In 1600s Virginia, a small colonial village sprang up unceremoniously on the sacred burial grounds of the Native American people it was taken from, the Nottoway. Now, an ancient evil has been awakened in the form of Elementals known as The Bird People and it is suspected that the Nottoway Tribe has cursed the ground in revenge for being encroached upon by colonial settlers. After failed crops, still births, deaths, burnt homes and facing starvation, superstitions run rampant and the townspeople do the only thing they can think of in the late 1600s to appease these angry and destructive spirits. Give them an offering. It is quietly decided by the elders of the community, in an effort to keep these spirits of the bird people at bay, that every woman should give up her first born infant daughter to them. One such young mother cannot bear this resolution much less imagine giving up her only child. In order to keep her only child, a daughter, she makes a baby out of straw and gives that instead, bringing chaos to their puritan village. A cursed girl. The man who loves her. A questionable death. Native American Lore. Elemental Guardians. A village built on sacred burial grounds. What could go wrong? -An ONC Shortlisted Winner- -ONC Ambassadors Pick- MAIN PROMPT No. 56 In a world where humans and magical creatures coexist a detective must solve a murder case that threatens to plunge the two communities into war. **My twist of the prompt is that the 'other community' are Wendigos. Wendigos are similar in effect to Skin-Walkers. Ⓜ️𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Will include: Paranormal Activity, Ritual Activity, Superstitions, Early American Colonial Life, Native American Lore/Subjects, Descriptions of child birth and death. Maybe some difficult situations.

Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from her ex-boyfriend hoping to see her in the high-rise building where he resides. But upon ascending in the elevator with three strangers, one of them hits the emergency stop and demands they share details of their most malicious deed within the hour to prevent falling several stories to their death. As secrets are revealed and the hour closes in, who the people are and why they are trapped in a precarious elevator together soon becomes the least of her worries. ***** ONC Prompt 56: You are on a typical awkward elevator ride with a group of other people, and suddenly someone says, "So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here," before hitting the emergency button. ***** | ONC 2023 Round 1 Ambassadors Pick | Copyright©2023 by L.L. Sanders

[ ONC 2019 | Ambassador's Pick | Judge's Honorable Mention ] [ Formerly Featured on Wattpad's Official @mystery account's Elementary, My Dear reading list ] The New Year kicked off to a bloody start for the private detective duos - Jamie Loxley and Blaine Ebony, as they strode into a murder scene. Two heads are better than one when it comes to disentangling a case. But, when a simple interrogation turns into a convoluted string of head game, figuring out the puzzle pieces won't be plain sailing. And, it doesn't help that the subjects are an immigrant who has trouble speaking English, an alcoholic suffering memory issues and a pathological liar. The grand form of deception will always be camouflaged in front of our very eyes. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ This is my entry for Open Novella Contest 2k19 | Thrilling Fiction prompt #6 Three Suspects Copyright © CrownedMadness | Maddy Alson 2019

What if a guy on the radio tells you how he died?

[ON HOLD] Carmen relished everyone's misfortune; better yet, she was the author of it. After a childhood filled with hardships, conning people as a faux tarot card reader was the easy way out, and Carmen takes it. Being the bootstrapper that she is, she goes the extra mile and makes her readings come true. She always gave a negative reading as it was trouble-free to bring about than the latter. On one such typical evening, everything comes crashing down. She learns secrets that she isn't supposed to, creating a domino effect. Now, she's trapped in a strange room with three rebels by a deranged man. She must keep her job a secret but that isn't feasible; all their lives are at stake and not all will live to tell the tale. Cover & Banners - Fantasia Graphic Circus, @DathanHamen

Carla notices a guy in her class. They keep bumping into each other and they start to know more about each other. But what Carla doesn't know is that it isn't a coincidence. That it's all very carefully planned. That she's got someone watching her from Behind...

Pact Series # 2 | "To defeat the monster, I must become a monster."

Mitch Hale, a college student, moves into an apartment on the nicest street in Boston, Commonwealth Avenue. The deal was too good to pass up, almost too good o be true; but Mitch isn't about to let this apartment slip out of his fingers, so he jumps on it. After moving in he begins to feel a eerie feeling, like being watched when he knows that he's the only one in the apartment, or feeling like someone, or something else, is there with him. As his curiosity rises so do his curious questions and research, Mitch's curiosity turns into a terror and horror at the finding of the truth of Apartment 13A. Michael Hall's literal debut, Apartment 13A, will be expanded and self-published in 2015. The release date for the expanded version on Apartment 13A is March 25, 2015. It will be available on Amazon. Preorders start on Friday The 13th of February; all preorders will be signed copies.

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT WARNING. YOUR TAP WATER MAY BE CONTAMINATED. DO NOT USE TAP WATER TO DRINK, COOK OR WASH WITH. BOILING WILL NOT PURIFY THE WATER. PLEASE USE ONLY BOTTLED WATER UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. IF YOU EXPERIENCE SIGNS OF ILLNESS AND BELIEVE YOU MAY BE INFECTED, CALL THE FREE PHONE NUMBER BELOW IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME. STAY INDOORS. STAY CALM. HELP WILL COME.