Short Story

General Patrick finally took notice of the trident on the uniforms of all of the men sitting at the table, not to mention the tape on the uniforms that read ‘US Navy’. “How the hell….” General Patrick said out loud.

I didn’t know if I should wave, approach him, or just wait until he was ready to apologize on his own. I certainly wasn’t going to say sorry. So I strolled to the coffee, not glancing at him, not letting him know how with every step I took, his image never left the corner of my eye. He small talked with Mallory, his face turning towards me twice. I poured the coffee into a mug as he walked over, and then poured his full, and I got a smile. It was apologetic, so I smiled back. “Mind if I sit next to you?” He took a sip of his coffee. “I’m aware that I’m on your shit list.” This made me giggle. It was hard to stay mad. Cockiness and jealousy aside, William could charm you off your feet with just a wink. I’m not even going to tell what a whisper could

down. Now I can end this right now. All I have to do is pull the lid and stick this anywhere in my body according to that letter.

Applause and cheers swept the room when his song was done. And as calm as he looked, a smile curved his lips long enough to reflect his appreciation to his audience. But deaf to their requests to sing again, his eyes caught the gentle shimmer of a tear running down the one lady he just sang to. Was it grief? Or was it the truth he weaved into that ballad? To these gathering crowds, this was just a song, a string of words they can recite to drive the boredom away. Just another tale to echo through the banquets or for a lover to praisehis love in an eccentric way. But only he know the truth of his words, as well as the woman who refused to turn away or break into tears, and instead carried herself with the might of the maiden he just

All of their corpses lay upon the ground. At eternal rest they lay silent. The remains are bloodied and sliced to the point of no recognition. Time is still, and I stand in the room adjacent from the carcasses. My head is spinning, my breath is quick. The knife in my hand suddenly feels as if it’s one thousand degrees. The smell of iron creeps into my nose and shakes me to the core. I become so shaky that the seemingly ablaze knife comes loose and falls to the ground. A crisp three clicks fills my ear, and I suddenly am standing with a revolver to my head.

Roman slumps into the bedframe, retching out a sigh that carries through the room. I remain still by the door, ever so slightly tense with anticipation. My eyes flick to the walls and the tables. There are cigarettes haphazardly scattered across the coffee table by the window. Godammit.

“I’m fine, really,” Jared said as he closed his trailer door, still holding the ice pack over his now blackened eye. The truth was he was anything but fine.’ He shakily walked over to the couch and sat down. There wasn’t a part of his body that didn’t’ hurt. The crew had just witnessed and broken up Jensen kicking his ass up and down the set.

The smattering of rain on the roof overhead calms me, beating out an irregular rhythm like an anxious child unconsciously tapping his foot. The dim glow of my phone screen washes over me as I wait for the light to return, cut off by the flash flood inducing rain. I look around, and sigh; yet again, the lights on the ceiling are blank, leaving me with nothing to shield myself from the impending darkness.

“The annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. Like some kind of fertility right. I even checked with a professor who found the exact god that we are dealing with,” Fay answered.

I walked up to the football registration table at the end of school orientation. Most people had left already so the place was pretty deserted. The small table was all the way in the back of the gym. The gym lights were off, but the table was illuminated by a single light above it. The black and dark green Eagles banner hung from the front of the table, creases in it from when it had been folded up for the off-season. The football coach and History teacher, Mr. McMann, looked up when he saw me walking toward the table. He smiled sweetly at me like I was a little girl that was lost. “What can I help you with, sweetheart?”

It tempts her everyday-it has for as long as she can remember. It glistens in the sunlight, ripe with morning dew. The silky threads beckon. She inches toward the web, crossing thresholds she hasn’t dared to before. Surely just getting a little closer won’t do any harm. Suddenly, she finds herself at the foot of the intricate network of fibers. She begins to climb, relishing in the soft strands that caress her, oblivious to how tangled she’s getting.

I might get a few people and names wrong on who was in that video, so please be steady with me. I’m also putting Erik as Eric Veik so you don’t get confused, I know that’s not how his name is spelled correctly.

The tape started, “All I remember was running. Debris, blood, water, needles, and bodies lay on the floor as I ran. I hurdled a body as I sprinted down the hall towards what I thought was a right turn, but I was sadly mistaken. Like a mouse in a trap, I shook as I turned to the tidal wave filled with the same items and carcasses. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate as the wave rolled closer and got taller and taller. My eyes opened in shock as I heard the last toll of the bell, the locks to the doors of the house clicked, and the tidal wave evaporated as my own tidal wave of relief and freedom rolled through me. I walked out the door, tired, dirty, and scarred for life. The walk to the police station was easy compared to what I endured.

Over the course of his years upon this earth, Draco Malfoy had seen many shocking things, mostly thanks to his psychotic - and mercifully deceased - Aunt Bellatrix and her sadistic ophidian Dark Lord. Yet despite all of the horror he'd witnessed during the last war, no act of violence, no streak of depravity, no one person had ever, ever come close to shocking him nearly as much as Hermione Granger just had.

BREAKING NEWS: “A man was seen being knocked unconscious and dragged into Ripple Lake by what appeared to be a humanoid fish as of last Friday. We have just learned this. Is this just another hoax or could it be true-“*Click* David tossed the T.V. remote onto the couch in the living room as he walked toward his own bedroom where his wife laid in bed. “Did you just hear that ridiculousness on there Janet?” Said David. “Yeah hunny there is no way that can be true.” Said Janet. “That’s for sure, pff fishmen, ha that’s something”. Said David