Horror Writing Contest 2023

"You're an insensitive Bastard," I say. I want him to say something to do something, but he just leans against the wall staring at me. To my horror, I feel the telltale sign of tears, but I blink it away aggressively. Max walks towards me and cups my face "You've no idea," he says, leaning in. I don't know what I hope for, but I lift my head to face him anyway. We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity when he whispers "Do you think I'm not tired Callista, you should know by now that I am an addict and you are my addiction, I know I should back away, but these days when it comes to you, it seems my body doesn't obey my commands. I close my eyes, and i see you. I breathe, and your scent fills the air. Every day, i crave a taste of you. You everything to me. " His nose caresses my cheek, and he takes a long inhale, and I realise he's breathing in my scent. He then puts his forehead to mine, and his lips brush mine when he says "I'm never going back to how I was before, am I?" When I open my eyes, he's gone.

“She tried to escape. I think she wants to go rogue.” The guard said.  Sabrina’s eyes snapped to me. A smirk curled on her lips as she walked forward. “Tried to escape, did we?” she said, her blue eyes slicing into mine. “Leave us.” The guards obeyed. She moved in, gaze sweeping over me. “Whatever made you think your scrawny little body could outrun two strong guards?” “Sabrina, you have to let me go. I don’t want to be your handmaid. Please. Let me go.” I begged.  Sabrina laughed, sharp and cold. “Oh, you’ll serve me whether you like it or not.” She leaned closer. “You won’t just serve me, Elowyn. You’ll mate with the Alpha and carry his child for us.” My breath caught. “What?” Her smile deepened, her voice soft and slow. “I can’t be the one who fulfills the prophecy that Kieran’s Luna will die in childbirth.” She stepped even closer. Her eyes locked on mine. “You will bear his child, Elowyn.” She said it with such certainty that my blood ran cold.  I stared at her, horror rising in my throat. “You want me to die instead of you?” Sabrina said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her smile said everything.

“Reject her.” Jake blinked at Ana stupidly. “What?” “Reject her now Jake! If you love me and want to keep me as your wife, reject her and break the bond!” Ana screeched as her hands balled into fists. “I’m sorry Ana, I can’t do that. You don’t understand how sick your sister is. If I reject her, it will kill her.”  Ana is miserable because she has been trying and failing to give her loving alpha husband a child.  She was raised as an unloved and unwanted Omega but was saved when her sweet husband rescued and married her. That’s why she is desperate to give him an heir. But unfortunately for Ana, her whole life is about to turn into one huge, chaotic, horror nightmare when her enemy/step-sister suddenly returns to claim the same mate she had rejected— Ana’s husband! But things went from bad to worse when Ana seeks comfort from a stranger who turns out to be none other than Kane! her husband’s ruthless older brother! What can she do when Kane becomes determined to claim everything that belongs to him, from her husband’s property, the pack, up to the child in her womb? Two pregnancies, two enemy sisters, two or more fathers but there can only be one true Ruler.

The books say that besides empaths, mages are the most sensitive when it comes to emotions. They also say that mages are the most dangerous supernatural s pecies to walk the earth. There's a reason for that, the elders say that mages who are underaged are a ticking time bomb because if a mage who is not of age constantly experiences negative emotions before their Coming of Age ceremony, their magic becomes twisted, their heart becomes cold and their eyes change to reflect that evil magic coursing through them. No one ever believed the books, thinking of them as fairy tales. At least they didn't until Olive Lane walked into school her magic dark and corrupted enough to give her a shadow familiar. Her hair no longer an almost white blond but a haunting purple. Gone were her kind and emotion-filled green eyes and in their place were amethyst eyes filled with nothing but hatred and amusement. Everyone watched her snap the neck of a classmate with the tilt of her head and it was in that moment they realized that the books and the elders were right. And for the first time in their peace-filled lives, the residents of Ravenswood felt true horror because when she looked at them, they knew that in front of them was the monster spoken of in fear and terrified reverence. Olive Lane,the sweetest and kindest person to ever walk the earth was now a Dark Mage. Will her soul be forever lost in the darkness or is there a hope for redemption? Will she defeat her demons or will they overtake her and ruin that which she loves...

