NOWHERE TO RUN | ONC 2025

Natalya wakes up in a hospital with no memory-only a torn piece of paper leading her to a remote cabin. With nowhere else to go, she follows the clue, hoping to uncover her past.
For days, the cabin is quiet. Isolated. Then, her phone-silent since she woke up-begins to glitch, flashing the same eerie message over and over: I'm watching you.
Before she can make sense of it, a stranger arrives at her door, seeking shelter from an approaching storm. With no way out, she lets the person in.
But something isn't right.
The messages won't stop. The storm feels too perfectly timed. And the stranger knows more than they're saying.
Natalya came to the cabin for answers. Now, she just wants to survive.

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Written for Open Novella Contest 2025
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Prompts chosen are
44. In the middle of a storm, a stranger arrives at your cabin, and you offer them shelter. But the storm's forecast says you'll be stuck for much longer than expected.

88. Lately, your phone feels ... off. It seems like it's watching you. At first, you dismiss it as paranoia. But one day, each message on your phone reads, »I'm watching you.«
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