It begins when you're sixteen. Every little mark your soulmate makes on their arms appears on yours. Mindless doodles. Class notes. Dicks from their annoying brother. Appointment reminders. Stray slip-ups. Intricate pieces of artwork. Everything. But you can never write back. For 19 year old Lacey Oaks, it was beautiful, detailed, intricate pieces of art. Buildings. Trees. People. All very Victorian. The occasional dick, which was quickly scribbled out. For 21 year old Emerson Barrett, it was mostly cuts.

nøkken- shape-shifting water spirits also known as neck, nokk, nix, nixy, or nixe, originating from Germanic folklore. Known to drown and eat victims, bring sorrow. Often dressed in rags or in fine clothing. Beautiful and alluring, they play music as if they had invented the instruments themselves. WARNINGS: This story will be dark. It will talk about death, depression, homophobia, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, and murder. Please be careful while reading. Emerson, Remington, and Sebastian are not human. They are spirits known as nøkken. Emerson was probably the most human of them all considering he could remember what it was like after all... being human before he was drowned. But he played his part of being a grateful musician, though he really was. But his nature of being nøkken was to be forever heartbroken and cursed. After all... that's how the legends go, cursed souls with a talent for music. That is all he and his brothers were. Though his brothers tended to enjoy the darker side of their nature a bit more than he did. Art was another gift of his and he craved peace and quiet, unlike his brothers. On one break from touring he avoided interviews and was led to a library to do his art. Instead of a plain library, he found a wild library full of plants and a fountain. The silence there was exactly what he needed. Though he hadn't banked on the cute boy who cared for the wild library's plants who was so full of life, love and compassion... all the things Emerson had once been.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Of all the beautiful porcelain dolls in this world, why pick an broken rag doll like me?", I ask as he squeezes my hand and glances at my lips. To my surprise, he simply answers with a grin as if it were clear as glass, "Broken things have beautiful stories. Why not you?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Victorian era of England, Dahlia Josephine was always an outcast since the day she was born - being born with black hair and hazel eyes in a wealthy and fabulous family of blondes and blue eyes - and she always believed she would never earn the same privileges her sisters got easily. It got worse when an event that her five older sisters orchestrated created both a physical and emotional scar that would remind her of her social standing in this life. When her mother is lucky to work for Queen Stephanie and her three sons in her castle of Palaye Royale, the sisters go crazy for the middle child of the Queen, Prince Remington. But Remington has his eyes (and heart) set on the unique and gentle-natured daughter who he recognizes from a past memory. As he gets to know her better, he'll learn how scared she is of her family, and of herself. *started on 8/30/2019* {New cover created by the talented @infamousbat}