“One second, just give me a second! Not yet!”

My words echoed in the empty bathroom. I looked at the boy holding the knife to me. His eyes were wild, and his arms and legs contorted like he had an ocean of anguish.

He stopped and held the knife poised in place. It didn’t flicker or waiver as he pressed it into my flesh.

“You don’t want to do this, do you? What is it you are really looking fo...

Aidan woke up to the scratchy licking of a tongue on his face. Blinking to clear the sleep, he looked around and found himself lying on the ground in a verdant wood surrounded by tall trees. The fluffiest dark gray creature licking him hopped away and chirped a laugh. Nearby lay a beautiful young woman, curled up and snoring lightly. He could just make out the short, velvety stubs of her antlers. ...

Soon, the darkness shrouded us, hiding us from the hungry gazes of our predators.

There were sighs and harried glances all around as each member of the cast felt the tension leave their bodies. Opening nights were a bitch....

Jarvis leaned against the stone wall and surveyed the gaping maw of an entrance before him. His arms crossed and one finger tap tapping on his chin. Bushes, ferns and trees surrounded him. He had hiked for hours through the pine woods. Before him lay an improbable buried castle. Stone walls, paving stones made uneven over time and by vegetation. A trench or waterway leading into a wall with arch a...

Jonathan was not having it.

The stress of the day was just too much for him. He had been late waking up after hitting stop on his alarm instead of snooze. He hadn’t had time for breakfast and had to grab one of those nasty protein bars his sister ate after running. He left his computer in his bedroom when he ran out the door.

Thank god he remembered his backpack at all. He’d jammed a hoodie in...

Snoring came from the back of the small house. Behind piles of opened books, bubbling beakers, scales of multihued powders and small self-heating pots filled with acrid liquids a tuft of bright blonde hair rose and fell to the rhythm of deep sleep.

“Physik Anderson! Are you there Physik?” a deep baritone sing-songed from outside.

No answer was forthcoming from the abode, just a gentle waf...

The glossy black Range Rover pulled down along the private drive and stopped before a rusted wrought iron gate. Elliot Leclerc stepped out of the vehicle and paused to take in his surroundings before stepping through the gate onto the walkway before him.

The path to the house was rough with loose gravel and rocks, weeds and brush growing in the way, so that Elliot had to be careful not to turn...

Cody was looking forward to tonight. This was his first party in high school with no parents or sitters and he was almost bouncing up and down trying to will the clock forward.

His mom poked her head into his room,”Are you really going to that thing tonight? You know they aren’t like us.”

“Yes Mom,” he sighed, l finally have people to hang out with who are my friends.”

“I hope you know what y...

Driving, I was nervous. This wasn’t going to be easy at all.

In fact, I had been putting this off for far too long. I just hadn’t ever had the balls to come and say what needed to be said; to do what I had procrastinated for too much time. It only made it that much harder.

I pulled through the gates and drove along the winding road through grassy, tree lined hills. Finally pulling up, I grippe...

“Holy shit!!”

Ben looked back at the shoreline and heaved a sigh of relief.

“That was NUTS.”

Looking back he saw the bushes rustling and could hear the angry screams of his pursuers. Ben took a moment to collect himself and take stock of his situation. He had a backpack with paracord, small hatchet multitool, water purification tablets, the last little bits of his remaining jerky, and various ...