A perfect town is hiding ugly secrets. One dead body. One missing person. And a killer who is only just getting started... Blaire Olsen is the girl everybody wants to be. With her long and shiny beach-blonde hair, mesmerising blue eyes, and a to-die-for figure, she is the natural star of Berewood High. She was untouchable, a golden bullet soaring through our school and striking down anyone who stood in her way. Everybody either wanted to be her, know her, or kill her. But then someone actually did. And now, nobody wants to be her. I don't know why she went into the woods that night - all I know is that one second, she was there, alive and breathing, and the next she was not. The coroner's office say it was an accident, that she was drunk and fell over on some branch, knocking her head too hard on the way down. It was an accident. It was an accident. It was an accident. But, I've found her diary. It wasn't an accident. ******* Cover by Ellie Sita

The year is 1879. When thirteen-year-old Ruth Merritt Holbrook emerges from her family's burning estate, bloody and charred, but entirely numb--She makes headlines. Reporters believe she is deranged. They accuse her of having set the fire. All the headlines read: "UNSUSPECTING FAMILY SLAIN BY DERANGED DAUGHTER." Everyone believes it. How else could a highbred girl exit a burning building, injured yet senseless? Why did she not scream or cry? The police tell her she is a killer. The doctors tell her she is mad. The nuns at St. Agatha's tell her she is possessed. Perhaps, Ruth Merritt Holbrook is all of those things-or perhaps she is much more. Mysterious and Paranormal. Romance. More than meets the eye. ******* Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee September 13, 1882 The following is an account sent to our office on the first of this month. The whereabouts of those listed in this document are currently unknown. Case Notes: Personally, I don't believe a word of this. It seems like a child's story to me. Best not to be taken too seriously. Read at your own folly as it is quite the elaborate tale and you may find yourself wasting the entirety of a day on it. Sgt. Barton Rucklesbee ******* Senseless: The Unnatural Case Of Miss Merritt Holbrook ******* Author's note: This is a novel I wrote for my undergraduate thesis. I studied the Victorian era/ genre and wrote a novel in the styles of "Dracula" and Leanna Renee Hieber's "Darker Still." There are a lot of sections but they are all fairly short. Also, it may not be perfectly edited. To the wonderful grammar wizards out there, don't worry about it. Just sit back and enjoy the story and characters, I'll deal with the grammar later. Thanks for reading! Enjoy. :) First Posted: August 31, 2018 {On the Wattpad featured list 9/20/18}

THE FAE ARE STEALING HEARTS [Wattpad Picks: Editors' Choice] Many moons ago, a deal was struck with the fae by a young woman who wished to save her lover's life. Years later, Adalyn is called upon to repay the debt and tumbles into a realm entirely apart from her own. Lost within a sinister fae city, she must learn to live in a place where fates can be foretold, names are kept as secrets, and bandits can steal the beating heart from her chest. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's dangerous to wander into the Wystwood alone?" Fantasy│Adventure│Romance A Wattpad Editors' Choice Story [Cover designed by myself│Cover graphic '04 Dorothy Lathrop' attributed to Will (ajourneyroundmyskull) on Flickr, licenced under CC BY 4.0]

[Wattpad Picks: Editors' Choice] Saoirse's blood dances with iron and trickery, a secret she has managed to sheathe from all faery alike. Until now, that is. When Saoirse's cunning and charade is shredded to bits by the malevolent interfering of faery royalty, Saoirse makes a vow of thorns; edged and prickly, one dangerous enough to cost her the life she invoked it for. To keep her life and the cursed magic that makes her both admired and feared, she must use her prized gifts to cross faery territory and charm her way into the heart of the Alder King's Court at the command of the Spring.

Clara Avery was a normal human girl. Or, at least, that was what she'd been made to believe. And yet amidst the dying flames of her ruined car, the few boxes of her personal belongings, and her relentless bad luck, Clara has something far more valuable than even she knows－her soul. Catastrophe and trouble turns her life inside out when she makes a regrettable deal with a demon; one that ends with her being kidnapped only to awake in the Underworld. As fate would have it, it is there she will find the truth behind the strange occurrences in her life, and her relationship with the group of demons known as the Elite. In a world where supernatural beings exist, how will Clara react to the sudden revelation of her fate? Who is she exactly, and what is her role in the events that unfold before her?

{WATTPAD FEATURED STORY, NOVEMBER 2017} Welcome to the Grove. Two years after a devastating sickness swept the planet, the surviving human population barricaded itself into walled cities, shutting off the outside. While these self-preserving men and women tried to repopulate the lost Earth, the remaining scraps of society, the children orphaned by disease, were thrust into the wilderness. This is the Grove. My people, my tribe. When the world denied us salvation, we banded together with only one common goal: survive. We call ourselves the Ravens. Welcome to the wild. MAY BE TRIGGERING IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19. PLEASE PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING/QUARANTINE //cover by @sophgray

In a city full of villains, would you dare to be the hero? In Lincoln Grove, there hasn't been a hero in 12 years. Villains run rampant through the streets. The biggest question on everyone's mind is where is Titania, the heroic super that took down Steel Hawk years ago? Della waits for someone else to step up to the plate, but when no one does, she takes action. She needed a hero, so that's what she became. What she doesn't expect is for Red Raven, the town's biggest threat, to recognize her behind the mask. How will Della defeat Red Raven when he knows her every move and how will she finally coax the city out of their shells? *FEATURED ON WATTPAD ADVENTURE* Highest ranking: #5 in Adventure Sequel: Villains Rise (completed) *Unedited, to be edited in the future*

Mara Lynn is the most beautiful girl in the world. James Parker is the ordinary boy who discovers her power. Set on the beaches of Michigan in 1994, the book depicts the joys and consequences of young love as Mara and James meet, shoot a movie, fend off bullies, and explore the potential of infinite beauty. "The Accidental Siren" is a dark, contemporary fairytale available on paperback and ebook at the end of June! To learn more, check out my website at www.JakeVanderArk.com!

Psychopath (noun): saɪkəpæθ / SAI-ko-path a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. "Never before in my life had I ever felt more vulnerable. More...hunted." Because of a fatal blow to the head that caused amnesia, Katelyn Winters had to start her life all over again. Everybody around her is a stranger, even the ones that claim to be her family. Soon, however, things start to emerge which lead Katelyn to believe that someone around her is spinning an intricate web of lies. Add that to a serial killer on the loose who seems hauntingly obsessed with Katelyn. As she runs around in circles through the labyrinth, trying to find her way to the truth, there can only be two outcomes: either she'll find a truth that will shatter everything she's ever known OR she will fall prey to the predator that had always been just around the corner... BEST RANKING: #8 IN MYSTERY/THRILLER

Ray is low on time, luck, and hope; his only chance is an artifact that may not even exist. But upon meeting Landon, Ray is beginning to believe he might find all four. ***** Cambions are doomed to tragedy. They are weak, sickly creatures that rarely live to see their twentieth year. Ray refuses to resign himself to that fate. Upon learning of the Crimson Sheath-an artifact capable of preserving his life-Ray is prepared to fight, steal, and kill to get his hands on it. He is not prepared for Landon. Landon is an orphan with no memories of his parents, the only inheritance left to him a dagger, sleeping in a crimson sheath. Though he has no love of bloodshed and no use for a dagger, Landon isn't about to let Ray take his only link to his forgotten history, even if that means following the cambion past the edge of the world and into the shadow beyond. Content Warnings: Violence, semi-graphic gore, character deaths, profanity, mild drug and alcohol usage, abuse discussed but not shown, and morally-questionable people doing morally-questionable things.