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Could you ever imagine having a phobia for eyes? A pair of deep ocean blue eyes is not just enticing but aesthetically appealing to the visual senses (eyes) as well. But that was miles away from being the case for a certain Ashley Sinclair. Not only did she have a phobia for blue eyes, she was also diagnosed with insomnia, anxiety disorder, panic disorder, etc, and had to live on drugs following the gruesome event that occurred on the 18th of July. Hooded guy with black nose mask and blistering deep ocean blue eyes raining lours on Ashley. That enigmatic scene that continued for days was brought to an abrupt end on a bloody note – Makayla Palmer was murdered in cold blood. Unfortunately, Ashley was the only one allowed to wake up in that pool of blood, falling asleep with her best friend full of life only to find her on the brink of death afterwards. Subsequent to lying unconscious in the hospital for a few weeks, she woke up with a whole new personality, dampened yet one with the deep burning urge to bring the killer to misery. She did all in her power to help the police in her case. Having chiseled a spitting image of the hooded guy to mind, she was able to produce a portrait on paper. That portrait was useless until a second murder case resembling Makayla's took place. The other female students of International University of Chicago were slowly consumed by fear after a series of death confirmed to be a serial killer case, wondering 'who's next?' A part of Ashley surged with thrill, gaining the opportunity to pull the puzzle pieces together and somehow solve the mystery. Ashley somehow eventually found herself entwined in an exhausting love triangle between Carson Anderson – her detective friend – and Daniil Smirnov – an ousted Russian heir transferred to her school. The duo slowly began to compete for her attention and love but Ashley wasn't into either of them. At first. Their relationship later ended with Carson as the third wheel because Ashley without knowing, fell deeply in love with Daniil. Slowly his influence rubbed off, letting her old personality return. Little did she know what laid in store at the end of that tunnel she thought to bring so much positivity and radiance to her soul. There was more to Daniil than met the eye. The culprit at long last revealed himself. But instead of leaving Ashley feeling elated and fulfilled having achieved the greatest feat, it left her confused and in disarray. 'How could she not have known? Did she see the signs but choose to ignore them? How could she not have felt the killer's presence even when he was so close? "Who killed Makayla?"
~~Ashley's POV~~
"Ashley!" I heard the pestering hail – I knew to be my mom's – for the umpteenth time a few paces away from behind the door. Well, it was expected as I had adopted the lifestyle of remaining indoors 95% of my day if not 100. Whatever I needed was brought to my room; I only left the comfort of its four walls when it was inevitable. Away from the world, behind closed doors, I remained and helped the police on Makayla's murder case.
"Ashley!" I heard it again and immediately squeezed the paper I was using to draw at the time, then added it to the litter on the floor. "Ash..." "Coming," I cut in sluggishly before dragging my feet to get the door.
"Were you asleep?" she asked kindly, walking in to drop the tray of medicine on the table. I scoffed silently before replying, "As if."
"What's all this?" she asked me, bending to pick one of the squeezed papers lying everywhere on the floor. "'Deep Ocean Blue Eyes'" she read aloud what was written on one. "You're still on this? I told you the police would handle this..."
"They can't handle it, mom!" I retorted almost at once. "There's no information whatsoever they have about him!"
"Do you think you could help by drawing different shades of blue eyes? How do you expect this to work?" she paused a bit while observing my countenance closely before continuing, "I know it's hard baby. But you need to take it easy."
"I need to try something, Mom!" I exclaimed with ensuing whimpers as I fell back to my bed.
"Honey," she called soothingly before taking the spot beside me.
"I need to try something. I can't sit here and watch him roam the streets free after killing my best friend!" I lamented, teary-eyed.
Without saying further, she pulled me into her bosom. "It's okay baby, you'll be fine," she solaced, caressing my ruffled hair. "Why don't you take your drugs, get some sleep, and we'll talk about this later?" the distressed woman suggested innocently.
I'd been on medications – I knew nothing of – for the past month following Makayla's death. The doctors who gave the prescription said they were for my anxiety disorder, insomnia, and all other messed up medical terms they used to brainwash my parents. Nevertheless, my condition remained the same. My insomnia which was a result of recurring nightmares continued, and my "anxiety" became my closest company at the time. So taking the drugs was useless and I'd sometimes flush them down the drain. My mom eventually took note and took it upon herself to personally administer them. After much talking, I yielded on the condition that she remained beside me.
***
"Makayla!" called from nowhere, a voice recognized to be Jordan's while we walked home together. In response, we both turned around to see him grinning from ear to ear a few paces away. "Do not forget to turn in your assignment by the weekend!" he reminded her of an overdue project.
"I sure will!" Makayla said in response, wearing a sheepish smile. It was damn obvious those two had a serious crush on each other.
