What if you actually have nine lives and only have four left? My name is Carmen and this shit all started at the day I was born. There was a witch that cursed me to this fate. The only way to survive is when I turn eighteen with still one or more lives left. But how older I get, how harder it is to survive. Not only a group of scientists are looking for me, to test me, cut me open, to let me die again. Now there is someone else looking for me too. A priest who believes I made a deal with the devil. How am I ever going to live when everyone wants me dead? Ps: there will be some cursing about and against god. I'm so very sorry if I offend you in any way. Pps: I'm Dutch, English is not my first language.
The three doctors tied me up to the bed. My ankles, my wrists, my head. When they pulled them tighter, I whined. My body was sore. My body was broken.
'Please, not again. I'm too weak. Please, don't do this to me.' I begged them to stop. I never thought I was going to spend my summer holiday in one of the most delirious and extreme medical facility in the states. My mom had driven me to summer camp, but before I could join the opening ceremony, men in white suits found me and drugged me. I woke up in a operating room. I couldn't move. All I could do was scream when they started cutting into me.
'Let's put on the machine first.' Doctor Ben said. Doctor Viv and Sadee started to prep for another session. I barely survived my last session and I would probably die this time. I can feel I'm dying.
'Please, it's too soon. Just bring me back.' I kept on begging, but they didn't listen. One set of hands paste stickers on my forehead, while another set of hands pushed a needle in the arch of my elbow. There were tubes attached to the needle and the stickers, connected to the machine, to take my blood and my vitals. They have been testing me for weeks now. I knew what came next.
Doctor Viv grabbed the scissors and cut open my hospital gown. 'Maybe she was right. She didn't heal this time. Sadee, look. She has still the cuts from yesterday.' That was why they were testing me. Since the day I was born, I was never sick. I healed faster than a normal human. The cuts normally healed within a few hours. They had found out when I broke my back during a school trip six months ago. I fell off an old balcony of a museum. It was an unexpected accident. No one even noticed I died that day and came back to live. All they wanted to know was how I was healed my broken back in two days.
'We have to proceed, Viv. We have only two days left before she is supposed to be back from camp. We have to do the last test now.' doctor Sadee said.
'But she will die.' In all those weeks, doctors Viv and Sadee tried to make me feel comfortable during my stay here. They let me watch tv, they brought me food and they played board games with me. Viv was the one that brushed and braided my hair and told me I could go back when all the tests were done.
'Better she dies than we. We have to do this.' Doctor Benedict took the knife. I wanted to scream, but no sound was coming out.
The knife was placed on my right side. I could feel the cold tip of the blade puncture my skin. Doctor Ben pressed the blade deeper and made a cut deep into my stomach. I was pulling at the straps, I was arching my back in pain. This was how I was going to die. I wasn't going to heal this time. 'Start the clock. When it's been fifteen minutes, we cut again.'
I felt weak. I was on the edge of passing out. I was loosing blood fast, trough the cut and through the tube. They were killing me. I wasn't healing this time. 'Viv.' I whispered. 'I'm begging you. Please stop. I'm not going to make it. I'm dying.'
'Don't listen to her. She is lying.' Doctor Ben was always the hardest doctor around here. He had beaten me almost daily, just because I didn't participate willingly. Can you blame me? He made it clear he didn't like me. The feeling was mutual.
Then the timer said the fifteen minutes were over. Doctor Ben took the knife again. He sliced me from the collarbone all the way down to the other cut on my stomach. I didn't scream, I didn't move, I couldn't feel anything anymore. My breath stocked a few time. The sound on the machines flatlined, because my heart stopped for a second, but then kept on beating.
'She is going to die!' Viv pushed Ben away from me. 'Carmen, hang on. You are so much stronger than this. You can heal. You are going to make it.'
'I'm not.' I closed my eyes. I was too weak. 'Not this time.'
'Carmen, open your eyes.'
'Just tell my mom that I loved her.' I felt my body going weaker. My heartbeat went even slower and I was slipping away.
'Carmen!' Sadee now screamed.
