MR. KEYS
Mr. Keys was old. He was the perfect target for Lori and her friends, mainly because they had nothing better to do. Tormenting the old man was a welcomed diversion from the ennui and droll of living out a teen’s existence, and almost anything was better than dealing with the problems inherent in high school…
THE BUST OF OLD CARTER
Kara slipped through the now open window, Conner right behind her. This was their one chance to hit it big, now that the power was out across town. That meant the power was out at the old Carter estate, and that meant the security system was down, too…
BLACK JACK CROSSBONES
The painting was of a large wooden ship, an old-timey thing called a “sloop,” but that wasn’t scary. It was the people on the ship that scared him, because they looked mean, as did their captain, a big man with a black beard and an eyepatch along with a funny black hat. This man looked to be the meanest of them all…
WHAT’S UNDER THERE?
His mother’s face was indeed peeling, peeling upon her left cheek, just a little, but enough to bother him, the pale skin off a tiny sliver, a fleck of jet black, like coal, beneath it…
THE LADDER IN THE TREE
Eun-Yeong looked past the meadow spread out before the house. She looked out toward the row of oak trees growing on the side of the cliff they lived upon. There, leaning against the tallest oak, was their wooden ladder…
CORNERS
Dr. Andrew Sidirov walked down the hallway to room 312. The patient in question was one Mr. Maximillian Davies, a former research assistant to the now deceased Professor Angus Macnally…
THE RED CANDLE
Denetor waited in the lineup with the other acolytes. Their initiation was about to begin, and they would soon be full-fledged priests of the Seven Lights. Only acolytes were allowed into the recesses of the temple this time of year, that time just before harvest, that time when the guiding spirits were summoned and released into the land for the good will and fortune for all…
THE TIMING IS MINE
Their father had passed away not more than a month ago, but the old fool had gotten into more than enough trouble with his creditors, and now the bank had taken almost everything. But Sally knew that the paranoid old man had stashed away some of his cash somewhere within the old mansion, and dollars to donuts, Alice had found it…
THE CALLOUS ONES
Roren stared up at his master, the Great Sage, Althar. They were in the Grand Hall of the Imperial Palace, and many, many people were gathered here. It was due to the fact that Emperor Thardon was dead, assassinated in his bed while he lay asleep…
RADIATION IS NOT OUR FRIEND
Today was an exciting day for him, and for everyone else, for that matter. They were finally beginning their fieldtrip to the Yard, a day long in the making. As his friends and fellow classmates boarded the bus right along with him, Jimmy was just happy he didn’t have to sit through another boring class. He liked the fun stuff anyway…
