In the haunted hills of Appalachia, some stories stay buried beneath the soot-others crawl their way back up screaming. Alice Monroe never planned to return to Knox Ridge. After clawing her way out of the judgment-heavy town, its backwoods baptisms and whispered exorcisms, she promised herself she'd never look back. But when a failed punk band, a busted van, and a drinking habit shaped like regret land her back in the valley, she finds herself drawn to the one place she swore to avoid-the burned husk of Black Hollow Baptist Church. She doesn't remember the ritual. Not clearly. Just fire. Smoke. Screaming. A preacher with eyes like boiling tar. She was only twelve. But when she steps back inside that ruin, something breathes. Something stirs. And something ancient... remembers her. One accidental breath over an altar's forgotten symbol awakens a slumbering entity-an old, hungry smoke that curls through walls, slips through lungs, and remembers every sin it ever tasted. Now it wants Alice to finish what began years ago: to complete the ritual, to open the wound wider, and let it feed. As the town's thick veil of righteousness unravels, Alice is forced to confront not only the entity growing stronger with every whisper but also Sam-a once-best friend turned maybe-something-more who's just as entangled in the past as Alice is. With the smoke seeping into every crack in the Ridge and the town's cultlike faith tightening its noose, Alice must choose: run, or burn it all down-again. The Smoke That Hungers is a lyrical, blood-soaked descent into Appalachian horror, laced with queer rage, dry humor, and the kind of folklore that leaves claw marks on your soul.

This could have been a gentle story for quiet autumn evenings. But it shattered against Morphine - a chapter that will not let you stay indifferent. And now, you'll understand why. This is not a story about perfect love. It's about healing through pain, about love that blooms after trauma, and about the fragile line between salvation and obsession. She is a woman rebuilding herself from the ashes. Not strong - simply real. A mother. A fighter. A writer whose words cut deeper than truth itself. She doesn't want to be someone's muse - she only wants to be understood. He is the man the world worships... and fears. A legend. A symbol of an era. But behind the fame, there's a man haunted by his own darkness. Together, they are fire and gasoline - two broken souls learning how to love without losing themselves. Their story isn't a fairytale. It's an age-gap dark romance about redemption, grief, and the courage to love again. With touch. With words. With silence between the lines.

Ryan Morgan has always lived by one promise: to protect his younger brother, Jacob. Years earlier, when a drunk driver stole their parents' lives, Ryan became Jacob's legal guardian. He was just eighteen. Jacob, only seven at the time, has lived with autism his entire life. Ryan raised him through grief, school challenges, and the growing pains of adolescence-all while chasing his own dream of becoming a lawyer. Now, at twenty-six, Ryan is a rising star at the prosecutor's office. His career is taking off, his life seems finally on track, and he is proud to have kept his promise to his parents. But everything shatters the night Jacob finds the lifeless body of his best friend, Izza Miller, near a river. Jacob insists he didn't hurt her. The police insist otherwise. Evidence points to Jacob. Fingerprints. Location. Suspicion. Within days, the boy Ryan swore to protect is in handcuffs, facing a murder charge that could ruin his life. If anyone who sees this story being plagiarized by someone else, please send me a quick message as soon as possible. I do not tolerate plagiarism at all, and I will sue whoever is responsible of stealing my work. ©️2024 Rebecca Clark. All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior permission of the author, except for the brief description of the book in a book review. Winner of the 2025 Creative Slingers of Ink Awards Winner of the 2025 Regal Summit Book Awards This book is a book sample on Wattpad only. You can read the entire book that has over ten chapters on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It's available in both ebook and paperback formats.

To have a bullying experience is terrible.

