Her Name Was Marine Sitting in the booth closest to the bathroom, I studied Marine with a squint in my eye. I liked the way she ate her ice cream. Anytime she'd take a bite she would flip the spoon upside down and lick the ice cream right off the spoon. We caught each other's eyes while I was observing. I saw a ring of light shimmer through her feathered brown eyes. She caught on that I was inspecting her, but she still continued eating. After I watched her pay the bill I walked out into the parking lot. Marine and her friend each parted ways, trickling back to their cars. I kept a close eye on Marine's car, the reverse lights lit up. I waited for her to turn out of the parking lot before I started following her. I knew her house was only a short drive. I liked looking into her car, I could see part of her face in her rear view mirror. She had on a pinkish-rose colored lipstick that complimented her angelic skin. I waited a couple minutes after she went inside her house before I got out of my van. I grabbed a blanket and my camera, then creeped my way to her backyard. I knew I'd probably be there for a while, so I was a little scared, but I liked the rush it gave me. The rush was kept me going. I sat outside her bathroom window with the camera placed off to the side just enough to catch her standing naked in front of the mirror. After about an hour of waiting she finally came into the bathroom. I peeked in her window to make sure she couldn't see me. She was still wearing the jeans and blouse she had on earlier. I inched closer to the window. I watched her stretch her arm at the shower knob. I started getting paranoid she might see me. I backed away from the window for a minute and just watched from the screen on my camera. My heart was my pounding, I could feel the blood rushing through my body. I reached down to grab my dick and it was swelling with blood. I slowly played with it until it got harder. I snuck my head back in the window. Marine had her top off. Her breasts were perfect, she had small pink nipples at the end of her perky tits. I started squeezing my penis, I began stroking it violently. The camera was recording video now, I would have all this material to go to later. She took off her pants, then her panties. I was going too fast, I didn't want to end this prematurely. Her pussy wasn't shaven but it was trimmed into a smaller patch. I never liked cleanly shaved pussy much. She started walking towards the shower so I knew I'd have to finish soon. She had voluptuous curves that my arms ached to caress. I got my last few seconds left and blew my load all over her window. She quick glanced out the window before stepping in. I really want to believe she knew I was out there the whole time. She was teasing me all night, making me wait for the big climax. I watch the film almost every night. I get to examine her whole body while I relive the moment. The thing I really wonder is, does she in some weird way, find it romantic that I devote myself to her physically without her even knowing.


When I was seventeen I went to go live with my uncle down in New Orleans. My parents couldn't stand the sight of each other and I felt like it was my fault because they both thought of me as a failior. There were many times when they would fight that they actually started to wail on each other and when I would try to stop them, they would look at me with disgust so eventually i couldn't take it anymore so I called my uncle and told him what was happening. Within the next two weeks he came and took me away from it and I couldn't have been happier. One thing I know is that nobody likes to feel like a failior. When we got to my uncle's it was like I stepped in to whole other world. There were portraits of people all over his house of people I have never seen before so I asked him if they were pictures of family members and he replied no, these are all pictures of everyone who have come to his house within the past 30 years that stayed here for the soul purpose to gaze into his mirror. Naturally my first thought was what was so special about this mirror that so many people had to come from all over just to look at themselves. But then he said something that struck me vas very odd and even to this day I still can't forget the events that followed. He told me whatever you do, you must never go near the mirror up the stairs and down the left hallway at the end of the corridor. The look in his eyes suggested that he was very serious so for a long time I made sure not to even go down that hallway anywhere near the corridor. But eventually like most people curiosity got the better of me so one night while he slept, I found the courage to enter the corridor which held the mirror. The mirror itself was something I have never seen before. It was about eight feet in height and five feet in width but the style of it was something that I can only describe as being not of this world. On the top of the mirror there was a symbol which resembled a cube but had multiple other symbols edged inside of it that looked like some sort of ancient writing I have never seen before. After looking at the symbol I noticed a word inscribed in the middle that said METATRON. After I read the word out loud I noticed a brilliant light that surrounded the entire mirror and lit up the room. What I saw next I will never forget and the memory will be buried with me. I saw people moving around in what I can only describe as a palace with a golden throan in the middle. Each person wore a robe which was the color of gold fastened together by a belt that was woven in strands of gold colored