The Skull Artist

The Skull Artist

Lava Hot · Ongoing · 58.8k Words

622
Hot
622
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Detective Lana Cross has paid her dues in the department. Raised in foster homes, beaten down by life, and hardened by trauma, she's clawed her way up in a system designed to keep her out. Her last big case catching Vincent Greaves, aka the Skull Artist should’ve earned her a promotion and peace of mind. Instead, it left her scarred and sidelined.

The Skull Artist’s crimes were beyond anything the city had seen: victims were killed, their skulls removed, and crime scenes turned into sickening “exhibits” abstract expressions made of flesh, bone, and blood. Greaves claimed it was all part of “revealing what lies beneath.” Lana caught him, barely, and the case was buried.

But now, just when she’s told her promotion is on the table, another body turns up displayed exactly like Greaves’ original work. Except Greaves is still locked in maximum security.

The case threatens to unravel everything she’s fought for. And as the press explodes and her department hesitates, Lana is told she can have her promotion… if she solves this new case.

Chapter 1

Chapter One

They say you only get one shot at proving yourself. But what they don’t say is—sometimes, that shot is soaked in blood, wrapped in regret, and aimed straight at your head.

I’d been sitting in this damn office for forty-seven minutes. Not that I was counting, but trust me, I was. The clock on the wall ticked like it was mocking me, each second dragging a sigh out of my chest. This was supposed to be the moment. My moment. Promotion board meeting, round three. My coffee was cold, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Not from fear. I don’t get scared easily—not anymore. It’s just... anticipation. Rage. Hope, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe all three.

Captain Ronning was late. Again. And it didn’t help that every time I came here, I sat in the same damn seat, staring at the same crooked photo of him shaking hands with the mayor like he’d just solved world hunger. All he did was survive bureaucracy, which, honestly, might be a harder job than what I do.

I shifted in my chair and stared down at my boots. Black. Polished. Military issue. I never served, but my brother did. Before he ended up face down in a ditch because the government forgot to care about the soldiers they break. He always told me, “Keep your boots clean, and the dirt won’t stick.” It stuck anyway.

The door creaked open. Finally. Ronning walked in like he wasn’t fifty goddamn minutes late, dropped a file on his desk, and sighed.

Never a good sign.

I straightened. He didn’t sit down. Another bad sign.

“Cross,” he said, his voice low, gravel in his throat like he chewed cigars for breakfast. “This isn’t the conversation I wanted to have today.”

I almost laughed. Welcome to my entire career, sir.

“Then let’s make it quick,” I replied, deadpan. “Yes or no?”

He looked up, eyes squinting, like my bluntness was a surprise. It shouldn’t be. I don’t sugar-coat. I don’t kiss asses. I solve cases.

“You’re not getting the lieutenant badge,” he said.

Just like that. Knife to the chest. Twist. Pull.

I didn’t flinch.

“Why?” I asked, even though I already knew.

“Politics,” he said, shrugging. “And the board doesn’t like your... attitude.”

“My attitude?”

He waved his hand like it was supposed to dismiss the insult. “You don’t play well with others. You bend rules.”

I leaned forward. “I bend them because the rules are broken. You want me to follow protocol while a girl bleeds out in an alley and we wait six hours for a warrant?”

“Lana—”

“I’ve closed more cases in the last twelve months than half this department combined,” I snapped. “But sure, let’s talk about my tone.”

He sighed. A real one, this time. Almost like he felt sorry for me. Almost.

“There’s another reason,” he said. “And it’s not coming from me.”

He slid the folder across the desk. My name wasn’t on the cover. Just a case number. One I knew better than my own reflection.

SK-087: The Skull Artist.

I froze. That case was supposed to be dead. Buried. Just like the ten victims we never fully identified.

“No,” I said before he could continue. “He’s locked up. Case closed.”

Ronning shook his head. “We got a body this morning. Same signature. Meat art. Blood writing. This time it spelled ‘hello.’”

My stomach twisted. Not fear. Not again. Not now. I thought I was past this.

“You think it’s a copycat,” I said, but my voice cracked on the last word. I hated that.

“We’re not sure,” he said. “But the commissioner thinks if anyone can close this, it’s the person who caught him the first time.”

