|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|The door to Iris' room creaked open, causing me to look up from the book in my hands and my eyes met with that of one of the maids. Her eyes landed on me and relief coursed through her eyes. I flashed her a smile in return."Ma'am said—" "What the fuck is your problem?!" Iris growled and I almost shrunk into the headboard of the bed because of the raw vitriol her words were laced with.The maid immediately went pale and I swung my head in the direction of the tall girl that was just stepping out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped loosely around her frame.If looks could kill, the terrified girl would have been six feet under. She looked so rattled, as if she was about to align her body with the surface of the door."Are you dumb?" she asked coldly, prowling forward and I took in a harsh gulp."Iris—" I tried to intercede."Stay out of it," she shunned me coldly without sparing me so much as a glance and that stung like a bitch, eliciting a low "wow." from me.
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Isn't this just perfect?" her cold voice froze up the entire room, dimming the temperature in folds and our heads simultaneously snapped towards the staircase where my best friend stood, leaning lazily on the support of the spiral staircase.She had her head tilted to the side, her bright red lips set in a grim line and she looked like some sort of dark queen in her body-fitting silk black dress. The blankness in her striking hazel orbs wasn't about to fool me because as cold as those eyes were, they were hints of warning hiding somewhere, making it very clear that she was ready to crush anyone who dared cross her path."The perfect dinner for the perfect family," she kept a straight face but her voice was dripping with mockery. "Oh, don't look so glum. I am here now, aren't I?" she rolled her eyes and began making her way towards us.Even though she dismissed the tension that hung in the room, the silence that loomed in the air was deafening. It was almost chok
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Are you alright?" Charlotte asked and I tore my gaze off the dark-haired man that was seated at a corner in the Café, his head buried in a book, swinging my head in her direction.My cheeks turned a hot shade of pink immediately.Her brown eyes shone with a hint of amusement and mischief like she knew I had been watching him all evening."Uh. . yeah. I am fine." I answered honestly."He is a sight. I know it. You don't have to hide the fact that you are interested in him." Her tone was a little chiding."What? No!" I denied it vehemently."Oh, please. I think the pink tint on your cheeks will disagree with you." She gave a dismissive wave of her hand in the air.I bit my lip, unsure of what to say as I looked away from her. She giggled like a little girl and nudged me on the shoulder before she proceeded to start clearing off the counter.The crowd in the Café was growing sparse by the second. It was nightfall already and we'd be locking up anytime soon.My ring
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•|I had toured the world for a century to conclude that there were only two things I considered gripping enough to be termed beautiful. A splash of different colours of paint on an artist's canvas and nature. They were unrivalled until she came into the picture.It should be labelled as a form of sorcery how I was taken by the sight of her all sprawled on my bed that was covered in black satin sheets, clad in the silk lavender thin-strapped nightwear that Ophelia had begrudgingly changed her into after she fell asleep last night. The dress looked like it was made solely for her, clinging to her body in a way that rendered me jealous of the fabric.Due to how much she must have tossed around, it rode dangerously up her thigh and I didn't make any attempt to adjust it because it was such an erotic sight. The strap of the nightie was falling off her shoulder, revealing her neck and shoulder blade that was sparsely covered by her hair, which had taken a somewhat gol
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|As a fictional writer with a reserved personality, I secretly craved intimacy like the one in the books. A raw connection that was born out of an unusual circumstance. The need to have that was very vibrant during my teenage years, but it began waning when it became crystal clear that I wanted something that merely existed in books.It wasn't real and that made me snap out of it until I saw him. I understood what it was to be drawn to someone you shared no history with, to someone you barely knew. It became very clear what it meant to crave someone so much like you needed them like the air you breathe.I was thoroughly taken by him at first sight. But all these were just thoughts until the intimacy we shared just now. It sealed and solidified everything I felt. It was as though I had a veil peeled off my face and it became so clear that I wasn't just obsessed with André. I felt something deeper towards him, something that made me feel so alive. Something like. .
