| a true story about a boy who hides his pain behind his smile and a girl determined to see it | - FREE story with paid Exclusive Chapters and Writer Reveals - Twice Featured - Taylor Ming is trying to cope with the aftermath of her twin brother's suicide, and her depressed mother and avoidant father aren't really helping. With one of her friends' self-harming while another deals with a chronically ill boyfriend, being diagnosed with Diabetes and forced to use insulin thrice a day is Taylor's worst nightmare. When she catches the school's golden boy Shane Gray popping pills in a bathroom, then, Taylor is sure she's in a living hell. Is he depressed? Is he using drugs? She's afraid of losing more people and strikes a deal with Shane. He'll tell her if he ever has the urge to hurt himself and she'll keep his secret. What neither of them knows, however, is that he's already hurting himself without knowing it. And Shane's life is falling apart quicker than Taylor's. Because life isn't black and white and, sometimes, seeing gray can make all the difference. Warning: The story talks about suicide, self-harm, drug use, and mental health problems which may be triggering for some readers.

''You know how they came up with the word Lunatic?'' he asked. I shook my head, feeling like I probably didn't want to know the answer. His lips pulled up on one side in a mischievous, lopsided grin. He stepped closer. ''Because all of the worst monsters come out during a full moon.'' ------ Lou DeVue has known from a young age that she was different and not in the 'I-think-I-was-left-on-my-parents-doorstep-by-a-wizard' kind of way. She can see things. Dark things, usually. The darkest, of which, happens to be about her new neighbors. The five boys hold an energy that Lou's gift can't ignore. An abyss surrounds them and Lou finds herself gazing into it, but what happens when the abyss gazes back? **********************

''I get it,'' he said, ''the sun so loved the moon...'' His voice trailed off. We both knew the story. We knew it all too well. He was looking at me thoughtfully. I, however, turned away. ''What if,'' I began, ''the sun didn't want to die for the moon anymore?'' ~~~~~~~~ There's darkness in West Acres and, no matter how fast the light travels, it will always find that darkness has beaten it. There are decisions to make, battles to fight, wars to win, and Lou's not sure which side she's on. After all, if the darkness is already there, why not embrace it?

The wielders are coming, and they're ready for violence. With a cub in her arms, Arietta James, a dedicated vet technician in training, flees for her life and the life of the little shifter she's ready to die to protect. Her escape lands her right in the heart of the enemy territory: the shifters. Gavriel O'Connor, steadfast leader of the shifter territory, has worked too hard on rebuilding and unifying his people to allow a human to run rampant in his domain. Fully intending to turn her away, Gavriel prepares to rid his territory of another nuisance. Until his shifter side won't let him. There are too many questions about this young woman and not enough answers. His biggest question: how did she end up with one of his own? Arietta didn't imagine she'd live this long. Between the shifters and the wielders, she's braced for her final moments. However, when the shifters begrudgingly welcome her into their territory, she must make a decision: stay loyal to those of her kind, or reveal to the shifters a problem that could wipe them out entirely. Before it's too late-for them and for her. Season 1 of The Fated Series

All Lexi Rivers wants is to teach preschool, marry her jerk of a fiance Jackson, and lead a normal human life, but coming from a family of gifted magic users dedicated to summoning a demon and bringing about the end of the world makes her dreams... unobtainable. When Lexi's group summons Kirroz, a demon whose arrogance is offset by his unnatural charms, Lexi's role is to care for him. The more time Lex spends with the demon, the more she realizes that the man has a well-concealed sweet side that she's already unnaturally and intimately familiar with. Thanks to a series of strange dreams and fuzzy half-memories, Lexi remembers Kirroz from the past, but things take a dramatic turn when Kirroz reveals his genuine reasons for coming to this realm. Lexi will break down the walls between the god-realm and this earth and bring about the end of humanity, and it's Kirroz's job to help her. Will she break and cave to the demon? Or will she resist the Kirroz's demands as she remembers her first love the Raven of Water.

Kidnappings and people going missing were situations that felt so far away from Miles. It felt like things that only happened in movies or in another more messed up world. It felt too beyond reach that the possibility that someone so close to him could just disappear was minuscule. But as unlikely and otherworldly it may have seemed to Miles, it happened. Axel was gone. 4 years ago Miles' neighbour went missing. The abduction shocked the town and Miles never thought he would ever see his neighbour again. But one day, there he is. The missing boy, gone for 4 years, is back. And he's sitting on the front door step across the road from Miles' home, smoking a cigarette. *Spoiler in tags*

"As I passed the silent group, a particularly attractive looking guy caught my eye in said group. He had beautiful platinum blonde hair in a more-on-top style, and icy blue eyes. He was taller than me by about three inches and was muscular in build. Said guy's eyes met mine for a millisecond and I bit my lip. I quickly realized I'd attracted a lot of the group's attention and dropped my head down to hurry away. I could feel his piercing stare on my back as I left; along with his friends' gazes. Theirs' weren't as strange. Theirs' were more friendly than curious."

Deeply hurt by a lover's betrayal, Noah Hunter leaves a shattered life behind and moves to Spring Lakes to join his brother's pack. All he wants is a quiet place and some time to heal. Fate has other ideas. In the middle of the night, on a lonely stretch of road, Noah hits a dog. When he brings the injured animal to a veterinarian, he crosses paths with the singular, mysterious, and aggravatingly handsome Ambrose Thorne. When, after learning that Noah needs a place to stay, Ambrose invites him to his home, Noah thinks he may have found just the sort of peace and space he needs, and the last thing he expects is to become entangled in the heart of a mystery. While helping his brother Dane on a case involving a string of inexplicable thefts, Noah soon discovers that his new acquaintance is more than he seems and is inextricably tied to the strange burglaries. As the case becomes complicated by occult rituals, murder, and mythical beasts, Noah finds himself in more than one kind of danger - because while he doubts that anyone would want something so broken and torn, it seems like his heart might get stolen, too. He just hopes that the one who steals it and the thief at the heart of the mystery are not one and the same. ----- WARNINGS: This story contains strong language, some violence, and sex. ----- DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and in

"The only thing between me and another bottle is you." START - 180206 FINISH - 180420 Highest #164 in Fanfiction completed.