I stood up, fists clenched. “I didn’t catch him. I just got lucky.”

“You survived him,” he replied. “That’s more than most.”

I turned toward the window, breathing through my nose. Outside, the city looked gray and tired. Just like me.

“This isn’t just a case,” I said. “This is a trap. For me.”

He didn’t argue. That was the worst part. He knew I was right.

“You solve this,” he said quietly, “and the badge is yours.”

I laughed. A bitter, hollow sound.

“Right. So, let me risk my mind, my life, and everything I’ve rebuilt... for a promotion.”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The answer was obvious.

I took the folder, walked out, and didn’t look back.

Back at my apartment, I dropped the folder on the kitchen counter and stared at it like it might bite. The apartment was quiet, too quiet. I used to live with someone. A man. Good guy. Couldn’t handle my demons. Left a note on the fridge that said, “I love you, but I can’t love all the parts you keep buried.”

I didn’t blame him.

I opened the folder. First crime scene photo: a young woman, early twenties, posed like she was dancing. Arms lifted, back arched, but her skull—gone. Skin peeled in long, artistic strips, arranged in spirals around the body. Blood used to paint the floor like brush strokes.

Same as before. Exactly.

The Skull Artist had a thing for turning flesh into art. Said he was revealing the truth underneath. That’s why he removed the skulls. To him, the skull was the purest form of human beauty. He called it the “sacred core.”

I’d interviewed him three times during the original case. Each time, I walked out feeling like I needed to bleach my soul.

His real name was Vincent Greaves. Former art professor. Lectured on pain and beauty. Wrote poetry that made no sense unless you were broken inside.

I reached into my desk and pulled out the recorder I hadn’t touched in years. The last tape I made after Greaves was arrested. I’d never played it back. I’d been scared of what I might hear.

I pressed play.

His voice poured out, soft and cold.

“Detective Cross. You think you’ve stopped the story. But stories don’t end with the writer in chains. They end when the message is complete. And mine... is far from over.”

I shut it off.

He wasn’t wrong.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to the prison. I’ll look him in the eyes again.

But tonight, I’m going to pour myself a drink, sit in the dark, and remember what it felt like to be whole—before I ever heard the name Skull Artist.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll start preparing for war.

Because if this really is the sequel...

I refuse to be the victim this time.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

COLD (Ruthless Player)

COLD (Ruthless Player)

10.1k Views · Completed · A. K Adam
“Was she the one who sent you?” he growled “Did she pay you to whore yourself to me?”
“Please… Nick, wait.” He pulled out, thrusted back in. “How much? Twenty thousand? Fifty? Hundred?” With every question, he thrust harder and harder. My neurons are frying with the confusing feeling in my brain. Torn between pleasure, fear, and panic. I couldn't utter a single sentence to save my life.

His cold eyes pinned me in place while he plundered my body with deep thrusts, which only added to my confusion. My dumb body mistook the mixed signals, my pussy becoming even wetter than before.

“I hope she'd paid you well, because I'm going to fuck you all night long, hard,” he growled. “Sleep, then do it all over again. I want to feel you come for me, Andrea, want to feel you squeeze my cock, milking me.

Begging for me to give you the high only I can, I'm going to fucked you until I fuck all my wife's money's worth, I want you to remember how hard I took you while you're meeting her.” I sobbed, moaned, and tried to scramble out under him.

“No, please…Nick, let….let me explain.” Nick abruptly pulled out. His eyes were cold but hooded.


Andrea was sent to take down billionaire magnate Nicklaus Montgomery.
Her mission was simple: get close, seduce him, find the proof, and disappear. Instead Andrea finds herself exposed—cornered into signing a contract that binds her to Nicklaus's side as his lover. Now she’s living in his world of wealth, danger, and secrets… and the deeper she falls into his bed, the harder it becomes to remember what side she's on.
The Alpha's Stripper Mate

The Alpha's Stripper Mate

50.8k Views · Completed · Havilworth
"Come here."
"What?" It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. I did not wait for him to answer me, I walked toward him.
"Dance on my lap."
My head screamed at me to turn around and run. But my whole body responded to his command.
"Yes, Alpha," I pulled my dress over my body, it dropped over my head and fell to the ground behind me. I was left in nothing but my matching bra and thong. My hands covered my chest on reflex.
"Let me see."
My hands dropped to my sides.
I lowered myself into his lap, facing him. His eyes peered into mine, and I could feel his hot breath fan my face. His dick responded to all my moves, hardening against my now-moist vagina. I swallowed hard, allowing my lips to part in a ragged breath. His hands trailed up to my waist.
"No touching."