I stand before the judges at the jewelry design competition and admit to plagiarism. Then, I announce my withdrawal from the contest, along with my resignation as Design Director of Fairchild Group. My fiance, Caleb Fairchild, shoots daggers at me. "If you walk away from this competition, our engagement is off!" My father follows up by slapping me across the face. "First, you plagiarize your own sister, and now you're breaking off your engagement with the Fairchilds? Are you trying to ruin our family?" "Oh, I'm not just calling off my engagement. I'm also cutting off my ties with you," I respond apathetically. I make this decision because I have been given a second life. In my previous life, my stepsister and I competed in this contest. First place earns the title of the nation's top jewelry designer and 50 million dollars from Fairchild Group. However, round after round, her designs are exactly the same as mine, and she submits them before I do. The judging panel gives me a pass because of Caleb and lets me advance to the finals, but not without a warning to never plagiarize again. I refuse to believe it. I switch to a brand-new computer, lock myself in my room, and pour everything into a new design. Yet, when the final designs appear on the big screen, history repeats itself. In the end, my sister takes first place and walks away with everything that should have been mine. The reputation I painstakingly built is ruined, and my name is dragged through the mud online. My parents are ashamed of me. They knock me out and sell me off to the countryside to marry an old man. Ultimately, I die after endless abuse. When I open my eyes again, I'm back at the semifinals. Everyone is pointing at me as they stare at the two identical designs.

Élianor est une jeune femme dont l'existence n'a été qu'une longue souffrance. En raison de son poids, elle fut toute sa vie la cible des railleries, autant dans le cercle de sa famille que dans celui de toute la ville. Les murs de l'école furent pour elle le théâtre d'un harcèlement quotidien et impitoyable. Son calvaire atteignit son paroxysme lors d'une humiliation publique, si cruelle et si violemment orchestrée qu'elle se retrouva couverte d'un opprobre indélébile aux yeux de tous. Brisée et rongée par la honte, elle n'eut d'autre choix que de fuir cette cité devenue un enfer. Son exil fut marqué par un drame supplémentaire : elle partit, portant en elle un enfant dont elle ignorait la paternité, fruit possible d'une ultime violence ou d'une relation désespérée. Cinq ans plus tard, Élianor fait son retour. La jeune fille timorée et meurtrie a disparu. À sa place se tient une femme d'une beauté à couper le souffle, mince et rayonnante, dotée d'une puissance et d'une autorité qui ne peuvent être contestées. Elle revient sur la terre de son ancien cauchemar avec une seule et unique obsession : se venger avec une froide méthodité de tous ceux qui l'ont brisée, et faire payer à la ville entière le prix de son indifférence et de sa cruauté.

In the blood-soaked mountain town of Black Hollow, every full moon ends with a body and a lie. Elara Ashwood has lived her life by one rule: never trust a man who knows your scent. Raised by her grandmother after her mother vanished into the forest and her father died in a “hunting accident,” Elara knows the forest is dangerous, and the wolves hiding in plain sight are deadlier. But when strangers arrive during the winter eclipse, the forest screams with fury and people begin to disappear. Among them is Kael Draven, a cold, dangerous Alpha with silver eyes that linger too long on her skin, as if he already owns her. The night he bites her is no accident. Elara soon discovers she is not only Kael’s fated mate but also the one prophesied to destroy his bloodline. Rejected and marked, she flees into the forest, awakening a darker force within herself—an ancient wolf that feeds on fear, desire, and vengeance. The more she resists her nature, the harder it becomes to control. As enemies close in and the moon turns red, Kael hunts her—not to kill her, but because his body, his wolf, and his soul answer only to her. Every encounter is charged with hunger: claws brushing skin, breath against necks, restraint breaking slowly, painfully. Their love becomes dangerous, their desire a weapon. In Black Hollow, the true horror is not the beasts in the forest—it is the one you crave in the dark. And sometimes, giving in to that hunger is the only way to survive.

