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~A voice, foreign to me, whispered in a gravely voice. "I hope she enjoys her time in hell"~ For Adira, there's a whole life spread out ahead of her, waiting to be lived. For Jayson, time is of the essence. In the midst of the stress of high school and daily life, Adira Brower's world is turned upside down when an unwanted attraction rolls into town. A boy without a family, Jayson is the perfect recipe for disaster. Against all odds, and Adria's boyfriend's wishes, the two cross paths time and time again. A party, a project, a prank that goes horribly wrong - it's like the stars are aligning in their favor. What Adira doesn't know, is how dangerous of a boy Jayson really is, and how much she'll have to give up to get her happily ever after. Secrets lie behind closed doors, and in the end, time stops for no one.
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Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up
― Veronica Roth
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I was running.
My legs pumped, bringing me further and further away from what I was running from. Driven by fear and adrenaline, my feet tore at the lush, grassy ground, as if they were angry to even walk upon the earth.
My brain pulsed, the banging of a drum beating constantly on my skull. But it wasn't unusual. At the moment it seemed like the most natural part of my body.
Bang bang bang.
One, two, three - hitting sixty with a harsh hammer that pierced my temples. It sounded much like a gunshot, but harsher still, like time itself was exploding.
Seconds, minutes, hours passed, and I could feel it all in my head. Sixty seconds, paired with a harsh bang at the end. Sixty minutes, followed by an even harsher bang.
A tree branch slapped against my face as I ran past it. I didn't notice the hard wood until it was too late. My legs kept working, kept driving me, and my hand went up to cradle my stinging face. Drops of blood inked slowly from the wound. I looked down for the only second I could spare. Blood dripped down my fingers, red and sticky.
My eyes flitted around. The forest was fading away at the edges, inky black fog seeping in through the looming trees.
The knotted, brown hair atop my head was flying in snarled locks behind me, catching on small branches and twigs, but I kept running, because suddenly the feeling of being chased was heavy in my conscience.
They was the predator and I was the prey. I couldn't hear the footsteps, though in my head they were loud and heavy, crushing me under their weight.
Fear was etching itself into my skin, creating scars that sliced through my being. My heart was hammering inside of my chest, so fast that it physically hurt.
"Stop, " I cried out loud in between gasping for air. My lungs were collapsing with every anxiety-filled moment.
Bang bang bang, went the drum in my head.
"Please!" I cried, my voice raspy. I couldn't explain it, but I knew that getting caught would be the end - it would either be the end of the pain and misery, or the start of something much worse.
The latter seemed more likely.
Suddenly, the scene changed, and leaves crunched beneath my feet. It was autumn, but the absence of birds proved that I was nearing cold and winter.
I hated the cold, and cringed as snow piles leaked up from the forest floor, piling higher and higher until it became difficult to run.
Torrents of cool air were rushing in behind me, pushing pushing pushing, until my body threatened to splay itself across the snow.
My bare arms and legs, covered by shorts and a t-shirt, were suddenly piled with goosebumps, and I began to shiver.
The predator was running behind me, their footsteps finally mixing in with mine. They were close.
Fear, cold and crushing, filled my chest. I felt their presence behind me, running faster than I could.
My converse shoes were soaked and filling with snow. I almost cried out when one of them slipped off my heal and was left behind in the snow. The now-bare foot slapped against the freezing snow, shooting pain slicing up my leg.
I didn't want to do it anymore.
What if I stop running? I wondered vaguely. Will it end?
But the question of how it would end was more overpowering, and I pumped my arms faster, moving my legs until they threatened to break.
Snow was falling, pelting, shooting down from the sky through the leafless tree branches.
I ran.
"Remember me, Adira?"
The voice was hard and cracking, a deep, angry male.
A scream tumbled out of my mouth and I choked on it, struggling for air.
There was something so familiar about the voice that it sent a spine-chilling shiver down my back.
The banging in my head was as prominent as ever. My skull was being smashed with a hammer.
The man was getting closer - I could feel him on my heels. It was only one person, but it felt like an overpowering group of many.
A hand, as cold and clammy and as frozen as the air around me, clamped town on my shoulder.
I was jerked back.
The scream in my mouth was cut off by another hand, which slapped down on my mouth. I struggled to draw in air through the stiff fingers. My chest constricted.
And then I was falling.
<<>>
I woke up, another scream caught in my throat.
Drops of sweat slid down my forehead as I dropped my head into my hands, pushing my bed sheet away from my sweaty body.
The same dream, over and over, for the past two weeks, and I didn't know what it meant.
"Dream my ass, " I muttered shakily. That had been a nightmare.
The fear I'd felt was still caught in my chest, taking up too much space.
I never knew what the nightmare meant. Except that when I woke up, the banging in my head was gone.
"Oh, shit, we're cuddling..." ~~~ Three girls, a Jack Daniels bottle, and a game of Truth or Dare: the recipe for disaster. And if you add in a website, a Cuddle Application, and an incredibly attractive boy named Oliver, the recipe gets a little tastier. But what if a silly joke, like submitting a Cuddle Application to find a hug buddy, becomes something so much more? What if it slowly transforms into love?
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
Eliana was framed by her best friend and her fiance into sleeping with a boy toy in the club and getting impregnated by him. Five years after she had given birth to twins, she returned home and worked under the Moran Group, where she met the CEO-- Maurice. Maurice was a brilliant businessman who did his job well. But in order to stay under the radar, he lived a double life. One as Maurice, and one as Preston. Fate brought the two together again, roping them in on an exciting love story. It all became more complicated when Eliana faced Preston, the man she had slept with before, once again. Now that she was being pursued by two men, how could she ever choose? When would Eliana uncover the secret of Maurice's identity? When was Maurice going to know that he already had two children of his own? How would Eliana face this man when the truth came to light one day? Come and find out.
"Love is blind!" Lucinda abandoned her beautiful and comfortable life because of a man. She married him and slaved off for him for three long years. One day, the scales finally fell off her eyes. She realized that all her efforts were in vain. Her husband, Nathaniel still treated her like shit. All he cared about was his lover. "Enough is enough! I quit wasting my years with an ungrateful man!" Lucinda's heart was shattered into many pieces, but she summoned up the courage to ask for a divorce. The news caused a stir online! A filthy rich young woman recently got divorced? She was a good catch! Countless CEOs and handsome young men immediately swarmed to her like bees to honey! Nathaniel couldn't take it anymore. He held a press conference and begged with teary eyes, "I love you, Lucinda. I can't live without you. Please come back to me." Would Lucinda give him a second chance? Read to find out!
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.