At the tender age of eleven, JoJo Wyatt was forced to grow up far sooner than she should have. Born to a cruel father and a weak mother, she quickly realized she had to become the breadwinner for herself and her sister. Nothing else mattered to her, not even the hottest men. In fact, she despised them. After one horrific night, she swore never to have any contact with the male species again. That was, until she started working for him as his stripper.
Meanwhile, Alpha Lake Rush, thirty, was the most feared Alpha in the country. Burdened by his own share of life's struggles, he had learned only to be cruel and reckless, rejecting not one but two mates. But what happens when he discovers yet another mate, and she turns out to be his stripper?
Cursed Beauty and her Three Alpha Mates

Cursed Beauty and her Three Alpha Mates

4.8k Views · Ongoing · Author Aimen
“I am Maya Blackthorn, the first daughter of Alpha Darius of the Ashbourne Pack, and I am damned… damned by the Moon Goddess. And destined to bring kingdoms to their knees.”
Cast out by her pack for being wolfless and plagued by uncontrollable heat, Maya has spent her life surviving humiliation in silence.
Fate drags her into the path of Kael Draven, the ruthless Lycan King who claims her… only to reject her.
But Kael is not the only Alpha bound to her.
Finn, her childhood best friend and the rising Alpha, loves her with a devotion so fierce, he spends four years locked away in the most ruthless dungeon only to keep her safe.
Xander, a rogue wolf who can make even Alphas bow to his will, has waited centuries for her to be reborn, and he has no intention of losing her again.
Three Alphas.
Three claims.
One cursed destiny.
They called her wolfless. They thought she was weak. But she is done hiding, and this time, she's rewriting the rules.
Underwater: The Silent Luna

Underwater: The Silent Luna

6k Views · Ongoing · Karima Saad Usman
Meadow never imagined her life could change so quickly, until Luna Amber appeared at her door with an offer no ordinary girl would refuse: marriage to her son, the Alpha of the pack.

It sounded like fate. Like rescue. Like the moment the universe finally chose her.

Even with the suspicion clinging to the proposal, Meadow let herself believe it. She stepped into the marriage blindly, hoping love would fill the quiet spaces of her mute, colourless life.

But the truth comes fast, and cruel.

The Alpha never asked for her. Never wanted her. Luna Amber arranged everything without his consent, driven by selfish motives Meadow couldn’t see until it was too late. What should have been tender and sacred becomes a cage, and Meadow is trapped in a nightmare she can’t wake from.
Accidentally His: The Billionaire’s Wife in High Society

Accidentally His: The Billionaire’s Wife in High Society

3.8k Views · Ongoing · The Hana
Five years ago, during a passionate sexual encounter, Freya Myers stole sperm from a mysterious and dangerous man, intending to have a genetically superior child. That man was none other than Declan Castle, the ruthless, enigmatic CEO of the globally renowned Castle Group.

Five years later, Freya Myers returns to the city with a pair of exceptionally gifted twins, desperately trying to conceal their existence from the world. But when she interviews for an internship, she unexpectedly encounters Declan Castle—the very same man from years ago—as her interviewer. From then on, Declan Castle becomes a persistent, demonic force haunting her!

Five years ago, a single, desperate mistake changed Freya Myers's life forever. Intending to secure a future with the man of her dreams, she ended up in the wrong room, stealing the 'seed' of the wrong man. That man was Declan Castle—the cold, ruthless, and enigmatic CEO of the world-renowned Castle Group.

Now, Freya has returned to the city as a struggling single mother, hiding a pair of genius twins from the world. When she lands an internship at the Castle Group, she hopes to remain invisible. But fate has other plans. Declan Castle, a man who has remained mysteriously untouched by any woman since that fateful night, instantly senses something familiar about the new designer. He has spent years searching for the woman who 'ruined' him, and now that he has found her, he has no intention of letting her go.

