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Before Bellamy Hall was a residence for students, it was something else, although few remember those harrowing days. I do, because I was there. Now, I live in the walls, floors, and ceilings of the building, peeking through when the poor teens least expect it. I make curtains flutter and porcelain fall. I don't know who I am or how I got there. All I know is that I'm the resident ghost.There is one resident whom I visit more than the others. Something in her jittery energy draws me in. There is a familiar turmoil underneath the surface. Her name is Alice. Sometimes, she looks right at me, as if wondering if someone is there.Through my visits to Alice, I see her shed the habits of childhood and come into her own. Maybe knowing her truth will reveal mine as well?***A Halloween Vault 2026 entry.…

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Araminta was called a witch. Now she's gone. And the last person who saw her is looking for answers.***Wattys 2026 Shortlister***Two years ago, Araminta Green disappeared. Her neighbor and classmate Jordan Thompson was the last person who saw her, walking through a graveyard in the early morning hours.Jordan was intimidated by Araminta. With her pale-powdered face, black lips, spider-web eyeliner, and her love for tarot reading, it was no wonder that people speculated that Araminta was a witch. But Jordan was also intrigued by her dark aura, sensing that she may be as lonely as him. Maybe if he had reached out to her back then, she wouldn't be missing now.When Jordan is tasked with creating an investigative podcast for a college course, there is no question about which case he wants to delve into. With his cat Kiki as his co-pilot, Jordan sets off to answer the question of what happened to Araminta, even as his recordings constantly get disrupted by a cawing crow in the background. Following the trail of Araminta, Jordan discovers truths both about his missing classmate and himself, because while he hasn't vanished he is definitely lost as well. Will he be able to find both himself and Araminta?***An ONC novella using prompt #81: The town's witch has gone missing and no one is looking for her but her two familiars - a crow and a black cat, plus the teen who has always been scared of her.…

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Robin doesn't want to be a tutor. Tyler doesn't want to be tutored. So why are their tutoring sessions always running late?***After an illness-stricken childhood, Robin Erie struggles to free himself from his mother's suffocating embrace. Her plan for him is clear: he's to excel in school, take over his late father's business, and marry a suitable girl of her choosing.Initially, college life offers nothing different from Robin's controlled and monotonous existence. Not until he meets Tyler Caster, a former soccer prodigy who struggles with restraints of his own after an accident took his left leg and made him crutch-bound. Tyler's sweet smile makes Robin dream of freedom and excitement.Through a string of candy-filled tutoring sessions, Robin and Tyler grow close. Very close. Perhaps they're even flirting? Robin isn't sure, but he wants to find out. But he knows he can't let his mother find out about his bond with Tyler, since Robin has started to suspect that her influence over him might be more nefarious than he previously suspected.Will Robin be able to break free from his mother's shackles to explore his budding feelings for Tyler?…

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What's in the heart of a Hyde? Is it purely dark and filled with hatred, or is it still possible to make it flicker?***Tyler Galpin is done with mothers and masters. His heart can't take any more sorrows and rejections. He believes himself to be a lost cause. But yet, when Isadora Capri, the new principal at Nevermore Academy, offers him the opportunity to enroll in a special rehabilitation program for outcasts whose abilities have made them dangerous to others, he reluctantly agrees.The moment he steps into the school, the whispers and gasps start. They all fear him. Everyone but Wednesday Addams.She who saw him. She who freed him. She who he swore to kill.When another string of Hyde attacks occurs, Tyler becomes the prime suspect. With no one on his side, he is about to give up when an unlikely ally steps forward: Wednesday Addams. She believes he's innocent, asking him to aid her in the investigation. But they have to work fast, before Tyler is deemed too dangerous for the school and sent to another asylum. The hunt for the culprit leads right into Tyler's past and makes him question whether what he believes about himself is actually true. Perhaps it's not too late to make the heart of this Hyde flicker?***This story is set in an imagined season 4 of the show. It's told entirely in Tyler's POV as he navigates Nevermore after having learned to control his Hyde (well, somewhat at least... you'll see!). It also features a slow burn (because I don't think there is any other way to do this, as there is a lot of healing and mending needed) romance between him and Wednesday.…

