Ryley's Revenge and Paxton's Promise by LP Dover...COMING SOON!!!!!!!!

Ryley’s Revenge

Releasing December 1, 2014

One girl.

Three fighters.

Two of them want her, but one wants his revenge.

UFC Middleweight fighter, Ryley Jameson, swore it would never happen again. He was done with his ex, and over the pain she’d inflicted when she left him. At least, that’s what he tells people. Maybe if he says it enough, he’ll begin to believe it himself.
Regretting her decision to let Ryley go, Ashleigh Warren comes back into town and confronts him. Holding only one secret back, she puts the rest on the line and asks for a second chance. Too bad he’s not going to let her off easy.
Camden Jameson loves his twin brother, but his jealousy runs deep. They may be identical in looks, but that’s where the similarities end. When Ashleigh comes back into Ryley’s life, Camden has the perfect opportunity for revenge. Two birds, one stone.
A journey to the Dark Side affects them all, but only one will truly get their revenge. Only one will come out on top.

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Paxton’s Promise

Releasing December 29, 2014

She hates him, yet she can’t get him out of her mind.

Female Bantamweight fighter, Gabriella Reynolds, has a bad habit of falling for forbidden fighters. Enter Paxton Emerson. He’s tall, tattooed, and the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Everyone wants a piece of him, and he only has eyes for her. Through no choice of her own, she’s fallen in his debt and he’s now demanding payment. Too bad it doesn’t involve currency. Gabby’s decision to fulfill her promise to him ultimately brings out her true feelings, but also spurs the unwanted attention of another. 

Rage’s fixation on his newest obsession reaches dangerous levels. Unfortunately, Paxton Emerson has become a roadblock to his end goal and needs to be removed from the equation—by any means necessary.

Gabby will do anything to save Pax, but what happens when she’s the one who needs saving?

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About The Author 

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.

Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can't forget the passion for singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols.

Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over nine novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, and her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.

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The Damned by Jennifer Snyder COVER REVEAL- ATOMR BLOG POST

Mature Young Adult
Releasing December 2, 2014

Cover designed by Once Upon A Time

To Pre-order: Amazon | Google Play | Smashwords

Cole Porter knows his home life isn’t ideal, but when a situation arises and he’s forced to pack up and move on, he realizes it’s better to be in a position where you understand the ins and outs rather than to be tossed into the unknown.

Emory Montgomery is as close to perfect as she can possibly be—good grades, beautiful, poised, popular—but having it all isn’t always enough. Perfect has its drawbacks, and even the most flawless people crack under its pressure.

There are people who come into our lives for a reason, when everything else is shattered, burned, and bruised. Sometimes their purpose is clear, but often the smoke and the brokenness conceal the light. 

THE DAMNED can be read as a standalone novel.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22886049-the-damned

Mature Young Adult

Released July 2012

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Google Play | Smashwords

Sometimes the love our heart needs to heal can be found in the familiar eyes of a childhood friend...

Julie Porter learned the hard way that trust is something which must be earned and not something to be given out lightly, those who say they love you are those who hold the power to hurt you most, and best friends can help you survive anything—until they move away.

Nick Owen knows a thing or two about a hard life. At a young age Nick learned how to take a hit and to make lemonade out of the lemons life tossed his way. Returning home after nearly two years of being away, all Nick cares about now is protecting his mom from the abusive hands of his father and catching up with his best friend—the girl who lived across the street, the girl he can’t seem to stop thinking about.

Finally reunited after two years apart, Nick and Julie are about to learn that age does nothing to protect you from life’s trials and tribulations, heartache and loss, but maybe together they’ll find a way to survive. 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15763978-the-unloved

___

About the Author

Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends most of her time writing New Adult and Young Adult Fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is a tea lover with an obsession for Post-it notes and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows.

SHATTERED SOUL was my debut novel and no, you haven’t seen the end of me yet…

Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook Author Page

Tempted (A Nightshade Novel) By Brenda Tetreault EXCERPT Included!

