I know how this looks. A grown man crying on the floor of his bathroom, while eating a pizza—clearly I’ve gone mad. Rest assured, I haven’t. This story actually has a happy ending. It all started in interrogation room 2B.

***

“Has Agent Lear been in contact with you?”

“No, I’ve already—”

“Do you know where she might have gone?”

“No, what’s this abo—”

“Do you have any children, Agent Garret? ...

Ted sees the writing in blood next to the body that I left for him. It tells him that he is my next target. I even signed my signature at the bottom of my letter. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

The body butchered before him is another forensic agent from another state. More important authorities should have tied my victims together by now. And yet, the game hasn’t begun to be interesting....

“I was the best of the best I solved every problem but ever since that one case I had to run away, oh hi my name is agent blue well former agent blue now I’m just #### blue, sorry can’t tell you my first name or else you might find where I live. Well anyway you might be wondering why I had to go on the run well if you want to find out your gonna have to stick around.”

It all started 3 months ago...

My steps remain calm and calculated as I inch closer to the TSA agents who are lazily gliding their metal wands up and down the bodies of those eager to board their flights. Yet, none of them know who stands behind them, blending in as if I was any other person.

Even after all these years, the adrenaline of running never truly fades as the walls of my chest feel as if they could explode from the...

That night she’d gotten home, late from an unexpected and charming online date, and her entire place had been ripped to shreds and disassembled: pillows knifed open, fridge door pulled apart, baseboards wrenched away from the walls. It was absurd. The police came and went, offering to give her a ride to a friend or family member's house out of professional courtesy but not offering assistance. She...

Whipping my face, the warm breeze is running at full force towards my face.

Everything is blurry lines as I bolt out of my ancient house in the middle of the Italian countryside.

A text from the witness saying that she knows who killed her sister was not on my holiday to do list.

Swear beads racing against each other down the back of my neck, hair fighting the air resistance that I’m creating f...

A dark-haired man in a black, zipped-up sweatshirt, blue jeans, black shoes, while wearing black, leather gloves, glasses with black lens, and holding a cane with his right hand is sitting down in a restaurant, drinking coffee. “Cold,” said the man after taking a drink of coffee that’s in a white coffee mug he’s holding with his left hand. “It’s cold. Cold with a bad taste,” the man says as he dro...

My boots pound the concrete hard. _Traitor_. That’s what they’ll call me. I can’t, I simply cannot drag the team into this. It’s horrific, it’s certain death. _Murderer._

Blood is still drying between my fingers as my shaking hands press buttons on the ticket kiosk for the train. Who would believe me anyway? No one. I’d be forced into psych evals at best, committed and fired at worst.

No, I’d b...

(Btw I would really appreciate if you guys read through this: Its my first competition I've entered)

The blood on the knife matched one person I never expected: My own flesh and blood. I always thought monsters live outside my home - until I found my brother's DNA on the murder weapon. Someone truly innocent was in jail instead of my brother who is the murderer, the criminal, the monster I never ...

Why? How could she?

Those are the only thoughts in my brain since my last case.

_

I was called into the office because Mr. Johnson had been found dead that morning, and had 2 gunshot holes in his head. Everyone knew I was the best of the best, so they put me on the case.

I first went to the crime scene, which was behind the old Starbucks, as I was looking around for clues, I noticed a security ...

I sit up, gasping as if I’ve been drowning.

“Where am I?” I ask, my eyes darting across the room before I make eye contact with Jameson. He’s sprawled across a chair to my right, lazily reading a book.

“Relax, Adele,” he says, now at my side. But my mind is still racing. I can’t seem to remember anything that has happened in the last two weeks. I start hyperventilating, and he grabs my wrists. “...

The air was thick with the acrid tang of gunpowder and betrayal. Dr. Lena Carver, forensic pathologist, crouched behind a rusted dumpster in a Chicago alley, her breath shallow, her pulse hammering. The USB drive in her pocket felt heavier than the Glock she’d ditched an hour ago. It held the truth—autopsy files, toxicology reports, and a single name that could topple an empire. Senator Malcolm Re...

**_“He felt up my chest! I tried to scream, but-and…”

_**

“…**_And_** that’s why you should stay away from boys! Listen,honey, as a woman, your body is your power. Don’t give that power to any one.” Mr. Adams adviced his daughter after walking in on her listening to a podcast.

Mr. Felix Adams was always paranoid when it came to his daughter. He would spend days eavesdropping on her conversations,...

