Shopkeep

The world plunged into a new Ice Age. As the frozen apocalypse spread, 95% of humanity perished. In his first timeline, Cyrus Knovell's kindness cost him everything. The people he had helped betrayed him and left him for dead. Fate, however, granted him a second chance. He awakened one month before the world froze, gaining a dimensional ability that let him store anything without limit. Now he hoarded supplies by the billions and built a fortress no one could breach. While others shivered, starved, and traded their dignity for a morsel, Cyrus lived in comfort. The desperate came begging. The manipulative vixen: "Cyrus, let me into your shelter, and I'll be your girlfriend, okay?" The spoiled rich heir: "Cyrus, I'll give you all my money for just one meal!" The greedy neighbors: "Cyrus, you shouldn't be so selfish. You should share your supplies with us!" Cyrus remembered their betrayals. Lounging in his steel fortress and savoring his private paradise, he sneered, "Your survival has nothing to do with me. I'd rather feed the dogs than feed you."

I was laid off. Having reached middle age and lacking any special skills, I could only work as a warehouse manager in a private company. On the first day of work, I saw a large, dusty object in the corner. An imported precision instrument worth four million dollars sat there as scrap metal. My new colleague scoffed. "Stop looking. The boss spent a fortune on it. Even ten experts couldn't handle it. It's just a decoration." I walked up and touched the familiar body of the machine. "I can fix this." The entire workshop fell silent. My boss came upon hearing the news. He looked at me with contempt. "If you can fix it, I'll give you half of my shares. If not, you'll pay with your life."

For ten years, Charles served as the heart of his department at Black Industries, a senior manager renowned for his fierce protection of his team and his unwavering professional integrity. He was the buffer between his staff and the cold corporate world—until his boss’s blatant homophobic remarks crossed a line he could no longer tolerate. Refusing to work in an environment of prejudice, Charles walked away, a move that shattered the status quo and finally forced the "Iron Fist" CEO, David Black, to drop his mask. David, the formidable heir to the Black empire, had spent a decade secretly curating Charles’s career, keeping him close under the guise of professional necessity. The shock of Charles’s departure unearths years of repressed history and David’s deep-seated feelings. Realizing he cannot lose the one person who truly knows him, David pursues Charles, leading to a vulnerable and intense reunion. As the professional walls crumble, they begin a passionate love story, transitioning from the boardroom to a shared life of domestic warmth. Their new family is anchored by Charles’s two loyal companions: Bruce, a gentle Black Labrador, and Abe, an energetic Border Collie. Together, they find solace in quiet park walks and shared evenings, finally building the home David never thought he could have. However, their newfound happiness is not without its shadows. Standing in the wings is a formidable figure from the past—a tall, imposing presence in a suit and tie who refuses to let David’s legacy go. This mysterious antagonist threatens to dismantle their fragile peace, forcing Charles and David to decide if their love is strong enough to withstand a legacy designed to keep them apart.

Noel Ashford is the only child of Scott Ashford, famed law attorney of the small town of Bisbee, Arizona. Life for the two is rather simple. Until the day her father brings home a stray criminal in the form of a 6-foot devil, by the name of Harken Lewis - who makes it his everyday mission to uproot Noel's simple life and welcome her to the dangers of his. At the loss of her mother at the age of 10, Noel has depended on herself in the absence of her father, counting down the days until she can leave her small town and finally start living her life outside of her shut-in home. Harken Lewis has lived his 18 years in and out of juvie and foster homes, never knowing the meaning of a home, never allowing himself to be tied down. Shacking up with his lawyer and her daughter is meant to be a means to an end, a pit stop on his journey to greener pastures. He doesn't expect to find the one thing to shake his resolve and shatter everything he thought he knew about himself. Stick a shut-in hermit and an adrenaline junkie delinquent under the same roof, what do you get? Disaster.

On New Year’s Eve, my fiancee, Delilah Carrington, left me to freeze to death in subzero snow. As my body went numb, she was wrapped in the military coat I had found for her, curled up in Everett Kingsley’s arms while eating the holiday groceries I had paid for. When I opened my eyes again, I was back before everything fell apart. So when she called—cold, demanding, rattling off a shopping list like I owed her—I hung up, blocked her number, and made my move. I sealed off Blackridge Logistics Hub, the largest logistics hub in the country. Stockpiling supplies? Pointless. Because my coworkers and I had more packages than we could ever open: seafood delicacies, premium cigars, top-shelf liquor, and industrial generators. Hundreds of millions of shipments meant for the holidays were now all mine. Inside a warehouse kept at a steady 26°C, I ate wagyu steak and watched the world collapse through surveillance feeds. I witnessed Delilah’s entire family tear each other apart over half a moldy pack of crackers. I thought I could live like this forever. I was wrong. In the apocalypse, the most dangerous thing isn’t what’s waiting outside. It’s the people who refuse to stop playing the hero.

A particularly dark tale. Not for the faint of heart. He was the all-powerful Magistrate Mathis. The man that accused the witches and then found them guilty in the dungeons of WitchFall Fortress. I had feared ever being one of them, but not enough to be dissuaded from figuring out why he didn't seem to be what he was. So I followed him into the woods one day and discovered the one secret he was willing to wreak havoc to keep. The secret he'd make me pay for ever knowing. And if he couldn't have me on my terms, well he was certainly powerful enough to find a way, wasn't he? The most horrible kind of way... Barely understanding what was happening, I soon found myself in the worst place I could possibly be. Under his complete control...