Cherreads

free!

Roses and Rot

The morgue is a place of silence, protocol, and the cold reality of death-the perfect sanctuary for Ash. As a forensic assistant with a penchant for heavy metal and a "wake-and-bake" morning routine, Ash finds comfort in the clinical detachment of the autopsy suite. She's used to the coppery tang of old blood and the hiss of negative pressure vents. But when Jane Doe 7 arrives on her table-a victim of manual strangulation-the silence of the morgue begins to feel like a threat. What starts as a morbid curiosity turns into a living nightmare when Ash realizes she isn't alone among the dead. A shadow is watching from the corners of the lab, a predator who knows her name, her habits, and the intimate details of her life outside the hospital walls. From chilling phone calls whispered in German to "gifts" left in her locked apartment and car-an antique silver thimble and surveillance photos of her most vulnerable moments-the "Narr" (the Fool) is playing a calculated game. He isn't just a killer; he's an insider with admin-level access, turning Ash's workplace into his own personal observation deck. As the line between the hunter and the hunted blurs, Ash must use her forensic training to process the living instead of the dead. With her two best friends, Leo and Chloe, caught in the crosshairs, Ash digs into the "Unlisted Inventory"-a trail of forgotten women that the system has discarded, but the Narr has claimed. In a world of woven filigree and formaldehyde, Ash must find the man behind the mask before she becomes the final item in his macabre inventory. Because in this game, the Narr is writing the script-and he's decided that Ash is the leading lady.
Ilikezombies_99 · 1.1k Views

Shadows of Influence

Every challenge test is resolved. Every decision reshapes trust. Every observation shifts the balance of power. In a world where influence matters as much as knowledge, one young leader navigates ethical dilemmas, institutional friction, mentorship demands, and high-stakes collaboration. Through crises and breakthroughs, she must balance principle with strategy, composure with action, securing authority while earning genuine trust. From quiet rivalries to external pressures, from miscommunication to pivotal victories, her journey proves that real power emerges not from dominance but from patience, integrity, and the capacity to guide others with steady resolve. Amara Sinclair enters university with clarity and conviction. Intelligent, disciplined, principled ,she believes integrity, effort, and loyalty will secure both success and love. Her future seems carefully aligned until betrayal shatters the foundation she trusted most. The collapse forces Amara into reckoning with disappointment, vulnerability, and an uncomfortable truth: competence alone guarantees neither respect nor protection. What follows isn't reckless rebellion but observation and recalibration. She begins noticing what she once overlooked—subtle hierarchies, unspoken power structures, the quiet mechanics of influence within academic and institutional spaces. As she navigates demanding collaborations, ethical dilemmas, and rising expectations, Amara learns to lead without noise. She develops emotional discipline, strategic patience, and the ability to guide through clarity rather than confrontation. Mentorship, rivalry, and scrutiny test her resolve while responsibility sharpens judgment. Each challenge refines her understanding: authority isn't dominance ,it's consistency, fairness, principle. Over time, Amara's influence grows organically. Trust replaces doubt. Respect displaces assumptions. She becomes a steady presence in environments defined by pressure and complexity, earning credibility through action rather than assertion. Shadows of Influence is a slow-burn coming-of-age novel about self-possession and the formation of quiet power. It explores how resilience builds through reflection, how leadership emerges through restraint, and how true influence establishes itself not by force, but through integrity sustained over time.
Reks_Juli · 6k Views