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"It's bad, right?" Tyler asked, trying to read any kind of emotion on Wednesday's stone face. "The state wants to incarcerate me after I graduate, since I don't have any family members who can be my guardian.""The state does seem determined to put you back in chains again," she confirmed, having read through the dossier of papers."So there's no way out of this," he despaired, smushing a pillow onto his face.Cold fingertips flicked through his curls, like melting snowflakes on his scalp. "I didn't say that," Wednesday assured him. "While I'm allured by the idea of seeing you chained again, I do prefer to put them on myself. The state may be determined, but so am I, and I promise to find a way to solve this."***Wednesday Addams will, of course, find a way to save her monster boy. But it's not until he's standing in front of a judge at the courthouse and is asked to say "I do" that Tyler realizes the extent of her promise.…

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Tristan is a Quiz Bowl star. Vyrsa is from the stars. But is their interstellar romance written in the stars?***Following a successful heist on a rival planet, Princess Vyrsa just needs to step through the Portal of Wishes to be brought straight back to her home planet Isola. But when Vyrsa steps through the portal, she finds herself on Earth, a primitive planet in a forgotten corner of the universe, with no means to return home.After having spent the night studying for an upcoming Astronomy test, galaxies, planets, and asteroids are on Tristan Conway's mind as he drifts into dreams. So he's unfazed when a strange glittering woman suddenly appears in his dorm room, convinced she's nothing but a figment of his imagination. When he finds her in his kitchen the next morning, eating his textbooks and befriending his cat, he's not so sure anymore.With no fancy alien tech at her disposal, Vyrsa will need Tristan's help to return to her faraway home planet. Ecstatic to be part of a plot reminiscent of the space movies he loves, Tristan throws himself wholeheartedly into the mission.After studies of possible fuel sources turn into Netflix binging beside her endearing host, Vyrsa's resolve to leave weakens. Maybe she'll just stay with Tristan a little bit longer... Surely nothing bad could come from it?Unless the owners of the artifact she stole figure out where she went and decides to obliterate the whole planet where she's hiding just to punish her, of course.***This is an ONC Novella using prompt #18: You step through a magical portal thinking it's the way back home, but what you find isn't what you expected.This story is completed.…

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Chrissy McAllister is tired of wolves. They're everywhere in Wolf Creek, Montana, where she's born and raised. They roam the plains outside her family's farm, and they're even the mascot of the town's university. She can't wait to leave the town and the wolves behind forever to attend grad school. However, her father's fragile mental state, which is exacerbated by the flock of wolves infringing on their lands, is making her second-guess her decision.When a wolf saunters into the coffee shop where she works, Chrissy is more annoyed than scared. But panic sets in when the animal won't leave. That's when Enid Sinclair-a grad student in town for a research project-steps into the shop. Using her knowledge of wolves, the focus of her studies, she convinces the animal to leave.Charmed by her savior, Chrissy can't keep away from Enid. They grow close, going on hikes and attending the town's wolf festival together. Chrissy is smitten. But she also can't let go of the suspicion that something isn't quite adding up about Enid's presence in Wolf Creek. Why is she so fascinated by wolves? Why is she able to communicate with them so well? And why won't she agree to go on a date during the full moon?…

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Life keeps handing Tyler bitter treats. At fifteen, his mom leaves him and his little sister to fend for themselves. At sixteen, he focuses on receiving a soccer scholarship to gain the security and independence he so desperately craves. At eighteen, his car spins off a bridge, and he loses his leg and the sports career he fought so hard to build.Consumed by bitterness and despair, Tyler returns to college. The one taste of sweetness in his life is Robin Erie, the shy student-tutor assigned to help him catch up. They bond over textbooks and treats, and studying soon turns to flirting, which evolves to kissing. But when bitter forces try to tear them apart, Tyler must face his fear of getting abandoned once again to find happiness with his sweet crush.***This is a mirror story to my previous story Sweet Little Birds, telling the story from Tyler's POV, also including snippets of his story before he met Robin.…