Tempted: A Nightshade Novel (Nightshade #1)

He spotted her in club Nightshade, a beautiful goddess among the mortals, and from that moment on she was his everything. She tempted him. She intrigued him. He wanted her.

Sabrina Donahue knew she was playing with fire from the moment their lips met, but something about Roman Arceneaux made it difficult for her to care.

Sensual and darkly intense, Roman is every woman’s fantasy come to life. One by one, Sabrina’s reservations fall prey to his skilled seduction, leaving her dreaming of a future she never imagined.

When monsters and mayhem intrude upon their lives, Sabrina’s fragile existence is threatened and Roman is left to wonder if their love will survive.

*For mature readers only due to graphic language and sexual situations*

EXCERPT

“…The phone rang four times, and she was about to disconnect the call when she heard the voice she’d both dreaded and needed to hear.

“Hello?”

His voice was rough and sleepy sounding, and in her mind’s eye, Sabrina saw him, wearing nothing more than black pajama pants, his chest and feet bare, silhouetted against the windows of his living room, a coffee cup in one hand.

“Sabrina?”

“Hello, Roman.”

Her voice was almost a whisper, but Roman heard her just fine. “Good morning, baby,”

He listened to the soft sound of her breathing and waited her out, not pressuring her to talk.

“I almost hung up,” she said and heard him take a sip of something. Coffee? Her mental image of him reinforced itself, and she smiled; definitely coffee. She sipped her own brew.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” he replied, taking another gulp of the lukewarm brew in his cup. It seemed getting Sabrina to talk was going to be like pulling teeth, but he was willing to be patient, remembering Morgan’s advice to not rush her or force her.

“Morgan is taking me to meet my parents this morning,” she finally told him, and with that admission, the flood gates opened, and Roman simply allowed her to talk. Beneath her ramblings one thing became apparent: she was terrified of being rejected again. When she finally wound down and she sank back into silence, Roman reassured her.

“Baby, they have searched for you all of your life; they want you in their lives, and they won’t turn their backs on you.”She didn’t say anything for several moments, and he worried that the connection had been lost. Finally, he heard her sigh.

“Thank you.”

He smiled gently at the sweet sound of her voice and replied, “Anytime, baby.”

“I better go,” she hedged, and he wondered if it was reluctance he heard coating her words.

“I love you.”

He winced and almost slammed his head against the wall for letting those words escape; what if it was too soon? What if he’d just scared her away for another week or, damn it, longer? He held his breath, waiting for her reply. When it came, he felt the bitter bite of disappointment;

“Goodbye, Roman.”

The line went dead, and Roman was left, alone and cursing into the cold light of the winter morning, without even the knowledge of her love to sustain him…”

Tempted (Nightshade #1)Amazon US- http://www.amazon.com/Tempted-Nightshade-Novel-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B00FE7I1RI/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=117AB91ZFJFZ8KWSNFS3

Available for Kindle, in PRINT and for FREE DOWNLOAD through Kindle Unlimited and Prime!

Into The Darkness by Kira Adams EXCERPT, Releases November 15

i

RELEASES NOVEMBER 15, 2014

It was supposed to be a way to end the devastation in the Middle East, but instead a darkness is unleashed unlike anything the world has ever seen before. 

Ike Glass is well versed in chaos, but even he is unprepared for what the world will become after the outbreak. Ace Cullen has been loyal to his country ever since he was brought to the states as a young boy, but it’s difficult to stand by a country that can’t even take responsibility for their own actions. Phoenix Blue just wants a night of mindless sex… is that too much to ask? Always a black sheep, she shocks everyone as she finds the strength inside herself to protect the ones she cares about, and fight to see another day. They were strangers when the virus took over, but tragedy will bring them together in ways they never thought possible as they descend into the darkness.

Excerpt:

“Do you think you will ever be able to forgive yourself?” By the look on his face I can tell the actions from his past have been eating him alive.

“Maybe…someday. I have a lot to make up for.” 

“Just take it one day at a time. All you have to do is be a better person than you were yesterday.” I’m not sure where the wisdom is coming from, but I’m going with it. 

