The dead have always talked to Adalyn. She tries not to listen. It's been years since her abusive father exploited her talents and recorded their podcast. She can still hear his haunting voice reciting the intro. "On this episode of Tell It to The Necromancer... my daughter will prove to you there is life after death." A necromancer should never spend her twenty-first birthday drunk, alone after escaping her father, and begging the universe for a friend. It's how she winds up with a punk rock ghost named Virgil. Virgil and her necromancing past are secrets she keeps from her new friends. Adalyn doesn't want them to know who she is or what she's done. When the newest member of their friend circle, Leon, wants to host a séance, his intentions seem innocent, even playful. Adalyn hopes the dead will stay quiet, but the night goes awry when Virgil starts messing with the group. As the night unfolds, Adalyn learns Leon isn't who he seems to be, her friends aren't friendly, and something besides Virgil is in the house with them, and it wants to do more than talk. 2026 Open Novella Contest Prompt 72: A real necromancer sits in on a fake seance. Prompt 78: You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. Prompt 82: You are in love with someone living and someone long dead. Neither one is willing to let you go Enjoy the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3RXG93NeNqr72CqDgpCwCl?si=v5xIiRhQRAmhXhdgDIB8rQ *This is a mature story intended for readers 18+ years of age. It contains, violence, death, some foul language, sexually charged scenes, humor- the morbid kind, and other potentially offensive things I have yet to consider.

Aunt Mabel is dead, found lying amongst her daisies in her garden. Two eyes anxiously watch over her. The police arrive, but questions soon crop up. Is it actually Aunt Mabel? And who or what did it? A wild animal? A person? A baby dragon? Something strange is afoot in the Auntie's garden and it's up to Officer Holt Martinez, Estelle, and her cousin Julia, to figure it all out before it's too late. Little does she know that an unplanned trip to the Dragon's Lair Bookshop will upend everything she thought she knew about life, this world, and those beyond. * Respectfully submitted to Wattpad's Open Novella Contest 2026, under prompt #3, with subtle influences from prompt #41.

The last thing Caleb Vos wanted was to play babysitter to a rich, spoiled brat. He didn't protect people, he took them out. He was damn good at it too, but no one says no to Hendrik Vos. ONC 2026 ROUND 2 QUALIFIER

She is sent to kill the dragon. Instead, she might become his only salvation. *** In a world swallowed by the Ever-Dark, Iva Vernigora is nothing more than a lowly servant in the house of the cruel Voivode Yakub Ivanov, Duke of Highroot. But when Voivode blackmails her with the lives of her parents, Iva is forced to pretend she's his daughter, as she infiltrates the royal academy of magic - Kolegium. Voivode Yakub's order is absolute: poison the Prince Konstantin Veliki. Prince Konstantin is the heir to the throne, the last of the line of Dragons - a Zmey warrior of light, who was blessed with a dragon-shifting gift. At a first glance, he is nothing but a smug, pompous royal, and everything Iva is supposed to hate. Yet every touch, and every shared lesson at Kolegium blurs the line between the enemy she must kill and the man she is beginning to crave. While Iva stalks her prey as a knife in the dark, waiting for the chance to extinguish Konstantin's light, she discovers that the dragon everyone fears is the only thing standing between humanity and the void. As the Ever-Dark Shades rise, Iva must make an impossible choice. Will she carry out her sinister orders and secure her parents' freedom, or will she stand by the Dragon in the battle for the world's last light? *** The Shades are coming. The Dragons are falling. And the Eternal Spark is waiting for its host. © 2026 EvelynHail Exclusively on Wattpad Based on prompts: 97. "When the world slips into endless darkness, something begins to move in the shadows and you must find a way to survive in a night that never ends." 4. "You discover that the dragon everyone fears is in danger, and you are the only one who can save it from the knight sworn to slay it ."

