Shoot the Messenger
Smoke drifted lazily from the barrel of the Ladysmith. “You didn’t have to do that.” Kathryn’s gaze fixed on mine. I glanced at the body sprawled out beside her and chuckled. “I know. It’s just kind of fun.” The waitress sidled up to me. “More coffee, sir?” “Sure, sure,” I replied. “And another serving of [...]
Murder In Her Eyes
There was murder in her eyes. He saw it clear as day. Problem. He rubbed the tender spot where she’d hit him with the blunt — and his heart skipped a beat when she pointed the barbaric weapon at him. “You’re not actually going to use that thing, are you?” he stammered. “Oh, I should,” [...]
Worldbreaker
We broke the world, cracked it open from pole to pole. Lit the planet up and burned it with fire from within. We had to. It was the only way to get rid of them. It was a doomsday weapon, of course. A last recourse. God knows we’d tried everything else. Nothing had worked. And [...]
Firewall
André stepped outside to a world in bedlam. Billboards flashed alternately among binary output, machine code, and actual ads. Vehicles were strewn about the highway like so many child’s toys, their operating systems completely trashed. Most of the city’s droids were on the fritz, as well, and the rest were clearly inoperative. Nothing with a [...]
Networked
André jammed the button on his phone. Nothing. Everything was all touchscreens now, except for the solitary button necessary to reboot a device if the OS froze up. “Dammit,” André swore. Stupid thing had been giving him fits all day. Disk reformat in 5 sec… “What? I didn’t request that!” Stupid devices were starting to [...]
Driveway to Nowhere
It was a long, paved driveway to nowhere. Fifty yards of winding tree-lined blacktop ending in an open field. There was no building at the end, nothing to indicate the driveway’s purpose, no sign that a building had ever stood here. Zack stood at the end of the drive and let his eyes trace over [...]
Enemy Within
We slipped our bonds and escaped across the dunes. The distant sound of crashing waves drew us westward. We ran for everything we were worth, fear and desperation driving us on. We never saw our captors. We never knew where — or what — they were. What we knew during our captivity was only confusion [...]
Porcelain Birds
“Did you see that?” Amanda said. She pulled her bike off to the shoulder and waited for Sarah to join her. “See what?” Sarah asked. She distractedly brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. “Those birds.” Amanda gestured at the flock now residing in a nearby tree. A moment before they had been in [...]
Rumination and Horror
He vomits, on all fours and stomach heaving. Long, ropey strings of fluid slide from his mouth to the ground, wet and glistening. It is the color of infected phlegm, the smell powerful, overwhelming. His belly clenches again, and he vomits more of the greasy strands into the dirt. They puddle before him, a gelatinous [...]
Royal Assassin
The assassin’s blade slid across the traitor’s throat, easily slicing through pipe, vein, flesh, and fat. He kicked the obese old Duke away, the body tumbling to the floor in a heap. “You have been found guilty of treason,” the assassin said to the corpse, “For your crimes your life has been claimed for the [...]
Natural Selection
“Desdemona is a dangerous planet,” the guide called out to the group, “but only if you don’t respect her ways.” James rolled his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to come to Desdemona, but human-friendly habitable planets were few and far between, especially now that Sol was trending toward red giant these days. “Most of what lies [...]
Grimnebulin
I shamelessly stole the name of the monster in this story from China Mieville’s main character in Perdido Street Station. Sorry about that, China — and thanks. ‘Grimnebulin’ is just a really kick-ass word. —————— Greg set his tray on the table and took a seat across from his friends. The expression on his face [...]
So Long, Jack
It was a small memorial, only two to witness the laying of the casket into the ground. “So long, Jack. We hardly knew you,” one said. The other quirked up an eyebrow. “That’s it?” he asked. There was a note of amused incredulity in his voice. “What’d you expect?” A ghost of a smile. “This [...]
Flight
He soared. He had always wanted to fly, and now he was doing just that. He had no feathers, no wings, but he was flying just the same. The special magic that fathers possessed had made this possible. He laughed with the euphoria of the moment. The wind blew his hair back, and he closed [...]
Delivery
Fog drifted, wet and heavy, over the short mall between the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry and Stanley Coulter Hall. Six tall lampposts bathed everything in an eerie, orange glow. The hour was late, and the campus was deserted — deserted but for one. She stood at the south end of the mall, seemingly in contemplation, [...]
Golem
Rain lashed down on that ravaged plain in furious sheets. The broken earth drank it up through ragged cracks that went down forever. At the center of the plain, a gaping maw of a hole sucked down water in great, sodden gulps. Perversely, gouts of flame licked up out of it, unnaturally green and purple. [...]
Clean Underwear
Didn’t your mother ever tell you, “Make sure you put on clean underwear because you never know when you might be in a car accident?” Mine sure did. I don’t really know why it matters, though. If you’re in a car accident, underwear is probably the last thing anyone’s going to be worrying about. In [...]
Blood Rite
The albino stood on the platform and dragged the knife down his forearm. Blood ran in scarlet rivulets over his hand, his fingers. It dripped the sidereal pattern of his god onto the wooden planks around his feet. Before him the air shimmered as it struggled to call forth his deity. The hot sun bore [...]
Clanks at Midnight
The place smelled like shit and piss. “I thought these things didn’t have bodily excretions,” I called out to my partner. “They’re not supposed to,” she replied. “For some reason this one does. Someone’s been hard at work making a clank that can process food the way humans do.” The clank was a junker, alright, [...]
Meat-Eater
In hindsight, Trista realized she probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep under that tree. – Pus dripped into Trista’s eyes from the multiple infected sores on her scalp. She wanted to wipe it away, but the tree held her fast, pinning her arms to her sides, arms she could no longer feel. Feverish and frequently delirious, [...]