He takes a few steps toward me, lowering his voice so it’s just barely audible. “You make me want to.”

I swallow loudly, millions of thoughts running through my head. “Um, what?” 

“You make me want to be a better person.” He basically spells it out for me. 

My heart rate instantly spikes, goose bumps rising all over my body. Suddenly basic motor functions become foreign to me.

“I…you…I…” I can’t seem to form a full sentence as I stutter incoherently.

“What is it?” he asks, now close enough that I can feel his warm breath on my ear, sending chills down my spine.

My breath hitches as he again invades my personal bubble. Although I am slightly aware of the moaning coming towards us from every angle, I forget where we are. I forget that we can’t simply be two people enjoying one another’s company. 

Our lips are so close to touching, my heart rate doubles. I can practically taste him. I want his lips on mine as badly as I need air in the moment. And I’m positive he is going to give me just that when I notice him pull away slightly. 

“Hold that thought,” he says as he quickly slips away from me. “We have some business to attend to first.”

The thought doesn’t come around again as moments later we are joined by Ike who has come to relieve me so I can get some rest. 

I can’t believe I almost let him kiss me. I can’t believe how badly I wanted it…

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KiraAdamsauthor

Website: http://kristakakes.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179367.Kira_Adams

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kira-Adams/e/B00KQZ5838

Shade by Cody Stewart~ First Chapter and Giveaway YA Reads Blog Tour

Clendon Kiernan has always preferred the shadows. A place where he was free from the hate and fear, from the stares and ridicule of others. One night Clen discovers the shocking truth of why. He is a Shade. A thing of darkness. A creature with the ability to shred souls. When a vile whisper tells him to destroy everything around him Clen does the only thing he can.

But he cannot run from himself. The darkness growing inside Clen will soon consume him if he does not learn to control it. In his quest to do so, Clen learns that there is an entire world that exists in the shadows of Ellis, a world that has been hidden from him – secret clans with extraordinary abilities, the ghosts of a hidden past, and a war that’s been brewing for millennia. Clen must uncover the true history of Ellis, see through the generations of lies and deceit, and suffer betrayal and heartbreak if he is to save all those who hate and fear him. But when he learns the truth, will he want to?

The darkness in him could save Ellis. Or it could be what destroys it.

AMAZON

MIDNIGHT FROST BOOKS

SMASHWORDS

Chapter 1
It lives in the cramped spaces between shadows in the rear-right side of my brain, just behind my ear. It wanders relentlessly, scratching along the pink, fleshy walls of my mind with its unkempt fingernails, shouting obscenities at other thoughts as they travel across lobes and cortices. It vomits poison and corrupts my mind with whispers of death. It reminds me how his blood felt running down the back of my hands. How my knuckles tore as they raked across his cheekbones. How his tooth cracked loose from his gums, and the muffled gargle as he choked on it. It laughs and calls me a coward for running away.
The wind rustles through the pines, dances into my ears, and carries the vile voice away. It’s quiet here. My thoughts are my own.
The fire pops, and a fleet of sparks takes flight, dancing across the night sky. Fireflies follow suit, taking the initiative to investigate the imposters. I readjust a log when the fire dims. It roars to life again and illuminates the decayed insides of the cabin around me. The wooden frame has long since rotted. The stone floor and sections of the wall are the only signs that this was once a structure of some sort.
Muren, my Norwegian Elkhound, refuses to step through the threshold of these ruins, insisting instead on patrolling the perimeter.
I lie back, using my sweatshirt as a pillow, and watch for hours as the flames dance like springtime wildflowers until their petals wilt and fall and all burns to ash. The sun peeks over the treetops and reaches through the canopy with pale fingers of morning light just as the last ember dwindles.
Time to go home.
Birds chime in the new day like church bells, but I still feel heavy with the burdens of yesterday. The walk back is a habit now, following the trail worn by my feet alone. This is a thick part of the mountain, made thicker with countless stories and a dark reputation. Few dare walk it.
Dad sits on the front porch sipping his coffee when I step out of the forest and into the yard. He doesn’t look up from the ground as I come near, doesn’t shift or show any signs of surprise or anger. “Get inside and get washed up. You’ve got an appointment with Dr. Hague before school.”

