What if your dreams weren't just dreams, but a second life you live every night? Be warned: what you read here could change the way you sleep forever. NOCTUARY is the logbook of that parallel life. It is not a collection of fantasies, but the raw-and at times terrifying-narrative of a soul that leaves its body each night to venture into the world. These are inexplicable chronicles of dreams: experiences in real places, with real people, and the strange ability to return to bed at will. But the return is never complete. The border between worlds is permeable, and something always seeps through. Each awakening is a race against forgetting: to decipher the last night's revelation or warning, to understand how it's possible to return not just with memories, but with proof. Sometimes, it's with a bit of real dust on your feet. These stories immerse you in a reality where the rules are broken and the questions become unsettling: What is consciousness when it can leave the body? And what is the real world when you can bring back fragments from another? After reading this, you will never sleep the same way again.

While being chased by her abusive boyfriend, Lyla turns the tables, shoving him into the path of an oncoming car. But rather than calling the police, she and her friend, Jack bury the body deep in the woods. Instead of finishing her senior year in peace, Lyla is horrified to discover that her dead ex has returned for revenge. This genre-bending supernatural thriller weaves elements of murder mystery, romance, high school drama, humor, and, of course, a terrifying ghost story. (Excerpt from "Her Terrifying Love") Jack's chest heaved. "You said he was dead." Lyla inched closer and whispered, "He had no pulse!" "Maybe he was just stunned." "We carried him all that way," she said. "He wasn't breathing." "But maybe he woke up after we left him down there." "Woke up?! His neck was broken." Jack hung his head. He couldn't make sense of this. "I know how this is gonna sound, but..." He choked on his words. "When I went to pick up my car from the body shop yesterday, he was standing across the street. Watching me." "Who was?!" "Keenan. I swear to God." "No way," she asserted. "That's crazy talk. He's dead." "It was him." Jack nodded. "He had a frickin' giant tattoo on his neck." A shiver flashed down Lyla's spine. Jack confirmed what she'd been dreading. He'd been seeing the ghost, too. If you enjoyed "Her Terrifying Love," check out the sequel, "Dirty Secrets." https://www.wattpad.com/822348938-dirty-secrets-prologue

The house is safe. The hills outside are not. The basement is out of the question. Joel has been trapped in the house for what has felt like an eternity; all hope of escaping lost after the first few years. Without the company of the eight strangers who arrived with him, he would have gone mad long ago. But while living in the decrepit building is taxing, nothing could be worse than the thing downstairs. Everyone is content to just live in the six rooms that they know are safe until Joel learns that there may be something below. Something other than the creature that torments them. The house goes deeper, further down into the darkness. And while travelling through the unknown halls may be dangerous, and the thing downstairs is always following close behind, Joel is determined to find a way out of the nightmare he's found himself in; for his own sake, but more importantly, the sake of the people he loves. Watty 2022 shortlister Gloria Regali Awards 2023 winner

Old high school friends who have taken vastly different paths into college and beyond reunite for a celebratory weekend at a casino. As easy as it is to pick up where they left off as best friends, it proves to be just as difficult to leave behind the problems that now follow them home - if they get back home. 'The Dark Room' is a two-part story that explores the battles we all have with inner demons, specifically the subconscious room in our mind that we can feel trapped in. Rated Mature for strong language, violence, and sexual content

Every night someone touches her skin - passionately, tenderly, almost lovingly. There can't be anyone in the empty apartment.... But she feels him. Afraid. And longs to feel those bold touches again. Fear mixed with sweet anticipation. Who is he? And what will happen when the secret is out?

On a cold, stormy night in the midst of October, six people enter a hotel room. By dawn, only five remain. Five months earlier, McKenna Macintosh is introduced to Carter Ford and finds herself drawn into an unfamiliar, intoxicating world. As summer unfolds, their friendship deepens---yet unresolved tensions and secrets loom, entwining their lives in unexpected ways. When McKenna and Carter enter the hotel room that October night, everything they once knew has changed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

One look was all it took. Luna never noticed the man watching her from the shadows of that hospital corridor-but he saw everything. The way she smiled at the nurse, the fear in her eyes when she entered the exam room, the soft kindness in her voice. In that moment, he decided: she would be his. But Luna's world crumbled when the results came back. A rare, life-threatening condition. One chance of survival-a bone marrow transplant from a donor who refused to help. Desperate, Luna searched for answers, unaware that every road led back to him. The illness. The rejection. Even the donor file "accidentally" left behind. All of it was his design. Because he didn't want to save her. He wanted to own her. As Luna fights to survive, she discovers the truth: she isn't dying. She was never sick. And the only thing growing inside her... are his children. She thought she needed a cure. What she really needs-is to escape. ---

Eliza Labelle had survived a shooting that should have killed her, but surviving turned out to be the beginning of her problems rather than the end. After waking in a hospital bed with a bullet wound and a government determined to bury the incident, she discovered that the man responsible had vanished behind the walls of a place most people only whispered about. While her family tried to push her back into her privileged city life, strange events and growing unease made it impossible for her to forget what happened. When she was suddenly taken from everything she knew and dragged beyond the safety of the world she had grown up in, Eliza found herself trapped in a brutal land ruled by old loyalties, hidden power structures, and people who lived by laws far different from those of the city. As she struggled to survive among dangerous strangers, she uncovered secrets that connected powerful families, forbidden territories, and a world that had been carefully hidden from ordinary people. The deeper she was pulled into that world, the harder it became to separate friend from enemy, truth from manipulation, and survival from sacrifice. What began as a fight to return home slowly became a journey that forced her to confront the darkest parts of human nature, the cost of loyalty, and the reality that some doors could never be closed once they were opened.

It started when the rain fell. As it hit the windows rhythmically, I fought my sleep. Fighting off the demons in my dreams. I hadn't realized how real that dream became. Waking up to terrified screaming. My heart racing, the lighting striking and my family begging for their lives. I claimed myself as a coward that very same night. I hated myself. My depression became the best of me. What's worst then your family being slaughtered? Hiding in the closet from the killers. I should've helped, I should've been there for them. The pain between my chest and stomach was growing guilt. So I started thinking smart. Looking at everyone differently. I decided to reopen their cold cases. And when I found the truth it hit me deep.

A genius analyst has to leave her desk behind and team up with the sour Agency hothead to track down her missing partner. ----- Quinn O'Reilly doesn't belong in the field. She's better off as the brilliant intelligence analyst behind some of the Agency's biggest arrests, and more than comfortable surrounded by her screens. Special Agent Cameron Kent, Agent Quinn's primary partner, is the pro carrying out the plans formulated with Quinn's brainpower. She's the closest thing to family Quinn's ever had. She's also missing, having dropped off the map in the middle of an undercover operation. There is no one better suited to find Cam than Quinn. There is no one better suited than Gavin Locke, agency hothead, to protect her in the meantime. With clues left all around the world, this unlikely pair will have to pick up the pace to find Cam in time - and avoid killing each other in the process. It's time for Special Agent O'Reilly to step forward - and into the field. ----- standalone, 150k words completed