silk with the same symbol at the top of the mirror where the buckle would be but they emitted an Erie light that seemed to transfix me to the point where I could not look away. Then all of the sudden everyone stopped moving around instantly and started looking directly at me. Upon seeing there faces I realised that these were the same people that were in all the portraits hanging on the walls in my uncle's home. Upon the throan itself sat a man who looked as ancient as time itself who was also staring at me. The old man said step forward young one and I shall tell you who you really are for we have been waiting for you for a very very long time. Not believing what I was seeing I stepped forward and the light intensified until I had to close my eyes to shield them from the brilliance of it. When I opened them I was no longer in the corridor of my uncle's home but instead inside the palace from which I was just seeing in the mirror itself. The floors were literally paved with gold throughout the whole palace and I was in such awe that I didn't even notice that my clothes that I was wearing before had also changed but my robe was a brilliant red and blue with gems and emeralds embedded into the stitching. The belt I wore was a bright orange with what appeared to be flames that wrapped around my waist but it did not burn me. The buckle that held it in place consisted of a star with a circle around it. Growing up with a Christian family I recognised this symbol as being a pentagram. When I looked back up I noticed everyone bowing down before me except the old man sitting on the great throan. I walked up to him and as I got closer I noticed his eyes were emitting a brilliant blue light like the color of a blue flame but there was no center. As I gazed into his eyes I began to see visions of great wars from ancient times fought with chariots of gold surrounded by fire. The old man then spoke to me again and instantly the visions were gone. He told me that what I was seeing was events in the past that I myself was a part of but I couldn't understand what it all meant. My name is METATRON he said, and I am the scribe of the Lord God who created you and who created everything else that I have ever seen. I am the one who has wrote the book of life and the keeper of all knowledge that lies within its pages. But you my young friend are the only one whose name is in the book that will lead the world into an age of both great war and great prosperity. You are both the bringer of death and the bringer of life into a world that has been so corrupted by man that God himself has chosen you to lead his armies of angels into the final battle of all of mankind. Your name is Michael . The time has finally come for you to inherit the fate that your God has set before you. There is only one who is higher then you and his name is Jesus Christ. He will give the command and you shall lead his armies and purge the evil and darkness from the earth once and for all. The dead shall rise in his name and follow you into battle. When he finished speaking, he then raised his hand and the brilliant light that I saw when I first entered the mirror intensified once again to the point I had to close my eyes. When I opened them I was back in my uncle's corridor gazing at the mirror but I could only see my reflection. I was dressed once again in the same clothes I had came here with. As I turned to walk back down the corridor I saw my uncle waiting for me at the top of the stairs with the look of disgust in his eyes. I told you not to look in the mirror he said. I tried to hide you from the truth of what it shows you because nobody will ever believe you. If you speak of what you saw they will just lock you away in some Looney bin to live out the rest of your days because the world cannot accept the truth of what God has to offer them. Instead they live there lives trying to block out everything they dont understand. Nobody except you has ever returned from the other side of the mirror in the whole time I have been guarding the passage so now I give you a choice. You can go out into the world and speak about what you saw, or you can stay here and live with me and carry on my work in guarding the mirror. But remember this one thing. The path you choose may have severe consequences no matter which way you walk it but in the end, the road always takes you to the same destination. The mirror itself never lies. What you seen or heard will come to pass but it could happen in a different lifetime. While you are here you must learn to accept who you really are which is why I urge you to stay here. You are not a failior or a mistake. Your life has been written already but it may take several lifetimes for it to come to pass. Your parents are blind to who they really are so they see you as there own failior. When he finished speaking my uncle turned and went down stairs to partake whatnot am assuming to be his usual routine. I followed him down and sat next to him and asked him the one question that came to mind. I asked him if he ever looked into the mirror and he told me no because his father told him the same thing he told me when he said not to look into it. My uncle spent his life scared of the truth because he believes life is what you make it yourself. But personally I can honestly say that I am not afraid anymore because I know I am not a failior like I once thought I was. Death is but a doorway into another life but in the end it all leads to the same resolution. The End


