Onc23 Stories

Prompt 21. One dark and stormy night a family went missing, they left everything behind. All their belongings including phones, laptops, and cars. Nobody, not even the police could figure out what happened so the case goes unsolved for almost 10 years, that is until you receive an unknown call. You must figure out who did it, if the family is still alive, and how you will expose what happened.

A well known mercenary, Jenny Montanari, is hired to assassinate the head knight of the royal guard, Valentine Anh. When attempts go wrong, Jenny chooses to go undercover and befriend Valentine to figure out a plan from there, but nothing unfolds as it should.

They said it would be a relaxing week in the woods with friends. Graham thought returning home for the first time in eight years would be the hardest thing he'd have to do. Surrounded by whispers and gossip, he was more than eager to exchange the quiet a Pennsylvanian town for a luxury cabin in the woods. The group of college students had planned a celebration of sorts to send off two of their friends who would be leaving the continent on a research mission. At least, that's all it was meant to be, until someone went missing. Now, they'll deal with the whispers and shadows of the forest.

Jade Snow by day, Sapphire Bullseye by night. Sandshore. A place of beauty and disaster. She is one of the top assassins in the underworld. Sent out to kill and steal. Nothing is too challenging for this woman but what happens when she is sent on a mission to Frostbourne to assassinate the Prince. Secrets will be revealed. Fights will break out and those they loved will die in the crossfire. Cover by @-DeeIsDead--

It's referred to by several names: the ghost frequency, the haunted frequency, the fear infrasound. You can't hear sound at 18.98 hertz, but your body feels it, and when it does, some believe you've opened yourself to the world of the supernatural. Liv used to believe the ghost frequency was real, and so did her friend, Helina. While Liv came to shun this notion, Helina went in the opposite direction, becoming obsessed with using the ghost frequency to access a paranormal plane of existence. Now, Helina has gone missing, and her brother, Graham is convinced the ghost frequency has something to do with it... and Liv is the only one who can find her. Liv agrees to help Graham search for his sister, but she brings with her memories of a fraught relationship and a great and unforgiveable harm done-a harm so deeply scarring, she's willing to do something terrible to gain revenge, even if it means losing Helina, and even herself, forever.

A cunning Pirate's long-lost treasure. A three hundred-year-old curse. A wicked taste of rum. ------ When dangerous paranormal activity threatens her life, teen psychic, Lizzy Summers, decides to quit her job with Boston's Chills N' Thrills Ghost Tour franchise. She starts a new life in the Bay Area with her boyfriend, Dylan Grant, working for an eccentric bar owner. After moving into her dream apartment in Boston's eclectic Fort Point neighborhood, Lizzie soon discovers a young man who lived in the waterfront premises has been murdered. The renovated loft is not only haunted; it holds a deadly secret. Not everything's as it seems as the mayor starts buying up surrounding real estate and bodies begin piling up. Lizzie and her friends must solve the murder and the mystery of Blackbeard's treasure, using an antique bell from her grandmother's attic, before they become the next victims. --- ONC2023 Prompt 30: You purchase a new home and during renovations discover a human skeleton buried within your walls. Prompt 75: You have a family heirloom, it's been passed way long before anyone can remember. You inherited this object and discover its secret. This secret will twist your life and change it forever. [Rated PG13 for language, intimacy.]

Bela Everheart, thought she was about to have her Happily Ever After with her best friend since diapers, Michael Green, but she couldn't be more wrong. Michael's eye had been caught by the new girl in town, Melanie Peru. Now dealing with her heartache in the small town of Haven, Bela is faced with a choice, forgive and forget, or make the slim wish she had never been born. Of course Revenge is the option to choose, what's to stop her from killing the woman who took her man, and cursing him to an eternity with a broken heart? Perhaps he attractive new guy that just moved to town? Will Bela go through with her plan for revenge? Will she find love again in the new guy, Damien?" Or will she be alone forever with her grief?