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"It's just a fleeting obsession."Get out of my head."I am not into you as much as you are into me."Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Head."I can't see you anymore, Desirée."No, I don't want to hear it anymore."We are a lost cause."No!"Des? Des?" the voice sounded so far away, almost familiar and I tried to hold on to it as an anchor that could keep me grounded in this reality, away from the sinister voices that thrashed around in my head in demeaning tones. Those words wouldn't stop echoing in my head no matter how hard I tried to get myself to move past it. They were ruining me and I wanted it to stop."Desirée? Desirée!" the feminine voice snapped and yanked me out of the hellhole I had been trapped in for days. Heck, my mind has been feeling like a weapon fashioned against me since that day. It has been acting as my greatest enemy.I sucked in a sharp air that pricked my lungs like needles, blinking repeatedly. My eyes snapped to the tall figure beside me,
|•| IRIS CORTEZ |•|The aggressive punches and kicks I threw at the punching bag, dangling forward and backward violently, echoed throughout the vast armoury in waves. It swallowed the room whole and threatened to rip it off its foundation.But it wasn't just enough.No matter how hard I swung punches and kicks at the bag, it didn't quell the rage that had taken residence within me for days. I rammed my fists into the bag, sending it flying backwards and striking it with violent kicks, but the fucking bag didn't budge.It was just as stubborn as the emotions that were eating at me. I aimed for emptiness, but the more it brushed my fingertips, and I struggled to grasp it, the farther it slipped from my hold. I wanted to purge these feelings from my system, but they were just as hot-headed as I was.It usually doesn't take this long. A few days top and I'd have shook it off, and be back to that ruthless, unfeeling bitch. That was exactly what I wanted, not the sappy motherfucker that te
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Bran!" an ardent smile descended on my face when my eyes landed on the masculine figure by the counter as I traipsed out of the store with a box of coffee beans in my hands. Charlotte had a grin etched on her face and I dropped the box, closing in on him and wrapping an arm around his muscular frame for a light hug. The dark-haired guy laughed almost squeezing me into a yarn of thread with his large arms."Desirée, it's so good to see you." He kissed my cheek and let me out of his grip.Brandon was just a couple of years older than Charlotte, his girlfriend. He works outside the city and doesn't get to see his girlfriend often. But whenever he wasn't in town, he made it a point of duty to check in on his girl. He made Charlotte so happy and the guy ticked the boxes of the perfect girlfriend. And I knew without a doubt that they were endgame for each other."It's been so long. It's good to see you too. When did you get back?" I asked, tucking my hair behind my e
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|“So, do you sleep?” I asked the grey-eyed man leaning against the kitchen cabinet. A curious smile pulled at the corner of my lips.He chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “You are very curious, aren't you?”“Hey!” I chided him, laughing as I chopped the bell peppers on the tray. “You can't blame me. I have had a lot I have been wanting to ask you.” I defended myself with a Cheshire grin.It was nightfall. André and I were in the kitchen in the Castle. I was staying over at his place and he told me he wanted to cook me dinner. I didn't oppose but I strongly wanted to help out. I didn't just want to sit upstairs and leave the cooking to him alone. I'd be bored out of my mind.I knew I could have chosen to catch up on the books I wanted to read but a huge part of me wanted to spend time with him.I'd have asked him since I found out about what he was but let's just say we have been too busy catching up. André was insatiable. He want
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•|The classical novel in my hands dived down on the list of things that grabbed my attention when I look up for the umpteenth time tonight.A view of sheer perfection unfolded before me.Her wavy honey blonde hair was swept up in a neat high ponytail, the strands swishing sideways as she bobbed her head occasionally, scribbling down in her hitting pad as her eyes drifted between the screen of her laptop and her note.Her full perfectly glossed lips were pulled in a light frown, her thick dark lashes fluttering now and then. Her blue eyes were overly luminous because of the blue lights oozing off the screen of the device.Her fair skin that could easily suffer a mark popped with an empyrean glow that was as bewitching as it was captivating.I couldn't get enough of her just sitting there and focusing on school work.Heck, I couldn't control the dark, possessive rage that swept through me for a moment because I wasn't the object of her attention
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|“Do you want me to pick you two up later?” the chauffeur’s eyes strayed to us through the rearview mirror and I'm forced to look up from the book in my hands. My gaze intuitively flowed towards the dark-haired girl beside me as she worked her fingers through her voluminous curls that she surprisingly let down today, a black shade perched on the bridge of her nose.“No, Idris.” She met his eyes. “Just send my car over. Des and I will head back home together. “Come on.” She said to me, leading us out of the car.The car sped out of the parking lot in no time, leaving the two of us alone. My attention was fixated on the car awkwardly, watching it disappear into the busy streets of NocturneVille. “You have barely spent five minutes with me and you have a book in your hand already.” Iris spoke up sarcastically.My head snapped towards her, my eyes widening a fraction. “What? No! That's not true.”“Isn't it?” she hit me with her best intimidating yet subtle