It had been a harsh winter and it was dragging on longer than any in living memory. The people of Ardenne Valley had spent the best part of four months hiding out in their scattered wooden lofts with every chimney pouring out smoke night and day as fireplaces worked over time to keep their masters warm. Towards the centre of town Mr Cotten’s General Store was beginning to run low of supplies, the thick winter snow had blocked off the mountain pass that was the lifeline of the village. Usually when cut off from outside supplies the village men would band together and head off in great hunting parties coming back with deer, rabbit or even moose for the townsfolk to share. However the depth of this winter’s chill and the shortness of its days made the hunt fraught with danger. No man dared venture far enough from the warmth of his fire to effectively hunt lest he find himself stuck out in the deathly cold. As this seemingly endless freeze continued a sense of fear and paranoia started to grip the town. Rumours began to circulate that the village had been cursed by some sort of evil, or that the sins of the people had somehow angered god to move against them. Already the local constabulary had been forced to deal with allegations of food-theft amongst some of the new settlers who occupied the outskirts of the town. One particular incident had started over a misplaced can of peas and ended with two men spending the night locked in the cells after one had tried to slice the other with a can-opener and the second had responded by smashing a large frozen potato into the first man’s head. The people living in the outskirts of Village Ardenne had always been a bit crazier than those who lived in the towns original heart, but never before had there been so much drunkenness and needless violence. At first the village children were excited to see such thick snowfall, they embraced the opportunity to have long snow fights, make snow angels, go sledding and build elaborate snow forts. But alas as the months pressed on the lack of sunshine, long hours in doors and the constant cold had taken it’s toll. By this point in the winter most of the children had grown irritable at being cooped up all the time and were adding to the worries of their already stressed parents. Some of the older village kids had taken to a new and troubling hobby. They would sneak out after dark and build elaborate and frightening snow creatures outside the windows of younger children. This lead the youngsters to wake in fright breaking the nights silence with piercing screams and terrified crying. Sometime around the end of the fourth winter month, a strange phenomenon began to appear throughout the valley. Village folk everywhere kept coming in reporting sightings of a huge dark creature with glowing red eyes seen at the edges of the forest that surround the town. The first sightings had been called in by Tom Greer, a young lumberjack who worked to produce firewood for the town. Tom had been stacking the last of the days wood into the back of his cart when he had heart a noise in the distance behind him, spinning around he caught a glimpse of the huge dark creature fading back into the forest. The sight put Tom’s hair on end, he quickly leapt up onto his cart and whipped his donkey into motion, moving with great speed back to the heart of the town. The second sighting had occurred only two days after Toms. This time it had been a young mother by the name of Maria, she had been making her way through the township towards Mr Cotten’s General Store on a Friday evening. Maria had taken the long way to the store skirting the edge of the forest so as to avoid any drunken men who might be making trouble near the Woodsman’s Tavern when she heard a deep rumbling sound off to her right, turning she saw a terrifyingly large shadow with glowing red eyes at it’s centre about two hundred meters in to the forest. She had screamed and rushed toward the centre of town being found by a group of men drinking at the Woodsman’s Tavern. The group of men, full of Dutch courage, had banded together with hunting rifles and wood axes and headed out in the direction of the sighting. After an hour long search the men turned up nothing and returned to the warmth of the tavern and the joy of their beers. With these terrifying sightings occurring every day or two and the townsfolk already on edge, the village paranoia reached fever pitch. A group of village women began a neighbourhood watch to help take care of each other. Within three days of the groups creation it had accused twelve separate people to the constabulary on unlikely charges of witchcraft and devil worship. As things started to look as though they might spiral out of control the village council decided to hold a meeting at the old church just across from Mr Cotten’s store. Every man and his dog showed to this meeting, the village elderly had been first to arrive taking seats towards the front of the hall, the men and women of central Ardenne arrived second filling the centre of the hall with the new settlers arriving last and standing in a tight area towards the rear. Chief Constable Higgard, a tall chubby man with a quickly receding hairline and red-tinged cheeks, began the meeting “Thank you all for your attendance, as we all know, things in our sleepy town have been tense of late. This winter has left many of us with little food and less patience. Firstly we would like to call on all of you to try to keep your calm and show each other a little empathy during this trying time. Secondly it is my duty to inform you that the Woodsman’s Tavern will be suspending operations until such time as the situation in our township has returned to normal.” This was