Randomly shifting my gaze, I locked eyes once again with the strange dude in a hood and nose mask standing near the pole adjacent to the general math hall. It was the fifth time that week being in such an eerie atmosphere. Without any interactions or contact, a few paces away, dude just rained lours on me concealing his identity, leaving only his deep ocean blue eyes to my knowledge. On the first and second occasions, I attached no strings to his presence, brushing off whatever suspicions I could have harbored as "just a random weird dude on campus." However, the third and fourth occasions slapped reality to my face somewhat – I was being stalked! Naturally, my excitement was washed away immediately. Deeply engaged in the depth of his glare as though he was digging into my skin, I totally forgot my company.
"Ashley!" I heard Makayla holler, standing right next to me. She'd probably been calling my stupefied state back to normalcy. "Are you okay?" she asked warmly when she finally gained my attention. Before long, she too could also sense my nervousness by virtue of the sweat that became imminent on my face as that hardly ever happened.
"I... I saw him," I muttered shakily.
"You saw who? The guy with deep ocean blue eyes?" she sought clarification with the only information divulged to her. Following the trail of my stare initially, she redirected her gaze only to meet the pole as it was.
"He's gone," I muttered under my breath. 'Am I seeing a ghost?' the thought breezed in as Makayla for one had never caught a glimpse of him before. My ensuing shivers were put on hold the moment I felt Makayla's hand slide into mine. As always, she held me to help pull my thoughts together.
"It's the summer starting tomorrow, Ashley!" She reminded gleefully in a bid to replace the uneasy feeling with something exciting. Scratch that, it was the last day of school for that session, what could possibly outweigh that fulfilling feeling for average students like ourselves? With that in mind, my cheeks bulged in formation of a wide smile. "Shall we?" she held on tightly and received a nod as a response from me.
To kick start the summer break, we headed to Makayla's. She lived alone, and I had already told my parents I'd be late. So here we go!
Backing the refrigerator, Makayla held up a bottle of whiskey on one hand, and a shot glass on the other. The 21-year-old alcohol fanatic was ready for another episode. "C'mon Kayla," I stressed.
"You are so taking this with me today," she shuddered my mild riposte at once, closing our distance. "You'd love it," she placed it directly before me on the dining table.
"Just a shot glass?"
Without as much as a sound, she raised her brows twice, driving her message home. "Not again Kayla," I sighed. Apparently we were going to play a game she called "the shot glass." Whoever had the most resistance to the alcoholic beverage wins and gets a wish granted by the loser. Makayla was very well aware of my low resistance but always insisted on that as it was the one thing she could ever beat me at. Well, here goes nothing! With a shot of whiskey, the game was set in motion.
"Wh... why do you look like that?" she managed to ask amidst hysteric laughter watching my dramatic scowl on the fourth shot. With a thud on the table using the glass, I passed the baton to her. "Here you go!" Excitedly, she took the fourth shot without as much as a flinch.
To be honest, spending time with Makayla made up the most exciting moments of my life. Not to mention how much my life changed after meeting the wild fellow, our friendship blossomed nonetheless. She was more of a sister than a best friend to me; one of the few I could open up to without worrying of a third party. Having said that, the evening shortly closed in on our wasted selves on the floor of her living room.
I jolted with sudden, not realizing how fast asleep we had fallen. Still drowsy, my eyes met with pitch black darkness indicating the night's presence as the lights were off. Still under the influence of alcohol, my bones and muscles felt weak to a fault to move. My impaired vision made it harder to find my phone.
Summoning whatever strength I could, rubbing the floor around me with both hands, I searched for nothing in particular, just something useful. Hol'up... I paused abruptly when I felt a subtle change in texture and temperature. The smooth, cool surface of the tiles became irregular and slightly sticky beneath my fingers. "What the fuck is this?" I thought. There and then the skies clamored, shedding light – through the lightening that struck – on the grottiest scene I was yet to behold. "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" came the shriek that shook me out of stupor to a sober state as I dashed in search of the lights switch. Thinking aback, we never put the lights off in the first place. But all of a sudden, even the doors and windows were also wide open.
"Makayla!!!!" I yelled on top of my voice seeing her body in the pool of her own blood. "Makayla!!!!" I hollered, pressing both hands against her stab wounds that kept trickling blood. With my mind kept hazy with many perplexing thoughts, I struggled to keep up with the countless openings as I only had two hands at my disposal. "Somebody help!!" I screamed only to be greeted by the echoes of my very own voice. "Makayla! Makayla!!" without letup, I hailed the still body. Once again, my rapt attention was called when I noticed her eyelids flutter. "Makayla!" Instinctively, I leapt in search of my phone. If she was still moving, calling an ambulance was the best thing to do at the time.
Getting up from beside her, with my blood running cold, I scanned the room in search of my bag pack only to catch sight of the bloody inscription on her mirror standing against the wall which read: "Deep ocean blue eyes." Shivers were immediately sent down my spine as I facepalmed myself in utter shock. With the creepy sensation ridding my legs of any life, I faltered back into the bloody pool. Shuddering in deep fear, I groveled instead to reach my bag which lay near the mirror. The night sure was hella chilly for one in summer. With so much difficulty, I reached for my bag. Given my terrible hand tremors, getting the bag was one thing, the phone, another, and dialing '911' proved to be the most arduous of all.
