ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴ, ᴀ ʙʟɪɴᴅꜰᴜʟʟʏ ᴛʀᴜꜱᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴇᴇɴ, ʜᴀꜱ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏʟᴏɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴍᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʜɪꜱ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ɪɴ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇꜱɪꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜʀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴋɪʟʟ. Varian Morris is an average teen with an average girlfriend and a set of average friends. Against the backdrop of 2003, a camping trip turns into a horror game between Varian and two of his friends, Kacey and Padriac. Things turn for the worse when Varian falls down a hill and blacks out only to awaken in an unknown room. Trapped, he's taunted and forced to obey the commands of the person behind a mechanical voice. He's put through trauma, forced to eat the fingers of a dead girl resembling his girlfriend, before he's returned home. While his family are adamant to get him help, his friends Kacey, Padriac, and Mary seemed unbothered by the mental trauma he's gone through. They act strange and his girlfriend has been picking up on it for years. Only now, she's accusing Kacey of being his kidnapper. Varian is horrified and swears it couldn't be true. While trying to piece his life back together, he grapples with the influx of twisted fantasies and desires unleashed by his hellish nights of imprisonment. His relationships begin to fall apart and when he's just starting to get help, he's kidnapped again. [Potential Spoilers] All characters are 18. Puppet stands on its own, but it is the first in a series with an interconnected universe.

ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴡᴀʀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴛᴇᴅ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ. ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡᴏɴ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ-ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱ ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴꜱ. ♱ Vampire Ambassadors' Monthly Pick ♰ Ren Cornelli is a vampire-human hybrid, a monster born from a result of assault. He's vowed to disappear once he turns eighteen and rid his mother of the creature she birthed. All that changes when a night of bloodthirst entangles him in a web of murder. Ashton Mantel is a recluse. Not by choice but out of necessity. His family comes from a line of vampire purists with a goal of enslaving the human race. When he's forced to work with a "halfy", he's pulled into a world of deception. With the Hunter Society looming and Blood Hounds on the loose, Ren and Ashton must work together to find a killer, all while trying not to kill each other.

It had been years, it seemed, since he really thought about it. The magic was always there, swirling inside him like a dark mist straining to be released, but he had never let it surface... "I'm not talking about this anymore Marcus." He went to hang up, "Jon, you know what I mean! All I'm saying is, it can't hurt to move forward with life-" "What life?" He grumbled. "And put yourself out there, man! I mean, don't go out and be stupid enough to fall in love, but you are allowed to have a good time. Fun is good for you! It keeps you young; good for the skin." "Black magic keeps me young, Marcus." "Oh whatever. It's hardly 'black'. You'd never even touch that stuff and you know it." "Not like she gave me much of a choice with being touched by regular magic, either," he said with a snarl. "Dude, stop being bitter." "'Dude' stop being in the 70's. It was a terrible decade. Move on Marcus." "I'm serious! If you can't move on then you're going to stay stuck for the next 74 years. Leanne can't keep you from having fun, man." "Don't say her name..." Beneath his dark past, Jon wanted nothing more than to be happy. But being happy was the last thing he was allowed to be. He was cursed, and it was going to stay that way...at least for awhile.