met with a large amount of booing from the men of central Ardenne who had used drinking and the Woodsman’s Tavern as an escape from their worries and their tense home-life situations. Higgard shouted at the group to be silent and continued, “Furthermore we would also ask that the Ardenne Neighbourhood Watch be disbanded, as it has achieved nothing but increased paranoia and a break down in trust within our small community.” This news was met with sneers from the women of the village with one of the groups leaders, Ms Agatha Partridge accusing Constable Higgard of being worried they were doing too well and that he might lose his job. Higgard had expected this type of comment and tried his best not to let it affect him. “Finally” Higgard continued, “the question of this forest monster. We have had a long string of reports over the last few weeks of some sort of large beast with glowing red eyes stalking around the skirts of our humble town. I have personally heard many of these eye-witness reports and they do not appear to be the paranoid delusions of a few scared souls but instead they seem to me to be real sightings of what is very likely a grave threat to the great people of this village!” The hall was filled with a collective gasp of fear. While many of them had heard of these monster sightings many thought of them as false imaginings brought on by long winter stress. But now with these words from Constable Higgard the people of the village were filled with a new, potent fear. “What must we do?” yelled one of the new settlers from the back of the hall. “Are our children safe?” “Are we safe?” “What is this beast?” the hall burst into a thousand different fearful questions. Some of the village men began talking of a great hunting party, to go out to the woods and bring down the beast. Mr Howard, the chairman of the local council stood up and raised both hands into the air. This brought silence to the crowd and Mr Howard began to speak “We may not be safe, your children may not be safe. What must we do you ask? Well we must first prepare ourselves, we must move all the people of the village to a central defensible location. This church is likely most suitable. Then we must put together two main parties, one to stay here and defend our children, the other to go out and destroy this beast.” As Mr Howard’s last word rang out into the hall it was met with an immediate roar from the crowd. Men from all over the village were volunteering to head out and hunt for the beast, whilst others began to organise amongst them how best to defend the church building. Over the following two days the village went into a frenzy. Food supplies were gathered and stored, hundreds of beds were set up and all the women and children of the village moved themselves into the church. The men who were to make up the hunting party donned there thickest winter coats and armed themselves with rifles and pistols while those who were to remain behind collected anything that might be used as a weapon, axes, pitchforks even butchers knives. At sun break on the third day after the village meeting everything was set and the hunting party set off. They began by lapping the skirts of the village finding no sign of the creature. The decision was then made to head down towards the first sighting location on the western side of the village. Roughly thirty of the village men met there, rifles in hand they spread out into a long line and began to advance in to the forest. Walking deep into the frozen trees the men began to hear a deep rumbling off in the distance. A little more hesitant at the sound, they continued with there push. The further they pushed the louder and more distinct the rumble became, the deep sound was like the mix between a bears roar and the starting of a trucks engine. As the sound grew the men began to bunch together, none of them wishing to be caught alone when the monster finally appeared. Each man was filled with a mix of fear and determination, each fearing this might be his last day alive but also determined to press on for the safety of their loved ones. The forest sloped slowly upwards with the undergrowth thickening as they moved on towards the hilltop. The group clustered tightly together now as they finally reached the crest of the hill, moving on to the crest they found that a large clearing. A large circle of trees had been ripped from their roots and smashed across the frosty landscape. Just as the men entered the clearing the rumble cut off. It was then that they saw it, a huge black monster about 50 meters from the group. The beast stood around ten feet tall, made up of a thousand thick wriggling black worms and at its centre were two hellish red eyes. Seeing the group as a threat the beast let out a deafening roar and began to rush toward the men. The group of men scattered rushing in all directions, some fled back toward the forest whilst others began to sprint across the open clearing. Constable Higgard took up a position behind a large oak tree and shot off a round from his hunting rifle, he bellowed out to the others “Don’t run you yellow bellied cowards, we must face this creature for the safety of our families!” This put some steel into the hearts of the others and they all began to take up their own firing positions. Tom Greer, who had been sprinting out in the open turned and took a knee letting off a well-aimed shot which pierced into the wriggling mass of worms making up the monsters body. This did not slow the beast but instead turned it’s attention to Tom. With the beast now pressing away from them a group of men who had fled towards