Skin Deep
He works quickly, his deft hands flitting over the instruments with a skill that comes from a vast history of experience. He talks while he works. “You are my failure,” he says. “I blame only myself.” He sets one tool down on the tray, picking up the next. “I raised you better,” he sighs. There [...]
Magic In Unexpected Places
Claire found the hat half under a bush, half out. It was the sort of hat one might wear while working in the garden — woven straw and wide-brimmed. Claire turned the hat in her hands. The top had been torn out, leaving ragged edges and a large hole. She flipped the hat over — [...]
Attacked
He helped her up from the floor. She was bruised, bloody, and shaken. Whatever had happened here, it had been violent and traumatic. The room was a study in chaos. “You alright?” he asked. No response. Her gaze was distant, focused on something far from here. He tried again. “Hey! Look at me!” She did. [...]
Flight
Lightning flashed, and the boys ran, pumping their legs as hard as they could. “Did you see that?” the first cried. “No, and neither did you! Keep running!” “I can’t,” came the reply. “I’ve got to stop for a sec.” They dropped behind a fallen log and sucked air in ragged gasps, the panic of [...]
Market of the Macabre
He drifted through the cacophony with certain inevitability. Barkers called out their wares along the way. “Seed of life, extracted via rectal cavity!” “Fetal tissue from forced abortion!” “Skullcap of a suicided dwarf!” “Broken heart! Freshly broken!” On and on the calls went, featuring items of the grisly and the grotesque. His attention, then, was [...]
Cursed
The Callous Demon peered down at Leohand from its perch atop the door. Leohand glared at the leathery creature. “Ah, I see you’ve met Domedra,” Tarvin said, coming back into the room. “She’s harmless enough, but few of my customers care for her presence. Cuts down on theft.” He chuckled. “I’ve come for an item [...]
Creeping Up the Back Stairs
The party upstairs was in full swing, the bump-bump-bump of the music audible even from outside. In the darkness on the back stairs, a shadow moved. The form had almost no shape; it moved like liquid. It climbed each step with meticulous care, coalescing itself before pushing its turgid form upward to grab the lip [...]
Ritual
His hood is pulled up, casting his face in shadow. The bus rolls to a stop in front of him, and he steps on board. He ignored the driver’s terse greeting. It’s not like he means it. Years of driving kids to school has turned this ritual into little more than a Pavlovian call-and-response. He [...]
Listen to Ava
Beth stood on the knoll and gazed at the broken city some seven miles distant. The voice on the city’s public broadcast system was audible, even from here, but distance diluted it such that it merely caused Beth a mild headache. Had she been within the city proper, that voice would have been enough to [...]
Conventus
She swirled her finger in the glass, then lifted it to his mouth. “Just a taste, my lover,” she crooned. He parted his lips, tongue sampling the drop as it fell from her fingertip. “Oh, my god,” he breathed. “Amazing.” He closed his eyes, fell back on the pillows, she on top of him. They [...]
Blessed
“They battled high upon the wall walk, pushing and pulling, slashing with their blades, and slinging spells, neither gaining a foothold over the other.” Read the rest at Blessed on Ficly – A better, shorter story.
Heritage – Repaid
The gate preventing anyone but maintenance workers from reaching the bowels of the sewer system was frozen solid, having rusted in place long ago. Pudge pushed his way through, anyhow, the space being just wide enough to admit entry to his overweight frame. His unfortunate nickname was a testament to the difficulty of living with [...]
Mesmerized
The bag of chips was all but empty, just a few crumbs left in the bottom. He shook the bag, bouncing it in his hand, so that the niblets would fall together in the corner. There were so few left – and he wasn’t one to waste anything – so he tilted the bag to [...]
The Midnight Road
Drive faster! Rain lashed, wipers slashed, Cort plowed through the pouring rain, the demons of his past – both real and imagined – pursued him close behind. Wind whistled, debris whirled into the road ahead of him, utility poles fell behind him. That’s how he knew they were still chasing him. Stomach tied in knots, [...]
Veni, Vedi
“What do you think’s in there, Rob?” “No idea, Finn. Juice, most likely.” “Juice?” “Sure, you know, electricity. Stuff’ll juice you, sure as I’m standing here, if you touch it. Knock you flat, leave your hair all sparkly and curled and smelling like something that crawled out of a wall socket.” “Oh.” “What?” “Nothing.” “No, [...]
Eye of Newt
The black cauldron sat in the middle of the room and hissed menacingly as the green sludge within burbled and glurped. The stench emanating from the vile brew was overwhelming, nauseating in its potency, but the witch standing over it seemed not to notice. “Leg of lizard. Tail of salamander. African bat guano.” The bubbling [...]
Eternal Sleeper
The Lonely Moon gazes down on me, The pale, immortal Son of Night. It wakens the Eternal Sleeper, Who calls to me, and I answer. She walked, barefoot, across a carpet of moss. Her song – soft, haunting – danced on a breath of air, spun through the wood. Only the trees observed her progress, [...]
Dragonfly
//BEGIN TRANSMISSION SEARCH ‘DRAGONFLY’ AGGREGATION BEGINS IN 3… 2… 1… ACCESSING NEWSNET COLLATING FEEDS NeuroSoft Corp Releases New Gaming Console New Chicago, Robaxian (AIP) – Interplanetary neuroware giant NeuroSoft Corp announced earlier today the release of their newest gaming console, dubbed the Dragonfly Entertainment System. The Dragonfly features state-of-the-art hardware, allowing it to achieve unprecedented [...]
Two Lamps
“Choose the lamp on the left, see visions of the future. Choose the one on the right, taste of true madness for a spell.” The crone’s words burned in the girl’s mind like festering sores. She held her hands over the lamps but felt no heat from them, despite the frigid temperature in the small [...]