My parents think I’m crazy. Everyone thinks I’m crazy. It’s hard to blame them, though. I kind of am.
***
The chemical stink of artificial lavender burns my sinuses. It’s meant to foster calm and
encourage me to share openly, but I can’t get the taste of it off my tongue.
“What makes you say that, Clen?” Dr. Hague’s voice has padded walls. “What makes
you think people fear you?”
The quiver in their lips as they ask me stupid questions. “I don’t know. Just a feeling, I
guess.”
“Is that why you run away?”
“I don’t run away. I just need to take breaks sometimes.”
“Breaks from what?”
I stare out the window at the passing school buses and laughing kids with books tucked
under their arms. Packs of them, like roving bands of scavenging coyotes.
Dr. Hague, the school psychologist, observes me like an anthropologist studying apes in
the jungle. He wants to ask me about the fight with Jefferson Hewlett, but he doesn’t bother. I’ve been seeing him long enough that he knows I won’t talk about it so soon.
“How are things at home?” Dr. Hague attempts a change in direction. He’s trying to throw me off guard.
“Fine.” But I have an impeccable defense.
“How did your parents react this time?”
“The same.”
“How does that make you feel? That you can run into the woods, disappear for days, and
your parents welcome you back as if nothing happened?” His stare is forceful and constant. I sink under the weight of it.
“I need to get to class.”
I wash my face as soon as the session is over, trying to scrub away the smell of therapy before school.
***

I stand still and invisible in the dull, gray hallways as the horde of apes and coyotes bustles past. They pick fleas out of each other’s hair and nip at each other’s heels. I stand on the periphery, hoping they all just pass me by.
One of them veers off course, working his way through the packs straight toward me. He towers above the rest, the tallest sophomore in school. He’s broad and blond and has a permanent glint of mischief in his grayish-blue eyes.
“You’re going, right? I know you have this mysterious loner persona that you love to project, but this party is going to be epic.”
Oliver Niels seems to be the only one who’s never felt the need to run from me or throw things at the back of my head. He’s been my sole friend since second grade.
“I’m not feeling it tonight, Ollie.”
“You’re never feeling it, Clen. I think you were born without whatever part of your brain actually feels it. Or maybe, I saw this special on the Discovery Channel once about a guy who got in this serious accident, banged his head real bad, and all of sudden spoke in a British accent. You ever experience any head trauma? Seriously, if I wasn’t your friend, you’d never come off the mountain. You’d be a hermit, grow a huge, gross beard and eat squirrel stew. There’d be legends about you. The Hermit of Mount Bannir – died sad and alone with squirrel on his breath.”
Ollie’s voice fades away like a passing echo when I have to venture into the horde to get to class. Cologne and scented body lotions coat my nostrils, and my throat closes from the olfactory assault. The chatter grows to an indecipherable roar of voices that crashes down around me like a relentless wave. Ollie’s voice sounds far away, like he’s yelling at me from the beach as I’m dragged out to sea.
A thick mane of black hair slaps me in the face as it passes. The sweet, natural smell of it lingers. I meet one set of eyes among the hundreds swarming like bees around me. As pure and green as the first leaves of spring. The deafening roar dulls to gentle whisper.
Temporarily blinded by the rare shimmer of beauty among the streaked linoleum and concrete walls, I crash into Silas Conroy, my forehead bloodying his lower lip.
“The hell, Kiernan! You looking to get dead?” Silas snarls like a rabid dog, tagging the wall with red graffiti. His black hair is shaved on the sides, giving him a short Mohawk. His left ear is mostly missing, just bits of jagged scar tissue. His eyes are dark and shallow.

