|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|It didn't dawn on me how much of a bad idea this whole thing was until Iris was pulling over in the parking lot that wasn't far from the grandiose frat house, that struck me like it was going to come collapsing alongside its foundation because of how loud the music in there was. For a fleeting moment, I found myself wondering how deafening it would be inside this house if the noise was this much outside.Not only did my breath quicken, my palms grew sweaty and my stomach churned with nerves that made me feel like I was about to throw up any moment from now. Heck, I could have sworn I felt my hands rock with tremors. I was also subtly—okay, totally irritated at the thought of being sandwiched in a space filled with horny students and reeked of alcohol, drugs and sex."Oh, wipe that bored off your face. We are here to have fun!" Iris chided me playfully and I forced a smile on my face, rolling my eyes."I don't look bored," I defended myself with a huff, stepping o

|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I might have forgotten just how breathtaking the neighbourhoods in Nocturneville could look in the evening. To be quite frank, if you wanted to bask in the allure and sheer beauty of the streets, evening, during sunset, couldn't have been more of a better choice.It was simply exhilarating to soak in the sight of the seemingly quiet surroundings that were bathed in the colourful glow of the sky, which struck me as the brush strokes of a painter on a canvas. A perfect blend of orange, red, pink and purple augmented the beauty of the green trees that occupied each side of the road, morphing into an aesthetical view I wanted to capture on paper or camera and ogle at it for the rest of eternity.The atmosphere, although eerily cold, was quite serene and allowed me to gather my thoughts. Thoughts I had been desperately trying to tuck somewhere and pretend they didn't exist. I had drowned it in work, getting busy, so I wouldn't get the chance to think, but I knew it was

|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I crouched to grab the carton of coffee beans but the band that held my hair together was suddenly yanked off it, allowing my hair to pour over my shoulders. Mocking sugary giggles came up behind me and I dropped the carton to the ground with a thud, not caring if it got damaged in the process. I spun around, my lips set in a thin line as I stared impassively at Stacey and Dana. Stacey's shimmering lips were curled in a taunting smirk as she flipped her red hair which was styled to perfection over her shoulder. Her eyes were twinkling with mischief, laced with a hint of dare that was enough to tell me that all she wanted to do was rile me up.Dana was flat-out glaring at me, her eyes brimming with so much disgust as she twirled a strand of her hair around her fingers."What do you want?" I asked, utterly bored at their incessant poking. It was beginning to get boring. It was as if they had nothing exciting going on in their lives and they chose to make mine miser

|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•|The heated glare that was etched on my face felt like it was flaming up the fireplace even more. I was so convinced that the crackling and popping sounds it made now and then were thriving under my burning gaze. The more I peered at it, the harder it burned like the rage I had bottled up in me, threatening to shatter into a thousand pieces at the slightest poke.It was the only source of light in the vast grey-themed Victorian room, illuminating it so dimly that my gaze could barely catch any other thing in the room—or it could be because I was far too immersed in my thoughts and wasn't in touch with my surroundings. I took a sip of my whiskey, throwing my head backwards on the chair I was slouched on, trying to control the whirlwind of emotions that ate me from the inside.The door creaked open slowly, but I didn't move from where I was seated. I knew it was Ophelia. She was, after all, the only person I lived with.Her floral scent filled up the room in no t

|•| 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