Osterley and Beckton exchanged a practical, functional look. She took a step back, while Beckton made ready his weapon. There were no theatrics, no heartfelt exchanges. Those prone to those gestures were no longer around.

Newkirk nodded, muttering the la…

The low hum of human interaction was a pleasant background noise to my mind, much like the lively Spanish red that was delicately swirling around in a fantastically clear crystal glass. A light classical tune (Rachmaninoff?) drifted in and out of hearing,…

I vented to a friend, relatively new one but on the whole levelheaded and sympathetic. Basic advice is talk to them, tell them to quit, or else just block them

which would be good except I'm anxious about telling anyone so directly that they're bothering …

We were stopped at the huge dockyards where wooden crates lay waiting to leave on outbound airships. Three men, wearing the royal hawk on their jackets. One respectfully bowed as Cerian lowered the window.

"We're sorry to trouble you, ma'am, but there ha…

Osterley took a much more compact weapon of French design for herself, slipped it into a leather shoulder bag and then they moved straight to the teleport circle for transport. The watch had changed by now, and a fresh-faced youth who looked like he was b…

The glass door of the lab slid open, and Tom walked in.

The room was quiet.

He swallowed the pill the Doctor gave him, and sat on the edge of the bed. He waited patiently as the nurse applied electrodes on his chest, his forhead and his temples.

It was…

The voices in my head talk over each other, a multitude of conversations all happening at once. I press the palms of my dirty hands to my temples, willing them to shut up, but to no avail.

Little iridescent beetles scuttle over my feet and through the …

The duty watchman waved them out of the circle sharply. It flashed white, the challenge and countersign were exchanged, and two men in arctic uniforms appeared. A third was supported between them, furs dark with blood. Medics rushed forward.

Neatly stepp…

Dear Diary,

I killed a man today. At least, I think I did. I was alone in the room one minute, and the next there was a man in front of me. I'm not sure who was more surprised -- him or me. I know I was pretty shocked, but by his expression, so was h…

A bright pink teddy bear was banished to the back of the closet

And its glassy eyes shimmer with painful memories

As vicious dirt stains its velvet heart

~

Tear-stained sheets lie crumpled upon the floorboards

While a silent bed frame dreams of past creak…

Judgement shifted in his slackening grip, causing Orthael to clench his fist with a hundred battles' worth of instinct and experience. The point dipped, causing golden droplets of fire to drip down to briefly illuminate the forest floor before disappearin…

The disaster happened. What I feared the most, really occurred. I lost it all, all I wanted to keep, and all the things that scared me the most were right with me to rip me asunder.

And they left me for dead. No, not for dead, but for finished. Nearly r…

Elden was always such an obliging person: a foster mother to me, who took better care of me than my own mam, always had been. There was nothing she wouldn't do for me, no tear too small to wipe away, no threat too menacing to face.

At eleven I was plagued…

Laying inside a field of wildflowers, Lana stretched out luxuriously, feeling every blade of grass slide along her skin. She felt so intimately connected with her surroundings, not just the flowers but the tree in the distance, and the vast pink of a dawn…

Story is marked as mature

The hidden thing inside the pipe twisted, thrusting deeper, spewing waxy slivers of ice in its wake – a fixed point around which their world revolved.

“It can’t be stopped,” he stated.

“How much further?” asked Srinin.

“A few hundred metres; a few …

I don’t know when I stopped

the daily painting of my face

On a Monday?

Maybe a Sunday

or some other day between

-

It could have been deliberate

an attempt to feel more proud

But it's most likely I was exhausted

and my teenage fears just weren’t as loud

-…

I still wince as my fingers run up and down the strings. Each night, every night, I pick this thing up and practice. It's my go-to when I need a distraction from what I'm feeling. But it doesn't really work. I can mutter the note names and strings and fre…

I wonder.

I wonder if you think of me as much as I think if you.

I wonder if you even think of me at all.

I wonder if I impacted your life the same way you impacted mine.

I'll never forget you. Will you forget me? Have you already?

Once you said you …

City Park East Recycle Bin 256 was like most of the other recycle bins: Green, rusted, and operated by a control panel set into a lockbox on the side of the device. It ran on a principle similar to a vacuum dumpster, except that it preserved its contents …

She wanted something more than anything in the world. I saw the hungry desire in her eyes. She had tried to have one of her own, but the time was just not right. I saw the resentment in her eyes as she looked at him behind his back. She didn't show him th…

"I don't think you should be alone. You need to rest. Do you want to go to your sister's, your place, or mine?" I offered.

He blinked at me, processing what I said at the same time as he was processing his emotions and the events that just unfolded.

"I'…

He unfolds the cloth first, revealing the medallion hidden within. The face that peers back is profane and vulgar, but it is not unknown to him. It is the sigil of a creature whose existence has long thought to be past but whose influence garners follower…

Strong's cat roamed their rented studio office space like he owned the place. Sarah found the matted fur ball curled on top of her desk, arrogant tail thwacking the keyboard of her laptop hard and steady, like a Sousa march.

"What, are you composing the…

My words made me a puppet in your eyes

And though I cannot say as much

The truth is not as such

It comes as no

Surprise

You sorrow for the lie that I believe

Has now misplaced what I made clear

Why I could not stay here

And why I had

To leave

And what y…