Will Adrian and Liam risk it all to embrace what’s between them? Or will their own insecurities and the pressures of college life keep them apart? A slow-burn college romance filled with longing, tension, and the sweetest of lessons—the kind that only love can teach.

Marcus Halverin is used to winning. As the university’s star athlete, confidence comes easily — along with the belief that the world revolves around him. Kelsey Vale disagrees the moment they meet. Kelsey Vale works too hard, studies too much, and has zero patience for arrogant athletes born into privilege — especially when one of them turns out to be the son of the wealthy family employing her mother. Sharp-tongued and impossible to intimidate, she refuses to treat him like campus royalty, and their instant dislike quickly turns into an all-out rivalry. Their rivalry quickly becomes legendary, fueled by insults, competition, and a stubborn refusal to back down. Yet beneath the arguments, Marcus begins to notice the girl who challenges him without fear, and admiration turns into something far more dangerous. He falls first for her, quietly and completely. Kelsey refuses to trust it. Boys like Marcus don’t change, and she refuses to become another girl dazzled by his world. She fights her feelings. But when someone new enters Marcus’s life — effortless, beautiful, and willing to give him the admiration Kelsey never would — he finally stops chasing what he cannot have. Then Kelsey realizes she is deeply in love with Marcus already and she cannot watch the man she loves go with another woman.

I fought with my husband, Alessio, the Don of the Moretti family, over the mistress who'd given him twin sons. The next day, he stormed into my bedroom and put a gun to my head. "Did you take my sons?! You vicious bitch!" While I was still in shock, he ordered his men to lock my eight-year-old daughter, Lucia, in the icehouse for three whole days of "training." He gave me an ultimatum: Lucia would stay there until I brought him his sons. Lucia froze to death in that icehouse. I returned with her death certificate in my hand, my heart a hollow stone in my chest, only to find him moving his mistress and their sons into the home we once shared. He was cheerful, dismissing the whole thing as a misunderstanding. He even had the audacity to tell me to go get Lucia to meet her "new little brothers." I just stared, tears tracking paths down my face, the life inside me extinguished. It wasn't until that thin piece of paper—the death certificate—fluttered to the floor that the color drained from Alessio's face. He finally realized Lucia was gone. Killed by his own blind, cruel pride.