I suddenly find myself in the middle of a panic attack as sudden realization takes over. I kick and thrash sporadically inside a lab tube, battling for even an inch of oxygen as I pound forcefully against the Plexiglas surrounding. In last hopes I float to the surface, I press my face against the top of the tube. Water splashes in my mouth as it fills my lungs with water, and leaving me helplessly and desperately gasping for air, a simple element I never thought I would long so much for. All I can do is stare blankly with no reaction as the tube fills to the rim and I accept that I finally, this time, actually might die. In no sort of control I feel my own body begin to submerge and my life flash before my eyes, but I don't feel like a failure instead, proud of myself for growing from the coward I once use to be back at the bailiwick, afraid to even pick up a knife, definitely not a pistol. In my flashbacks I see us, all of us; dead and still alive, Phoebe, Lara, Link, Lussier, and very last, Opal. We all were in this for one purpose and we served our purposes fully and as much as we could and I hope the others will complete the task left by us and no more lives lost. With that last thought, I purposefully submit and submerge myself deeper into the tube, water enveloping my crouched form. I shed a tear but it's hidden by the water, helping me to drown, useless, especially now that I'm dying, the karma. I take a last glance at the augmented and blurry laboratory where I, Finnick Freedman will finally die. I take the final step in my mind, accepting my fate, death has just finally caught up to me, I had lived longer than I was even supposed to anyways I suppose. It's my time to make the term. I close my eyes. Suddenly, It all hit me. This was all fake, an alternate reality, a simulation. Nothing was real. I felt myself breathing again. I opened my eyes...

Welcome to the Wattpad Block Party - Winter Edition III! Round FIVE of this popular event is coming your way the entire month of February 2017 and it's going to be epic! The invites have started to roll out and everyone from your all time favorite Wattpad Super Stars, to USA TODAY Bestselling Authors, to talented up and coming writers are joining us! Check out the first chapter for a more detailed description and keep an eye out on the Line Up chapter to see who is going to be featured for the Wattpad Block Party - Winter Edition III! Curious how this event will run? Here's the link to the last Wattpad Block Party: https://www.wattpad.com/story/72748267-wattpad-block-party-summer-edition-ii Be sure you add this story to your library, vote and leave comments on your favorite author's posts, and follow me, @KellyAnneBlount, for all Wattpad Block Party updates!

She feels everything you do. Your touch is her solace... or her greatest nightmare. In an isolated village deep within the jungle, Hestia lives the life of a pariah. She has the rare ability to skin crawl, feeling on her own skin the touch those nearby give to each other. When heavy rain floods the river and people begin to fall ill, the villagers' desperation turns to wrath and this wrath turns its misguided eye upon the village's most hated daughter. There is one way a skin crawler like Hestia can best be tortured. Unfortunately for her, the villagers have figured out what it is.

When Grace Cho's parents unexpectedly move the family from vibrant Seattle to sleepy Gallatin, Montana, the seventeen-year-old isn't surprised the locals treat her as an outcast. Wanting nothing more than to finish her final year before college in peace, Grace is actually disappointed when three other members of the Class of 2016 attempt to strike up a friendship. Jack, Luke, and Maddie have all-American good looks and should have varsity popularity, but for some reason, never hang out with the in-crowd. Focusing their attention instead on the new girl, their efforts to connect quickly escalate from sitting together in the cafeteria to making her an unwitting accomplice in a Halloween prank. But when Grace realizes she may be the only person who can see and hear the trio, her problems become far bigger than after-school detention. (c) 2015 All Rights Reserved - R.S. Kovach

Seventeen, pregnant, and in love with the most popular boy in school. Better still, he's in love with her. Things change for Emmeline after she goes into labor during class, a couple of weeks before she's due. The heartless teachers let her know exactly how they feel about her condition. In the emergency room, she's met by fighting parents who turn the hospital into their own version of a reality TV show set. This is no longer the dream delivery and labor Emmeline was hoping for. But still, Nicolas is there holding her hand, trying to make every last moment perfect for her and their new baby. Nicolas needs to make a lasting impression that Emmeline can hold onto. His time is running out. Can moments of perfection last? Can there be a happily ever after for her and the boy who should ever have been together?

