I killed the engine. The silence that followed was heavy, filled with the ghosts of the night I had been exiled from this very driveway ten years ago. It was raining that night. My father had stood on the porch, his face twisted in a mask of betrayed pride, shouting that I was a liar,…
Month: January 2026
Ruth Whitaker. The matriarch of the coast. The queen of appearances. She stood there in a coral linen dress that cost more than my first car, a strand of pearls resting against her throat like a conqueror’s trophy. She held her glass of chilled rosé not like a drink, but like a gavel she had…
Everything happened suddenly. An accident on a wet highway. The car skidded. The impact. The doctors said she could not be saved. They also said about the baby — that he had died along with his mother. No heartbeat was detected. Now there was only one thing left — to say goodbye to two loved…
The voice on the other end wasn’t the dying wheeze I expected. It was sharp, granular, and commanding—a tone I had never heard from the pensioner living on social security checks and canned soup. “Get home, Sergeant. Now. The squad is assembling. The screening operation commences at 1800 hours.” The line went dead. Why would…
The old woman raised her eyes to me, and I involuntarily shuddered at her strange, piercing gaze. Her eyes were not old at all. They were clear, deep, as if they saw right through me, straight into my soul. The woman was small and fragile, her face furrowed with deep wrinkles, but in those eyes…
Emma was twelve years old. Three years earlier, an illness had quietly taken her sight, piece by piece. First came the haze, then warped outlines, and finally—one morning—nothing at all. The world had gone dark without warning. There had been tears, fury, and fear. But time had taught her new ways of understanding: how footsteps…
For example, tapeworms can absorb vitamin B12 from your body, which is vital for red blood cell production. 4. Unexpected weight loss (or weight gain) It seems that losing weight without changing a diet is possible for some people. Not sure if you are going to like the method, though. The others happen to gain weight due to cravings triggered by parasite-induced imbalances. These changes…
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, an irritating, buzzing counterpoint to the suffocating tension in the room. David Miller crossed the cafeteria floor with long, jerky strides. He ignored the stares of the students, the hushed whispers of the faculty. His gaze was locked on me—or rather, on the small girl cowering behind my legs. “Get away…
“It’s… it’s a game,” she whispered, the words sounding rehearsed, dead. “It’s my lucky charm.” “See?” David sneered, reaching for her arm. “Don’t touch her,” the resource officer stepped in, hand resting on his belt. “Sir, we have a report of potential abuse. We have to follow protocol. Child Protective Services has been notified.” David’s…
A figure emerged. He was tall, imposing, wearing a dark suit that cost more than my entire education. He stepped onto the grass with the kind of authority that cannot be bought, only wielded. He scanned the scene—the crying bride, the cowering groom, the furious matriarch—with piercing blue eyes that mirrored my own. It was…