"Your crown is made of the people's bones and hunger."

The words are spat at me viciously from a young woman, filthy with dirt and blood, held on her knees by two of my Royal Guards.

The words echo in the vast room, off the painted roof and the ornate walls, soaking into the lush carpet beneath her like thick blood.

_The words echo in my skull just the same._

"That's an intriguing thought, t...

I fall asleep at 4:55AM

My eyes have barely sealed shut

I pray for a few hours of tranquility

But Dawn still rises, slowly, stubbornly...

I smile when they smile

I laugh when they do,

My face falls perfectly still

When I don't have to pretend to

I collect the broken peices of myself

Scattered around like shattered glass,

I hope superglue will work

To fix up the mosaic of my past...

I'm not use ...

It's the middle of November and I'm trudging through three feet of snow because, much to my dismay, bodies don't just bury themselves.

Julia stumbles a bit, jostling the body. The neck twists in the most awful way - Like a twisler. I gag, bile rising from the emptiness of my stomach. It's been a few days since we started Hunting. No time to warm up canned soup on the Hunt.

"Sorry..." Julia mumbl...

Red, blood red. It soaks through her white dress like spilled ink. She sends me a wild look, eyes bloodshot as a dying doe, "Help me."

She huals Bret up, her small frame dragging his dead weight like a hay bale. The red solo cup in my hand crunches beneath my grip.

"Now, help me right now, Blake." She loses grip on him as I lose my cup, stale beer splashing on my clay mud boots, "I can't carry h...

Scott takes a deep breath, pressing his forehead against the door. The freezer cools his skin, which is freckled and heated from annoynce.

He moves away from the door just in time for Ben to slam it open, swaggering inside. He's wearing avaitors and a hollywood smile.

"You're late." Scott growls.

"You're early." Ben remarks breezily, sliding off his jacket.

Scott's black hair is slicked back t...

The red lines on the circus tents are blood red in the night, only made richer by the contrast of bone white lines. It's a warm night, but there's a breeze carrying a sweet smell and a lovely chill.

The sky is navy blue, as deep as the ocean and just as vast. The stars haven't come, probably never will. Better off, the darkness is more alive without light's cry for attention.

Vibrant green tree ...

Inside a crowded room but completely alone, watching them mingle like an alien species. Maybe they're not the aliens, maybe it's me, maybe I'm the one who's from Mars.

A young woman - short blonde hair, pretty brown eyes - bumps into me. It was on purpose. She's been eyeing me for half the night. I force a charming smile.

"Easy tiger, don't want to spill wine on that pretty dress." My voice is s...

The field outside my window goes on for miles, an endless wave of gold wheat that crashes against the shore of a barb-wired fence. It glows in the setting sun.

Cornflower blue sky. Sharp white clouds. Cool summer breeze. Honeyed sunset.

I count the crows gathering around my scarecrow, screaming their jagged songs into the darkening sky. There's seven... maybe nine. I've lost track.

The coarse r...

A bleak grey sky stretches past my car window, a watercolor splotch of a day. My legs ache. The radio has been on for so long we've heard repeats.

Mom doesn't mind, hums along to Bon Jovi like he's live in concert. Suits her, this lack of concern or worries. She's prettier like this, her eyes look brighter.

My shoulders feel smaller, cramped and rounded, like the world is shrinking around me. Th...

My hands are steady. I want them to shake. I want them to tremble and crumble and be broken. I want to smash my fingers until they quake. They should be shaking. I should be uncontrollable.

"What happened?"

I can't even place the voice to a name. It's familiar. I can't lift my eyes to check. My hands are still steady.

"What the fuck happened?" The voice is angry, harsher. I should respond.

"He...