Grimhelde didn't choose to hunt the creatures of the night. Even though her family had been hunters for generations, she chose to leave and lead a normal life. But, as it often happens, she found love and it destroyed her plans. Young Grimhelde finds herself longing for the king in the castle she chooses to work in, but there's something strange about his wife. She knows the signs, blood red lips, pale skin, an aversion to sunlight. The signs of a vampire. To save the man she loves and his daughter, Heldie slays the evil monster. Happily ever after isn't the next step for her, and now she'll have to decide what to do with the child. A Snow White retelling...with vampires. ONC Shortlist 2023

'Death is coming in the Autumn.' That's what Tira tells Verity. But Verity is stuck in her life, and doesn't understand just what's at stake, until it's much too late... A novella written for ONC23. Guidance: mild horror, sex references.

The mission - colonize the slopes of Olympus Mons on Mars before the Pacific Alliance lands. The challenge - something isn't quite right with the site foreseen for the colony. Explorations reveal a cave where the support struts for the home dome are supposed to go. It gets worse - not only does the cave move, but it contains the impossible: a human skeleton. And there's a writing on the wall. What starts off odd, soon descends into total madness. But the next shuttle back to Earth doesn't launch until next year. ONC Prompt 59. The year is 2042. The first astronauts landed on mars. They find a cave with a single human skeleton and four words written on the wall.

[❌] archived "When you touch a mirror, and it ripples like water, dive in." Those are the words that send Arya on a wild goose chase to uncover the secret behind her aunt's disappearance. Arya always loved a good mystery. When she learns about the existence of her mysterious aunt, who vanished almost two decades ago, she can't help but be hooked. With nothing but a strange memory box and a shard of a mirror, she's ready to take on her family's deepest secret. But what was meant to be just a simple summer pastime turns into a wild, magical adventure when Arya stumbles upon a strange new world. ✽ ✽ ✽ This is my first ONC entry with prompt number #29 - the one used in the opening quote. A novella tied to a bigger storyline I'm currently working on but can be read as a standalone! Original story and cover by Tiana Lambent Created for the Open Novella Contest 2023

An ONC shortlister! The long-forgotten god of chaos awakes when a small child drops a piece of candy onto his altar, unwittingly becoming the high priest of chaos. The god is beholden to his priest and his priest's people--AKA: his kindergarten classmates. The children are all-too-delighted to serve the whims of mayhem until the chaos becomes too much, even for them. They forbid the god from using his power. But when disaster strikes and the whole school is in danger, a bit of bedlam might be the only thing that can save the children, the town, and the god's budding romance with a schoolteacher. Based on the Open Novella Contest 2023 prompt: #73 - You are a long-forgotten god. A small kid leaves candy at your shrine and you awaken. Now, you must do everything to protect your High Priest/Priestess, the kid, and their entire kindergarten class, your worshippers. #ONC2023 #OpenNovellaContest

ONC 2023 Entry- Inspired by Prompt 57; "Unkown to everyone, you are battling a life-threatening condition. With only a couple of weeks to live, you help your friend get the partner of their dream, except they are in love with you."

"Did you know your hand is soft and creamy like butter?" I can't even fight back the blush this time. My head even starts spinning as I feel my whole face and neck burning up. My ears start humming softly as well. "Shut up!" I try to pull my hand again but that goes in vain. He even grabs my hand with his other free hand. "No, don't let go, please." He flashes his teeth again. "I like it this way." . . . . . . . . . . Love is the most unpredictable thing. You can almost never predict when and with whom you are going to fall in love. Often it happens at a really random time with the person you least expected to happen. After spending almost four years in abroad, Felix Reyes has returned to his country. His friends and family are telling him that it's time for him to start seeing someone seriously. And that leads him to a blind date which is a total mismatch. But he's too polite to tell his date that directly to her face. While he's trying to find a way out of this date 'politely', someone comes to his rescue. It turns out that someone is his brother's ex, Maisara Kamal. Now is it just a random coincidence or is it fate? Read the story to find out. #1 in Hijab #4 in English Novel