I ran, panting harshly. My palms bleeding, my heart racing, my face wet and sweat filled. My breathing filled with apprehension

What was I running from? I don’t think I even knew at the time. All I remember was entering a suspects house, gunshots, the incoherent screaming of my team, and yelling.. yelling that was targeted towards me.

When I ran out of the house, I didn’t even process fully, I d...

Katherine looked at the screen in front of her dazed at what she saw. She couldn’t stay with him now knowing this truth.

She couldn’t report it to the authorities either. It will be the end of her career, her life, and her marriage. Who was she kidding? Her marriage was over anyways. There was no way in hell she could stay with him now knowing what she knew. But she couldn’t turn him in. It woul...

I run. My eyes, a deep well, locked onto the car ahead. The sharp crack of gunfire echoes behind me. I'm terrified. Bullets hum their haunting tune. Death, its silent whisper, waits for me.

I reach the grey Toyota Camry. The handle sears my palm; I yank the door open and dive in. I begin to drown. The heat grabs at my neck, squeezes it. The air, syrup-thick, suffocates me. 120 degrees flashes on ...

“What happened?” I demand of Jake. He’s driving to us down the highway too fast and erratic. I’ve never seen him like this.

“There was blood everywhere. I was working the scene like normal, and then I went back to the lab. And I found,” he lets out a deep sigh.

“Slow down Jake. Just slow the car down some. Talk to me.” He slows the car only slightly.

“I have to keep going. They will be close ...

Last year I uncovered a gruesome murder case and now I’m on the run this is the story of the Sara Micah case. Sara grew up going from orphanage to orphanage never to be adopted. When she was eighteen she set of to newyork to start her education at university. By the time she was twenty she had a masters degree in business management. From then on she started applying for jobs at the local college ...

My brain froze for a second as i opened the door to the cabin. The air was cold and the forest around it seemed inhospitable. Every piece of furniture in the cabin was covered in a solid layer of dust and was probably untouched for a few decades. _“At least i now understand why my parents wanted to sold this place”_ I thought to myself. But I’m glad they didn’t. This place was my only way out of t...

Sitting in his squad car listening to the radio, Mike can only imagine how Vanessa will react when he, alongside other officers, bust into her apartment in the next few minutes. Vanessa thought she was smart, hiding the last hair on Marleny’s head behind her Queen’s apartment ceiling fan. Vanessa is sick, keeping Marleny’s hair after the murder, just as she keeps every hair from every victim she f...

“My name is Matt A. Lien. I’m a forensic agent. Or, well, not anymore exactly. I haven’t officially been fired or anything, but I don’t think the US government would want me back in the country, which is, unfortunately, where I work, so, yeah, not really anymore. I used to live in a small town near Las Vegas called Goldfield. If you’ve never heard of it, I don’t blame you, less than 300 peopl...

PROLOGUE

There are rules they don’t write down.

The ones whispered over black coffee at 3 a.m., in autopsy rooms and evidence lockers and bullet-riddled safe houses. The ones only the survivors ever mention.

Don’t trust what’s sealed in red tape.

Don’t ask where the bodies go after Quantico signs off.

And above all—if you find something you’re not supposed to see… run.

I never believed those r...

When Agent Mara Calloway first opened the folder, she knew something wasn’t right. The crime scene photos were standard—bloody footprints, scattered shell casings, a lifeless body sprawled across polished marble—but the evidence log didn’t match the photos. Key pieces were missing. A blood sample from the hallway. A shell casing from a different caliber. And a note she distinctly remembered baggi...

As I stare again at the scrap of paper in my hand for like the umpteenth time, I think that I might spontaneously combust.

“_Meet by the excavator after work, Rachel. I have your dirtbag girl. Your turn!_”

I take a deep breath and call my daughter who should be home from school by now. It goes to voicemail, and I leave a quick message telling her to call me back ASAP, then check the Life360 app ...

It was inevitable. What do they say? “I’m only human.” I thought I was above their clichés, but alas, here I am—facing the consequences of my all-too-human mistakes.

It’s a shame, really. I was starting to like Denver. The mountains were peaceful, the people alluring. It served as a good distraction for a while, and I had hoped it might afford me some longevity. Starting over had become a necessi...

Dante puts his hands into his lab coat and looks down at the body laid out on the cold metal autopsy table. The detective next to him shakes his head and says, "This is the third one this week. Got anything new for me?"

