How Does The Mary Shelley Club End?

Isadora didn’t want to come to Ashwyck Academy. It wasn’t the haunting towers or the iron gates that unnerved her. It wasn’t the students—dark, beautiful, terrifying things cloaked in magic and menace. It was what it meant. Coming here was a last resort. A whispered admission from her parents that something was wrong with her. That despite being born of a temptress and a mind-bending killer, despite all the bloodlines and rituals and whispered prophecies—Isadora was still painfully, tragically human. She was quiet, clever, and careful. Not powerful. Not wicked. Not like the others. Her parents called it “late blooming.” The High Table called it “defective.” But no one said it out loud. Instead, they tucked her into Ashwyck like a final gamble and hoped the academy could awaken whatever dark inheritance slumbered beneath her skin. She hadn’t wanted to come. She still doesn’t belong. But Ashwyck has its own secrets. And Isadora is about to discover that the parts of her she’s most afraid of are the ones they’ve been waiting for.

The Clan Healer told me that without the vial of Progenitor's Blood, the Blood Blight afflicting me meant I had only seventy-two hours to live. But my husband, Miles, the new Duke of our world, gave the only vial of the precious cure to my adopted sister, Vivienne, the woman I had turned three years ago. "She's in agony from the rejection, Isolde. It's a pain you can't possibly understand." His tone was self-righteous, devoid of any concern for the patch of skin on my collarbone already turning to stone. I nodded, watching as the life-saving, dark red liquid slid down another woman's throat. I accomplished a great deal in the time I had left. As I signed the documents, the lawyer's hand trembled. "Are you certain you want to transfer everything, Your Grace? The territorial rights of a thousand-year-old clan..." I didn't hesitate. "Yes. To Vivienne." My adopted daughter, Lily, the girl I had risked everything to save, who was now forever frozen at the age of eight, cowered in Vivienne's arms, pointing at me and screaming, "Aunt Vivienne is my real mommy! You're the witch who turned us into monsters!" I offered no defense. "Yes, that's right. Be a good girl and listen to your new mother now." The Progenitor's Ring, the symbol of the clan's supreme authority, now rested on Vivienne's hand. "Oh, sister, you're too kind," she sobbed, her sobs a practiced performance. "I'll be sure to protect the family in your stead." I nodded. "You'll run things better than I ever did." I even signed away my control over the Elder Council, a council sustained by my own blood. For the first time in a century, a shadow of complex emotion crossed Miles's face. He stared at me,"Isolde, stop fighting. It's better this way. You need to rest." Yes. On my deathbed, I had finally become the perfect, submissive Isolde they always wanted. An Isolde who was about to turn to dust. The seventy-two-hour countdown had begun. I wondered, when I finally turned to ash,

After catching her boyfriend in bed with two women, struggling horror writer Winona Hart thinks the universe has officially hit rock bottom. Then a mysterious invitation changes everything. The Midnight Project promises fame, money, and the opportunity of a lifetime: an exclusive fully-paid reality experience for selected rising creators. Writers, actors, gamers, influencers—only a handful are invited to the luxurious Midnight Hotel hidden deep within the mountains. At first, it feels like the perfect distraction from her ruined relationship. Until the first contestant dies. Then comes the terrifying truth: nobody can leave the hotel, every floor hides a deadly game, and when midnight strikes, time resets all over again. Trapped inside endless lethal loops with a group of dangerously attractive strangers, Winona must survive horrifying creatures, twisted rules, and betrayals that grow darker with every reset. But the deeper she falls into the hotel’s secrets, the more she realizes one thing... The Midnight Hotel did not choose its guests randomly. And the calm, mysterious man who keeps saving her may know exactly why she was invited.

Just before the end of my shift, the last patient I see is my wife, Tracy Montgomery. Her prenatal test report clearly states that she is three weeks pregnant. She is the mother, and the father is her lover of five years, Max Lockwood. Calmly, I slide the report across the desk and say softly, "Congratulations. You finally got what you wanted." Tracy pauses for a moment before frowning hard. "That's it? Are you just congratulating me? Don't you have anything else to say?" I stare at the piece of paper and at the child who isn't mine. I initially think I would react the way I always do, which entails throwing away my pride and causing a huge scene in front of her. But in the end, I don't even have the strength for that anymore. Her fingertips brush gently across her stomach as she says, "I've had my fun over the years. Once the baby is born, I'll settle down." Hearing those words, I lift my head and meet her eyes. I say evenly, "Tracy, our contract has expired."

Adrian and I grew up together. We were the match every old vampire family swore was meant to be. Then he saved a human girl who had wandered into our territory while hunters were closing in. After that, he became someone else. Cold. Distant. A stranger to me. Then he knelt before the Elders and asked them to dissolve our engagement. "The one I love is Clara. I can't marry Elena." The Council was furious. They forced Clara back into the human world and warned her never to set foot in vampire territory again. To keep her safe, Adrian married me anyway, and never saw her again. After the wedding, I gave him everything I had. I miscarried again and again. I nearly died bringing his heir into the world, his heart never turned to me. Three years later, hunters came for us. I fought tooth and nail to save him, yet I still failed. As he died, he held my hand, his voice barely there. "If there's a next life, I hope I never meet you." "All I ever wanted was to let everything go and be with Clara." He died first. My own wounds took me soon after. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the family council. Adrian was kneeling before the Elders, begging them to let him be with the human girl. Everyone expected me to fall apart. But this time, I only slid the engagement ring off my finger and set it down in front of him. "Adrian. You can have her."

We had been together for seven years, yet my CEO boyfriend canceled our marriage registration 99 times. The first time, his newly hired assistant got locked in the office. He rushed back to deal with it, leaving me standing outside the County Clerk's Office until midnight. The fifth time, we were about to sign when he heard his assistant had been harassed by a client. He left me there and ran off to "rescue" her, while I was left behind, humiliated and laughed at by others. After that, no matter when we scheduled our registration, there was always some emergency with his assistant that needed him more. Eventually, I gave up completely and chose to leave. However, after I moved away from Twilight City, he spent the next five years desperately searching for me, like a man who had finally lost his mind.