Something hisses in the base of my skull. It’s a cold tickle, a drop of ice water that flows down the length of my spine. But it’s still quiet enough that I can ignore it.
“Easy, Silas.” Ollie steps forward to shield me as I pick up my books. “It was an accident.”
“Protecting him is an accident, Niels. You should side with your own people.”
“You aren’t any kind of people I would claim as my own.”
“I still owe you big for what you did to Jefferson,” Silas snarls at me. “Your bodyguard
won’t always be around to protect you, Kiernan.” He cackles like a hyena as he saunters off. Ollie lifts me off the floor like he always does.
The beautiful green eyes disappear among the horde.
***
Lunch is a wretched ordeal as usual. I slide my tray along the counter, the lunch ladies
looking on like hair-netted prison guards. They heap scorn on my plate, piled high atop a mountain of gritty mashed potatoes.
Kids stack their books in empty seats as I pass. I know I’m not welcome at any of their tables. They all know I’d never dare attempt to be in their company, but they do it anyway, every day, just to make it painfully clear. There’s a small table in the back corner, by the garbage cans and emergency exit. It smells and the bitter wind howls through the doors in the winter. That’s where I sit.
I eat fast so I can leave before the rest. If I’m here when they scrape their plates, I’m likely to end up with creamed corn all over the front of me. The lunch monitors herd us out the side doors to the athletic field to mill about for a mandatory twenty five minutes of fresh air. I shove my hands in my sweatshirt pockets and head straight for the tree by the road. I sit in its shadow, hidden from the late spring sun and the spiteful sneers of my peers.
The crowd immediately divides in two. Half of the field is black hoodies, gauged ears, and work boots – kids from the Pines. The other half is skinny jeans, nice watches, and gelled hair – kids from the Village. They’ve hated each other for as long as I can remember. Not just the kids either. Everyone. I don’t live in either neighborhood, which only means I’m equally hated by both.
Dr. Hague is on monitoring duty today. He wanders down the center of the field, scratching his chin and nodding. He starts for me, knowing I spend this time under my tree and

not among my peers as he prescribed, but thankfully, thinks better of it. Being seen with the school shrink would do nothing to improve matters. Instead he makes for a tight circle of kids on the Pines side of the field emanating the faint smell of cigarette smoke.
As I watch him scold and lecture, a rock hits my shoe. I don’t need to look up to know who it is.
“What do you want, Silas?”
“You’ve got debts, Kiernan. First, you lose it on Jefferson. The kid damn near choked on his own tooth. Then you bloody my lip because you’re too stupid to watch where you’re going. Time to settle. And Ollie ain’t here to save you.”
“Leave me alone.”
“No, I don’t think I’m gonna do that.” Silas grabs me by the collar and rips me from the pleasant shadow.
The whisper in my head becomes a harsh cry, demanding that I retaliate. I try to take steady, even breaths, to keep my heart beating a normal rhythm. Dr. Hague said that will keep me calm. Then my feet leave the ground, and I’m weightless for half a second before crashing back to earth. All my calming breath is forced from my lungs. The harsh cry becomes a vicious growl.
A circle quickly forms around us. Kids from the Pines and the Village alike gather to watch my humiliation. I’m the great unifier.
Pressure builds behind my eyes. Dr. Hague says I just need to concentrate. I can’t let it control me.
“What? You aren’t gonna go all ape nuts on me like you did Jefferson?”
“You’ve got anger issues, Silas. I know a good shrink who could help you out with that.” Silas cocks his arm back, ready to split my skull with a wicked punch.
“Enough,” a commanding voice orders. Dr. Hague pushes his way through the circle.
“Everyone inside now! Silas, to the principal’s office. Clen.” He shakes his head, sad and disappointed. “Get to class.”
***
I’m the only passenger on my bus. The school repurposed a utility van specifically for
me. Kids point and chuckle when I get on, but their voices die when the door closes. The drive is quiet.