'Carmen.' Viv cried. Both Viv and Sadee tried to wake me up. They were shaking me to wake up. But I was gone. My heart stopped. The cuts they gave me weren't healing this time. I died through blood loss. Flatlined. The end. 'God no, she is dead. Carmen is dead. She tried to warn us and now she is dead. What are we going to do now?'
24 hours or something later....
I woke up in the forest. My mind was blurry, like I had been sleeping for way too long. I sat up and looked around. There were trees everywhere and I had no idea where I was. I was laying under a pile of leaves, like someone tried to hide my body here. I brushed them off. I was wearing a white shirt and white pants, now dirty with mud and leaves. These weren't my clothes. What the hell happened to me?
I just started to walk. What else was I supposed to do? I walked and walked until I saw a boy kissing a girl against a large tree. The boy had dark skin and black hair. The girl had really long brown hair, that was all I could see of her.
'Hey, you there.' I yelled. They both got screamed and looked at me. 'Tell me, where the hell are we?'
'Camp Lalune Resort.' the girl answered. 'Did you go to camp with us?' Now I could see, she wasn't wearing a lot of clothes, only a bikini top and shorts.
Camp. The memories of coming here with my mother, the white men, the experiments, the doctors and me dying on their table, it was all coming back to me. Shit. I shook it off. 'Where is this camp? I need to get there.' They just pointed to a large camp sign. I was so close and I didn't even notice it. 'Thank you.' I walked to the sign. There were people everywhere, laughing and talking with each other. They all weren't wearing much clothes. It was really hot outside. I was the only one wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants. I hadn't seen the sun in six weeks. I didn't even feel warm right now.
There were boys and girls standing in a large circle with suitcases, parents talking and people saying goodbye to each other. It was the last day of camp or so it seemed. I missed it all. I was held in their stupid hospital for six whole weeks. I could've had so much fun here. It looked like the others had.
I didn't waist any time and walked around, looking for my mother. She wasn't here and I didn't know if she was even coming for me, because I never went to camp here. Did she even know I was missing?
'Can I help you? Are you looking for someone? You seem lost.' There was a man standing next to me, looking at me like my hair was purple or something. He was wearing a Camp Lalune Resort shirt. So he must be a leader here.
'I am looking for my mother.' I told him honestly.
'What is your name, sweat pea?'
'Carmen O'Hara.' He was looking on a list on his clipboard.
'Wait, you are the girl that was missing the first day. Where have you been?'
'That is none of your business. Can I use your phone so I can call my mother?'
'Wow, watch your mouth girl. We have been looking everywhere for you. So, tell me where were you?'
'To be honest, I don't know.' I held my hand out for him to give me his phone. 'Can I use your phone or not?' He finally gave in and gave me his phone. He kept looking at me weird though. I had to think for a minute to remember my mom's number, then I dialed.
'Hello?' my mom said on the other end of the line. I missed hearing her voice so much. 'Hello? Who is this?'
'Mom, it's me.' I whispered.
'Carmen? Oh my god, Carmen!'
'Mom, sssh. You don't need to shout.'
'Carmen, I have been worried sick. Where have you been?'
I actually started to cry. I don't cry easily. In the six weeks they had held me captive, I never cried once. Now the tears were streaming down my face and there was nothing I could do about it. 'Mom, it happened again.' I could hear my mom gasp trough the phone. 'They found me mom. They were testing me. They didn't know the thing... You know what I mean. That is why.. Mom I have four left. I have four lives left.'
Well, there you have it. That is my secret. I was cursed at birth by some witch. Mom won't tell me by who, but he must be evil. I was given nine lives. If I have one or more lives left at the time I turn eighteen, I will live a immortal life until I'm hundred years old. But if I die nine times before that, I will stay dead. Nine lives sound like a lot, but the curse is making my live a living hell. Accidents happen all the times, I had so many already. I have died five times.
The first time I died, I was only a few days old. Mom said I just stopped breathing at one point. She was so scared.
I died when I was four years old and I died when I was twelve.
The balcony fail, when I was sixteen years old a few months back, was the fourth time I died.
