It was all my fault, really. I did this to myself, I let people control me. I listened to the hungry barks of men and the curling breaths of the hounds around me and let the big bad wolf get to me. At least I learned my lesson, at least I know now that I'm actually worth something, and that I could have bloomed liked I was supposed to given more time, given better circumstances, given more love. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I...

Fatima snapped her head up. The intense focus on her craft blurred her eyesight. With aching fingers, she flexed and shook out her wrists to prevent cramping and any of her knuckles from locking. She pulled off her headphones and heard nothing. She rose from the chair and double-checked that nothing she did so far would be undone. With a quick glance at the clock, she noted two hours had passed.  The room was silent and s...

THE ALMSHOUSE Chapter 1I remember my last day at St. Margaret’s. It had been snowing, as it did every winter in Ashford, Pennsylvania. The roads disappeared under blankets of white, and businesses closed, slowed by the weather and the Great Depression. From my window, I watched people hurry home to their families, breathing on their hands to keep warm. Everyone had somewhere to go, everyone except the twelve of us strande...

Fatima unlocked the door to her apartment complex, after having to catch two metro trains and a twenty-minute walk. She just wanted a hot shower and a good morning meal. She silently shut the door behind her and tiptoed to her room, peeking into each one to make sure the room was completely still. She snuck into her room, flopped onto her bed and pretended she was there the whole time.Five minutes later, the light flicked...

Unlikely friends as they might be, a delightful light-hearted story was always how it started. The dark haired beauty Dia and the cute blonde Fatima, in what might seem to them a mere coincidence that they happened to meet in that bar that day. They would soon realize the game and their lives were about to take an extraordinary twist.Fatima downed a rather large glass of alcohol and slammed the empty glass down where it j...

John......the Ghost ch 2Later that day Sara keeps an eye out watching Jimmy as he mows and edges the yard next door. After finishing the mowing, Jimmy pulls the mower out by the alley and brings the hose out to clean it off.He is wiping the mower down when Jake suddenly barks and jumps up to run and greet Jimmy's Dad. Jimmy runs and hugs his father and grins broadly when he looks around, "Wow Jimmy their yard looks great....

Natasha and Damon meet and fall in love. Natasha sat at her desk listening to "All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart on her iPod. The phone interrupted her reverie, but she did not mind. Cricket, Cal, Stefan and Monica were at an offsite meeting going over her performance under their tutelage. She had been doing well in every subject except assassination. She hated killing people; it ran against her moral upbring...

The walk seemed different today. I lived near these woods almost all my life. I played in the woods. I built many little hovels using branches and undergrowth as cover. Instead of going through neighbor's yards to get to the woods, I walked down the street to the private road that bisected the woods. A local university owned the woods and the road. The university received the woods in an endowment as a place to study and...

Chapter Eight: Halloween “Wait, it’s already Halloween?” Ethan asked. “Yeah it’s the biggest time of the year for the mansion,” Picario said. “Practically every phantom shows up for the Halloween party on the 100th floor. It's fantastic!” “And the costume?” Ethan asked. “On Halloween we can buy special costumes that transform us into the monsters until Sunrise after Halloween, I always go as the wolf man.” “Awesome, when...

Chapter Five: Tour “Wait dragon?” Ethan said trying to hide the astonishment in his voice. “Yes” Picario said casually as he placed the posters down on the table. “I’ve had her for several years now, she cost me an arm and a leg but she’s just the most loveable pet there is. She’s also my best friend.” “So wait is it like a real dragon? I know I’ve seen some amazing stuff in the short time I’ve been here but a dragon?” Pi...

Chapter One: The After Life “Ethan it’s already seven are you going to eat breakfast?” “I’ll pick something up at the cafeteria I still have some money left over from the movies,” Ethan yelled while rushing to pack his homework into his bag. “I told you not to stay out too late with that movie,” Ethan’s mom shouted up the stairs to him. Ethan slung his bag over his shoulder then ran downstairs. “Bye mom,” Ethan shouted be...

Brian reached to his left and opened the refrigerator. Bright light flooded the area around the floor in front of the open door. He reached in an extracted another beer can from the half empty case that was the lone occupant of the fridge. He cracked the top, then brought the can up to his lips and tilted his head back. He really didn’t swallow; he just sort of opened his throat and poured whatever he was drinking down. S...

Cricket and Monica met when Roger and Monica returned to her hospital room. They moved away from Roger to speak privately. Cricket asked, “Has anything happened with my persecutors. I am anxious to get them taken down and put away. They have ruined so many innocent lives with this vendetta against me.” “Not yet, they are still looking for evidence. It is very hard to find anything from outside the company.” Monica replied...

At 1:00 am, Eric warned the group that the van and SUV turned down the road leading to the estate. The van drove up to the estate and blocked the driveway. The team got out and gathered at the rear of the van. Leo got out of the SUV entered the van and distributed the arms and ammunition to the team. Each member got a pistol and a compact machine gun. Some members got hand grenades while others got charges of C-4 with 15-...

Emily and Leo sat with the team, eating a small meal while preparing to leave and go to Cal’s estate. They realized that the loss of two team members hurt, but not as much as expected. The two, Felicity and Christoph were the youngest members of the team and the least experienced. The reason they made the team, was due to their being ruthless and heartless, when it came to taking a life. When Leo and Emily trained at the...