Shades of indigo clung to the night's damp air, pooling deep in the stone corners of their dwelling. Mineral scents wafted from the moist earthen floor as James tossed on his straw mat. He pulled his cloak up over his shoulders, drew his limbs in tight against his body, and set his jaw.…
Buzzing sounds pierced the foggy end of Amber's dream. She rubbed the crick in her neck and lifted her head. The pillow slid behind her armchair as she grabbed her cellphone from the coffee table. "Mm-hello?" She rubbed the blear from her eyes. A gravelly voice rumbled through the phone. "This…
A chill radiated from the kitchen window and prickled the hairs on Amber's arms. Her numb fingers fumbled. She managed to press a tack through the jersey sheet. As she stretched to affix her makeshift drape in the top corner, her pregnant belly bumped to a halt against the icy tile…
The creature stabbed his fingertips into Christie's side. Pain shot through her gut, but the grip at her throat muffled her cry. He licked her blood from his fingertips. “Sweet liver, but I came for the whole deal—from your heart to the marrow of your soul.” The monster allowed Christie to drop…
Steeple chimes echoed through the clapboard chapel’s rafters. Christie raised her forehead from the altar railing. Polished oak furnishings glinted in the candlelight, while darkness oozed through the stained glass windows. Perspiration trickled from her temples and followed the lines of her long neck. She wiped her moist palms across the…
I wish the sky fell. Or disease overwhelmed us all in a matter of weeks. Nuclear holocaust. Terrorist regimes. Give us any other form of devastation. Humanity once feared the world would end. We now can only pray for such mercy. But no one prays much anymore. The concept of God…
I wish the sky fell. Or disease overwhelmed us all in a matter of weeks. Nuclear holocaust. Terrorist regimes. Give us any other form of devastation. Humanity once feared the world would end. We now can only pray for such mercy. But no one prays much anymore. The concept of God…
Ninety seconds. The ferry clock hangs askew. Frozen at one minute thirty seconds past five o'clock. Lora glares. Wills the black minute hand backward. If she just had the time to live over ... The thin red hand clicked past the twelve. Lora turned and leaned over the rail. She inhaled the…
Afternoon rays cast golden hues over the marble sill. Joyce wrung lemon-scented suds from her dishrag and gazed through the window. Tweeting mounted around their backyard’s birch. A robin swooped into the tree, nudging a scraggy-feathered youngling. The front door banged shut. Joyce turned from the window. “Alyssa?” “Hey, Mom.” She…
The Forbidden Wood’s ebony thickets clamored at the moon, stealing half its light. Plumes of dust galloped toward it along the East Road. Luren. He would murder her mother like the others. So clever in other matters, why had she insisted on devotion to the King? She pressed her lips onto…