"From Beyond"

Allison sat crosslegged on the floor of the old barn, sobbing. "I can't help I miss you so much. You left so young. I just wish you could come back. Even if it was just for a day." Even tear stained eyes seeing between snot covered fingers couldn't miss the flickering light. A chill wind blew her...

"Shomriel."

"Shomriel." The voice, though unspoken, nearly destroyed the fallen. Just the utterance, directed solely at one being, was far too...large, far too...significant to be borne by just one living thing. In truth, if the word had been directed at a mortal creature, the poor, piteous thing would...

Olarus turned from his task, irritated.

Olarus turned from his task, irritated. The Curtain was beset from all realms and upon all sides, and despite his most valiant efforts, the Once-Angel was barely able to bridge merely the most critical of the tears. All around him, the tendril-world of Between--the Space-Betwixt-Space--flickered...

With the horn he drank his last Supper's Wine

"With the horn he drank his last Supper's Wine, His libation pouring through feeble bones, still he holds his justice close, while he waits an alabaster Throne..." "Do not mock the dead," Tenet answered harshly. The fleshless voice replied, "I do no insult to a fallen blood brother. An oath I swore...

Xye leapt, simultaneously heating and charging her twin stingerz as she did so.

Xye leapt, simultaneously heating and charging her twin stingerz as she did so. “Death comes to you, Pheres!” she screeched, landing mere hairs-breaths behind her prey. She immediately leapt again, trying to catch him mid-air. The purple-skinned mutant growled, bounding in mid-air off...

"Damn you, Deacon," Rachel growled through clenched teeth.

"Damn you, Deacon," Rachel growled through clenched teeth. She had no idea how the man did it, but somehow her partner had a knack for getting her into the worst situations. Soaked to the bone, stalking a psychotic murderer outside an abandoned meat packing plant, this time was no exception. The...

All I could see was Rachel’s face: blood-spattered, pale, and still.

All I could see was Rachel’s face: blood-spattered, pale, and still. It was the stillness that gives a body the feeling that someone has driven a spike of frozen iron into your lower back. The kind of stillness that is simply NOT natural. All things move, even when they are still, if you...

Red ran for her life.

Red ran for her life. She stumbled, she scrambled, she fell and clambered back to her feet again. Whatever she had to do to put as many miles of Martian hardpan in between her and the Agency Outpost as possible. She knew that she had precious little time. Sweat blossomed inside her EXOS-1,...

"You have found the Hall of the Headsmen..."

Anishkar stroked the feline head that crowned his staff. He gazed at the shrouded figure before him, who knelt because of the spear against his back. Another prisoner hung its head, chafing its chin on the iron collar around its neck. "You have found the Hall of the Headsmen, but I do not think...

"Alien powers linger in their bodies?"

"Alien powers linger in their bodies?" by Greg Orikson (Printed Posthumously) Orbis Observer vol. 92 Ever read the Monkey Paw? It's based on a "true" story. That's Alkaev's hand, in which the alien shapeshifter has been trapped since someone ate his body and turned him into a good luck...

"You're too late, Investigator."

"You're too late, Investigator." Soot and embers whirled in a lazy vortex around the cave opening. The voice bounced off the walls in a gravelly tone akin to basalt grinding against itself. The accused slipped off his grey woolen cowl, peering deeper into the gloom in hopes of spying the speaker...

"A Boogaloo," Tenet said

August, 1685 Port Royal Island, South Carolina "A Boogaloo," Tenet said, glancing up from his near-prone position in the soft, powder-like sand. "I'm almost certain of it." "How kin ya tell?" James Reston, Sheriff of the newly established Stuart Town, spoke quickly but did not move. He...

A Little Tinkering

A Little Tinkering by J.K. Miles Well that most definitely, did not work. This one thought passed through Meander's mind as he huddled behind his hastily chosen cover. Sizzling bolts of super heated gas whizzed overhead. The sound of discharging rifles was rang in his ears --Again. Four...

Serrated pincers clacked in the dry air

Serrated pincers clacked in the dry air. The creature’s leathery throat vibrated, emitting a hiss into the night. It opened its mandibles and the atmosphere pulsed around its saliva-laced maw. Its audience did not hear its will as words; rather, they felt its thoughts burrow under their skin and...

Invasion - Picnicus Interruptus

The war was over, had been over for decades, but everywhere we looked there were remnants to remind us of how close we came. I spread the picnic blanket out and Sam put the basket on one corner. Our perch gave us a bit of a windbreak if we sat down, but a freak gust could still flip the checkered...

My name is Fuscata.

My name is Fuscata. I am the defender of Jigokudani, what some in the distant past have named "Hell's Valley". Once, this was a place of peace. Once this was a place of spectacle. Now, these mountains are a place of conflict. The cliffs drip with gore. The rivers run red with blood. Monsters...

"You're cornered, Jimmy!"

"You're cornered, Jimmy!" He stood in the shadows twitching. I could smell the Bulleit on his breath even at this distance. I could also smell the thick perfume of fear underneath that stench, mingled with several doses of meth. The rail-thin perp clawed at his face, trying to block the high-beams...

Most people learn via crawl, walk, run. I jump.

Most people learn via crawl, walk, run. I jump. I always jump. First, it was jumping into houses engulfed in flame. Then it was jumping out of planes to combat forest fires. Then, I jumped through the inferno to reach that smooth slab of rock. All because the veins in it glowed. That's when...

Ten faces populated the rail car around me, each lost in their personal revelry

Ten faces populated the rail car around me, each lost in their personal revelry. I watched each sift through their personal thoughts and plans, awaiting the much distant destination. As a mother and her two children adjusted their warming blanket, I closed my eyes and slipped into Dreamscape. The...