Anna lives a deliberately colourless life-one spent in the background, where asking for anything comes with a price she learned to stop paying long ago. At school, on the bus, at home, her world has been built on silence, routine, and the certain safety of going unnoticed. It's a balance she maintains meticulously, because being seen has never ended well for her. Then, one day, that balance fractures after a brief moment of accidental acknowledgement-small, meaningless, fleeting, and completely impossible to undo. Now, Anna is forced to confront the quiet life she's built. She begins to question whether survival is the same as living... and what it might cost to want more. She finds herself wondering whether the price is too low-or far too high. Because once you're noticed by someone, the world doesn't always let you disappear again.

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 ."

Inez Xue Ran, an escapist, found herself tucked between the pockets of the living, the dead and a past. Faced with the surge of reality, Inez clawed her way for survival as her reputation preceded the mask she had put on for two years. Caught between the polished lover, Julian Wei Chen and the elusive jewel, Rahel Valies Seo Xuan, Inez was forced to explore the depths of the seas she so carefully tucked away in the attic of her heart and soul. The fragments of her past began to unravel at the least expected moments of her life, forcing her to commit to herself. As the battle trampled further into her life, Inez realised that more events were boiling close to her than her past. Blinded by the comfort offered to her, Inez knew she had to place her trust in the right person to secure her future. A past exposed to be vindicated only by law. Will she choose the polished lover or the elusive jewel? || This story can be found only on Wattpad and is written in conjunction with the Open Novella Contest 2026.||

She wakes with missing hours, a burning imprint carved into her shoulder, and no memory of who put it there. Nyxara Blackvein is an assassin who survives by control. Control over her body. Her blades. Her choices. But the mark beneath her skin has a will of its own, pulling her toward Stillreach-a city protected by an impossible shield and a power no one dares to name. Torin Cross was never part of the plan. A half-elf swordsman with a charming smile and secrets of his own, he's headed in the same direction for reasons that don't quite add up. When violence forces them to fight side by side, trust forms before either of them is ready for it. Whatever waits in Stillreach is already watching. Prompts used. 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment holds a much bigger truth. 86. A wasteland hides pockets of thriving communities protected by mysterious shields. 99. You wake up with a strange mark on your skin after a late-night encounter you can barely remember, and its meaning grows more unsettling by the hour.

After Travis McPherson dies, his fiancée receives a voicemail, recorded an hour after his passing. *** Candace and Travis have known each other their entire lives. First as best friends, and later, high school sweethearts. As far as anyone in their small town is concerned, these two were meant to walk down the aisle together. But when a flash flood takes all that away, Candace is left grieving and heartbroken. All she has left of him is a mysterious voicemail recorded an hour after his confirmed death. It's impossible, yet she plays it over and over again, desperate for the sound of his voice. And a sign. Something, anything to ease her aching heart. All as their lives flash before her eyes. Travis always told her he loved her to Heaven and back, and beyond the grave, sends a final, heartfelt message moments before his death. The only remaining mystery is how as death parts two halves of the same heart. *** (Prompt 90: You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death). Wired for the Open Novella Contest 2026

25-year old Lee still hasn't figured out why they could not form any long-lasting relationships, even friendships for that matter. Aside from family members, which they are obligated to talk to, there is no one else Lee had even come close to calling a friend. Well, maybe except for one. -------- Submitted for ONC 2026 @OpenNovellaContest Using the following prompts : 29. You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints in your heart. 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all. 106. After waking at 3AM to a freezing room and a door you're certain you closed, you find wet footprints and melting snow leading from your bedroom into the hall. Realizing someone or something is inside your home, you follow the trail to uncover the truth. All rights reserved by @J. Lee Kennedy, except for images contained in this book. Crayon drawing "Wander XIX" by @Clara Lieu. Copyright of images, including cover art, belong to their rightful owners, and are attributed accordingly, or used in accordance with the rules of Creative Commons licensing as "fair use." Altered, filtered, or edited images are copyrighted by the author in its final form.

A medical student, Henry Theodore, enters the university with a single ambition: to help people live at least until the age of seventy. His belief is shaken the first time he witnesses the death of a patient: a young girl, Luna Lucas, whom he had grown close to through his care. The girl leaves behind an unusual final wish-to be remembered. Before her death, she gives Henry a pencil and a book and asks him to draw her heart and brain, hoping her existence might be preserved, even briefly. Grief consumes him. But when he begins to draw using her pencil, Luna starts to speak to him in his dreams. Drawn deeper into this strange connection, Henry begins sketching the hearts and minds of other patients in the hospital, only to find that they too visit him in his sleep. Haunted and inspired, he decides to create a manga, shaping characters from the memories of the deceased and writing their stories as they appear to him.

The stars whispered to amateur astronomer Levi, and to his alarm, one by one they disappeared within the abyss. But when he witnessed one such disappearance, the star fell to him and took a human form. Together, Levi and Celesta faced a darkness that threatened to consume the entire universe. A fantasy story written for the 2026 Open Novella Contest, utilizing prompt #69: The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers.

What happens when Death falls in love with the paramour he is gifted? Cursed to kill everyone he touches, beastly Lord Damien Casteel lives in anger and loneliness. During a rare game of poker, he wins the final hand against a petty criminal named Luca. The prize is a pouch of twelve precious gemstones. But Luca is determined to get the stones back, no matter what. Breaking into Damien's mansion to exchange the real gems for fakes, he is captured and threatened with death. Begging for his life, he strikes a deal: his freedom in exchange for his adopted son, Jemison, who will serve the lord as his paramour for twelve days; one day for each stone. Although he is reluctant to let anyone into his life, Damien is desperate to keep Jem away from Luca's abuse, so he agrees. What he does not expect is to fall for the tormented young man. Prompt used is number 46. We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn't get more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than you. (Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid) My writing is AI-free. Any emdashes are here because I LIKE them. The poetic purply prose is here because I LIKE it. Computers don't write my stuff. The Muse inside my head who keeps me up till 3 AM and wants to drive me bonkers, does. Warning for: spicy situations, alcohol, some swearing, blood, abuse, and typical Christine darkness. There's no graphic sa, torture, gore, or animal abuse.

ONC 2026 In a world woven with secrets, silence can be deafening. Eighteen-year-old Luca Kant has never known the sound of her own voice; born deaf and raised under the suffocating grip of her controlling father, she is haunted by the shadow of her mother's mysterious disappearance. Did she flee from the clutches of a man who could be a monster, or did something more sinister happen? Nineteen-year-old Boy Harrison lives at the wrecking yard. He can speak, but hasn't spoken since he was four. He is haunted by nightmares that echo a woman's voice warning him that to remain safe, he must remain silent. Fate draws Luca and Boy together. Long-buried memories and cryptic connections between their lives begin to unravel. As they delve deeper into their entwined pasts, eerie parallels unfold-did Luca's father play a role in the dark mystery surrounding her mother's fate? Does he hold the key to both their truths? How is Boy connected, and who is the woman he dreams of? In a gripping tale of identity, resilience, and the haunting weight of silence, Luca and Boy must confront their monsters and uncover the chilling revelations that bind them on a riveting journey where silence speaks volumes and whispers could change the course of their lives. PROMPT 80 - Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds. (Variation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous quote.) My interpretation - Monsters didn't live under your bed. They sat at your table.