~~ "Ashley!" I suddenly heard faintly amidst the turmoil. Before long, my head also began to spin. 'What's going on?' "Ashley!" the voice called again.
"Ashley!!!" "Aaaahhh!!!" I screamed hearing the call made clear for the third time, meeting my mom's tensed gaze.
"It's just another nightmare," she said assuringly, her eyeballs all watery as she held me closely again.
"Deep ocean blue eyes... deep ocean blue eyes... deep ocean blue eyes...," I rambled shakily.
How much does a signature weigh? ~~~ Laurel’s average takes a drastic turn when her father signs a life-changing contract. In exchange for saving his company from the depths of penury, she is given in marriage to one of the most inhumane CEOs in the whole of Washington DC – Ivan Briggs. Outside her wish, she becomes a part of the Briggs family. A family where toxicity is the air they breathe, hatred, the food they eat, and envy, the water they drink. Dark secrets form the walls of the Briggs mansion, and every day become puzzle pieces for Laurel to put together. Days travel by, and Laurel finally comes to understand the intense power tussle for the Briggs conglomerate group, between Ivan and the rest of the family. They want him down, destroyed, wrecked, and even blot out of existence. Ivan’s ‘dead’ mask slowly falls off and Laurel gets to see the abject loneliness he actually wallows in. Out of ‘pity’ at first, she stands in for him. Acting like a shield, she blocks all the arrows shot in Ivan’s way by his family. But what happens when ‘pity’ turns into a heart-throbbing emotion that makes her want to hold him by the hand instead? What happens when she decides to fight WITH him, and not just FOR him? What happens when the two love-hungry individuals find solace in themselves? What happens when the duo fall hopelessly in love with each other? The ‘misfortune’ that happened on the alter becomes their biggest feat. ‘Love conquers all,’ they say. But for Ivan, it also becomes a reason to breathe. To live. To fight. And WIN. This book covers their journey from start, through tumbles, to finish. Find out how!
Ophelia (female lead) feeling dejected and lost in the cold world of the werewolves couldn’t contain her grief when she was stripped of her place next to the Alpha – Luna position – at the time Morgan (male lead) banished her from the pack with no record of sins whatsoever despite all she had sacrificed for his sake. Irregardless of all that they shared, they were all in the dump the moment Morgan chose to disengage them. She was able to start a new but with a difference this time as she bore the Alpha’s seed. Nonetheless, ‘love’ was something she came to be wary of; and because of that, didn’t see the need to pay Spencer Lawson any attention. Spencer Lawson could very well be taken as one who gave her a new life as he was the grandson of the old lady she was taking care of. Subsequently, she learnt to live in the midst of werewolves and humans who cohabitated at the time, under Spencer’s roof. All that came crashing the moment Morgan showed up again to claim what “rightfully belonged to him” – his son.
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!"
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.
On the day of their wedding anniversary, Joshua's mistress drugged Alicia, and she ended up in a stranger's bed. In one night, Alicia lost her innocence, while Joshua's mistress carried his child in her womb. Heartbroken and humiliated, Alicia demanded a divorce, but Joshua saw it as yet another tantrum. When they finally parted ways, she went on to become a renowned artist, sought out and admired by everyone. Consumed by regret, Joshua darkened her doorstep in hopes of reconciliation, only to find her in the arms of a powerful tycoon. "Say hello to your sister-in-law."
The day Lilah found out that she was pregnant, she caught her fiancé cheating on her. Her remorseless fiancé and his mistress almost killed her. Lilah fled for her dear life. When she returned to her hometown five years later, she happened to save a little boy's life. The boy's father turned out to be the world's richest man. Everything changed for Lilah from that moment. The man didn't let her experience any inconvenience. When her ex-fiancé bullied her, he crushed the scumbag's family and also rented out an entire island just to give Lilah a break from all the drama. He also taught Lilah's hateful father a lesson. He crushed all her enemies before she even asked. When Lilah's vile sister threw herself at him, he showed her a marriage certificate and said, "I'm happily married and my wife is much more beautiful than you are!" Lilah was shocked. "When did we ever get married? Last I checked, I was still single." With a wicked smile, he said, "Honey, we've been married for five years. Isn't it about time we had another child together?" Lilah's jaw dropped to the floor. What the hell was he talking about?
Allison fell in love with Ethan Iversen, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Moonlight Crown pack. She always wanted him to notice her. Meanwhile, Ethan was an arrogant Alpha who thought a weak Omega could not be his companion. Ethan's cousin, Ryan Iversen, who came back from abroad and was the actual heir of the pack, never tried to get the position nor did he show any interest in it. He was a popular playboy Alpha but when he came back to the pack, one thing captured his eyes and that was Allison.
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?