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||OUTLANDERxVIKINGS||Greenland 1406:In the dim sunlight of a rare midnight eclipse--when the moon shades the never-setting sun of polar summer--the last Vikings escape Greenland's frozen shores on a longship, leaving doors ajar and fires burning. They don't know where they're going but they know they can't stay.Left on the shore stands Björn the Bearslayer, covered in the blood of his fellow Norsemen. He risked it all for his love Gudrun, a seer who was forced into marriage with Björn's father. Now he's befallen with a curse sealed in bear blood and has become more beast than man.Greenland, present day:After a disastrous break-up, Saga escapes to Greenland, hoping a few summer weeks in the glow of the midnight sun will provide her with the respite she seeks. But instead, a mystical artifact etched with runes pulls her into the saga of Björn the Bearslayer. Alongside charming whale-safari guide Mikk, Saga discovers the truth about the last Vikings in Greenland.As Saga learns Björn's story, she realizes that she is not just a passive bystander to the unfolding narrative but the key to how it ends. Perhaps the beast of the past is still out there somewhere.Will she be able to bring a happy ending to a tragic saga six hundred years in the making and will she mend her aching own heart in the process?…

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A farmer. A drag queen. A night filled with glitter and confetti. A shimmering kiss beneath rainbow lights.But what happens the next day?***Hernan Mendoza works harder than anyone. Tending to the alpacas at his family's farm is his whole life. He's always been what everyone expects him to be. Until he meets Miss T.He could walk away and just consider their encounter a one-time thing. Just a phase of experimentation before shouldering his expected role. But does he really want that? As glossy lips keep haunting his mind, Hernan dares to imagine a different, more shimmering path, for himself.…

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This is a short story collection for my Shortys entries!***Blurb for Date with Danger:They're an unexpected pair meeting up for drinks. Araminta Green is an introverted goth chic who studies folklore while Devon Matruska is a heralded volleyball star with a new girl on his arm every evening.He's not her type. She's not his type either. He has a dangerous glint behind his pretty eyes. She's noticed that glint and decided to explore it.He has a hidden motive. She came armed with a secret weapon.They're both on a date with danger.…

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Prince Wilber has never kissed anyone. Curious what the big deal is, he smooches his lips against the lips of his best friend Corinna as they hide away in the garden.That's when the fireworks start, along with a big parade, announcing the coming wedding between Wilber and Corinna. It turns out that a magical spell put upon Wilber at his birth binds him to marriage once he kisses someone.But Wilber doesn't want to marry Corinna. The kiss cemented that the love they share is platonic. Can he escape the magical chains binding them to marriage?…

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Combine a mountain filled with rugged orcs with a mysteriously arrived shop serving delicate cups of tea. Could this be the start of a revolution?****On Orc Mountain, there is nothing but dirt, smoke, and backbreaking labor in the mines. There are no colors, no sun, no breaks for rest. There is definitely no tea.That is, until a mysterious tea shop appears in the orcs' domain. Glimmering in blue and pink, it stands out against the rugged backdrop. At first, the hardened inhabitants of the mountain are understandably leery about the malpositioned shop, wondering how it got there and why.Lava, a dedicated supervisor at the mines, takes it upon herself to investigate the suddenly-arrived business. Stepping inside, she meets Jasper, the bubbly fairy shopkeeper, who offers her a fragrant brew. Once Lava takes a sip, the sweet yet bitter taste pulls her in, making her clamor for more.Soon, all orcs are hooked on tea, but something sinister is brewing under the surface. When Lava catches Jasper conducting a secret meeting in a backroom, the true purpose of the tea shop is revealed. Soon she is forced to choose between her newfound passion for tea (and Jasper) and her dedication to the mountain's mining operations.***Legends & Lattes x Shrek***An ONC novella using prompt #15: A mysterious tea shop suddenly appears and you can't help but wonder: what's its true purpose, and why does it seem so important?…

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One Midsummer night. Two girls. Seven flowers. Once the night is over, everything has changed.***This is an entry for the 2024 Shortys Awards.Credit to @furusato_ for the lovely cover!…

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A contemporary Scandinavian adaption of the legend of Jack Frost/Jokul Frosti.***A first kiss changes everything. When Joakim kisses his childhood friend Anton it puts their relationship and also the weather in turmoil. Snow starts to whirl over Stockholm, turning the capital into a chaotic state. Is Joakim's emotional state actually affecting the weather and can his inner turmoil be stilled once he reunites with Anton, who mysteriously has disappeared after their intimate encounter?An ONC novella using prompt #69: "I had a marvellous time ruining everything."…

