Nowhere For Very Long Novels & Stories

Nobody moves for three full seconds. Three seconds is a long time when your blood is running cold. Nadia counts them without meaning to, the way she counts everything, the way her brain refuses to stop working even when the rest of her wants it to. "He knows we're together," she says. "I read it," Alexandra says. "That means he knows about this location."

He shared the information so nonchalantly as if where we lived wasn’t pertinent, as if I would be moving in with him in months not hours. I’d been given that information. Of course, not from Dario. “In Kansas City?” He nodded. “We have an apartment in the city. Your father had your things shipped there.” He grinned. “However, when we’re here…” He scanned me up and down and lifted a brow. “I would recommend more clothing for middle-of-the-night walks. Our guards come and go out of the kitchen at all hours.” I wrapped my arms around my midsection, suddenly conscious of my robe and nightgown. “That’s good information.”

"Thank you," Seeing no new messages, Ariana replaced her phone into her clutch and turned her attention to the window. A strong surge of nostalgia had hit her when second she stepped off the plane, her nerves had sky rocketing the closer she got to the venue. She hadn't been home for so long and she didn't know what to expect. She sighed in resignation and waited until she arrived at her destination.

He didn’t know how long it would take to leave the secret realm, but as far as Long Chen knew, it could be a few years or months—which was why he was confident he could earn even more points. But… Something unexpected happened right before his eyes, causing Long Chen to freeze in place.

Steven asks. “We don’t know it, too. No one has attempted to ruin this place before.” “How much time is left for us?” I ask. “There’s no essence of time here, Amy,” Apphia tells me. “Do you know how we can leave this place?” Harris asks. “Years of staying here and wandering in this sad ground, sadly, we do not. I have told you, no one has been successful enough to leave this place,” We can feel the sadness in Eve’s voice when she has said that.

My fingerprint had never been given a permanent place in Haiden Buckley's smart lock. He always registered it as temporary access. Whenever he set it up again, he gave me the same reassuring promise. "Come by whenever you want. You're always welcome here." His words sounded generous, yet the result never changed. Whenever I returned to his house, the scanner rejected me with the same message—fingerprint not registered. That day was no different. I stood outside Haiden's front door, watching the scanner flash red after rejecting my fingerprint once again. After staring at it for a moment, I pulled out my phone and called him. Haiden answered almost immediately. His apology came easi

Our department went on a team-building hike. When it was time to split into groups, I looked at Janet Wiley, the woman I had been secretly dating for two years, sure she would pick me. Instead, she walked over to Nash Fuller, her childhood friend who had just come back from overseas. "You're out of shape. Come with me. I'll make sure you don't fall behind." Nash gave her a crooked grin and rested a hand lightly on her arm. Our coworkers immediately started giving them a hard time. "Childhood sweethearts, huh? Ms. Wiley, you're still single, right? You two actually look pretty good together." Janet didn't move away. She just smiled faintly and said, "Yeah. I'm single." I went still

**ATLAS** “Are you sure this is the right place?” “At this point, I'm not even sure anymore.” Our car sat buried behind a towering thornbush, engine ticking softly in the middle of nowhere while the tall grass outside swallowed every sign that civilization had ever existed. My fingers tightened around the steering as Ledger checked his GPS, and I peered through the window at the area. “Great. The service is down.” He murmured. We had been driving for what seemed like forever, and maybe it was.

Which brings us to- /PRESENT TIME/ This stupid piece of shit just died on me. My jeep wouldn’t have done that. I’m in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing but dust, grass, and this empty road for miles and I still have three hours to go. Ugh! This would never happen in Manhattan. I could call a mechanic, there’d be one thirty minutes away. But I don’t even have service. Thank god, the GPS app I use works offline or I’d be screwed.

Sheryl reassured with a gentle touch. "But when? When? We have checked numerous orphanages in Africa to no avail. Every time we fail to find him is another day of suffering for my little one. I sacrificed a year and a half to get back on my feet. One and a half years away from him, Sheryl. It's driving me to the brink of insanity." Kelsa sobbed, her frustrations pouring out in a surge of emotion.