Read Part One here Read Part Two here “BEFORE WE MOVE OUT,” Ibnar says, “we need to visit our homes and retrieve our gear.” “Right you are. Uh…” My stomach plummets. “It’s all in Thomas’s barn. My lute, my rations, my dagger. Everything except the leather armor I’m wearing right
Death’s Usher: Know Your Enemy Read More »
Read Part One here “WHAT IS THE OATH of the Grave?” “Death’s first usher, the Dragon, first pledged it,” Great-Grandmother says. “Many did so in the past, but they’re few and far between these days. Most have forsaken it and sworn allegiance to the Exarch and his Law instead. The
Death’s Usher: An Unholy Crusader Read More »
I CAN’T MOVE. I can’t speak. I can’t breathe. The only thing keeping me alive right now, despite the stake in my chest, is the black substance running through my veins. I look like an unnaturally pale young lady, but don’t be fooled. My great-grandfather was a vampire. He wed
Death’s Usher: Curse of the Dhampir Read More »
It is a fairly well understood phenomena that the human mind is unable to visualise the concept of infinity, or the ever-lasting. Try it, although I am sure you will already have. Picture any scenario you wish. The topic is irrelevant. Try and imagine that it goes on forever. You
WHEN I FOUND OUT my husband was having an affair, AI wasn’t the first thing I turned to. I confronted him about the panties I found in the front of our car, the extra money being spent out of our joint checking account, and the texts I saw on his
Using AI, I Hired A Hitman. Now It’s Blackmailing Me. Read More »
My friend Johnny and I run our own general contracting company. We specialize in waste removal and general repairs. We have an absolute work horse mentality. No job was too big or too dirty for us. That was until the Morrison farm. The job that left both physical and psychological
NO ONE EXPECTED the Auclair family to have any children at all, let alone identical twins. Nevertheless, when Samantha and Charity came into this world, their parents discovered there was only one way to tell them apart: Charity had been born blind. Her sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling
PrologueThe purgatorial realm of Nova Gomorrah has been in existence for at least ten thousand years. When first created by the celestial powers, this immortal dimension was a place of natural beauty – a green, wooded valley set along a pristine blue river, with magnificent snow-peaked mountains on all sides.In
The Great Explorations of Purgatory Read More »
Read Part One here THERE ONCE WAS A PREACHERALL SKIN AND BONESNO ONE KNEW HIS FIRST NAMEHIS LAST ONE WAS JONES This clusterfuck all started on Halloween. At an emergency Town Hall meeting, we’d all come together to discuss the obvious: we were starving. At the rate we were going,
A dusty hardwood bank in the middle of a no-name, tumbleweed town is shaken by the shockwaves of gunfire and screams. A rough, calloused young man in simple attire runs out of the bank and mounts his skinny nag, smoking revolver in one hand, sack of cash in the other.
Everywhere around me was fire, chaos, and death. The complex was under siege and my side was losing. The roof above me was burning and bullets were flying through the smashed window frames, whizzing only inches over my head as I cowered behind an overturned table. Brother Jacob was six
I will follow you to Hell Read More »
Today is the day it ends for him. Luther has his last meal, which is a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda. Luther looks at the men who watch him eat it, who look at him with disgust. Luther just smiles through his food as he eats. Besides, in a couple
DO YOU KNOW what nitrogen hypoxia is? It’s how I’ve chosen to die. Our state is the sixth to adopt this method, behind Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Some human rights advocates and medical experts consider it cruel and unusual punishment tantamount to torture. However, haven’t they said as
I Lead a Death Cult Read More »
My name is Aaron Evans, and some time ago I was the reason twenty people lost their lives. I am writing this in part to confess to the world what I’ve done and to describe to everyone the horrific yet eye-opening experience that brought me to this point. Let me
Father Michael Hayes had stopped praying three years ago, though he still moved his lips during Mass. The words came automatically now, muscle memory from two decades of priesthood. Hoc est enim corpus meum. This is my body. Empty syllables. Theatrical gestures. He elevated the host and saw nothing but
Derrick comes back from the daily meeting with coffee in a styrofoam cup balanced on top of a folder marked “Third Quarter Staff Feedback Report”. The coffee, filled with a mix of brown sugar and powdered vanilla creamer, is what will make or break his mood for the day. It
The Framing or: The Conundrum of the Singing Heads Read More »
More likely than not, you won’t think I’m real. You’ll catch a glimpse of something moving in the dark after waking up in the middle of the night. Usually from a nightmare. In the middle of your room, or wherever you happen to be sleeping, you’ll see someone dancing by
Please Let Me Stay Read More »
1 – The Train I can’t say why I was chosen to ride the shadowlands express. Why me, and not the countless others who have sinned during their mortal lives? Perhaps all will be forced to face their demons in the end – I can’t say for sure. But clearly
The Shadowlands Express Read More »
When Jacob Housley turned up dead, it didn’t take long for me to hear about it. Just about everyone knew everyone, back in the old town, and I was more than familiar with the Housleys. Well, I used to be, anyway. Jacob was one of my fathers closest friends–almost an
Read Part one here Read Part two here You know that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you wake up after a night of alcohol-fuelled debauchery and experience a deep regret over your actions? Well, take that feeling and multiply by a million, and you might understand
Hell’s Tour Guide – The Ninth Circle Read More »
Read part one here I’d like to say the waiting was the worst part, but sadly this wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, I had no peace in the weeks that passed following Lily’s first visit. Call her what you like – sales rep, emissary, con-woman, or succubus…but my entire life changed
Hell’s Tour Guide – The Labyrinth Read More »
I should’ve died. I was driving back from a friend’s house; admittedly, it was far too late, and I was far drunker than I should’ve been. But with the ride home at just under 20 minutes and the expectation of an open road at 3 AM, I figured it was
I Saw God. He’s Nothing Like We Expect Read More »
It’s fair to say there’s always been a darkness inside me. I never considered myself an evil or cruel person, but I was always drawn towards the macabre and twisted. I suppose that’s why I started my niche business, acting as a travel agent in the dark tourism industry. I’d
Hell’s Tour Guide – The Borderlands Read More »
Read Part One here “Well, I am Death, none can excel! I’ll open the door to Heaven or Hell.” – Ralph Stanley, “O Death,” from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” NOVEMBER is a month that shows us what comes after change. Gone are the colorful leaves and spooky celebrations of
The Clock Strikes Twelve Read More »