the trees took up their own positions and began to rain fire into the back of the beasts. Each shot met it’s mark but each bullet seemed to simply disappear into the mass of worms. The monster let out another roar as it started to turn towards the men in the trees. As it turned Higgard lined up his rifle and took another shot, this time aiming for one of the creatures disgusting red eyes. He missed his mark and his bullet was absorbed into the worms like that of the others. Seeing the constables attempt spread the idea to the others in the band, one yelled out “Aim for the eyes!” Higgard half smiled to himself, glad to see that he was working with men of quality. The horrid worm-monster was disoriented now, surrounded and being peppered with rifle fire from every angle it let out another mighty roar and launched itself towards the trees, aiming for a gap in the hunting groups circle. Seeing that the beast intended to flee Tom sprinted into it’s path sliding into a firing position just meters ahead of the fiend. He let off a shot again aiming for the creatures eyes. From this distance he could not miss and his round landed true. A spray of black blood spewed from the damaged eye and the creature began to convulse. Mr Greer pushed away from the thing taking refuge in the trees. The horrid monster began to shake and the dark worms were flung from it’s body wilting away as they landed upon the hard cold earth. With the disgusting worms melting off the creatures body it’s inner form began to take shape. Tom saw it first, when the last of the worms dropped off, he saw clearly that this was not some unknown hell beast but simply a large bear that had been afflicted in some way. The bear let out one last whimper before dropping to the ground before the band of men. Seeing the creature defeated each of the group of hunters pushed forward forming a loose circle around the dead bear. Higgard spoke first “I don’t know what afflicted this poor beast but I am glad that we were able to release this animal of god from it’s curse.” The other men all nodded knowingly. From there the group dragged the beasts body back to their village. When they arrived back they dropped it’s body at the doors of the church and moved inside to relay their tale to the entire village. Cheers and shouts of joy rang out from the crowd as the men retold each moment of the battle, from Higgard’s first shots and inspiring yells to Toms desperate sprint and well aimed shot that felled the beast. Once the story was told, all the townsfolk moved outside where a great pyre was erected and the bears body was turned to ash so as to prevent the spread of its curse. As the corpse burned and night fell slowly the villagers retreated in to the church where they each found a cosy spot to sleep for the night. The next morning the sun crept up into the sky earlier than it had in months, and with it a wave of warmth not felt since before this horrid ordeal began. Over the following weak the snow began to melt off and village life returned to normal. The Woodsman’s Tavern reopened, the weekly supply convoys from the outside world began to flow through and soon enough springs first flowers began to bloom.


By : No One of Consequence I started my career as a run of the mill soldier, but I somehow managed to find myself stationed in a top-secret underground government facility. For security reasons I won’t go into too much detail, partly because most of what they do there is hard to follow. On a daily basis I have interactions with scientists that constantly refer to me as a layman. For the most part, I guard people who work with whiteboards, reference books, and complex mathematical equations that would give average scientists a headache. In order to even get into these offices, one has to adhere to a retinal scan. However, that’s just the upper floors of the facility. Teamwork isn’t a word these people are entirely comfortable with. They tend to work within their own minds, and alienate those around them, especially those they think of as inferior. Not so much because they’re assholes, their brains just function differently. Now, put a bunch of these people together, and the results can be disastrous. So far, over the last five years, there have only been minor dustups. Well, minor might not be entirely accurate. One incident did end with several scientists being taken to the infirmary. Nothing too serious, a few stitches here and there. I hadn’t wanted to break up the fight, it was too hilarious to watch. I’ve been confined to the facility for a few years now, getting leave isn’t the easiest thing. High security clearances come with some serious drawbacks, but the large paychecks are hard to pass up. Technically I still get paid as a Private First Class, but I also get a sizeable ‘hazard’ pay. Not that I’ve seen any real hazards, it’s more of a way to classify the additional pay to the bean counters. Government work is loaded with all kinds of double talk and misleading information like that. Honestly, I don’t understand why a particle accelerator needs to be this secret. They’re more common than people think, some thirty thousand exist throughout the world. Maybe it’s because this one is larger than the Large Hadron Collider. The work is largely complicated, and I can’t begin to comprehend it. The one bit of science I do know is the controversy behind the work they’re doing. Certain people in the science community think they’re going to open a black hole and destroy the planet. The likelihood of this happening is like fifty-million to one. With such long odds, you’d think there wouldn’t be death