"They're coming after you," he warned, his eyes piercing my soul. I looked at where his eyes were looking to see that he was staring at a birthmark I've always had- a circle with an X in the middle of it.
"That's impossible," I replied. "Creepypasta aren't real."
The boy's eyes started to get a little misty as he showed his own mark, making me feel a bit sick. "That's what they want you to think."
~~~~
A group of teens had just had a party and they're walking home, taking a shortcut in the woods; however, when the friends are walking home, a series of unexpected visitors enters their world, slaying each individual one by one, until one person is left- Jones. They're about to kill him when they realize a mark on Jones' forearm- a circle with an X in the middle of it. After that night, Jones wakes up in a mental asylum, but not just any asylum. The best in the country. That's where Clarissa Wolfson comes into play.
Clarissa Wolfson, a psychiatric nurse, is assigned to assist Jones. At first, Jones is just a normal patient; however, as she gets to know the boy, she realizes that they have more in common with one another than what meets the eye. Now, both her and Jones are faced with a problem- the Creepypasta are coming, but why and when?
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]