Read Part One here (Author’s Note: These stories are meant to be read in reverse order of the zodiac, so this chapter comes first, though it deals with Scepi, the Keeper of the Fishes’ Dagger and the Pisces sign.) THE FESTIVAL OF SUMMER in Milham’s Ford was a sanctuary day: […]
Blood Moon: Law of the Fish Read More »
The tornado wasn’t the first thing I noticed. It was the silence. Every morning, I drove the same stretch of freeway just after sunrise. The traffic was predictable. Brake lights. Coffee cups. Morning radio. Semi-trucks drifting between lanes. It was the kind of routine that makes you stop paying attention
Don’t Look Forward Read More »
The bloody throne hall stank of wet iron and rot, and at the heart of it sat Kortul. She had taken her tusks years ago, ground the stumps smooth so that nothing of the common orc remained in her face. What was left was colder. Her skin was the pale
Ilza walked at the center of the line, where the others could keep her between them. She was young for an elf, not yet into the fullness of her years, and it showed in the unfinished sharpness of her face, all angles that had not quite settled. Her skin was
The first tooth arrived in the heart of a pear. Years later, whenever Adeline tried to explain everything that had happened, she always found herself returning to that afternoon, though she knew the true beginning might have been much earlier. Perhaps it began in the graveyard behind her grandmother’s house,
The Girl Who Kept Finding Teeth Read More »
They call her the queen of mischief at King City High School—a title she earned with little effort. No one matched her audacious, rule-breaking nature. Fear held everyone back, for good reason. She didn’t dread getting caught, being exposed, or facing what terrified others. The absence of fear was what
Don’t Trust the Ones Who Protect You Read More »
Gather around children, grandpas got a story for you. I promise it is not too scary, though, it does come with a warning. It is an old story. One from my childhood all those years ago. One that I have not told you before, but one you are old enough
ORDINARY FOLK had no reason to fear the Moon. Or so they thought. It hung in the sky as a welcome guardian, pale as paper in its various phases, providing light to travelers and highwaymen when it was full. It meant no harm and could do no harm. Yet tonight,
Blood Moon: Bound in Blood and Magic Read More »
‘I need a cab, at Lexington square, Richmond, Virginia,’ the text reads. “Where are you headed?” The reply doesn’t come right away. This is nothing new–not in my job. Sometimes, my fares are not so forthcoming with their destinations–something quite perplexing to me, given that they are requesting my services.
I Drive a Taxi Between the Realms: Entry One: Dering Wood Read More »
The first time Alice saw that inkwell, she was in the old attic of her grandparents’ house, a dusty, forgotten room where time seemed to have stood still. It was tucked away in a dark corner, half-hidden under a messy pile of old books, whose yellowed pages smelled of mold
People have always said that I was good. Not nice, not kind, just good. Like it was just something they told me even before I could talk. People trusted me way too fast. It doesn’t even make sense how fast it happens. They look at me and something just clicks
People Say I’m Good Read More »
As I sit here in this damp, dark cell, my only friend the warmth of the flickering candlelight illuminating this scrap of paper, I have to wonder how I got here and why I just couldn’t stop when I had the chance. Every few minutes, I find myself freezing, perfectly
The woman arrived precisely at four in the afternoon. By then, the wind had been hammering the inn for hours, long enough that I’d actually considered calling it a day, asking James to cover the rest of my shift, and fleeing before the weather got any worse. My wife was
I was four years old the first time I saw the God in the Gutter. The memory didn’t form until my mother mentioned that one summer I started shrieking while on a walk. When prompted I pointed to a storm drain and said I didn’t like the man peeking out.
The God In The Gutter Read More »
Sebastian woke up to the sound of a loud and repeated banging on his bedroom door. He opened his eyes slowly: the pounding of each knock enraged every muscle within his head and amplified his hangover. He groaned to himself as he was in the process of sitting upright in
A Bump In the Road Read More »
When I was in college, I heard a rumor about a man in a bar that was making deals, very Special deals. Now I am no fool, I have heard of Faust and his tragedy, and I knew of Midas and his touch and many other stories warning ‘Be careful
Death Wears A White Trench Coat Read More »
It was night and gloomy and somber and serene. There was the wardrobe in front of me and on its higher corners dust had gathered and yet within the somberness the wooden fabric seemed to stretch out cosmically, darkly away. I was sitting and looking at my computer when I
A Million Tinges of Red – NGC 1569 Read More »
As soon as my Master Octavius let me outside, I felt the breeze of the wind touch my whiskers. I cared for him, and the rest of his family as if they were my blood mother who I unfortunately never met, or at least I don’t remember her face. She
“So I don’t get any say in this?” “In a word, no.” My mother was driving too fast, as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of me. It wasn’t easy to drive too fast in Manhattan’s Upper East Side traffic, but she was managing it.“I thought America was supposed
Something I Should Have Been Afraid Of Read More »
“This is a matchmaking service?” asked the doctor, a concerned look on his face. “This is the Garden of Eden,” replied his host with a smile. The doctor looked around the room with a raised eyebrow and growing discomfort. The elaborate advertisement for the service promising to “find your perfect
Back when I was still in high-school, I wrote and published a short fantasy novel called Legends of Ravengrove. It was supposed to be a bleaker, more cynical take on the sword-and-sorcery genre that was popular at the time. The story revolved around a cast of unlikely adventurers that were
The first time she could remember her father leaving she was four, strangely it wasn’t the first time she’d felt as though she were alone. It was an odd sensation to know that there would be no hugs, no kisses goodnight and she would be ultimately responsible for herself from
When I was a little boy, something happened to me that I would never forget. I was only six years old, I think. My behavior was typical for a child of that age. I liked to run, scream, play, and get into all kinds of trouble. I remember one particular
I have two very unusual keepsakes on one of my many bookshelves. One is an empty glass vial, the contents of which dried up long ago. The other is an unusual metallic nugget. When I have visitors, and they inevitably begin to peruse my bookshelves, I am most often asked
The Terror in the Tunnels Read More »