Forced into a high-stakes marriage of convenience with the domineering CEO, Freya must navigate the treacherous waters of high society while desperately guarding her children's true identity. Between a scheming stepmother, jealous socialites, and a series of deadly secrets, the walls are closing in.

What started as a game of cat-and-mouse and a quest for revenge soon ignites into a passion that neither can control. In a world where power is everything and betrayal is a way of life, can Freya protect her heart and her children, or will the relentless Mr. Castle claim everything she’s been trying to hide?
The Hockey Alpha's Fake Girlfriend

The Hockey Alpha's Fake Girlfriend

10.7k Views · Ongoing · midaspen78
Vivienne has always felt small. At home, she’s trapped in pain she can’t escape. At school, she hides in the shadows, counting the days until she can finally be free. But one choice shatters everything, leaving her broken and more alone than ever.

Then there’s Rafael. Dark. Untouchable. The boy everyone talks about but no one really knows. He should be the last person Vivienne gets close to, yet she can’t look away. He pulls her in with a kind of danger that feels both terrifying and safe, like he sees the parts of her no one else can.

But Rafael carries secrets—secrets that could destroy them both. And the closer Vivienne gets, the harder it is to tell if he’s her way out… or the reason she never escapes.
Let Them Kneel

Let Them Kneel

231.4k Views · Ongoing · My Fantasy Stories
Kaelani spent her life believing she was wolfless.
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.

But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.

Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.

When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.

For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.

Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.

But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.

And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.

Especially him.

She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.

Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
BROKEN TRUST

BROKEN TRUST

4.4k Views · Ongoing · O.J Thewriter
She broke their marriage. He walked away.

Neither of them knew she was carrying his child.

Emily’s affair didn’t just end her marriage—it erased the life she thought was guaranteed. Ryan left without looking back, carrying his anger like armor and leaving Emily alone with regret she would never outrun. Three years later, fate drags them back into each other’s world, along with a little girl who has Ryan’s eyes and a truth that shatters everything he thought he knew.

Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?
The Unwritten Princess

The Unwritten Princess

2k Views · Ongoing · Manda Grey
I was born the year the Rift opened. They said I would close it. They were wrong about so many things.

My name is Mia, and everything I touch is dying.

The flowers beneath my mother's window turned black overnight. The herbs I gathered at dawn rotted in my hands. When the court wizard finally told me the truth—that someone cursed me, that my presence would kill everyone I love—I realized the prophecy everyone believed was never meant to save the kingdom. It was meant to destroy me.

So I ran. Not to fulfill some destiny, but to survive it.

Now I'm traveling with a hunter who lost his companions to the same curse I carry, chasing fragments of a prophecy the Fae sing differently. An elf took a baby from the palace the night I was born. And somewhere between the lies I've been told and the truth I'm hunting, I'm starting to suspect: What if I'm not the princess from the prophecy at all?
Game of Destiny

Game of Destiny

1.2m Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Amie's wolf hasn't shown herself. But who cares? She has a good pack, best friends and a family who loves her. Everyone, including the Alpha, is telling her she is perfect just the way she is. That is until she finds her mate and he rejects her. Heartbroken Amie flees from everything and start over. No more werewolves, no more packs.

When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.

Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.

When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
Wings and Wolves 1-3

Wings and Wolves 1-3

4.7k Views · Completed · EverleighMiles
"Cecelia has always been amused that her name means blind, when, as a witch, she was born with the gift of sight and can see past the glamour of the Others that share her world – vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and their ilk.

Revealing that she can see through their glamours would be dangerous – humans would consider her mad, and the Others would hunt her for the risk to their secrecy that she presents.

When her best friend Paris talks her into taking a job at a men's club Lia is thrown into the Other world that she has always avoided as the club is owned by a Vampire, and werewolves are regular patrons.

As Lia's romance with alpha werewolf Raiden heats up, the vampires that frequent the club become aware of her powers, and her new roommate, Cael, reveals himself to be something more than an annoyingly superior warlock.

Is Lia the witch that she believes herself to be, or the last in a line of a terrible power with the ability to end the world as she knows it?"