Author: TOPSTORYUSA

Part1: She was married off over a fifty-dollar bet to a deaf farmer everyone called a monster. But the night Clara stuck a pair of tweezers into his ear, she discovered Elias hadn’t been born deaf… someone had condemned him. In Blackwood, they laughed at her at the altar. They called her “the fat girl” right up until her wedding day. And no one imagined that this humiliated girl would be the only one capable of pulling from his head a secret that had been alive for twenty years.

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

Elias opened his eyes as if the world had just split apart. Clara held between the tweezers that black thing that was still writhing, and next to it the tiny …

Part1: She was married off over a fifty-dollar bet to a deaf farmer everyone called a monster. But the night Clara stuck a pair of tweezers into his ear, she discovered Elias hadn’t been born deaf… someone had condemned him. In Blackwood, they laughed at her at the altar. They called her “the fat girl” right up until her wedding day. And no one imagined that this humiliated girl would be the only one capable of pulling from his head a secret that had been alive for twenty years. Read More

Part2: She was married off over a fifty-dollar bet to a deaf farmer everyone called a monster. But the night Clara stuck a pair of tweezers into his ear, she discovered Elias hadn’t been born deaf… someone had condemned him. In Blackwood, they laughed at her at the altar. They called her “the fat girl” right up until her wedding day. And no one imagined that this humiliated girl would be the only one capable of pulling from his head a secret that had been alive for twenty years.

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

The Restoration The following months were hard. Elias recovered part of his hearing in his right ear. Not all of it. There were sounds that hurt him. Bells made him …

Part2: She was married off over a fifty-dollar bet to a deaf farmer everyone called a monster. But the night Clara stuck a pair of tweezers into his ear, she discovered Elias hadn’t been born deaf… someone had condemned him. In Blackwood, they laughed at her at the altar. They called her “the fat girl” right up until her wedding day. And no one imagined that this humiliated girl would be the only one capable of pulling from his head a secret that had been alive for twenty years. Read More

Part1: A pregnant wife asked the judge for a divorce and gave her husband everything while his mistress laughed—but the courtroom fell silent when the judge brought in a little girl who exposed what her father and the “mean lady” had done.

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

The Franklin County courtroom had fallen so silent that the faint buzzing of the fluorescent lights sounded like insects trapped against glass. Emma Caldwell stood beside her lawyer, one hand …

Part1: A pregnant wife asked the judge for a divorce and gave her husband everything while his mistress laughed—but the courtroom fell silent when the judge brought in a little girl who exposed what her father and the “mean lady” had done. Read More

Part2: A pregnant wife asked the judge for a divorce and gave her husband everything while his mistress laughed—but the courtroom fell silent when the judge brought in a little girl who exposed what her father and the “mean lady” had done.

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

One rainy Tuesday morning, Emma went into labor. Lily was at school. Natalie drove her to the hospital. Emma was terrified Daniel would arrive and play the worried husband in …

Part2: A pregnant wife asked the judge for a divorce and gave her husband everything while his mistress laughed—but the courtroom fell silent when the judge brought in a little girl who exposed what her father and the “mean lady” had done. Read More

Part1: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

—Yes —the woman said—. And the worst part is, she didn’t go to work today. Mark’s voice fell silent. I felt the dust under the bed clog my throat. I …

Part1: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More

Part2: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

The officer didn’t let me go home after that. Not even to get clothes. By sunset, the rain had turned the streets silver, and the town looked blurred through the …

Part2: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More

PART3: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

PART 18 — THE GAME Every officer inside the house froze. Mark’s voice echoed through the walls with horrifying clarity, soft and intimate, as if he were standing directly behind …

PART3: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More

PART4: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

PART 21 — THE ROOM BELOW Nobody in the basement moved. The broken concrete surrounded the metal door like a wound ripped open beneath the house. Dust floated through flashlight …

PART4: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More

PART5: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

PART 24 — THE THINGS WE BURY The house groaned around us. Smoke rolled across the ceiling while orange firelight pulsed beneath the basement door like the heartbeat of something …

PART5: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More

PART6: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold

- by TOPSTORYUSA - Leave a Comment

PART 27 — THE MAN IN THE RAIN For three days, I didn’t sleep properly. Not because of the fire. Not because I lost the house. Because every time I …

PART6: My neighbor screamed at me that shouting could be heard from my house every day, but I lived alone and worked from eight to six. The next day, I pretended to leave, hid under the bed, and listened as someone entered, walking as if she owned my life. I closed my eyes to keep from breathing. My bedroom door opened. And the voice that came from the speaker made my blood run cold Read More