How does your night go from a game of Hide and Seek with your best friend, to your parents being murdered the same night? On top of that, you're sent to live with your mother and father's best friend, Mrs. and Mr. Harmon. Although Emily and her brother have no idea who these people are, they're given the luxury life and a dream every kid wants. However, those dreams soon turn into nightmares. A handprint in the dirt, a fired maid who still works in the garden, and a game where you have to kill to keep your soul from being sacrificed to a wicked book. When you enter the house, you follow the rules, you play the game... My name is Emily. I thought it was a normal, abandoned house. I thought she was a normal girl. I thought we'd play a normal game of hide and seek. Turns out I was wrong. Dead wrong...

Elise is ripped from her life, from her husband and thrown into a nightmare that she can barely process as real. No one knows where she is, and only her husband knows she's missing. That each passing hour she might not even be alive. Ledger isn't playing games. No police. Six million wired to an account. Leone has no options and can only worry that each choice he makes might be a detrimental mistake. Every day, Elise fights her darkest fears. She watches the men controlling her every move, especially Ledger, trying to understand what's only getting farther from answers that make sense. It was supposed to be simple. But Ledger's plan falls apart before they even have her in the SUV. Some things you can't anticipate; have a backup plan for. Things are getting complicated, dangerous. And only then does Ledger realize he's responsible for the biggest threat inside the house. Now he can't let her out of his sight. When does protection become attachment? When does the person harming you become the one you start reaching for? Ledger doesn't want to answer that question. And neither does Elise. But maybe what lies between them will force them to. Highest Rankings: #1 Suspenseful #1 Disturbing #2 Psychological #2 Captivity #3 Power Dynamics #4 Abduction #4 Manipulation

Viremont University was built for the elite - the powerful, the brilliant, and the dangerous. Tessa Vane arrives there wanting one thing only: freedom from the family name that has controlled her entire life. Quiet. Observant. Impossible to truly know, Tessa quickly realizes Viremont hides more than just privileged students and perfect reputations. Students disappear quietly there. Secrets are buried beneath polished hallways. And somewhere inside the university exists a society no one is supposed to find. Then there's Lucien Vale. The boy everyone fears. The boy who seems to know things before they happen. The boy who watches Tessa like he's trying to solve her. But the deeper Tessa gets pulled into Viremont's hidden world, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Because some secrets were never meant to survive the light. And Lucien Vale might be one of them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A psychological dark academia story filled with mystery, obsession, secrets, and slow-burn tension. by velvetvoid 🖤