De camino a ver a mi novio, que seguía haciendo horas extras, sufrí un fuerte accidente de tránsito. Lo llamé decenas de veces, pidiéndole ayuda, pero no respondió ni una sola vez. A lo lejos, el edificio de su empresa seguía iluminado, con las luces encendidas, como si nada hubiera pasado, y la desesperación terminó por devorarme. Cuando desperté en el hospital, vi una publicación de una subordinada suya: “¿Qué hacer cuando tu jefe te regaña en plena madrugada?” La imagen mostraba el reflejo de ambos en el vidrio de una puerta. La cercanía entre ellos era tan evidente que claramente había cruzado los límites de una relación laboral normal. Sin darme por vencida, volví a llamar a Alfonso González. Esta vez, por fin contestó. Con la voz quebrada, apenas logré decir: —Alfonso, tuve un accidente de auto. —Paula, ando ocupado —respondió con frialdad—. Haré que mi asistente se encargue, ¿de acuerdo? Sé buena, ¿sí? Cuando termine este viaje de trabajo, regresaré para acompañarte. Intenté seguir hablando, pero su grito interrumpió todo: —¡Bárbara! ¿Te vas con una sola maleta? ¿Y entonces por qué traes tres? ¿Piensas irte de vacaciones o qué? Bárbara Garza era la nueva pasante que Alfonso acababa de contratar. Miré el teléfono. La llamada ya se había cortado, y las lágrimas ya estaban secas en el rostro. Luego marqué otro número: —Acepto el matrimonio arreglado.

For almost four years without her twin brother, Addison Miranda cannot swallow the pain of her brother's death that still haunts her every night. That's why she pours her every emotion on writing which her brother influenced her when they were still young. And as she grows older, she wants to pursue the dream that settles her from the grief of her lost. The only thing that her mind automatically focuses on is becoming a published writer, willing to do whatever sorcery she needs to perform. But just like any other human being, she stumble upon the biggest regret of her life. Meeting Corpse De Chavez is the start of how she wanted to dig her own grave. It is like in a blink of an eye, Addi become blind of how her success will fall on her hands like streaming waters. She found out that Corpse is a big part of her past that has been torturing her for years. And how unfortunate for her to fall for someone that she’s supposed to despise. Desperate to live a peaceful life, she decided to quit everything so she can save herself from falling apart, even though it breaks her heart leaving the person that loves her more than anyone else. Addison Miranda believes that whatever witchcraft that she's been under, she wanted to get out of it as soon as possible before she falls with it. Because just like spilled coffee on the table, Corpse caused a big mess that no one has ever done to her life. 

In order to protect me, Don Salvatore deliberately announces that my fiance, Simone Pozzi, is his long-lost son. Simone shakes with excitement when he sees the man in a bespoke suit stepping out of the Rolls-Royce that is parked outside my house. Just as I'm about to tell him it's all a lie, he shoves me aside. He even brushes his sleeves in disgust, as if he has touched something filthy. Simone says, "Stay away from me. Don't let your poverty rub off on me! Since I'm the Don's son, we'll call off our engagement. An illegitimate bastard like you isn't even fit to wipe my shoes!" When I try to explain, he cuts me off by writing out a check and flinging it hard into my face. The sharp edge of the paper slices across my cheek. "Take this one million dollars as our breakup fee and don't bother me again. We're no longer from the same world," Simone says. I watch the check flutter down into the mud and quietly turn off my phone screen. On the screen is a message Papa—Don Salvatore—has just sent me, "Just bear with it a little longer, Principessa. Papa will bring you home soon to take over the famiglia." Simone is so determined to cut himself off completely. He might have the luck to claim a fortune that big, but not the life to enjoy it.