The bell ringing is both an act of kindness and of cruelty. It sounds out the close of each hour to give the tired souls some sort of frame to their existence, but it also rings as if to say, _another hour gone where no one came to rescue you._
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It was the last anchor to life as we knew it. I remember that rotting bench on the cobb overlooking the water’s edge. The sea would lap against the g...
I watched the cloud unfurling around the mountains, threatening to creep down the rocky hillside towards the water. I stood on the damp wooden jetty breathing in the moist air. The lake I looked upon was vast and lifeless, a grey expanse. I thought how cold it would be falling into the depths.
It was a booming tourist spot in the warmer months. The lake teemed with visitors splashing with their b...
If you catch the tide just right at twilight, you can slip beyond the rock pools and clamber up the cliff path. Hidden behind draping ivy and tangles of gorse are the Wedding Graves.
They had to be moved because the ghoul of the bride kept climbing out of her coffin in the churchyard. Now she sits on her grave and wails from the cliffside, her voice flying amongst the waves and gulls. Sometimes f...
“You can only turn to magic if you are completely beyond help and completely beyond hope of obtaining what you seek,” said Anthea, rising from the stone table. “You will be seizing the strings of this world and manipulating them to suit yourself. You must be sure before you start treading this path. The fates do not take kindly to impatient, ignorant mortals playing with these forces.”
“I’m sure,...
Every atom of the universe is tugging at my soul, telling me it’s time, that I need to leave him, leave this life. It feels as though a maternal figure has her hands on my shoulders and arms, gently prising my grip off reality. She isn’t being cruel, but I feel she is leading me off a cliff into the abyss.
I can’t leave him. I can’t.
I told us only death would separate us, and I suppose that’s tru...
You’re not supposed to let them in. They appear every rainy night and mope around the alleys. All city folk know they’re coming and dim the lamps in case they come knocking. We eat and drink by candlelight and lower our voices when a shape ambles by the window. Some look more human and some are more misshapen with distorted or horrifying features. They never come knocking. It’s like they’re on the...
Every once in a while, when I glance at my reflection, I see a dark, horned figure with glinting eyes standing behind me. It may be peering from behind a stone archway, observing me in a deserted corridor, or simply standing in the room. When I blink or turn around, it vanishes. It does not appear when I am surrounded by people. Only when I am alone.
I first remember spotting this creature in my ...