Monty Jay

It’s been months since the day we stood above that empty grave that stunk of burnt flesh and secrets. All of us were dressed to the nines, one of us wearing a wedding dress, a day that was supposed to mark the beginning of a new adventure. It marked the bitter end of our vengeance. We have done things that have marked our souls for eternity. But before we get there, we have to go back. Back to where it all started. The place I could find in my sleep. Hollow Heights University in the macabre, somber seaside town of Ponderosa Springs. A college for prestigious, wealthy children to receive the highest education. A town drowning in treachery and secrets that became our damnation. But it wasn’t the forest surrounding the grounds or even the mysterious hidden mausoleum that haunted me. It was them. The ones that lurked in the night, things so wicked, so twisted, so evil, they would become the rulers of my nightmares. The Hollow Boys. One wrong move and I landed myself directly in their line of fire. This is not a story about love, it is not a story of happy endings. Love just happened to blossom in our sorrows, in our pain, our fear, our blood. Every terrible thing they ever did, we watched, we helped, we loved them anyway. Some run from their monsters, we fell in love with ours.

“On this day, I vow to make your rage my own, to weather the storm of your revenge, and keep you forever safe.” Two years. That’s all the peace we had before our past awoke from the dead. Rose from the grave with malicious hands, famished, and ready to bury us six feet below. The tombstones of our enemies have been overturned, and we are reminded that we can never escape the chains of the corrupt. Seeking retribution for my lost love consumed my past, but that violence and desire for punishment now jeopardized the future of those closest to me. We are given one choice, a singular option. Return to Ponderosa Springs. Or reap the consequences. But it’s more than the infamous Hollow Boys in danger this time. It’s her. The cursed one. A mirage of a woman too stubborn for her own good. Coraline Whittaker and I share a common enemy. Her fear of him and his possession over her is the only reason she agrees to work with me. We promise to protect one another. Share the weight of his return and the misery his presences brings; Till death do us part or the man plaguing her dreams is finally sent to the grave. What she doesn’t know is there is more than a villain weaving us together. It’s not just the revenge I want. It’s not the satisfaction of ruining the town that tainted us. I want her. Once again, I’ve taken a vow to protect someone, took her vengeance and made it my own. Still waters have always run deep. Ponderosa Springs isn’t the only one with secrets. I’ll let the world know mine before they take her away from me. That rotting town knows what I do to people who take things that belong to me. A mistake repeated? Not even God himself will deliver them from my evil.

Beneath the deepest parts of Ponderosa Springs lied secrets that we never meant to be uncovered. Blood has soaked the hands of those we trusted most. Decrepit intentions finally come to light. And now truths are ready to be incinerated in the open for everyone to witness. I was ready to watch this town that made me the villain, Rot in front of my eyes, but it seems ghosts don’t stay buried here either. Everyone’s favorite sweetheart has returned to Hollow Heights dragging nothing but unanswered questions and grim memories behind her. A distraction I can’t afford with the police sniffing around. A mistake that torched my last piece of humanity. The dirty little secret that has returned searching for closure surrounding her sister’s mysterious death. But I know the innocent, lost girl is an act. Underneath it’s just another part of her show. They all are eating from the palm of her hand, puppets on her string. But not me. I see her for what she truly is, I always have. A fake. A manipulator. A liar. I won’t let her ruin all we have worked for. I refuse to let her derail our plan of vengeance. I’ve played your game once before, Sage, now it’s time to play mine. And you’re not making it out without getting burned.

Will obsession be enough? I'd always believed my love was enough to save him. To protect him. I was wrong. The Copycat killer gets closer every day, and I can’t help but feel his every move is in my direction. With dead ends around every curve and bodies piling up, it seems our time is running out. They took him from me. Stole the last bit of light and left him empty. Now, it’s not only the Hollow Boys who are seeking revenge. I'm out for blood. A war path for vengeance. They wanted a villain? I’ll give them one.

My secrets are infested with infatuation. His cravings are dripping in blood. Is it love? Or is it something much darker… An obsession. Death found me as a young girl. Latching onto the core of my soul. No one knows what that horrid night did to me. What kind of monster it flourished inside me. I’d become a ghost, hiding from the world so that people would never find out about the morbid desire I harbor. Until he noticed me. Thatcher Alexander Pierson: Cunning. Sharp. Beautiful. A man bred from the seed of a serial killer. Stitched together with old money and Dolce & Gabbana clothing. He is my strongest fixation. My sweetest, darkest addiction. And I’m his phantom. I have haunted him my entire life and now? He sees me for exactly what I am. A killer. I sicken him. But he has always mesmerized me. When a copycat murderer prowls among the trees of Ponderosa Springs, our loyalty is tested. It had been foolish of us to believe our revenge would go unpunished. That the town wouldn’t retaliate after what we did. With our lives hanging in the balance, Thatcher and I have no choice but to coexist. In the twilight of musty cabins and haunted library towers, my somber secrets are exposed, and his cravings are revealed. So the question is…What is love without obsession?

In Ponderosa Springs, this version of Romeo and Juliet isn’t a tragedy. It’s war. Jude Sinclair is West Trinity Falls’ favorite exiled loner. Cocky. Insufferably hot. Family foe. Raised across the tracks in a rival town, he reeks of trouble. Which is the one thing I’ve always had a problem avoiding and now that he’s just down the hall, it’s harder to resist the pull. My father made one rule when Jude moved in, never trust a Sinclair. The last thing I need is for my new foster brother to make me question my loyalty with his filthy smirks and poet tongue. But with every forbidden kiss and secret hookup, I quickly find myself faced with two options. Betray my family? Or betray my heart?