Nine Puzzle Novels & Stories

It was a photo of him in his hospital bed, holding the tiramisu. The caption read: “Thanks, Annie. This is the best comfort dessert ever.” Underneath it, Annie had left a smiley face. I shoved my phone into my pocket, heart hollow. It had been ninety-nine times or maybe more than that. However, whatever the number was, it was time to let go.

After Melody cheated and returned to the family, I started posting online every day. [Is cheating addictive?] [Just how thrilling is cheating, really?] [When a woman cheats, does she feel worse for her kids or her lover?] … I tagged her school in every post, making sure each one appeared right in front of her students, her colleagues, and even her lover. Everyone told me to stop making such an ugly scene and be the bigger person. Only Melody stood up for me. "I'm the one who did something wrong. It's only fair to let Tony vent a little." That lasted until my 99th post. Then Melody stormed in as if she'd lost her mind and smashed my computer. "Anthony, are you ever going to stop? I alr

The scent of tobacco and old paper filled the air, creating an atmosphere heavy with intrigue. Claus had always been a man of precision and calculation, but this clue had him flustered. The worn envelope bore no return address, just a bold word scrawled in elegant script: "Claus." Inside, he found a single sheet of paper, a crude drawing of a casino building, and three cryptic words written below: "nueve," and a date that sent shivers down his spine. "Nueve," Claus muttered, his Spanish translating the word for 'nine.' His mind raced, trying to decipher the significance of this number. Was it a countdown? A reference to something in the past? Or perhaps a simple code?

“Everything is ready and set?, Inez asked “Yes, captain,” she said, a laughter bubbling in her voice. “Anything missing? “Just your presence,” Cassandra confessed, and they both broke into laughter. “I wish I could be there right now, Cass, but Theo won’t let me,” Inez grumbled. “Love birds,” Cassandra commented “Slow down, girl,” she said, while stirring the pancake dough in a ceramic bowl, speaking on speaker phone. “I am committed to supporting the doughnut,” Inez added.

In the end, I went to a breeding facility. It cost me fifteen dollars to buy one that was jumping all over the place. I'll never forget how surprised and touched Seth looked. "Nevaeh, you're so kind to me." I felt so guilty. I just wanted to repay him for saving me. Then, Seth heard about another remedy consisting of a centipede boiled in water. He wanted me to catch a huge one, over one foot long. Later on, he told me to boil wasp tails in water. Over the course of a year, he had me looking for all sorts of dangerous bugs to help his legs.

Unknown Caller Arielle didn’t remember pressing the call button. She only remembered staring at the empty space where Daniel’s number used to be saved… and then deciding she didn’t need it. She knew it. Her fingers moved on instinct. Nine digits. Her heart thudded violently in her chest as the phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times— It clicked. Arielle straightened on the bar stool, suddenly breathless. “Hello.” That voice. Deep. Smooth. Controlled.

Even though our new loft apartment was practically empty, save for a few cardboard boxes and a blow-up mattress we had dragged in, the energy inside it was pure, unadulterated chaos. We were using the massive, gold-framed bathroom mirror to do our makeup, our voices bouncing off the bare hardwood floors as our favorite playlist blasted from Chris's portable speaker. ​"If we are doing this, we are doing it right," Chris declared, aggressively blending his eyeshadow. "I am nineteen tomorrow. I am practically an elder. I must look the part."

Dozens of pages. His grandfather had documented everything. He flipped through them quickly until something caught his eye. One page had been torn out. Cleanly. Deliberately. The missing page had been numbered... NINE. Adrian frowned. "Someone removed page nine." Evelyn's face lost all color. "No..." "What?" "It wasn't removed." "What do you mean?" She slowly closed the journal. "It was taken." "That's the same thing." "No." She looked directly into his eyes. "Page Nine is the First Cipher."

Maya's Pov The lab was empty except for me and the machines humming away because nobody bothered to switch them off. I'd been staring at the monitor intently watching the loading sign and waiting for the time the results would finally pop up, my knee bouncing under the desk the whole time. Paternal Match: 99.9%.

However, as I held the cold phone and looked at the crowded contact list, I still didn’t dare make the call. After all, I had ninety-nine dads. Dad Number One was a mob boss. Dad Number Three smuggled weapons. Dad Number Fifteen ran illegal loan operations. And Dad Number Seventy-Eight owned underground casinos… Even though they always loved giving me black cards, patting my head, and saying, “Ariel, behave. But if something happens, you call us immediately. Whoever dares touch even one finger of yours, I’ll make their whole family disappear from this earth.”