Mari thought that coming home to a ghost town after her mom's death was bad. It turns out it's worse having to attend her estranged father's wedding and letting her childhood best friend break down the walls she carefully built. ***** Mari Chasey's life is suspended. She returns to her hometown in a cold November day following her mother's death, after years of studying abroad in Europe. Pinewood is sleepy in the bitter cold, the deserted shoreline stretching further than she can reach, but that's okay. Mari is good with temporary things and at not lingering. She's not planning to stay for long, just enough to sort out her mother's affairs without poking at open wounds. Then her father returns. Jack Chasey, former renowned superstar, absent for most of her childhood, is getting married to a woman Mari hardly knows. He gets to begin again, build something new, while Mari grapples with a fractured life and all the scattered pieces of herself. Her mother was supposed to live forever; Jack was mercurial and always at arm's length. But now he's here to stay. Enter Kinney St. James. Once Mari's closest friend, then another person that passed by like a comet, she still knows Mari and all the shards of her. Even the sharper ones. In the stillness of winter, Mari reconnects with the quiet life Jack always wanted for her, the softer parts of her that only Kinney can tap into, and what it truly means to be her mother's daughter. ***** Open Novella Contest -- prompts 24, 29, 46, & 77 [[OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2026 ROUND 1 WINNER]] © 2026 caterina george // all rights reserved

The woods surrounding Crenshaw are haunted by the secret between life and death---a monster known only as the Reaper. For centuries, Crenshaw's Institute for the Dark and Gifted has had one rule that its students are never meant to break: stay out of the woods, or face the Reaper's wrath. Faceless and formless, the Reaper feeds off the blood of those unfortunate enough to wander into the forest, but never touches those who obey the golden rule. That is, until a body is found in the library, drained entirely of blood. With the school halls no longer safe from the Reaper's bloodlust, four gifted students are forced to team up to uncover what the Reaper truly is---and more importantly, how to get rid of it. (Prompt 16: "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.")

A counterfeit claim against a legendary wine ignites a high-stakes investigation in which a neurodivergent restaurateur and a forensic wine analyst must navigate forgery, deception, and their own unexpected connection to save a century-old legacy. Luc, owner of London's prestigious Le Rêve restaurant, faces a devastating crisis when a valued patron declares a prized vintage a fake. To protect his family's century-old reputation, he enlists Izzy, a brilliant but socially unconventional forensic wine analyst, eager to prove her mettle. Their shared autism initially creates an unexpected but undeniable spark of attraction, challenging their focus. But as they delve deeper into the complex world of wine fraud, they suspect a widespread conspiracy that threatens to destroy Le Rêve. Together, they must harness their unique abilities to expose the truth, safeguard the restaurant's legacy, and navigate their intensifying relationship, even as they battle their own internal worlds.

Valerie recites an ancient prayer, believing it will save her dying mother. Instead, it summons the demon from her dreams, fated to kill her and ultimately costs Valerie her freedom. The bargain is brutally simple: within one hundred days, she must fill a cursed vial necklace with dead souls to earn her release. As the countdown nears its end, Valerie discovers the truth: she carries a key within her that all of Hell would kill for. And the demon knew it from the start. Content warning: This dark romance contains mature and disturbing content, including death, blood, and acts of violence.

Two assassins. One royal secret. A lullaby of steel and secrecy. One last assignment to buy her freedom. The final phase of the mission was supposed to be straightforward: slip into the Spanish Royal Palace during the midsummer gala, incinerate the marked documents, and eliminate the crown and its heirs. It was supposed to be easy. At least, it would have been if she hadn't arrived twenty-four hours too soon. Forced to play a role her lethal training never prepared her for, the Royal Nanny, Elizabeth must use her supernatural abilities to navigate a world of silk and secrets while protecting the very heirs she was sent to kill. But she isn't the only one on a mission. Thomas, an assassin from a rival organization known as The Pendulum, is already embedded as the palace's head of security. In their battle to outspy each other, they realize they share more than just a job description. ~~~~~~~~~ ⚔️Genre: Espionage/Dark Fantasy/Romanstasy 🏆ONC2026 Entry Round 1- Passed Round 2- Passed Round 3- ⚠️Rated: MATURE (Violence, Physical Trauma and Psychological Distress) 📍Exclusively on Wattpad. © 2026 MiriamElade Main Prompt: 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment hides a much bigger truth. Sub 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. Started: 1st February 2026 Completed: 20th April 2026

{Dropped this story from ONC, to complete at a later time.} The year is 4056. How did two medieval princes enter the atmospheric city of Skymega? Jynxa Jyn, a little bit rebel, a little bit chaos, finds Tharen and Sorian, half-brothers, who were once rivals for their 15th century kingdom. Can the weapon, which only the Everlast Princes' blood can activate, be exactly what they need to save Earth and humanity? I won't be submitting for round 3 of ONC2026. I am trying to finish just one, "Oops! I Kidnapped the Don!" because it was an ambassador's pick from round 1. However, I plan to complete the story if there's sufficient interest. #ONC2026 Prompt Spring #1

Declared dead and stripped of her name, Katrina Mormont survives a decade of brutal servitude under her stepmother's cruelty. When she learns she is to be sold for profit, Katrina escapes into the night, carrying nothing but rage, wit, and the memory of her father's stolen legacy. Her flight leads her to Edgemond, a struggling silver mining town ruled by Lord Callum Blackburn-a war-forged general elevated to nobility by a grateful king and tasked with resurrecting failing mines that may decide the kingdom's future. Katrina secures refuge in his household as a servant, hiding her lineage and her hunger for justice. Katrina secretly tracks the mines' progress and feeds information to her father's banker, who has saved a sliver of her inheritance - a stake in the mines. She walks a razor's edge between survival and discovery. Callum, honorable yet dangerously curious, finds himself drawn to the sharp-eyed servant who smiles like someone who has known both grace and ruin. With silver veins dwindling and the king demanding results, Katrina must decide whether to risk her growing feelings for the lord who could unknowingly restore her fortune or destroy her carefully laid revenge. ONC Prompts: #24: Staying as friends feels safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take. #45: Kings have honor, soldiers are brave, poets have heart, and all I have is rage! (Sound by Naethan Apollo)

She's trapped in the past, and he's always looking ahead. ~*~ After her fiancé Travis dies in a storm, Candace Peyton receives a voicemail from him sent after his confirmed time of death. Clinging to his impossible message and lost in memories of their lifelong love story, she isolates herself in grief. Only by connecting with Travis's brother and uncovering painful family secrets does Candace begin to understand the man she lost and find the strength to build the future he wanted for her. *** (Prompt 90: You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death). Wired for the Open Novella Contest 2026

In a dying world, people resort to desperate, dark paths to survive. When seventeen-year-old Sam's oldest friend shows him something terrible, he does everything he can to keep trouble away from those he loves. Despite his efforts, another terrible incident shakes the town. With the fear that a monster hides among them, people start turning on each other, and he is on the verge of losing all he loves. The only way to save his loved ones might mean crossing lines and going down a treacherous path. ONC prompt 80.

"You won't die in this one." *** Spencer Feynman exists in two universes. In both, she's a writer. In one, she's already a ghost. The headlines called it a suicide. Peter Wallshack calls it a lie. He's the only one who believes she was murdered-and the only one who realizes the killer might be following her across worlds. A story that takes more than one Universe... Can they rewrite the ending? Or is Spencer destined to be a tragedy in every world? #ONC2026