This is a FREE STORY with one paid bonus chapter! Once the sunlight goes to bed, that's when darkness wakes the dead. When a series of grisly deaths devastate 19th-century New England, sixteen-year-old farm girl Faith must outsmart the Undead to keep herself - and her family - alive. (Longer description inside.) 💀 ✨Of the Blood contains story art at the end of every chapter!✨ Trigger warning: this story is heavy and contains scenes of death (including that of children), and intermittent gore. • Wattpad Creators project • Editor's Pick March & April 2023 (THANK YOU!) • Featured on Wattpad and Ambassador-run profiles (thank you!) •Placed in the Future Banned Writer Awards 2023 on the FBWCBookClub profile (thank you!) • Placed in the Punk Rock Awards 2023 on the PrettyInPunkBC profile (thank you!) Of the Blood (available only on Wattpad) Copyright © 2023 Darly Jamison/Monrosey. All Rights Reserved. Artwork featured at the bottom of each chapter was created by the author on MidJourney. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Of the Blood is exclusive to W A T T P A D. If you are reading this story anywhere else, the site you're on has stolen it and you are at risk of a malware attack. Please notify the author or submit a ticket to Wattpad. Thank you for helping to protect my work! Notice: This document is not authorized for upload or use with artificial intelligence systems or platforms. Any attempt to upload, analyze, or process this content using AI technology is strictly prohibited.

This story will be available to read in KindleUnlimited on October 21st, 2025 *** She was Mozart. He was Metallica. She was silk and soft lace. He was granite and hard edges. She was light. He was darkness. She was his salvation. He was her forever. Meeting him was accidental. Loving him was inevitable.

For years, Rowan has been hiding. The shadows are where he belongs and where he stays, for in them, he can remain virtually invisible. Because Rowan carries a secret, and a dangerous one at that. When an enigmatic boy and a girl carrying several knives arrive, knowing something about Rowan's past that no one should, Rowan must make a choice. Stay safe in the shadows and keep himself locked away, or venture after them and risk upending everything he's worked so long to keep buried? TRIGGER WARNING: Contains descriptions of suicide, violence, drug use, homophobia, some sexual insinuations, and swearing NOTE: This is a first draft. I will be coming back to revise and edit once the story has been completed. Winner of the New Voice Awards in Action/Mystery Winner of the Universal Community Awards in Mystery/Thriller Winner of the Phoenix Awards 2020 in Mystery/Thriller Winner of the Spice Awards in Mystery/Thriller Winner of the Clover Awards in Mystery/Thriller Winner of the Borderverse Awards Season 2 in Mystery/Thriller

Beauty had a magical rose, Cinderella had a magical wand, Ariel had a magical necklace, Aladdin had a magical lamp, But young Isabelle had a strange musical box - not just any box, but one that came with bewildering powers. Forced to start a new life in a new town, she faces series of trauma by her supposed parents. But when she finally manages to settle in, she cannot help but be allured by a certain Hunters, Alexander Hunters. Literally all the girls did, either because of his fame, wealth or charming stature. But hers was simply an undeniable attraction towards him. But being classified a nerd made it hard for her to be noticed and taken seriously, or was it so? Little did she know that the charming ones always have the most to hide. ❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁ Isabelle, Xander and Alastair, a humanish faerie learns that she is different and has magic, a shadowhunter with strong hate for faeries, and a dark faerie with really, really dark secrets, has to team up against the Black Plague and resist each other, in order to stop history from repeating itself again. [BOOK'S SLOWLY UNDER STRUCTURAL & GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU ^~^] © Themysticalqueen 2020. Blurb was first revised by @impaledtoast #2 - twoguys #3 - magicspells #7 - litrpg 🔊 VIOLENCE & FOUL WORDS HERE, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. [160,000 words - 180, 000 words]

Dante Brown has met many challenges in his life, all of them crumbled beneath the ground he walked. He is arrogant, cunning and brooding. He's on top of the world, a CEO for one of the largest companies in New York City. Nothing was tearing him down. Until her. Amelia Rhodes had been dealt the worst in life. Facing many hardships and a rough past. With no family as a safety net and only the strength of believing in herself, she makes it. She's finally found a decent job and a half decent apartment in the big Apple. When one night forces these two complete opposites together, bound by a contract, both face an even bigger challenge. Hating someone as much as you are falling in love with them. Highest rankings: #1 in Fiction #1 in Arrogant #3 in Enemiestolovers #5 in NewAdult #8 in Chicklit

Lies and dark family secrets that threaten to destroy her world. The year is 2040 and it's been eighteen years since a deadly zombie apocalypse destroyed over 75% of the world's population. This is the story of Kaley Black and what her life is like growing up in a post-apocalyptic world. "Just then there was another flash of lightning and I was face-to-face with a zombie who was standing just outside the window. Staring into his cold dead eyes was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. And I swear that the blood in my veins actually froze for an instant, leaving me unable to move or even speak."