I stare mindlessly out the window as we drive through town. Ellis is a boring, little hole in the world carved out of mountain and forest. It’s bordered in the north by the Tear of Heaven, a massive glacial lake, and surrounded on the other three sides by the Moreau Mountains. Town is divided in half by the River Skye, which flows from the Tear of Heaven all the way down to Hudson City – Lakeside Village on the east, everything else on the west.
The engine groans and sputters as we climb Mount Bannir. Sal, the bulbous driver who smells of beef jerky, curses his misfortune at drawing the short straw of school bus routes. He pulls to a stop at the end of my driveway, a dirt road that seems to have no end. It twists and turns until it is swallowed by the dark of the dense forest. Sal won’t drive in there. He dismisses me with a guttural grunt.
I’m thankful for the walk. The forest swallows the light and, with it, all the anxiety that’s built up in the back of my mind over the course of the day.
“How was therapy?” Mom asks as she slides dinner in the oven. Dad suddenly shifts uncomfortably and hides his head in the fridge.
“Fine.”
Mom stiffens. Her hands become tightly clenched fists inside her oven mitts. “That’s all I’m ever going to get from you, isn’t it?”
“I need to take a shower.”
“Safe to say you’re grounded,” Mom calls as I walk away.
“Fine.” I set my bag in my room, gather some clean clothes and make for the bathroom. I
stop at the top of the stairs when I hear the hushed whispers.
“We can’t keep doing this, Clark.” Mom’s frantic, on the verge of either yelling or
crying. “He was gone for two days. Sleeping out in the woods somewhere. We had no way of knowing whether he was even alive or not.”
“Muren was with him. He was fine, Sarah.”
“He is not fine. He attacked somebody. And we just send him off to that doctor like it’s going to fix something. This is not a problem Dr. Hague can fix.”
“We don’t have any other choice.”
“Yes, we do,” Mom snaps. “If you would just talk to him, tell him...”
“No,” Dad declares curtly. “We made a decision. We need to stick to it.”
Mom’s feet pound angrily on the floor as she storms off. Dad curses under his breath.

***
My parents are in bed early. The tense night of passive-aggressive scowling and openly
aggressive yelling must have tired them out.
I cautiously open my bedroom window and scale down the pine tree next to the house.
Ollie is waiting for me at the end of my driveway.
“Well, look at you,” he says as I climb in the passenger seat. “You showered and even
brushed your hair. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were looking forward to this.” “You don’t know any better. I couldn’t be looking forward to this any less.”
“Don’t be such a sad, old man. You might as well slip on some loafers and a sweater
vest, talking like that. Read a romance novel. Eat a sleeve of saltines. I know deep down somewhere in that dark pit of despair you call a soul there is a tiny flickering light. And do you know what that light is?”
I immediately regret getting in Ollie’s car. “No, nor do I care.”
“Youthful exuberance. Passion. A desire to grab life by its delicates and howl at the moon.”
“I’m not grabbing anything by its delicates.”
“I’m talking about living!” Ollie throws his arms toward the sky in an exaggerated, theatrical gesture. “Tonight you’re going to do some living. You’re going to talk to pretty girls, maybe tip some things over. You’re going to act reckless and swear and yell and at no point in the night will you use the word nor. You’re going to act like a real sixteen year old, not the angst-ridden, chiseled jaws you see on the CW. We’re going to the Raveyard.”
The Raveyard is a local legend. One of the original settlers of Ellis, Abigail Moreau, lived alone, in the mountains. One year, crops failed, livestock disappeared, houses burned down, and people dropped dead for no apparent reason. The townspeople accused her of witchcraft. They marched up there in true angry-mob fashion, pitchforks and torches in hand, and killed her. They named the mountain range after her. It was the least they could do, I suppose. Now she’s said to haunt Ellis, looking to exact her ghostly revenge. The Raveyard is a large clearing in the woods where Abigail was said to bury her victims. Now it’s a place to party.
“Whatever.” I hunch down in my seat and pull my hood over my head. Let’s just get this night over with.”
“That’s the spirit.”

