My grandmother always told me:

“Follow the magpie.”

At first, I didn’t understand what it meant

And every question was met with a sigh.

It was as if she expected me to know

Though I suppose I don’t blame her

Because she spoke often of magpies

Indeed, they were her favorite bird.

They flaunt feathers of ebony

And glistening hues of green,

Blue, white, and a cry so heavenly

That the song itself ca...

Every day seems the same,

Eternal flames ‘round my feet

Sparks spiraling high above,

With no conceivable relief.

A sludge of liquid red,

Runs through my veins

Burning coals line the streets,

Voices praise the dead.

Dark robes made of ink,

An unchained melody

Of clanging chains,

With a lock and no key.

A swirling smoke falls,

Over my heavy eyes

As the eternal torment surges,

And my internal sin...

Officer Dawson’s first impression of Lucy Gordon was this: she looked like a pale, broken doll.

Ashen white skin made of porcelain.

Eyes made of glass.

The only feature that gave her away was the crimson liquid that pooled by her head and her broken, bleeding fingernails caked with dirt. Lucy’s dark hair was splayed out and frozen to the ground; her mouth twisted open in an eternal scream in whi...

Then it begins.

“Checkmate,” Arthur announces.

Suddenly, Evan jumps from the table and flips the chessboard over. He lunges at Arthur, and Mrs. Higgs lets out a scream as she watches her sons topple to the floor. She drops her teacup, spraying steaming tea and porcelain over the woolen carpet.

“Evan! Evan, stop this at once!” She shrieks.

Evan ignores his mother, his fists flying as he pummel...

Throughout my childhood, I always wore a knitted beanie over my head. It was always the same one, too—a navy blue beanie with yellow stripes. My mother made it herself not long after I was born. “To make you a little more human,” my mother often told me, pulling the beanie snugly over my head before planting a kiss on my forehead.

I don’t blame her. In fact, I silently thanked my mother for her k...

‘Oh—yikes. Her breath stinks. Really bad.’

I reeled my head back and stared at my childhood best friend, William “Billy” Perkins, in shock. Here we were—sprawled on the couch, harboring unsaid feelings and leaning close, about to share our first kiss, when his voice suddenly echoed in my mind, buzzing in my skull and leaving a dull headache in its wake.

I wasn’t sure if he spoke, given that I wa...

Hints of festive red

Tucked in velvet green

An evergreen tree—

Unlike one you’ve ever seen

Ribbons of color

Billows of hue

A touch of whimsy

So long overdue.

Songs of glory

Multitudes of angels

Penetrating through

Melodies of sleigh bells

Clouds of snow

Fade from the scene

Leaving a sight

Too great to believe.

Turn back the clock—

Lock the ticking hands!

“Christmas, everlasting!”

We all hope and...

Something heavy

Settles on my bed

The blanket sinks

I tilt my head

Two blank eyes

Glazed and dead

No color, no hue

Sour white instead.

A voice of gravel

Skin made of boils

Yellowed teeth snap

Cloth caked with soil

Hair made of strings

Wet with putrid oil

Fingers are gnarled,

Tense and coiled.

An ice-cold grip

‘Round my stiff limbs

My demon screeches

My demon grins

I try to move

Long nails like p...

I grip my throat and my sanity.

I must be losing my mind. Why did I fall for the eyes—the rabbit holes—belonging to my love? Why did I see feeble prey in places where I should have seen vicious predators? Unforgiving monsters?

Now I lay on the tile, fighting for life.

The rabbit hole consumes me....

Life is hard—especially when you’re hopelessly gorgeous like me.

I’m sitting on a bench outside the new middle school, waiting for my mom to pick me up. My strawberry blonde hair embraced the natural look today, with perfect, shiny hair waves falling over my shoulders. I’m watching as a group of boys turn to look my way before whispering to each other, goofy smiles plastered on their stupid faces...