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After years of struggling to make it as an actor, Daniel Shephard is finally about to make it big. He's landed the lead in a superhero movie. He's about to be Captain Universe with the whole world.That is, if he can make it to his agent in time to sign the contract.Which is easier said than done, as Daniel wakes up, only a few days before the need to sign the contract, in a locked room with no escape. He doesn't know who's abducted him or why. The only clue he has is the manuscript pushed in under the door. A script so terribly bad, it physically pains him to read it.Now Daniel is forced to act out the script--while wearing increasingly ludicrous costumes--and deliver a performance of a lifetime, to appease the manic author who has him trapped, before he loses his spot in the limelight.***This is an ONC story, using prompt #6:Walking down the street, a stranger approaches you. He/she stares intently into your eyes for a moment and then says, "I know what you need to do."***"If you liked Misery but didn't like the maiming, drug abuse, peril, or murder then you'll love this!!!"…

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Tallulah Horn has decided love isn't for her. Love is for cliche romance movies. It's for the students she counsels on a daily basis. It's for her ridiculously perfectly-matched brother and sister-in-law who wound up head over heels without even trying. But for the sweet Miss Horn? Love is a thing of her past rather than her future.At least, not until she runs into Lance Caster. Literally. Now she can't get his warm, sweet eyes--the perfect cup of tea--out of her head. Lance Caster is lost. After a string of unfortunate encounters, he's been discharged from the army--honorably on paper but not in reality--and is stuck in his childhood home, unsure how to get his life back on track. He never pictured himself working as a security guard on a university campus, but the proximity to a certain peppy counselor isn't without allure.Both Lance and Tallulah are hesitant to avoid the mistakes of their past, but like a pot of tea, their relationship grows stronger and sweeter each moment spent together. But too much fire might spoil the pot, and boiling secrets from the past risk brewing into bitterness as Tallulah's estranged husband steps back into the picture.…

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It's Christmas time for our sweet little birds. Robin and Tyler are celebrating the holiday together, while they're both staying with Tyler's aunt and uncle, which means that Robin, for the first time, actually gets to experience Christmas festivities with a loving family around him. Glitter, snow, gifts, and holiday food are abound, but still, Robin can't quite let go of his worries. Will his mother appear to disturb the peaceful holiday? Will he be welcomed by Tyler's large extended family? And, most importantly, will Tyler like the gift Robin bought him?This is a sequel novella to my novel Sweet Little Birds., which you can find here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/269818062-sweet-little-birds-bxb-romance-completed As this story further explores the relationship established in that story, I recommend you read it first.…

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A badass pirate girl.A crew of bickering men.A missing captain.An iguana.A treasure map.Add to that a mermaid, a bunch of manatees, and perhaps a capybara or two.These are the ingredients to a crazy and unexpected adventure across the seven seas.Will the crew stop bickering? Will they find the treasure? And how did the iguana end up as the captain of the ship?…

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This is the GOT romance you didn't know you wanted. This is the story of how Lord Gendry Baratheon met Lady Meera Reed.***Yesterday he was a bastard and a blacksmith. Today he's a lord.Gendry Baratheon has never had anything. No last name, no family, no power. Now he has it all. But his heart is broken. And he has no idea how to do any of the things expected of him as a lord. But he will try anyway.Yesterday she almost died protecting Bran Stark. Today she's not sure he's worth dying for.Meera Reed gave up everything. For Bran Stark and the quest her brother sent them on. But now her brother is dead and she's been discarded by the boy she swore to protect. All she has left is her home, and she will do anything to defend it.But one moment will change everything. For them and the rest of the kingdom. The moment when Gendry and Meera meet each other.Together they will heal. Together they will love. Together they will rise. Together they will fight a war. Against the boy she almost died for.***This is a Game of Thrones fan fiction story set during and after the ending of the show. It follows Gendry and Meera from the moment they stepped off our screens until... they've changed the ending into something else.This is the first book in a planned trilogy about Gendry and Meera in the post-show GOT world.***Featured on the Official Wattpad Game of Thrones reading list.…