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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?
She was a diamond covered by ashes.... King Dakota was known as the most Powerful Alpha King of all times - more powerful than any other King that had ruled from his lineage. He was cold hearted, introverted and dangerous in anger. Cursed by the Moon goddess, King Dakota had to get married to three wives all in search of a male child that would become his heir, but it was impossible as the curse would only let his wives bear she -wolves. But on a different day, the King meets a lady who offends him and as a punishment, he took her home as his fourth wife. Her name was Shilah. Shilah was a powerless wolf and as a result, was disregarded and intimidated by all. But, when she begins to do things that the King had never felt for years, he began to wonder who she really was. Slowly, she crawled her way into his icy heart and turned out to be something nobody ever expected - a storm.
Loraine was a dutiful wife to Marco since they got married three years ago. However, he treated her like trash. Nothing she did softened his heart. One day, Loraine got fed up with it all. She asked him for a divorce and left him to enjoy with his mistress. The elites looked at her like she was deranged. "Are you out of your mind? Why are you so willing to divorce him?" "It's because I need to return home to get a billion-dollar fortune. Besides, I don't love him anymore," Loraine replied with a smile. They all laughed at her. Some believed that the divorce affected her mentally. It wasn't until the next day that they realized she wasn't fibbing. A woman was suddenly declared the world's youngest female billionaire. It turned out to be Loraine! Marco was shocked to the bone. When he met his ex-wife again, she was a changed person. A group of handsome young men surrounded her. She was smiling at them all. The sight made Marco's heart ache severely. Putting his pride aside, he tried to win her back. "Hello, love. I see that you are a billionaire now. You shouldn't be with suckers who just want your money. How about you come back to me? I'm a billionaire too. Together, we can build a strong empire. What do you say?" Loraine squinted at her ex-husband with her lips curled in disgust.
Rachel used to think that her devotion would win Brian over one day, but she was proven wrong when his true love returned. Rachel had endured it all—from standing alone at the altar to dragging herself to the hospital for an emergency treatment. Everyone thought she was crazy to give up so much of herself for someone who didn’t return her feelings. But when Brian received news of Rachel’s terminal illness and realized she didn’t have long to live, he completely broke down. "I forbid you to die!" Rachel just smiled. She no longer needed him. "I will finally be free."
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"
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!"