"The poor guys been ripped to shreds. It's the same as the others. Wounds are consistent with a bear attack. I'll give National Park Services another call and let them know." Da...

“Agent Nakamoto, you’re going to have to go into hiding. I’m sorry, but you’re no longer safe here.” My boss said with a sigh.

I nodded my head, shattered by the fact that I would no longer be able to work my dream job as an FBI agent, but it was for the best.

“We have a safe house prepared for you. You will be transported there in the morning, so I’d recommend saying your goodbyes before then.”...

Her hand shook violently as she fumbled with the tab of the zipper.

"Please," she begged, her voice wobbling in a low whisper. The zipper was caught on its own teeth, and the suitcase was overstuffed.

She pushed down on the contents of the suitcase, hard, simultaneously wrenching the zipper. Finally, the teeth budged and closed with a swift zzz sound.

The relief was overwhelming. She wanted...

I stared at all the clues I had collected over the past few weeks. Thin red threads connected each small detail: scraps from newspaper articles, names and addresses of suspects, and the different places where innocent people had been murdered. Most of the killings had taken place in the sprawling forest that encircled the small town. Normally, nothing bad ever happened here. That is, until a month...

Time/Date: May 1st, [REDACTED]

Location: University of Venator, [REDACTED]

Briefing: Student Diana Terensids is the primary suspect in a brutal massacre at the university she attended. There were 28 reported bodies, including the Dean of Students [REDACTED]. Dean [REDACTED] was found dead on the fourth floor of Shadow's Hall where his office resides. It is suspected that Terensids shot Dean [REDAC...

February 2nd, 2014:

As a forensic agent, the last situation I would expect to see myself in, is this one. The interrogation room is cold, but the glare of the detective before me gives me a chill that freezing air couldn’t match.

“This would go so much easier, if you could just be honest with me Miss. Bassett.” His voice gruff as he spoke.

“Did you or did you not fake the forensic evidence at y...

A street light flickers, and Cole’s eyes snap open. His body trembles, and he slowly pushes himself up from the rough concrete, his heart racing with confusion and fear.

His breath hitches as he mumbles, “W-Where am I?”

He frantically looks around, his eyes meeting rusty chairs, worn-down tracks, and a slightly lit-up ticket booth. How did he end up here?

Standing in a run-down train station, ...

“I came as quickly as I could.” A lady dressed in a white shirt and large latex gloves shouldered a heavy bag into the crowded room. 

“You must be the new forensic specialist.” A detective with a mustache looked over at the woman. 

“Yes,” the lady said as she observed the scene. “I hear it’s a bad one?”

The man frowned, as if he had never seen something like this before. “As bad as it gets, tr...

“Hey, here’s a new case”The agent said,”It’s related to yesterday’s heist”

“What? Are you talking about the gangsters who went to the bank?” I say messing

“Yes..”He pauses,”take a look.”

He hands me a file. I opened it and lo behold there’s the picture of their leader.

“There have been complaints about some kids who appear in their early twenties”he says

“Any other leads?”I say

“There are 5 membe...

Victoria Hawthorne’s body lay cold on the steel table.

Dr. Beckett Shaw recognized her immediately. She was the heiress of some oil tycoon and had recently been in the news for her new controversial pipeline project that was set to be completed next to a Conservation. Environmentalist were currently fighting her about it- if that pipeline ever burst, it would devastate miles of protected wilde...

My DNA?! Under the victim’s fingernails?! How can that be?

I looked in the mirror. Three scratches on my face. Three fingernail marks. The same fingernails from which I gathered the skin cells that I just tested. But how can that be? I just met the victim yesterday. I…

I need to get out of here and figure this out.

***

“Let’s get on it, people! We need an APB out on Benny. Now!” th...

BREAKING: Mysterious Death On Palm Street - Police Assume Suicide

I stared down at the body in front of me. It appeared to be exceedingly normal in all regards. A middle-aged American male, somewhere between 35 and 40 years, about 6'1" tall, roughly 170 pounds- the exact details escaped me, but I was sure I had them written down somewhere from when I first examined the body at the scene.

The man ...

Nothing feels heavier than carrying a truth not meant to be known.

What if that truth creates a change?

What if that change invites chaos?

Running with that truth, is the only option I have right now. As the world tries to quiet down the storm becomes stronger. The heavy rain does not seem to slow me down as I make my escape.

I am running towards the half-asleep world with one purpose, with th...