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•| I didn't think the Castle was going to be empty when I returned. As much as Ophelia liked to step out for fresh air, she hated being in town. It was contrasting because even when she knew she wasn't particularly a fan of being outdoors, she'd still step out to feel connected to the world around her. She claimed that being outdoors was always too hostile for her—for her magic. But it didn't mean that if push came to shove, she wouldn't outrightly discard that and do whatever she needed to do. Just like she had been poking her nose in what wasn't her business recently. A necessary evil, she claimed. She wasn't in the garden and certainly wasn't in the woods either. So, there was only one place she could be. A place she hadn't been in about three decades now. The church. The populace that attended the NocturneVille Church had drastically reduced over the years. Most especially since people began turning up
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•| I didn't think the Castle was going to be empty when I returned. As much as Ophelia liked to step out for fresh air, she hated being in town. It was contrasting because even when she knew she wasn't particularly a fan of being outdoors, she'd still step out to feel connected to the world around her. She claimed that being outdoors was always too hostile for her—for her magic. But it didn't mean that if push came to shove, she wouldn't outrightly discard that and do whatever she needed to do. Just like she had been poking her nose in what wasn't her business recently. A necessary evil, she claimed. She wasn't in the garden and certainly wasn't in the woods either. So, there was only one place she could be. A place she hadn't been in about three decades now. The church. The populace that attended the NocturneVille Church had drastically reduced over the years. Most especially since people began turning up dead recently. So much for having faith,
|•| DÉSIRÉE DOYLE |•|I stirred awake, catching a whiff of his aftershave lingering on the sheets that were carelessly wrapped around me.I pushed my hair off my face tiredly, my eyes drifting through the room, catching my panties lying carelessly away from the bed—a blush crept up my neck to my face—before it occurred to me that he wasn't in the room with me.Unlike the first time I woke up in bed with him to find him missing, I wasn't freaking out and going out of my mind. Instead, it gave me time to come to terms with the fact that we spent the entire night exploring our bodies. But somehow, I feared that it might not have been enough because I lacked experience in bed and I might not have been able to satisfy him last night.My chest twisted, and embarrassment washed over me. I didn't know why my insecurities decided to weaponize themselves against me, conjuring an image of a dark-haired bitch pleasing André in ways I never would. A frown mounted on my face, and I shook my head to
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|The moment those words left my lips, I knew I had just allowed everything else to go up in flames. I knew I was venturing towards an edge that'd change everything, but a huge part of me didn't care.Andre's eyes thickened with want, his breath shallow and heavy. I could see the restraint swimming in his eyes, even though his hunger for me was slowly overshadowing.“You have to understand that there's no coming back from this. Do you really want to risk everything and completely blur the lines between what we have?” he whispered.“I don't care. I am not going to stay in a world where you do not exist.” The weight of my words released a sharp breath from him, his eyes conveying his surprise.“You'll be the death of me.” His knuckles glided over the skin of my face in a dainty caress and my skin erupted in flames.I inched forward desperately, brushing his lips against my tentatively. With the way he crashed his lips against mine, stealing my breath from my lungs, I
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I drowned out the eerie silence trailing behind me from outside when I stepped into my apartment. I switched on the lights, tossing my bag somewhere in the disorganised space. My muscles and limbs ached from standing all day and I could barely feel my legs. The only thing I wanted to do was to get in bed and sleep the whole day.I shimmied out of my jeans, kicked off my sneakers, and sauntered into the kitchen to fetch myself a glass of water.I didn't miss how weird the atmosphere seemed when I came back to the living room. It flat-out felt like I was being watched, goosebumps creeping onto my skin. The coldness from the inside radiated outwards and I felt myself shiver from the effect. Even if I wanted to dismiss everything. I couldn't dismiss the sheer curtains that were blowing fiercely. I mentally cursed myself for forgetting to lock the windows.I suppressed a shiver, garnering the courage to advance forward. I hastily dropped my glass of water on the centr
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I hummed in satisfaction, wiggling my newly painted nails under the lights hanging over the Queen-sized bed of Iris’ room. I had doubts about trying red colour on my fingers but I didn't think it'd turn out so well. I giggled, picking up my book and throwing the covers over my head to continue reading.The door to the bathroom was abrasively flung open, causing me to push the covers off my body at once. With furrowed brows, my gaze flitted to the taller girl marching into her closet like a giant alien. A worried sigh escaped me, my eyes fixed intently on the entrance leading to the closet as I patiently waited for her to step out.Iris’ mood swings can be linked to two things. Her hormones and the possibility of someone getting on her nerves. It was either the first one or the second one. It could be both at times too and it always made her a ticking time bomb threatening to go off. However, call it a gut feeling or whatever, but I strongly believed that it wasn'