Sydney has managed to rebuild her life from the ashes and forge one that is filled with secrets and half-truths. She has given up hope of ever finding someone who would see her for who she really is - not the daughter of the man responsible for destroying countless lives. So why is she so affected by the one man who has tarred her with the same brush as her father? Ethan McMasters only has time in his life for one thing: Work. After a chance encounter, he find himself drawn to a woman he is convinced is as crooked as the man who sired her. There's something about the elusive and feisty woman that has him determined to uncover the enigma that surrounds her like a veil. But in unlocking her secrets, will he discover more than he bargained for?

Welcome to the Wattpad Block Party - Summer Edition II! Round four of this popular event is coming your way August 2016 and it's shaping up to be the biggest event yet! The invites have started to roll out and everyone from your all time favorite Wattpad Super Stars, to USA TODAY Bestselling Authors, to talented up and coming writers are joining us! Check out the first chapter for a more detailed description and keep an eye out on the Line Up chapter to see who is going to be featured for the Wattpad Block Party - Summer Edition II! Curious how this event will run? Here's the link to the last Wattpad Block Party: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/54467043-wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-ii Make sure you add this story to your library, vote and leave comments on your favorite author's posts, and follow me (@KellyAnneBlount) for all Wattpad Block Party updates!

Once Upon Now Grand Prize Winner published by Gallery Books. Sixteen-year-old Mira Sighansen never questions her place in the majestic wilderness of the Yukon Territory until she witnesses her brothers' oil rig explode. Refusing to believe the young men are dead, the teen's suspicions are strengthened when their bodies aren't found and she's later visited by six wild egrets. But these are no ordinary birds, and Mira is faced with a remarkable task not even the loss of her voice or the anger of her best friend (over a boy, of course!) can hamper. Convinced she can break a magical enchantment to bring her brothers back, Mira will risk jail and even psychiatric commitment to stop the rig from being rebuilt. Failure to overcome the doubts of her mayor mother, the opposition of her drilling foreman step-father, and the wrath of an industry thirsty for the valuable natural resource could mean not only the end of her family as she knows it, but also the loss of a vital part of her peoples' culture. This 9,000 word original short story is a modern-day retelling of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale number forty-nine 'The Six Swans' with a First Nations twist. It was part of the #OnceUponNow contest sponsored by @Target for a chance to be included in a published anthology. As of July 5, 2016, it has made it into the Top 25 and as of August 16, 2016, it has been announced as one of the Top 10 Grand Prize winners.

❧❧WINNER OF THE WATTYS 2016 for VORACIOUS READS ❧❧ An invisible enemy. A deadly virus. A human hacker and a Werewolf alpha are their only hope. That's if they don't kill each other first. When Parker Johnson, a top security specialist, is called in to help track down the architects behind a genetically engineered virus, she doesn't hesitate. Even if it means working with Daniel Locke, the icy Alpha Commander who she had the misfortune of pissing off. Big time. Fierce, powerful, and determined, Daniel has spent his whole life defending those he loves. But this time the enemy is invisible, and everywhere. An enemy that could destroy his entire race. The last thing he needs is a curvy, brunette firecracker who's been a thorn in his side for more than a decade. But the Alliance has other ideas. The disease is spreading, and Parker's technological abilities might be their only hope for survival. It is a race against the clock for this unlikely couple as they attempt to save those they love, while at the same time contend with a mutual attraction that refuses to be silenced.

Startled eyes turn to face me, and my mind confirms what my heart already knows. I would recognize those gentle green eyes, dark eyebrows, the strong chin covered in sexy scruff and shaggy mane anywhere. Isaac's back in town. He is just as beautiful to me now as he was all those years ago. If anything, time has improved him. Last I heard, he started a nonprofit to build schools in Africa. Why has he finally come back after all this time? We are locked in a stare that seems to transport us to another place and time, until at last, his gaze breaks away. ______________ Beth Malcolm is pinning all her hopes on winning the Next Big Thing competition that will not only launch her business, but help her save her beloved family home. Things quickly become complicated when the business mentor assigned to her turns out to be her exfiance. Loosely based Jane Austen's story, "Restless Hope" is a modern Persuasion meets Shark Tank. I update every Friday. Enjoy! ©2016 Sarah Benson