What starts as a routine deal quickly becomes a grotesque comedy of errors, where competence is rare, coincidence reigns, and nobody fully understands what's happening-least of all the people with guns.

~Based on prompt 119 for ONC 2026~ "You wake after a mafia raid with a vampire bite marking you as »claimed«, but the vampire heir accused of biting you insists they are innocent." Katie is the lead police investigator into vampire mafia activity, but when she is suddenly Marked by the heir of a Vampire King after a near-death shoot-out at a blood-smuggling warehouse, she will be forced to search for the one who Marked her and uncover the hidden secrets of the city's wealthiest vampire family.

In the silk-producing valleys of the Kingdom of Naples, Renza, the daughter of a respected silk merchant, has been raised within the careful order of family and tradition. Lucien arrives as a restless outsider, marked by a past he cannot escape. Around them move others bound by secrecy and survival, including a spy for the Inquisition trained to live between two worlds. As tensions deepen and suspicion spreads through Silk County, their lives draw toward a tragic event history has nearly erased. Echoing the ancient myth of Galatea and Acis in a 16th century setting, Silk County explores how love endures in fragile and often dangerous spaces, where even the most delicate threads can bind souls across time. #ONC2026 contest. Story is complete. Prompts: #16 - Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. And a slightly modified version of #104 - while wandering through the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than the wind through the trees until you turn around realize it isn't wind at all. Content Note: This story contains references to non-graphic sexual situations. It also draws on historical accounts of the Inquisition, including themes of religious persecution and some chapters contain acts of violence. While these elements, as well as 16th century attitudes toward women, are handled with care, they reflect the realities of the period and may be difficult for some readers. They do not reflect this author's viewpoint.

**SELECTED FOR ONC 2026 ROUND 3** Imagine being a wizard who could cast spells without ever making a mistake? Dref signed a Stakeholder Agreement with the Fourth Pentagon of the Underworld to grant him this power and vanished from the magical town of Aranot shortly afterwards. Maybe he should have read that smallprint a bit more carefully? His twin sister Annod has been researching a way to find him for two years and has found a portal to take her to him in the basement of The Trotting Donkey tavern. Can she swallow her social awkwardness and convince the beguilding automaton, Gorgeous to lead her there? Stakeholder Agreement introduces readers to the world of Aranot, a town cut into a mountain with seven universities where wizards and scroll readers are trained. This comic fantasy universe pokes fun at our world through the strange contents of the mind of @edmundkeanlightning CONTENT WARNINGS Mild alcohol consumption Occult themes Misfiring magic

For Centuries Grim has been collecting souls. It's what he does, it's his purpose. One day, while collecting a soul in the park, he comes across a lost puppy. For reasons he can't explain, the urge to return the small dog to his owner is overwhelming. He soon finds the animal's owner, a woman in her mid-twenties named Maria. He is struck down by her beauty and realizes that he had once claimed the soul of someone she loved. He becomes even more conflicted when he realizes he has just one year to claim her soul.

{2026 Open Novella Contest - Round 2 Qualifier} {Ranked 1 in #songwriting (4/22-4/25)} {Ranked 1 in #bandmembers (5/1-5/2)} {Ranked 2 in #opennovellacontest (5/5-)} {Ranked 3 in #drummer (5/1-5/2)} {Ranked 9 in #onc2026 (4/29-4/30)} "𝘔𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴" 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰. Althea has always considered herself unlucky in love. What she never realized was that love had been circling her for years, just slightly out of step. On her thirtieth birthday, the four-man band who shaped her youth arrive late (as always). One confession breaks the careful silence they've kept for years, forcing the past into the present and cracking open a decade of almosts. They chose friendship because it was safer. They stayed professional because it was necessary. And sometimes life got in the way.

𝗢𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 | 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶-𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 | 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 "He is my only salvation - the only one who has kept me from death. And yet, at the same time, I can't shake the feeling that he's the very one dragging me deeper into ruin." After a catastrophic accident aboard his reconnaissance ship Skuld, pilot Elio awakens in the infirmary of the mothership Valkyrie. At his side stands Dr. Lysander Vale - a brilliant physician and scientist, as attentive as he is gifted. But something isn't right. Whenever Elio seems to get better, his condition takes a sudden and far more drastic turn for the worse. Is Elio truly just gravely ill? Or has he lost control over his own body? Perhaps Lysander is not his salvation after all - but his downfall. An accident makes Elio a patient. Dr. Lysander Vale turns Elio into his experiment. ⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱ • Warning: Sexual content, drug abuse, emotional manipulation, PTSD • Dark Romance • Science-Fiction • ONC26 ↬ Cover by BeyondBorderland Begin: 28th February 2026 End:

All that once glittered was gold, until it turned to bitter ash and ruin. Juliette Laurant has always dreamed of a simple life, painting to her heart's content while being unbothered by men and women alike. She gains her wish, to paint in a way that is envied by all who see it, but at the cost of her life's work, and the sudden arrival of a stranger whose only desire is to be seen once more. Now, trapped by the hands of fate, she must find a way to put an end to the stranger's cycle of despair or discover what awaits her at the end of life's final portrait ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ian has always had very detailed dreams that feel like memories. Seeing people she's never met before and places she's never been. Her therapist told her that there are dreams and performances hypnosis to help her shut out her memories. But not all dreams have disappeared. She gets invited to a wedding in a town called Zoey. Upon her arrival, locals continue to mistake her for Anna. But the question is: who is Anna?

Life's a mess. She's a mess. Claire gets fired from her coffee shop job, has her designs called 'trash' by the rude prick who was supposed to sponsor her first fashion collection... And then, her best friend, the love of her life, announces his sudden engagement and wedding next month in Hawaii. And guess who gets to be maid of honor? This is the last fucking straw. This book contains: Cussing & an absolute disaster of a protagonist. You have been warned.