The Raveyard is only a few minutes away from my house, in the foothills of Mount Bannir. Ollie turns down an old logging trail that empties into the large clearing, slowing to a crawl as his car jostles over roots and rocks and holes in the ground. I take one long, deep breath, like it’s my last taste of air before diving deep to the ocean floor, and get out of the car. The infinite weight of the sea presses down on me. I cling close to Ollie. He’s my only lifeline, my only source of oxygen while navigating the dark trenches so far below.
The heat of their stares pales that of the raging bonfire. The salty sea water is like acid on the burns. I’m so distracted by the pain that I don’t notice the riptide until I’m already caught up in it. I reach back for Ollie, but he’s pulled in a different direction, one with straight black hair, eyes that smile and skin like the failing light of morning. I’m churned and battered against a/the craggy shore as the sharks circle round. My lungs burn and scream. My head fills with plankton and algae that feed off the soft tissue of my brain. I’m spit out the other side, gasping and broken.
I collapse against a tree and cling to it, desperate for a new lifeline. The smell of the smoke, pine, and birch fill my nose. The crackle of the kindling as it splits and burns rings like a song in my ears. I run my hands across the rough bark, tracing each crack with my fingers. Its sap sticks in the hair on my knuckles. I picture the perfect green eyes that passed too quickly. Eventually, the sound of voices fades away. The stink of cologne and anxiety disappears. The world disappears.
“Are you sleeping? We’ve been here, like, ten minutes and you’re sleeping against a tree. Have you even tipped anything over yet?”
“Ollie, can we just...” As I slowly open my eyes, reluctant to let the world back in, I see that he isn’t alone. The girl that pulled him to a different shore smiles kindly, her soft, dark eyes beaming from behind her raven bangs.
“This is Suzume Akamura,” Ollie declares with an oafish smile. “Su, this is Clendon Kiernan.”
“Hey,” I choke out, recognizing her from school. She’s a freshman.
“Hi.” Her voice is smooth and steady. “How’s it going?”
“Umm, good?” I reply, cautious and confused. Ollie glares at me, silently demanding I be
cool.

Su fidgets with her hands. “I’ll be right back. I need to let my friends know where I am.” She disappears around the other side of the fire, her steps gaining more confidence the further away from me she gets.
Ollie pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head in exasperation. “Could you be any more awkward? It only takes you two words to send someone scurrying away. You’ve talked to other people beside me before, right?”
“She’s from the Village. I thought you kids from the Pines weren’t allowed to talk to them.”
“I can talk to whoever I want.”
“Hey, it’s your feud. I just don’t want to go out like Mercutio.”
“Who?”
“Romeo’s best friend. Got killed because of the Capulet-Montague feud? We read it last
year in English.” Ollie shrugs.
“How do you pass classes?”
“Charm.”
A familiar raven-haired boy marches toward us from the edge of the Raveyard. He’s thin
and wiry. He’s a junior, I think. His dark eyes are like empty holes in his head.
“Where is she?” he demands. “Where is Su?”
I lean in close to Ollie’s ear so only he can hear me. “See? This is what I’m talking about.
I’m not dueling anyone.”
“Hey, Yori. Su is around somewhere.” Ollie scans the crowd with his hand to his brow,
like a sailor taking stock of the sea.
“Stay away from my sister, Niels.” Yori doesn’t seem to mind that he barely comes up to
Ollie’s shoulder. He puffs out his chest and huffs authoritatively.
Ollie leans back casually with his hands tucked in his pockets, impressively letting Yori’s
obnoxious commands roll off him. Others aren’t so passive.
“Problem?” Brian Till, a boy from the Pines, steps forward. Till rivals Ollie in size, but
has none of his restraint.
“None of your business,” Yori spits.

