Years in captivity are eating away the sanity of a terrifying alien. Recently assigned to the project, a young staff member finds herself as an unwilling participant in this specimen's torture. For them, the only way out is through. *** Cover by @EcstellaStorys Thank you so much for the lovely art <3 *** Warnings: I'm non native and this story has no beta. I promise to revise once I got a beta to help me, though :)

𝚂𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝. 𝙻𝚒𝚎𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝. 𝙵𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌é𝚎. 𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 141, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚗, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎...𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝙰𝚂 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚂 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝙾𝚙𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝...𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚛. PREQUEL TO: Catching A Ghost | Simon 'GHOST' Riley. t.w// angst, mental health, language, violence, death, sexual themes/SMUT, military inaccuracies.

𝙱𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 18. 𝙰𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙰𝚛𝚖𝚢. 𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚂 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖, 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚌𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚃𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎 141, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝

𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚕, 𝙰𝚀, 𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚍, 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜, 𝚁𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚟...𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 - 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚟 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗. *THE THIRD AND FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE GHOST X REAPER UNIVERSE* t.w// angst, mental health, language, violence, death, sexual themes/SMUT, military inaccuracies, language inaccuracies (google translate).

In the summer of 2026, the world is buzzing with the release of the Michael Jackson biopic. For twenty-two-year-old Xiomara Vega, the theater is a sanctuary, a place to lose herself in the music of the man she's spent her whole life admiring from afar. But as the silver screen fades to black and the hum of the theater lulls her into an exhausted sleep, the world shifts. Xiomara doesn't wake up in a plush cinema seat. She wakes up on a cold park bench in 1984, greeted by the sound of a police officer's baton and a world without smartphones, Uber, or the internet. Trapped in the neon-soaked peak of the Thriller era, Xiomara is a ghost from a future that hasn't happened yet. To survive, she secures a job at the periphery of the King of Pop's whirlwind life. She knows every headline before it breaks, every secret before it's whispered, and every heartache before it strikes. She's determined to keep her head down and find a way home, until she meets him. Michael is lonely, shielded by fame, and searching for someone who sees the man behind the sequined glove. In Xiomara's "futuristic" spirit and mysterious origins, he finds a soul he can't explain. But as the timeline begins to blur and the pull of 2026 grows stronger, Xiomara must decide: do you save the man you love from the future you already know? Or do you risk disappearing forever? The studio was quiet, the smell of old mahogany and expensive cologne hanging in the air as he reached out, his fingers barely brushing her wrist, his voice a soft, desperate anchor in the dark. "Mara, stay... with me... stay here."

"It causes your immune system to turn against you," I explained gently. The color terrifyingly drained from his face as he stared at his knuckles. "I have a spot," he whispered, his voice scraping like glass. "Right here." He let out a strangled noise as the stadium footage buffered. "Riley!" he shrieked, covering his burning face while peering through his fingers at his future self. "Those pants leave absolutely nothing to the imagination!" He went so unnaturally still I thought his heart had stopped beating. His charcoal-stained fingers curled into tight fists. "Fifty," he whispered, scanning the fatal summary on the glowing screen. "I am... I am gone at fifty." What if the only way to save your future was to completely abandon your past? In 1982, Michael Jackson is suffocating. Trapped behind his family's compound gates and drowning under industry pressure, the rising star just wants a life of peace and normalcy. The universe answers-violently ripping him from his timeline and dropping him onto the bedroom rug of Riley, a freelance graphic designer in the year 2025. Stranded forty-three years in the future, Michael must face a world that already knows his tragic history. But Riley fiercely refuses to let that history repeat. She offers him the anonymous, ordinary life he always craved, rebuilding his shattered confidence brick by brick and teaching him the radical concept of self-love. More importantly, she arms him with the ultimate weapon: the brutal truth. She gives him the exact names of the snakes hiding in his 1982 backyard, the upcoming betrayals, and the devastating tragedies he is destined to face. When the universe inevitably pulls him back, Michael is no longer the timid pop star terrified of his shadow. He is a king preparing to claim his throne, knowing exactly how to rewrite music history and what it takes to survive. But armed with the future, changing his fate might cost him the one person who taught him how to live.

Javier Martínez is used to writing stories from a distance - never from the driver's seat. At just 24, he's made a name for himself as a rising screenwriter with a sharp eye and a quiet hunger for truth. When Apex Studios offers him the chance to pen the next big Formula 1 movie, he knows it's the opportunity of a lifetime. But nothing prepares him for the raw speed, pressure, and intensity of life inside the paddock - or for the people who call it home. As he shadows the 2024 season, Javier finds himself drawn to the strange rhythm of the sport: the silences between victories, the weight behind every rivalry, and one driver in particular who keeps catching his eye. Alex Albon is warm and disarming, but there's more to him than meets the press photos - and the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes for Javier to stay just an observer. Caught in the slipstream of fame, expectation, and something quietly magnetic, Javier must navigate a world where everyone is racing for something - and figure out what, exactly, he's chasing too. A story about speed, vulnerability, and the spaces in between.

They were never meant to collide. Kai Morgan - 21, brilliant, reckless, and Bentley's rising star - is the Formula 1 rookie everyone's watching. Fierce on the track, guarded off it, Kai's past is a mess of pressure, loss, and the father he can't escape. Carlos Sainz - Ferrari's seasoned ace - has everything to lose. A team to lead. A family at home. And a career built on control. When their rivalry ignites, it's explosive: bitter press quotes, near-misses on track, and arguments that toe the line between fury and something far more dangerous. But tension like this doesn't burn out - it boils over. As team politics, media storms, and personal demons close in, Kai and Carlos find themselves drawn together in ways they never expected - and can't afford. One mistake could destroy everything. But what if the biggest risk... is not letting go? "One wrong move could cost them everything - or give them what they never dared want."

He's the sunshine who doesn't know Formula 1. He's the F1 driver who forgot how to smile. Myung-soo is loud, laugh-happy, and emotionally transparent - a Seoul-based photographer with a puppy-like heart and a habit of tripping over his own feelings. He's never even heard of Oscar Piastri before the charity event where their worlds accidentally collide. Oscar, on the other hand, is quiet, careful, and guarded - a rising Formula 1 star who prefers helmets to heart-to-hearts. He's used to being admired from a distance, not spoken to like a normal person... until Myung-soo does just that. One unexpected photo. One rare, real smile. And suddenly, Oscar is following someone on Instagram he shouldn't care about. What starts with texts about nothing becomes a connection that feels like everything - if either of them is brave enough to say it out loud. A slow-burn, soft-chaotic queer love story filled with late-night texts, accidental confessions, emotional crash landings, and two people learning to meet each other halfway.

Dylan Williams is one of the best young volleyball players in the world - MVP, a key member of the US national team, and a star at Modena Volley. Just before the Olympics, Dylan and his teammates take a well-deserved vacation in Monaco. But their relaxing getaway takes an unexpected turn when Dylan crosses paths with Charles Leclerc, the charismatic Formula 1 driver who instantly captures his attention. A chance reunion, a spontaneous beach volleyball game, and some flirty messages on Instagram lead to a private volleyball lesson just for Charles. Between playful chaos on the sand and genuine moments of closeness, a surprising connection sparks between them. Will this be just a summer fling under the Monaco sun, or something more?