threats, but there are. After years of research and fine tuning the science, they’re ready to turn on the accelerator. I’m in one of the control rooms when they start the sequence. I have no idea what’s going on, but they say all the readouts are within the predicted ranges. That is until alarms start blaring. All the readouts begin to spike, and next thing I know, all hell breaks loose. Monitors begin flickering, the scientists start panicking, and literal sparks begin flying as electrical components are overloaded. The power spike surges even more, and suddenly everything goes dark, but not silent. If anything, there’s more conversation now than ever before. Emergency power comes online, but most of the equipment is fried. The smell of burnt wires and melting plastic fills the air, wisps of smoke drifting from all over. Engineers scramble around attempting to get things back online, but with this much damage there’s little hope. With all the computers down, my radio is the only means of communication. The scientists work to assess the damage when we hear it. Thanks to movies, TV shows, theme parks, and deployments to active combat zones, I have noticed there are different kinds of screams. Even though they generally sound the same, there are subtle differences that can be detected. What I hear over the radio isn’t anything like what you hear at theme parks from people riding roller coasters. The closest I’ve heard came from a secret mission when an insurgent was caught off guard before a knife went between his ribs. The man on the radio died painfully, but never saw it coming. Following it are the panicked ramblings of those in close proximity, trying to figure out what just happened. More of them start to die, and the remainders lose their shit. Three soldiers with automatic rifles come into our control room, and sweep the area. They ask me if I’ve seen anything non-human, and after the typical ‘are you kidding me’ reaction, I tell them I haven’t. On standard guard duty, a guard is armed with a pump action shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds, and a 9mm sidearm. These three having M-4s and a full basic load of ammo would be a cause for concern, but more so when they hand me boxes of buckshot shells. Panicked conversation over the radio punctuated by gunfire fills the silence as I load my shotgun with lethal rounds. No one knows what the hell is going on, and in a military run secret facility, that’s a really bad sign. Finally, news comes on over the radio. It’s the base commander, “There is a containment breach within the facility. A level five quarantine is about to go into effect. All personnel must evacuate the facility immediately. Once the blast doors close, they will not be opened again.” Basically, if we don’t get out of here in the next five minutes, we’re getting locked in with whatever is killing people. Even if there are four of us armed, I don’t want to find out what is loose in here. With those screams still fresh in my mind, I’m trying to keep my imagination from running wild. I bring up the rear as we escort the scientists to the exit. Rear guard is important so enemy combatants can’t move in behind you and catch you unaware. The corridors are normally so brightly lit that nothing can go unseen. However, with only emergency power running, the lighting is extremely sparse and flickering. I sweep the areas behind us as I walk backward, the flashlight on my shotgun shines on overturned and discarded equipment. It looks like a fucking hurricane blew through this place. Even if a hurricane hit, we wouldn’t have felt a thing. The facility is several hundred feet underground, and impervious to everything short of an earthquake. In this part of the country, earthquakes aren’t a concern. As we near the exit, bodies start littering the ground. The wounds that I see look to have been made by some kind of blade, or some kind of sharp implement. At one point, it looks like something had been gnawing on one of the bodies. I don’t know what kind of teeth make damage patterns like that, but the amount of clear liquid around the wound appears to be saliva. I have been all over the facility in my time as a guard. There isn’t a single room I haven’t inspected at one time or another. So, I know for a fact that there’s nothing in this facility that could be responsible for what did that kind of damage. We carry on in silence, or the closest we can for the amount of people in our group. For me and the other soldiers, it’s the silence of concentration while moving through hostile territory, keeping an eye out for the enemy. The scientists, it’s the silence of people scared shitless. None of them signed up for gunfights, and deadly situations, outside of an experiment going very wrong. Me, I had been in combat a number of times by this point, but even I’m a little scared. Seriously, I couldn’t think of a single thing on this planet that could chew on an arm like that. Predators tend to have sharp teeth so they can tear through flesh. What I saw looked more like blunt teeth that crushed the limb with such tremendous force that the flesh split apart. I catch sight of movement behind us, and fire off a shell before I get a good look. Traditionally, you identify a target before shooting so you don’t accidently hit a friendly. This wasn’t a concern at the moment. The movement I fired at wasn’t on the ground, but the ceiling behind us. Something small scurried out of a open vent, and I didn’t want to risk letting whatever it was to get close. No one could tell us what was killing people. In my book, this was a ‘if it’s not