Esme pulled a deep breath in through her nose and blew it out slowly with pursed lips. She heard the baby retch behind her. Her seatbelt slid over her as she unbuckled and made the awkward climb into the Toyota Sienna’s middle row. Esme flashed a quick, grim smile at her son Matty, but he ...

Confused, Roslynd looked at Mr. Haggleman and pointed towards the field where the scarecrow once waved at her. “It was there! I swear, Mr. Haggleman!” “Oh, I guess your mind is playin’ tricks on ya, that’s all.” The old truck bounced down the road as it passed the last restored fields and turned right at ...

They boarded a small ship on the beaches near Ingrid’s family house. Sigrid and Rionan sat aboard deck and held tight while Ingrid, Helgi, and Bo threw their weight at shoving the stout frame into the water. The sand crunched and shifted beneath their feet. Foam and cold seawater dribbled into their shoes, but the ...

Bloodwitch Part 2 The Giftless old man craned his neck at the stained-glass window lining the queen’s throne room to see the arrows’ targets. A frenzy of birds of various shapes and sizes mottled the glass with their forms in the red-glass sky. Some fled away from the arrows, though most were depicted as vicious ...

Bloodwitch Part 1 The dark stone castle towered over the coastal village below. The cobbled road snaked from the castle hill. It wound down through the town and ended at the cliffs overlooking the turbulent ocean far below. Dust roads connected with huts and alleys, all feeding into the main stone path. A path that ...

Not one hour after Arvid had drifted to sleep, he woke up to a noise from the tavern four floors below. The unmistakable sound of a wooden mug slamming on a table, amplified by his Neraidan ears. “Aye!” a chorus of drunk men cheered in newfound confidence. “An’ Blood-Demhain or no, we gonna’ let him ...

*Trigger warnings* Depression, Divorce, Death/loss, griefSuicide, Mental illness, violent contentReader discretion is advised***              Days in the hospital’s intensive care unit felt like a lifetime for Micki. She stopped counting the days after a week, maybe two, of her being here. Why would she want to anyways? Nothing mattered to her anymore. Nothing to care ...

“Play it again,” Dr. Ross said through gritted teeth as he hovered over the security panel screens of the dark room. Violet crouched in the hall as he and the guards approached from around the corner. First, she was there, and just as they turned the corner, she vanished from sight. “No electromagnetic glitch in ...

“How…How did they get to me so fast? Doctor Ross and his crew that looked like EMS?” Don’s lips tightened under his bearded face and his brow wrinkled in worry. “I don’t know Violet. I’m sorry. But with enough resources, I’m sure Ross and DIB can pull off more than we know.”

*Trigger warnings* Depression, Divorce, Death/loss, grief Suicide, Mental illness, violent content Reader discretion is advised *** The rest of the trip to the hospital was a complete blur to Micki. The stay in the intensive care unit, however, may as well have been a mere intense dream that Micki wished she would just wake up ...