A covert government operative sent to surveil a famous footballer accidentally becomes the nanny to his six-year-old son, forcing her to choose between completing the mission that could destroy him or protecting the unexpected family she has begun to love. ◈ ◈ ◈ Grace Anna Sumer has always craved freedom. That hunger is what led her into the shadows, working as a covert field operative for a little-known government agency. Officially, she gathers intelligence. Unofficially, she removes problems. Pulled from a coveted assignment in the Congo, Grace is reassigned to Paris to surveil the family of Hermes Mansi, an international football (soccer) star whose career is tightly controlled by a powerful and corrupt league that profits from obedience. Grace is told to watch him. To observe. To wait. What she does not expect is a twist of fate that places her inside his home, hired accidentally as the nanny to his six-year-old son, Drax. Under the safest cover imaginable, Grace enters Hermes' life with one objective, gather evidence and prepare for a quiet takedown. But the longer she stays, the harder it becomes to remember where the mission ends and her feelings begin. As secrets unravel and loyalties fracture, Grace must choose between completing her assignment or protecting the fragile and unexpected family she has found. ◈ ◈ ◈ This novella was written for the Open Novella Contest 2026, based on Prompt #33: "It doesn't take long before everything in your life spins out of control. One moment you're a secret assassin, and the next you've somehow been hired as a nanny and you're not entirely sure how it happened."

"I LOVED IT" - Clumsy_weirdo_353 "So your sister likes to get drunk and beat up guys twice her size," Taylor said, her eyes closed. "Yup." A beat. "So you can teleport." "Yup." Another slice of silence. "So you really can fight," she said. "Yup." A single heartbeat. "So you can teleport." "Yup." "Cool. Cool, cool, cool." Taylor squinted at him, his outward calm mystifying. "You're taking this a lot better than I imagined," she said. He shrugged, but like a bomb, he exploded. "Holy- You can teleport!" Taylor nodded once with the inevitable. "Yeah, that was more like what I was expecting." Taylor's life has been thrown into tailspin. Since discovering she could teleport six months ago she's been trying to juggle being a high school student by day, and a vigilante by night with failing results. Unable to stay awake in classes from her late nights, her grades are dropping fast, and to top it off her exhaustion has she left friendless. When saving late night employees from a burning building puts Taylor in the path of a dangerous criminal, she ends up in an altercation that forces her to realize she needs help. Help comes from two unlikely people: Clint and Dominic who bring their own complications. As the problems keep building, Taylor is quickly learning that having an ability doesn't mean she knows how to protect the city, let alone herself. "It was amazing!!! And really realistic for a superhero book, you even found an explanation for why she has her powers. It also shows that even though she has powers she still is human" - gui_iris "OMG I LOVE THIS BOOK WITH ALL MY HEART" - _cooloreo_ "I laughed, I cried, I screamed out in frustration, but that's what makes this book so amazing, along with the amazing character growth and plot twists that still got me reeling to this day 😂" - Theaxbank "This is a delightful action packed read that'll keep you at the edge of your seat. Would recommend." Miathesmall

Hadley Jamison doesn't know what to think when she hears that her classmate, Archer Morales, committed suicide. She didn't exactly know him, but that doesn't stop her from feeling like there was something she could have done to help him. So to Hadley's surprise, on the very night of Archer's funeral, she has a run in with Death himself and is offered the chance to go back in time to stop Archer from ending his life. The catch? She only has twenty-seven days to do it. And if Hadley doesn't succeed? Well, she doesn't want to think about that.

Now available in paperback! "I LOVE IT!" - CarniaHolmes "I'm going to break your nose, because I don't like your face," Carter said. She pointed to Zac. "I'm going to dislocate your other shoulder, just to make them even." She cocked her head and gave the main guy a sickly sweet smile. "I'm going to break your wrist, taking away your baseball career. And finally you, Finch," she said, looking to the last guy. "I'm going to bust your ankle because I don't like the way you walk." She slid her hands into her pockets. "Now, how does that sound to all of you? And please feel free to look amused, skeptical or patronizing at this point. I'll have all the more fun wiping the expressions off your faces." Carter Owens, daughter of a Secret Service agent, is trained to disassemble any weapon, any situation, and anyone. Her biting sarcasm and razor-sharp mind make her impossible to beat in a word fight and when talking doesn't work, she uses her fists. She attends Hamilton Prep, Washington D.C.'s most prestigious high school, where everyone is related to someone in power, except her. When Hamilton Prep receives a flood of new students, Carter's role as social outcast changes when she makes two unexpected friends. Friends who are hiding a secret. As Carter uncovers the truth, she confronts challenges she is unequipped to handle and finds herself in a dangerous situation. For a girl trained to see everything, Carter never saw this coming. "This is one of those books that seem like it won't be really good, but then it's mindblowing-ly amazing and then you're questioning life =)" - rwrites07 "#rr for like the 10th time haha love this book" - tahls16 "I loved this book, it wasn't cringey cliche or stupid. I normally hate third person books but I loved this and all the characters, especially carter." - lenathedov Editor's Choice Talk of The Town #1 Teen Fiction, #1 Fiction #1 Love #1 Completed #1 New Adult #1 Friendship #1 Funny #1 Drama