human, kill it’ kind of situation. By the time we made it to the exit, there was only seconds left before the lockdown would commence. We get all of the scientist through, and the first soldier. The other two were getting panicy at the sound of the alarm, and trip over each other trying to make it out. I’m forced to stand there and watch as they fall into the doorway, and are crushed by the blast doors closing down. Up to this point it was the worst thing I ever saw, but the day isn’t over yet, and I’m still inside the facility. A buddy of mine, Gordon, had been on the other side of the blast doors when they closed. He calls to me on the radio, letting me know I’m the only one still inside. The only way the top brass is going to open these doors is if I managed to close the containment breach. Since no one has told me what the breach was, I have no clue how to close it. There was so much confusion after the spike that I don’t even know where to find the breach. Gordon says he’s going to try to get me some information to work with. In the mean time, my best bet is the cooling system. It’s the first place he knew of that suffered any casualties. The cooling system is located on the other side of the facility. Having only emergency power is going to make it difficult to get to. The flashlight on my shotgun is only helping so much, what I would give to have full lighting. However, the spike blew out more than half the electrical systems in the facility. There is no way a grunt like me is going to figure out how to restore power. Tripping on the third body I hadn’t seen, I’m getting really tired of the subpar lighting. Just when I’m about to express my frustration with an ill advised scream, something moves in front of me. My shotgun speaks instead of my mouth, and a splatter of fluid paints the wall. With the light trained on whatever it had been, all I see is a small mass of flesh, completely unrecognizable from the buckshot enema. The only thing I can tell, it had been small. About the size of a infant, but the damn thing moved with the speed of a predator. The fluid on the wall is a dark blue, but there appears to be copious amounts of a clear substance. For something so small, it sure as hell does drool a lot. On my way to the cooling system, I duck into a security checkpoint. Normally there’s a rack of weapons, stacks of ammo, body armor, and other assorted supplies. Most of it is gone, but what I do find will help. I take an NBC mask bag, attach it to my thigh, and fill it with the flares that no one thought to take on their way out of the facility. In order to get to the cooling system, I have to get to the emergency stairwell. I’ve already seen these things crawling on the ceiling, so a narrow space like the stairwell is going to be a nightmare. If these things are intelligent in anyway, I could be walking straight into an ambush. Popping one of the flares, I open the door and immediately toss it in. The blinding light illuminates everything as I sweep the area with the 9mm. Nothing moves, so I proceed inside. The stairs continue on for several flights down, but thankfully I only need to go down one level. Not surprising, the door is locked, so I try my keycard. It doesn’t work, which isn’t that surprising. As a security guard I don’t have clearance to go into restricted areas, but I escort those that do. Calling on the radio, I ask Gordon if he can get the base commander to override access points for the entire facility. With the power issues there’s no guarantee it’ll work for everything, but he promises they’ll do what they can. As I stand in place, shotgun constantly searching for anything that needs to be shot, I hear something odd. It’s an echo of sorts, continuous and wet sounding. Not so much like water dripping from a leaking pipe, but like slick bodies squirming in the mud. It’s the last thing I want to do, but I do it anyway. Popping another flare, I drop it down the shaft. I watch it descend each floor, until it lands on the bottom. The flare doesn’t land on the floor, but the squirming mass covering the entire bottom level. I’ve snuck into this stairwell many a time over the years for a smoke break. At the end of each I would flick my still smoking butt down the shaft, and watch it’s descent to the bottom. I know there’s a floor missing under that mass, and I feel my chances for getting out of here diminish. It’s hard to pinpoint what each thing looks like, there are so many, and they’re swimming around each other. It's like a cross between a slug and shrimp, with varying sizes from a Chihuahua all the way to a Doberman. That mouth opens to let out thin tentacles that act as feelers, but there’s no teeth. Just a solid bridge of blunt bone designed to crush and grind. An electronic click sounds behind me, and I quickly open the door. In the span of thirty minutes, those things swarmed in from wherever the breach is, and flooded the entire bottom level. The room I end up in is only slightly better than the stairwell. Bodies litter the entire area, at least I think that’s what they are. Mangled and crushed all over, it’s hard to determine one body from the next. On the upside, the coolant tanks are intact. Liquid helium isn’t combustible, but the freezing capabilities still make it a hazard. Maybe there’s a way I can use that to my advantage. In my search for a source of the giant slugs, I find an open access panel to the center of the accelerator. Climbing up, I see a few of the slugs, and blast them into oblivion. As quick as I can, I fire shell after shell, stopping only to reload as the slugs just keep coming. There’s a break