I chucked the case of bottled water into the truck and slammed the tailgate shut. Immediately, I wished I hadn’t. Jess would probably get out and check on me, and I hated burdening her with my problems.

The passenger door shut, and I tried to avoid her eyes as she came around.

“You ok?”

“Yeah,” I huffed and sat on the bumper. She sat next to me, ran her fingers down my arm and interlocked them...

Jaden’s legs dangled over the misty city far below. He felt at once like a giant and a child. Everything down there was so distant and insignificantly small. Meanwhile, everything behind him in the apartment was so terribly monstrous.

He heard the door click shut, then another pair of legs dangled over the edge. “Hey.” It was Llena.

Normally, Jaden would’ve opened his mouth and poured out his th...

The king sat on his ancient throne, the dark orb resting in his hand. He stared at it, watching the gray smoke swirl within it.

“What would you have done?” He asked the chamber. The room was tall and long, and menacingly quiet. His voice echoed back and forth below ornately carved archways barely visible in the dim light of flickering wall torches. “What would any of you have done!” He shouted. T...

At first, the feeling was more of a pinch than a pang. Haden shifted in his seat and tried to loosen the tension in his shoulders. It didn’t help. The pain in the middle of his back remained.

The morning had been a blur, a dream really. Flashes of colors. The feeling of solid ground beneath his feet. He did, however, remember stopping on the sidewalk during his morning commute to stare at somethi...

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Blood drips from my fingertips.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Panting through my splitted lips.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Snow falls gently on his head.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Gaping mouth, eyes cold and dead.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Pull his body to the ledge.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Leaves a crimson trail and edge.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Close my eyes and hear the thud.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

Jacket soile...

It was a lovely morning on the toxic surface of Ituria. A pale sunrise peeked over the twin mountains in the east, illuminating the yellow-gray clouds that droned ever slower across the sky.

Cad brushed aside a layer of ash from the breaker box then adjusted his plexi-mask. The corroded edges of the box made it hard to pry the lid off, but with an extra tug, it snapped open. The switches inside h...

“I don’t need a partner,” Bruce said calmly.

He shifted in the wide leather armchair. It had unnaturally high armrests and a broken spring in the cushion that stabbed him in the thigh. It was impossible to sit comfortably, which was probably the point.

“Your psych evaluation says otherwise,” Chief Mills said. She flicked her finger across a piece of glass protruding from the desk in front of her...

Hal Brenner stared at the reflection in front of him. It wore a black pea coat, and it’s hair was the opposite of disheveled - it looked nothing like the man in an orange jumpsuit with oily hair that hadn’t showered in days.

“Look at you, Hal,” the reflection scoffed.

“Why are you here, Alex?” Hal said.

“Ah come on. Aren’t you excited to see your twin brother?” Alex smiled and leaned back in h...

Penelope Grit was a lovely girl with a terrible habit of losing things. It started with her pencils in the third grade. The hair ties started disappearing soon after that. And then of course the occasional sock would vanish in thin air, but who’s never lost one of those?

When she started freshman year at Union High, she started losing friends. I suppose a lot of people lose friends in high schoo...

I wish you the best.

I wish your feet would ache from standing too long and working too hard.

I wish your chest would tighten from too much laughter.

I wish your back would hurt from spending all day helping a friend move.

I wish your eyes would burn with tears from seeing your loved ones achieve their goals.

I wish you the best. But none of this will ever happen. You’ll stay at home and make...