[Wattpad Featured Story] #2 in Adventure "I loved this book so much!! One of my favorites. I read it too fast 😭" - KristenDeF "Ready?" Peyton mouthed. Louie took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and nodded. She turned to the on coming threat and straightened her spine. Peyton's knife was the first one to take down a Crawler, the figure crumbling in the back. Louie found her target and let the knife sail through the night, whistling as it left her hand and found its mark. Flashes of metal streaked the night, as knife after knife was thrown, all finding their targets, dark forms collapsing one by one. As Louie sent one of her last knives flying, the Crawler's voice let free one last guttural screech as it tumbled to the ground. The remaining Crawlers looked to the window where Louie stood, their cries punching a hole in the night, filling the every ear with a blood curdling sound. It has been twenty years since the Crawlers emerged and ravanged the world. The remaining part of humanity has broken themselves into Compounds, fighting to stay alive. Louie's lived her whole life within the confines of The Compound, knowing exactly what her future held. But Peyton Jones upset that future the night The Searchers rescued his group of Outsiders. Peyton's only known a life on The Outside where everyday is a fight for survival. When their two worlds collide, Louie will be forced to rethink the future and what she expected out of life. "Best. Book. EVER!!" -shazz2002 "amazing story!!!!! one of the best. truly worth reading." - deepinahole "I love this book so much omg is didn't think I would like it as much cause it has zombies but I was SO wrong" - J_E_Locklin "BEST BOOK!!! Honestly haven't read a book like this in awhile. Kept me on my toes the entire time. Thanks the heavens that this earth was blessed with this book!!!!" - sarahvgre

"I love how this book is turning out!😍 Not cliche at all!" - i_hatecliche "We might live next door to each other," Haley said, "but we don't live in the same world." Hooking her fingers around her backpack straps, she walked away from Jace. She had barely gone a few steps before he was at her side again. "What makes you believe we don't live in the same world?" he asked. "As far as I can tell, we do." "No, we don't. I'm...me and you're Jace Cortez. The dream of every girl. The friend to every guy. The star of the school. Girls. Sports. You're the ultimate player." "It sounds like you have a preconceived notion of who I am." "And it's one that has yet to be proven wrong." From books and a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines, Haley is convinced she knows how the world works, specifically high school. Everyone has a label and a box they fit in. This knowledge, paired with parents who are fighting, a brother leaving soon for college and a best friend who moved away has made her decide to never get involved. It will take being forced to work with her fellow juniors on a project, a boy next door with a infectious smile, a star gazer with an adorable puppy, and an unlikely pair of fangirls to make her see how truly wrong she was about everything. "IT'S NOT CLICHÉ!!!" - Moria987 "This is the reason y I keep coming back to this book...It's simply a breathtaking journey" - mariyamsajorawala "I don't usually comment but this is one of the best books I've read here. I love the fact that it's realistic and focuses on things that really hinder human interaction, perceptions and stereotypes." - yurfavegal "just gets better and better. How are all your characters 3D! Like this writing is so beautiful" - CrazyStarChick "Reading it for the second time, and the book still brings a smile to my face 😆" - grumpymood "She's practically Carter's twin 😂😂" - Guardian_21 #1 Breakingcliches #1 Arrogant #6 in Teen Romance