My second collection of short stories, but longer than the works in my Read my Shorts collection. This volume consists of anything more than 1000 words and includes new works, re-writes of a few older pieces and anything else I found on my computer that I'd forgotten to post before. It will contain steampunk, historical fiction, urban fantasy, science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, sci-fantasy, horror, paranormal, general oddity and anything else that happens to fall out of my ears as ideas formulate into stories. Enjoy. Comments and constructive feedback always welcomed.

{ONC2021 2nd Place Overall, Round Two Ambassador Picks & Shortlist} When Max O'Brien receives an almond with a skull painted on it, he initially plays it off as a prank. But, after his wife leaves town, he begins discovering more of the nuts hidden around the house. More disturbing than that is that some unseen intruder is keeping an accurate running count. The more almonds Max finds, the stranger things get. Mysterious noises. Moving Objects. Damaged valuables. It's a haunting that grows in power with each success in the involuntary scavenger hunt. As the almonds pile up so do the threats until Max realizes he may just not survive. __________ ONC2021 Prompt 62 Cover by @mensemortuis 1st Place in Horror/Paranormal - The Opulence Writer's Awards Also posted on Royal Road

A HEIST GONE WRONG. A GANG SHATTERED. Volya Angelov, known by the public as the Priest for his cult-like following, knows how to cut a deal and take what's rightfully his. He and his criminal prodigies have siphoned Gorod Krestov's wealth for years and are slowly draining the city's slums with their profits. Yet when he is arrested and shipped off to an island prison, his empire is left to his closest ally, Mysh, a girl who stands a mere five feet. It's up to her to manage what he's left behind and decide whether or not the syndicate should be risked for his life. But with demons from a haunting past and sinister characters converging all around her: can Mysh pull it off? "SIX OF CROWS" meets "PEAKY BLINDERS" in this twisty, 1920s-set novella with enough suspense to keep you reading until the church bells chime. Honors/Awards: ONC 2021 Top 5 Winner (4th place) ONC 2021 Ambassador's Pick (Round Two) "NOVYYE SAINTS" is 7x featured on: @shortstory's "another time, another place" reading list @action's "thriller" reading list @action's "action spotlight" reading list @historicalfiction's "decade fiction" reading list @badassreads's "the ruffians" reading list @storiesundiscovered's "historically inaccurate" reading list for august 2021 @opennovellacontest's "2021 top five winners" and "2021 ambassador picks" lists Copyright © 2021 Elle Chaika Open Novella IV (2021) | Prompt No. 29

Flash fictions, contest entries and stuff! Here are my entries for various writing challenges, contests and prompts, plus random writings. There's poetry, flash fiction and more!

Outbreak, Quarantine, Chaos. The vaccine is just the beginning of one woman's horrors.