And now I died by extreme scientists.
I am now seventeen years old and I died five times already. I have only four lives left. The scientists where just the beginning. If only they knew I am still alive....
Maya Picori didn't have a normal childhood. After her father died when she was only ten years old, Maya's mother became a sex worker at home. There were always naked men walking in their house. Maya was just curious about the things her mother did. But curiosity can be dangerous. Men will be lying, taking advantage of her innocence. And now she is paying the price. Tears are running down my face. ‘Mom, I'm pregnant.’ I felt the pain she left behind by slapping me across my face. I lower my head. I don't want her to hit me again, just by looking at her. I take a step back, now with my back against the door, I have no way to go. ‘No, you're not! You told me you didn't have a boyfriend! Don't lie to me, Maya!’ she screams at my face. ‘Look at me you slut!’ I was kicked out of the house that day. I'm 15 years old, pregnant and homeless. This is my story. It's full of love, lies and betrayal.
What if your family is one of the most famous families of the word, all but you? Your whole life you are kept hidden away. They threat you like dirt, like you don't even matter. While all you want is to be seen. Not by the whole world like your family members, but by your mom, the one that supposed to take care of you but hasn't spoken to you in months. This is the reality of Shelly Weekland. Mistreated, bullied, abused, tortured, ignored. While her family is living the happy life in their own realityshow, their lives aren't that perfect when the camera's are off. Every single one of them has their own secrets, their own stories and somehow Shelly knows them all. But is it safe to know so much?
July Greek (18) grew up in a world of money problems, alcohol and drugs. She has a brother and two sisters, all from different fathers but the same mother. Their lives weren't easy. They have been homeless, they have been abused, they have been mistreated and drugged. They don't tell anyone about their lives and keep to themselves. Oldest brother Sept moved away a long time ago, leaving oldest sister Marchi to the task of taking care of mom and her sisters July and Deci. But then one day mother gets arrested and all goes to shit. Their house got broken into, Marchi gets fired and child protective services tries to take Deci away. Men are hunting them. Their mom is hiding something and they think the sisters know where it is. It's not safe for them to stay home. Who are those men? What has mom been hiding from them? Who can they trust? Where is Sept? The hunt begins. Ps: I'm Dutch, English is not my first language. I'm sorry if I made any spelling mistakes.
Nova Hawk has it all. Money, reputation, a loving family and amazing friends. But she lost it all when she wakes up in the middle of the night after her eighteenth birthday party. Someone is in her room. She gets kidnapped by a group of six men that form a rockband that tour around America, giving concerts along the way. The lead singer Brad is the scariest of the six men, he also claims to be her biological father. After a while Nova finds herself enjoying the freedom she never had. She learns to play electric guitar, she travels to places she never went and feels closer to her mother that ever. Will she choose to stay in the live of rock, sex and alcohol? Or will she escape her horny father and friends to live with her younger sister at her aunt's house? Ps: I'm Dutch, English is not my first language. I'm sorry if I made any spelling mistakes. Pps: Be aware of strong language, abuse and rapings. Don't read it if it's too dark.
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
After three secretive years of marriage, Eliana never met her enigmatic husband until she was served with divorce papers and learned of his extravagant pursuit of another. She snapped back to reality and secured a divorce. Thereafter, Eliana unveiled her various personas: an esteemed doctor, legendary secret agent, master hacker, celebrated designer, adept race car driver, and distinguished scientist. As her diverse talents became known, her ex-husband was consumed by remorse. Desperately, he pleaded, "Eliana, give me another chance! All my properties, even my life, are yours."
"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"
Rumors claimed that Fernanda, newly back with her family, was nothing more than a violent country bumpkin. Fernanda just flashed a casual, dismissive grin in response. Another rumor suggested that the usually rational Cristian had lost all sense, madly in love with Fernanda. This frustrated her. She could tolerate gossip about herself, but slander against her beloved crossed the line! Gradually, as Fernanda's multiple identities as a celebrated designer, a savvy gamer, an acclaimed painter, and a successful business magnate came to light, everyone realized they were the ones who had been fooled.