“I think it is,” Till growls and crosses his arms, threateningly flexing every muscle he can.
Others gather around, anticipating bloodied knuckles and broken faces. The crowd erupts, hurling curses and insults like monkeys with their own feces.
The capillaries in my eyes pulse with steadily building intensity. The pressure pushes outward on the fissures in my skull. The rumbling voices bleed together and fade away. The hateful whisper in my head is the only sound in the world.
I hum a song to drown it out, but it devours the music like a rabid dog. I try to push it out my ears, scrape it off my tongue, swallow and digest it. But it won’t quiet. I step back from the crowd and dissolve in the darkness at the edge of the forest. It wraps around me like a snug blanket. I run and let my feet take me where they want to go.
The whisper soon quiets, and I hear the crickets and cicadas and the crunch of the ground beneath me. The soft plodding of my feet on dirt and leaves turns to the course grinding of crushed stone. I’ve stepped into another clearing. My stomach tightens and twists in knots, and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck as a cold shiver runs down my spine. A haunting and familiar feeling creeps over me, like a wave of spiders. The core of me goes cold. Every breeze is a whisper telling me to leave. Every little noise is the ground telling me it doesn’t want me here.
The moon creeps out from behind some clouds, illuminating the jagged tree line at the far end of the clearing to show that it’s not trees at all. It is the charred husk of an old house. The roof has collapsed. Only small sections of the walls are still standing. Everything inside is cinder and ash.
“Clen? Where’d you go?” Ollie calls from behind me. “Sorry about this,” he says quietly to someone else. “I think he’s got a touch of Social Anxiety Disorder or something.”

“Sorry about my brother,” Su replies. “He’s a jerk.”
They stumble out of the forest. Yori follows close after, still making demands.
There’s something strange about this place – something both comforting and terrifying at
once. My brain is adrift in a pool of déjà vu. It feels like I exist in two worlds at the same time, and, with each blink of my eyes, I am transported from one to the other. I am standing in an eerie clearing in the middle of the woods, terrified out of my mind. Blink. I’m playing at a home I know well, comfortable and safe. Blink. I exchange unpleasant, untrusting looks with people I’ve

just met. Blink. I’m surrounded by friends as close as family. Blink. Darkness. Everything is covered in darkness and fear. Blink. The fear swims in their eyes, now just black, empty orbs. Blink. Emptiness.
I flash from one world to the other so fast that I lose track of which one is real, which one is mine.
Like there’s a rope tied around my insides, I’m pulled toward the house. The icy feeling in the center of my chest spreads throughout the rest of my body, chilling my blood and bones to the marrow. I stumble a few yards from the wreckage, tripping over an unseen object. A Nintendo DS. I pick it up, and a current of electricity shoots up my arm. My muscles spasm, and a vivid scene of anguish flashes through my mind like a bolt of lightning.
The world around me changes. The house is whole again. A young boy stands in front of it. Veins pulse violently in his neck as he screams from the very pit of his soul. Tears stream down his cheeks, but evaporate before they reach his chin. Then the world erupts in fire, and ash blots out the sun. The boy disappears, swallowed in flame. As the world I know returns, I find myself screaming for the boy, reaching out for him.
Ollie rushes to my side, again offering a hand to lift me off the ground. “He’s freaking out. We need to get out of here.”
The fires burn hotter behind my eyes.
“No,” Yori says. “We need to get out of here. You two need to stay away from us. He’s clearly insane, and I don’t trust you.”
Hot flames dance on my skin and smoke fills my lungs. The smell of blistering flesh sets acid churning in my stomach.
I feel death in the air. Cold. Absolute. It’s inside me, scratching at the lining of my stomach, clawing its way out. The beating inside my skull grows faster and stronger, like a dozen horses racing around a track, feet and hearts pounding. They round the last turn. Their muscles explode like gunfire. Pound, pound, pound. The animal sounds mix in a chaotic symphony of noise and agony that crescendos as they reach the finish line. Pound, pound, pound.
It whispers in my head. A vile hiss from a wretched little snake.
Kill them. 

About the Author:

Cody was born in Upstate New York. Eventually setting off to seek his fortune, he worked in a paper mill, a whipped cream factory, cleaned apartments, and administratively assisted several organizations before returning to the Adirondacks with a wife and child that he picked up along the way.

He approaches life as though it were a page – frequently rearranging paragraphs to make it more interesting if not wholly true, fudging with the margins to fit more in, and, sometimes, erasing entire sections altogether.

When not altering reality, he is scouring comic book shops, lying on the ground, or floor (whichever he happens to be standing on when he feels the need to go horizontal), trying to convince his wife to make french toast (she makes amazing french toast), and searching for the darkest cup of coffee in existence.

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