In the coastal town of Grayhaven, disappearances aren't crimes, they're cycles. Every twenty seven years, devoted parents vanish without a trace. Every twenty seven years, a quiet girl named Shanice appears soon after, as if the sea itself has returned something in exchange. Nineteen year old, Lucious Waters has lived with the aftermath of the last cycle. His mother was among those who vanished. Since then, he has carried a secret: when the fog rolls in and emotions run high, he sees something beneath certain people's skin, faint, drifting tendrils like jellyfish suspended in flesh. When the cycle begins again, Lucious realizes the truth is larger than grief, older than the town, and far more deliberate than anyone admits. Grayhaven Town is not cursed. It is protected. And protection always demands payment. PROMPT 38. Everyone sees an ordinary person but you are the only one who can see their true nature, a jellyfish in disguise. Tendrils of Grayhaven is a haunting supernatural mystery about grief, loyalty, and the terrifying cost of safety, where the greatest threat may not be what lurks in the deep, but what happens when it decides to change.

Kata is an orphan. She is a thief. She is a girl, but no-one can know the truth. Not even the man she loves. As for the Princess.... she just made Kata's life even more complicated.

What if the dragon wasn't the knight's worst adversary, but their brother in arms? What if the wolf, instead of being the hunter's age-old enemy, became their closest companion? ➳➳➳ After 150 years of peace, dragons wings once again darken Sïrvean skies. At 18 years old, Soera is little more than a rebellious young woman. She spends all her days hunting in the forest, her faithful wolf by her side. Until the day her father reveals the purpose she was born to fulfill. Her ancestry is one of guardians of an ancient shrine... And the soul of a 150 years old Dragonslayer bound to it, with boredom and viciousness matching her age That same day, a dragon rider lands on Sïrvean ground. She is supposed to end his life immediately. Instead, she ends up stranded in the wilderness with him and his dragon. If she wants to survive, she must join forces with her sworn enemy. ➳➳➳ The ancient walls scream for revenge. The spirits of Soera's ancestors yearn for blood. Soera must choose between duty to her bloodline and the call of her heart.

It's easier to ward off problems when there are two of you, otherwise you risk drowning very quickly. Anry and Vayla live sadly in the city of Donmeduse when a very special man comes along and turns their lives upside down. ONC 2026 participant story! Prompt: 38. Everyone sees an ordinary person but you are the only one who can see their true nature, a jellyfish in disguise.

"Monsters in the dark make better friends than the saints in light." Everything was fine with April Lowell. Even her bleeding bitten nails, tangled hairs and the bandages that wrapped her hand. But when a new boy moves into her town, one who everyone seems to like... Things aren't quite the same as before. Even with, notes piling her desks, eyes filling with anger upon seeing her and a monster lurking in the dark who threatens to steal her life as she knows it. Everything Is 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. Beautiful cover by @raizelrose3

Every night on her birthday, Princess received the finest gifts, books that held different versions of her life, each one offering her a glimpse into who she could be, and a chance to live those possibilities. With every birthday, she stepped into a new life. Each experience filled her heart with joy, enough to make her forget the life she always had to return to once her visits to those dreamlike worlds came to an end. She was happy. However, she realized that the stories from those other worlds did not simply fade when she woke. They had the power to shape her real life as well. She never imagined that fragments of those stories would stay with her long after she had closed the books. A/N This story is an entry for ONC (Open Novella Contest)

Moving across the country to the apartment directly across the hall from your high school best friend is either a stroke of genius or a statistical disaster. For Elizabeth Stokes and Jackson Tyler, who have spent a decade perfecting the art of "just friends," the proximity should be easy, familiar, and completely safe. But as their old rhythms collide with the adults they've become, the logic they've used to protect their friendship starts to fail, proving that love is the only variable you can't account for.

Nox has worked as an assassin for almost his entire life, refining his skills and working up the ladder to be one of the best, being able to do any job in his field. But what if he's required to do a job that's not in his field? Follow the Assassin as he takes on a task most unusual for one of his caliber, making unusual allies, and faces the challenges associated with it. (My submission for ONC 2026, following prompt number 33 where a secret assassin is surprisingly and suddenly hired as a nanny, enjoy!)

Elicia Thorne has spent her life chasing whispers. When her search leads her to the ruins of a civilization erased from history, she uncovers more than myth. Beneath shattered stone waits an artifact that hums with memory. The memory of an ancient being once worshipped, once feared...and now awake. The first vision it offers her is not prophecy. It is a warning. From that moment on, the world shifts. Fate coils tighter. Rage flickers beneath her restraint as something vast and cunning draws closer. A forgotten god of mischief has reached through centuries of silence and its touch has not gone unnoticed. Elicia does not know whether she was chosen, claimed, or merely convenient. But she knows this: The whisper that once called her name has grown louder and it wants something in return.

If you dial the number 4444, no one will pick up. But fall asleep afterwards, and a man will visit you in your dreams. He will introduce himself as an assassin of sorts, and you will tell him your darkest desire. After all, the Dreamwalker can become your enemy's worst nightmare...for a price. Nathan Lee is many things: an airhead, an optimist, and above all, hopelessly infatuated with the illustrious Aurora Kim. But when he accidentally swaps phones with a stranger, he ends up face-to-face with Cyr, a contract killer who travels through dreams. And his next target is Aurora. Desperate to save Aurora, Nathan takes it upon himself to hunt down Cyr's client. But when the bodies begin piling up, Nathan is forced to question who Aurora Kim really is...and what it will cost to keep her alive. (Prompt #56: After grabbing the wrong phone at a busy deli, you discover the stranger's life is far more tangled with yours than you ever expected.)