there was sheer solace in my eyes for a moment. may 2024 rewritten

MARBLE HIDES THE GATES OF HELL. ©® Zainab R.H 2017 cover by @pearljars | featured on wattpad x4

❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]

If I were not to count myself; the boy who had played the most important role in the course of events, as they happened, was in fact Holden Winston. And he was also the one most affected by everything. All the things, no matter how insignificant placed invisible scars on his face. (Sadly, he was no Dorian Gray and there was no such thing as a magical painting.)

What if a guy on the radio tells you how he died?

virtues are for fools, darling.

Four rich boys. One drunk night. A person murdered. Remain CALM.

impossible heists, lawless youths, and centuries-old paintings that hold immeasurable power. ✧ cover art by Louise Delfin