“Goddamned cat, you're like a living jump scare.” Lenn muttered.

The cat meowed plaintively, tail up in the air. Matted fur clung flatly to its body outlining a starved frame.

“Yeah, I don't like this weather much either.”

Cautiously, the cat padded fo…

He thumbed the keys upward so that they sprouted beyond his knuckles like metal spikes. Should he retread his steps back into the driving rain and try a different cross street or move through the alley that might house something in it? Straining his sense…

Michael's tribe was one of warriors. Their magic was rooted in guttural blood-lust, the feeling of knife ripping into flesh and the enraged satisfaction of wound infliction, the tear of teeth in sinew. Their magic made them strong and fast and unafraid. T…

In my absences, the wreathes had dried out and disintegrated into sticks, fragments of leaf and broken needles. The rest of the house fared little better. Barely a half a dozen rooms showed some signs of use and half of those were furnished enough to make…

And now, like a spirit, your voice rings once more


How confusing to put them together:


Your voice, and your words, I could never expect


You would speak this way to me. Can we reconnect?


With the return of hot, muggy weather


Comes a new conversation. …

Ken tapped the bottom of his beer bottle against the table. It made the satisfyingly hard knock that only happens when thick glass meets sturdy wood. Stefano leaned back and rested his arm along the top of the red leather booth.

"What's up?"

Ken mumble…

Pyretta! Dear Pyretta, Sapphic Fire!

Of all the souls I've known, I love yours best--

Affection and compassion fill my breast

Whene'er we are together. I admire

.

Your courage, perseverance, and your power;

Your gentle reassurance when I'm stressed

And in…

[To continue, please visit this page: https://ficlatte.com/stories/41132/]

Story is marked as mature

Her thought invaded me like a snake.

She slithered into my mind late at night when I was trying to forget the damage that the day had done to me.

It had done a lot of damage. More than I was willing to share, yet still she slithered in through the crack…

Sadie straightened and cast around for Astarlane. She spotted her bracing against a rock a few dozen metres distant, getting to her feet.

In the distance, there was unmistakably orcish shouting. Sadie motioned for close formation and advanced slowly.

Gu…

Layla marched through the snow, creating deep footprints. She despised this girl. Or-- she did. Everything she did was intentional-- there was no curse forcing her to act. But she was Rosa's friend. Rosa saw something in her. Risked her life for her.

S…

Sadie dodged Tenever's second blow, instinctively returning a feinting hit that caught him in the side. He collapsed under the force of the strike, grabbing her shoulders instead.

"Sadie!"

She twisted her shoulders to throw him, reaching for her combat …

Astarlane said nothing, but Tenever made a palm-inward up-down-up-down motion over his primary magazine pouch as they moved out.

What are we doing?

Sadie rolled her weapon and briefly pulled on the charging handle to check the brass in the firing cham…

“No, I wouldn't say you're fat.” Trent said, his face pressed against my back. Despite the heat of the apartment, it was a welcome comforting warmth. “But both of us could stand to lose some weight.”

I stiffened. Now his face was too close. It was in my …

A sudden volley of gunfire erupted from their flank. Astarlane and Tenever hit the ground; a fireteam of orcs stepped out of the trees, weapons firing with well-disciplined precision. The wraiths charged their position, but hulking figures stood their gro…

"Take these pills; they'll alleviate the pain a bit." I say and I'm secretly happy that he hasn't noticed that he is missing a leg, but I'm dreading every millisecond till when he notices.

His eyes widen, I can practically see his pulse get as fast as wh…

There was a camera - small, hidden - mounted on the hood of Trinity Keane's car, scanning forward in millimeter-wave, visible, and infrared. All of this transmitted itself to her bionic eye, in an offputting but, she had to admit, useful way - the visible…

"Umm, there's no shoes allowed in here." The girl said, stretching long over her legs.

I'd been in the same room at least two dozen times and no one had ever complained until now but I just nodded and said, "No problem."

As I started peeling off the hee…

Story is marked as mature

Rachael's eyes could not focus. Where was the glass wall? Where was the bathroom door? It all appeared to be in a fog. The stripes slowly rose up the vanity. The thrumming fan and her syncopated heartbeat lulled her into a vague, uneasy gray of dissociati…

“Not quite evil mother-in-law material but not fun either, I imagine.” I switched back to a happier subject. “When's your next performance, exactly?”

“Next Wednesday—a week from tomorrow.”

I blinked at the assertion that tomorrow was Wednesday. Such a s…

I had cut through Liddell Park on my way to my girlfriend's flat. It wasn't the first time I'd tried to save time this way. Above the rounded tops of the trees, the summer sky was filled with wispy clouds like a cotton ball being stretched thin across the…

There wasn't much chatter to interrupt, nor people to stare, when I brushed the door open. This far out on the trail, there weren't many people left who could afford a night's stay.

I chose a quiet corner and waited for the barmaid to come over. Her eyes…

“Is this a day time or a night time thing?” I asked.

“Nights exclusively which is why I can go. Ralph and Grandma Jean stay in and watch the baby.”

“They don't come with you? Wait a minute, what baby?”

“My sister's kid.”

“Jesus, there's a fourth perso…