❝poisonous fangs can only reap poisonous fruit.❞ Nerluce - named for light - dwells in darkness. It was forged from the shadows of the great beasts, who flash their cruel fangs and crueler insults, who seek to choke the light from his chest with their iron chains, who despise all who are not like them. Disdain for gods and men is made in dim places. Hunger for ruin is cultivated on a starving stomach. Power for destruction is rarely given but when it is, oh, the world will burn. CONTENT WARNINGS (16+) Profanity, violence and gore, alcohol usage, neglect and verbal abuse, self-destructive actions and suicidal ideation, minor character death, and morally-questionable people doing morally-questionable things. [[WORD COUNT: 150,000]] COVER BY APHRODITE270

The Earth is dying, yet humanity survives. Pollution and radiation run rampant on the surface. The government rations food and clean air for everyone. The glass domes provide some sense of security, but they are only for the rich who can afford the astronomical price of providing precious clean air to a whole city. Nym and her family live outside the dome when the disease breaks out. Spreading through the Minor City Shelter and then to Shelter's around other cities, nothing seems capable of stopping it. People are going mad and dying off like flies. There's no cure they can find. They only know one thing. Their last precious resource is going to be the death of them. [ Open Novella Contest Shortlist | ONC Ambassador's Pick ] #TheCosmicAwards2019

After being ordered by the State to undergo Deep Sleep, a treatment for troubled teens, Jo awakens in the hospital with sporadic and unexplained memories. Upon celebrating her rebirthday, she recalls strange past events that makes her question reality. Did she really awaken, or has she become trapped in Deep Sleep? ***** 🏆 Round 2 Winner - Open Novella Contest 2020 🏆 Longlisted - ONC 2020 🏆 Shortlisted - ONC 2020 ***** ONC 2020 Prompt 15

Eleven Rooms. Ten Bodies. One Empty Grave. Brandon Fisher never expected this when he signed up as a Special Agent for the FBI. Working in the shadow of Supervisory Special Agent Jack Harper of the Behavioral Analysis Unit his career seemed set. But when the team is called to a small rural town where the remains of ten victims are found in an underground bunker, buried in an unusual way, Brandon knows he'll never return to his normal life. With one empty grave, and the case touching close to home, he fears he's become the target of a psychotic serial killer who wants to make him number eleven. Only thing is, everything Brandon thinks he knows is far from the truth.

Harlow Sandoval knows how to survive. She's always been known as the 'Sandoval Survivor,' the final girl of notorious serial killer, Jason Randall. When she's asked to become the leader of a 'final girl's support group,' she knows she can't refuse. Even if escaping the horrors of her past is exactly what she wants. But when the girls start disappearing again, and Jason Randall escapes prison, Harlow knows the only way forward is to revisit her past.

When Isabelle Donovan disappears without a trace, her case eerily resembles another woman's unexplained vanishing just a year before-raising chilling questions about what truly links these two mysteries. Isabelle Donovan doesn't show up to work, which causes immediate concern. Known for her impeccable attendance, Isabelle would never miss a day without notice. The police launch a swift investigation, with initial suspicion falling on her estranged husband, Scott Donovan, from whom she separated six months earlier. Scott claims ignorance regarding Isabelle's disappearance, but his alibi begins to unravel when her best friend comes forward with unsettling new information. A year earlier, another young woman vanished under eerily similar circumstances. Though her body was never recovered, police remained convinced her husband was responsible-despite lacking proof. As the search for Isabelle intensifies, troubling questions emerge. What truly led to the end of Isabelle's marriage? Is Scott harboring secrets, or is he a scapegoat for a deeper mystery? And could Isabelle's case be linked to the earlier disappearance? If so, does that clear Scott-or deepen his guilt? In this story, innocence is elusive and every character harbors secrets. Because here, nobody is innocent.

Jas gives me a sympathetic look. She sighs heavily, long nails tapping against the wooden table, dodging the 'Missing' posters scattered all over the surface. "Maybe," she finally says, "Just maybe, he doesn't want to be found, Ava." I clench my jaw. "No. I refuse to believe that. He's not like that." "What do you know?" Jas snorts, finally withdrawing her hand from the table and turning back to look at me. "You don't even know him." xx Ford Wilson was in three out of four of Ava Jackson's classes. They had one mutual friend, did a project together once in sophomore year, and had the same lunch. When Ava's car had broke down, she had even ended up parked outside of Ford's house, asking for gas. In Ava's life, he was everywhere. And yet, she didn't notice him until he was nowhere to be found.

The perfect girl. The perfect life. The perfect murder. Caitlyn Coates had it all-beauty, brains, money, and a future as dazzling as her smile. With Yale on the horizon and graduation just weeks away, she should have been celebrating. Instead, she's dead. All that remains of Highland Park High's golden girl is a pinky finger, a clump of hair, and a red silk thong-clues that ignite a media frenzy and leave her affluent Chicago suburb reeling. Enter Detective Brandon, a seasoned cop with little patience for gossip and even less for lies. But in a community where appearances mean everything, everyone has a secret worth protecting. Paired with an eager rookie and hounded by relentless press coverage, Detective Brandon must navigate a web of privilege, envy, and betrayal to uncover the truth. Told through multiple perspectives-including Caitlyn's own chilling voice from beyond the grave-this twisting psychological thriller reveals that the deadliest lies aren't the ones spoken aloud, but the ones left unsaid. Highland Park has always looked perfect from the outside. But peel back the glossy surface, and you'll find that perfection can be deadly.

Catalaina Kittridge vanishes without a trace from her home in the dead of night, leaving behind a flurry of unanswered questions and shattered illusions. Her fiancé Ben, desperate and convinced of foul play, struggles to make sense of her disappearance as their wedding looms just months away. Catalaina's parents admit to long-held fears, while her friends whisper that her relationship with Ben may not have been as perfect as it seemed. Detective Brett Porter is assigned to the case, determined to unearth the truth behind Catalaina's disappearance. As he meticulously reconstructs her life, he discovers a web of secrets and hidden struggles-the pristine image of Catalaina's existence begins to unravel with every clue. The months leading up to her vanishing hold critical revelations, exposing the pressures, desires, and disappointments she kept hidden from everyone around her. Told in gripping, alternating voices of both Detective Porter and Catalaina herself, LOVES ME NOT dives into the unseen complexities of a woman's world, exploring how the weight of everyday expectations and forgotten dreams can drive even the happiest lives to break.