A sullen sun, tired and heavy, settled on the Locata mountain ridge. It lay there like a man dying, bleeding pastel oranges and pinks out across the cloud streaked sky and down the purple shadows below.

These last moments before night were the most beaut…

Sound echoed through the winding passages of the fissure, ultimately coming from a great cavern where naked men danced in a circle. Ringing them, women beat drums and if not drums, their thighs or the walls.

There was only one light, a fearful red tongue…

Hundreds of people slept peacefully in the vast, dark room. Long rows of them, side by side, covered by blankets that featured cartoons of money, of far off places, or boys and girls playing sports. Each person was plugged in to a rich cocktail of drugs c…

“I saw you dock. Nasty looking black eye. That rock you towed in do that to you?” Captain Umski asked, rubbing at his own eyes.

Captain Torrance sipped his rye. “Yup, fly ball out of left field.”

“Really? Sensor malfunction?”

“Ship A.I. says no.”

“You…

“Status report! Helmsman, full stop.” Captain Torrance held on to his chair for stability waiting for the ship to rock again. The collision alert continued to blare. “What the hell hit us?”

“Aye aye, Captain, full stop.” The helmsman called.

Officer Cru…

Zane Peters watched the news with growing anxiety. The Beast below was getting agitated again. That had been happening more and more.

There was a sense of pressure like that of an oncoming headache. He could feel that thick writhing coldness pushing, alm…

“Please. Go away.” Her voice was irritated.

“Nah, girl. I can't leave a sweet thing like you here all alone. There are wolves around, you know what I mean?” His voice was smooth, insistent, and sure.

I didn't know who he was but I knew her. She had been…

Lloyd skated across an unnaturally still sky, the kind that looked and felt like twilight but you knew if you checked it would be nine pm or three am. Behind him followed a woman that wore many faces. He recognized some of them briefly, but knew that she …

"Before we go on," Haley bit her bottom lip, took a deep breath and continued, "this is me."

Nothing happened at first. She just stood there her thin arms curling around her nakedness. Then her form began distort, melting in shimmering waves of purple an…

Two people had gone down in the attack by that white dog-like thing which had driven the five of us deeper into the caves.

The wild barking had ceased and we used the reprieve to catch our breath. Slinging my backpack around and I reached in to get a bot…

“Are you ready yet?”

Mark's voice sounded thin and petulant through the door. Irritated, Gemma closed her eyes and shook her head. No she wasn't ready. Every beauty technique had failed her. The dress she had bought for this vacation was all wrong.The bl…

“Here.”

I barely caught the stranger's phone as he waded against the crowd flowing past us. “The password's zero five five seven, record everything that happens.” I rolled the phone over in my hands. Top of the line and brand new, it was a beauty, worth …

“How is this possible?” Marcela asked, her hand gripping the bare skin of the opposite shoulder and rubbing for warmth.

Here inside the house, it wasn't just cold, it was freezing. Every piece of furniture gleamed as sunlight from the open door ricochete…

"Whoooo!" Jackie whooped into the night, swaying drunkenly to Tiffany's rendition of “I Think We're Alone Now.” Her hair was poofy and just the right amount of wild. She was young and beautiful and this bonfire was going to be the best night of her life.

…

“Well at least this place has a real bed. Stay comfortable, I'll be back.” Lenn said to Liv. He stepped into the dark hallway to the staccato hoarseness of Liv's muffled coughs. She sounded so miserable. He needed to get his hands on some kind of cough su…

Sheriff Briggs eyed the man leaning against the dark Chevy. The pocket of tobacco in his lip had started to sour. "Been round here long?"

"Nope, just passing through."

"Hunting?"

"Nah. Wouldn't know what to do with a deer if I caught it. Hate to waste …

Story is marked as mature

Lamar took a chocolate drumstick out of the waist high freezer and spun out the door, leading with his shoulder.

“Be back on Friday.” he called back to Ashish.

The Indian man didn't say anything, returning only a long suffering look. As Lamar turned awa…

Story is marked as mature

Lenn poured soup into the thermos lid that doubled as a cup. “I guess we'll start with broth first. All the good stuff is staying at the bottom.”

Liv wrapped both hands around the proffered cup and sipped. Lenn took to the other side of the bed causing i…

Lenn hated the way her spasms, electrified her face in pain. “Oh my God, Liv.”

“It sounds worse than it is.” Liv said with a wan smile. Lovingly she scritched his thigh.

“I hope so.” Lenn unzipped the mouth of his backpack and fished out one of the ther…

The hallway wasn't long enough to break into a full run and Lenn barely registered the pictures of strangers that lined both walls as he went by. Guided by the only light coming out of one of the three doorways at the end of the hall, he felt like the cap…

Together they walked into the softly lit apartment. A half of dozen candles offered warm light and Lenn could feel some heaviness lift off his shoulders. After a moment the front door closed behind them and Ruger's footsteps followed them.

“You'll have t…

“Come on, man. Just move. I'm not leaving the cat out here in the storm.” Lenn said. “There's no food, it's wet, and it has nowhere else to go.”

Ruger hunched down. “I told you, I'm not letting you bring your damned cat inside.”

Lenn didn't move any clo…

“My names Lennart Larsson. I'm looking for the occupant of 163 C.”

“Goddamnit, Lenny.” A disgusted voice said.

Lenn's gut twisted. The voice belonged to Liv's brother, Ruger. What was he doing here? He didn't even live in Japan. Still, he rallied gamely…