Read Part One here Read Part Two here “You can’t fight what you can’t see or hear.” – Marion Strickler “For good to have any chance, there needs to be something pure.” – William Rayne “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are […]
When I entered the tower on that fateful night, I honestly didn’t think I’d make it out alive. My mission was one of extreme danger as I walked into a hell on earth and faced an enemy beyond my comprehension. I could never have anticipated what I’d discover on the
Ascending the Tower of Blood Read More »
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 »
The camera didn’t look like something that should still work. Didn’t feel right from the start. When my sister handed me that box on my birthday, I could tell it’d be a pile of garbage. She’d always been a cheapskate, the woman can’t walk past a yard sale without stopping.
Followers of the Flaming Hand Read More »
This is it for me, I am damned. I don’t know where I’m going afterwards, but it’s probably nowhere good. After everything I’ve done, I don’t deserve to go to the good place, wherever that good place is. Where would the bad place be? Hell? Some other horrible place where
Isabella walked to the front of her grandmother’s casket. Her grandmother looked peaceful in her repose, wearing her favorite dress. Isabella guessed that she just didn’t understand what had happened. It felt as if she had just visited her grandma for afternoon tea not long ago, and then days later
The Brooks Brother’s Hardware store stood alone on its main street block. Chipped layers of white-washed paint contrasted the darkness inside the tall narrow windows. Faded posters advertising Case knives and hand tools hung in the ground level windows, but the only thing in the second story windows, was a
Brooks Brother’s Hardware Store Read More »
The month I had to spend every summer at a children’s camp was the most loathed period of the year for me. A place where children were supposed to rest, laugh, and socialize with their peers was, for me and the other wards of Clover Camp, hard labor. A tour
About one shift at Clover Camp Read More »
When I was 16 I murdered my best friend, and two minutes later he returned the favour. I remember that fateful night as if it were yesterday, and unfortunately those hateful events will be burnt into my memory forever. Noah and I have been buddies since we were toddlers, and
I was born into this world made from the Earth from soil and bones, from that which is dead and that which is living. My creator formed me in the crude shape known as man, but I am not like them. My form is coarse, jagged, with no warmth to
That Which Is Molded Read More »
Most people think of the dark when they imagine where monsters hide. They fear the shadows, the closets, the space beneath the bed where the sun doesn’t reach. They are wrong. The worst things don’t hide in the dark. They hide in the light. Specifically, they hide in the refraction.
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 »
The fallen leaves tell a story…They tell of our sacrifice, the pledge we must make for our survival…Our offerings of worship, our offerings of life…Through our planes it drove. The shrilling cool wind of the coming autumn. With its passage came a change in the trees, and the slow fall
The Fallen Leaves Tell A Story Read More »
We moved in right after Thanksgiving. It was right after my recently divorced Mom finally got her job promotion at work. It had been a long time coming but finally it was here. I was so deeply proud of her! It’s not easy for a single mom out there to
The Bells On Christmas Eve Read More »
There are days I wish I had done something to save Jeremy Tillman. It’s been twenty years, and it all started with the beta for Hushlands. Jeremy Tillman was one year senior, and we used to collaborate frequently, both of us being game designers. Actually, my career began with him,
A lot of questions have been asked of me lately by many different parties. My parents want to know why I almost refuse to leave the house anymore. My doctor wants to know what has been causing my insomnia. The police want to know my whereabouts and actions on the
The Wood Witch’s Ritual Read More »
The Tuscan villa was a postcard come to life, a sprawling stone residence nestled among rolling hills thick with cypress trees and the silvery-green olive groves. For Tom and Linda Patterson, a middle school teacher and an office manager, and their friends Mark and Jennifer Walsh, a retail manager and
1 I’ve never been the most sensible person. My mother would always tell me that I was “the dumbest smart person she knew”. I always figured that was just classic mom razzing, something that happened to every kid when they made some silly mistake that was easily avoidable. I recently
There is this idea I have always clung to. Most people won’t even consider it. Are our ideas our own, or do they come from somewhere else? Maybe some are our own, but sometimes we pick up a signal from the universe, a forgotten memory locked in time. I have
Let me just begin by saying that even though I’m not the biggest computer geek in the world, or by any means what you would refer to as an “iPad Kid”, being grounded sucks. Having my phone and Xbox taken away wasn’t the worst part of being grounded. However, it
The Reenactors in my Town are Acting Strange Read More »
The Forensic Video Analysis contract was completely standard but for two things Rayna had never seen before: A redaction where the company’s title usually went, and a personal note from a boss she had only met over video call a handful of times. Tell me if they’re like what the
Incident at the Fulfillment Center Read More »
HOW FAR are you willing to go to reach the top? True to my usual form, I fucked around and found out. I’m Chad Martinez: fifteen years old, freshman, nickname “Toro.” It fits me to a T. Not only am I bullheaded, but I work hard and play harder, and
The smell of death was heavy in the air. As he entered the room, he realised that nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to witness. The hall in which he now stood had been decorated for a birthday party, as to whose exactly that remained unclear.
In Another Life, In Another Time Read More »
WHAT QUESTION in life scares you the most? For me, it’s a matter of identity. I know I’m Zach Cunningham, sixteen years old, 5’11”, 145 pounds. I live on a farm on the outskirts of a small town, and I’m a brother to five younger siblings. Beyond that, though? It’s