in the action where there appear to be no more slugs coming, and I survey the area as I reload my shotgun. In the center of the open space, I watch as a slug falls from a spot seven feet off the ground. Blasting the slug right away, I get as close as I dare, but there’s nothing to see. My flashlight shows nothing, but empty space were the slug fell from. Popping another flare, I toss it into the space they appear to be coming from. I watch as the stick of burning red light goes into the spot, and completely disappears. Seconds later, the flare reemerges in the mouth of another slug. Another blast from my shotgun, and the slug is nothing more than a mass of dead flesh. Standing directly underneath, I put the end of my shotgun to the spot. Extending my hand out completely, I see the front end of the shotgun with the flashlight completely disappear. Pulling it back, it comes back as if nothing happened. Aside from calling this the source of the breach, I don’t know where to begin explaining this. Gordon talks things out with me, trying to understand what I’m seeing, but I don’t just stand idly by. There are small, portable tanks of liquid helium in the cooling room. I drag one of these tanks through the access panel, along with a ladder. Opening the ladder up, I put it directly underneath the breach, and place the tank on the very top. Half the tank is on the other side of the breach, and I get as far away as I can while still being within firing range. With the 9mm, I pop off a few rounds. The bullets rupture the helium tank, sending the ladder crashing to the floor, and a cloud of frozen liquid explodes out. Watching with the shotgun at the ready, I hope my quick thinking pays off. For five long minutes I wait for a slug to drop down, but none do. Just as I key up the radio to tell Gordon the breach is closed, half a dozen slugs drop to the floor. Instead of the wet plop I’ve heard from previous slugs, they land with a loud shatter. The helium didn’t freeze the breach closed like I had hoped, but it did freeze the next slugs coming through that space. Before firing off at the next batch of slugs falling to the ground, I watch as they skid off. Following them with the flashlight’s beam, I see them disappear down an access shaft I hadn’t realized was open. At least now I know how they got to the bottom level. My choices are extremely limited at this point. I can either stay here and keep killing the slugs until they get the better of me, or I can use the ladder to go through the breach, and try to take them out at their source. Either way, I’m probably not going to see the light of day again.


There I was just watching the beautiful sunset even tho I should be rushing to get home from work at k-hub at 7:00 on a Thursday after from closing the shop on my own. I look up and see a airship just floating there in the sky as I stand still to see if it will move or just stay there. It is a dark maroon colour with a bright white writing reading QUEENSLAND, how dumb can I be I completely forgot about the state of origin. This is the last game of the season and so far it’s a tie of two Games out of three so whoever wins this next match will be the talk of the town. Boom,boom,boom,boom,boom,boom,boom, the clock strikes seven and flags, banners, fireworks and glitter covers the area from the airship floating in the dark sky covered with bright coloured twinkling little stars. At that point all the glitter slowly fades and drops to the ground, I turn around and see a dark figure walking closer I get a strong vibe of a creepy eshay. I decide to walk head and get home quickly before mum and dad get worried. I walk ahead about 50 meters and turn back around to see if the figure is still there. I stand there creeped out too see the the person had been following me the hole time. I turn around quickly and worried. I start to run. I quickly have a glance behind me and see that they are catching up so I run so fast everything becomes a blur. I run so fast I can’t see the sings that label the streets. I happen to take a wrong turn and go down the alleyway that no one passes trough alone. I turn around and walk backwards and think to myself of how fortunate I am to have...... never mind as the the person comes around the corner well at least I thought it was human but now I realise this is no ordinary person or in fact I wasn’t even sure it was human after all what human has bright blue flames coming out of its hand this creature was hard to see as the cold alleyway was dark and silent after all it is Stanthorpe in the year of 2040 anything could happen, it could a creature on the loose that has escaped from the experimental lab in town square in the known to be rona-free area. It was just the the right time that the street light turned on and ahhh what the hell is this creature. It has one side that looks like it has been completely burned and one side that looks like a cyber ban with shiny grey and silver with square black eyes. As it gets closer and closer I realise I should be running back for my life from this creature dressed in black,black leather jacket, black shirt with bright red writing reading FILA, and a pair of black jeans I look down and see he has no feat but has cyborg feet. In that Moment I think to myself what is this creature, was he made by mistake?or to ‘seek & destroy.’ Well whatever it was or whatever it was made for I need to run and quickly and...SPLAT I run into the stone cold brick wall it felt like I have been knocked out,I look up as I am lying on the freezing cold ground and there it was the creature was standing over me with a knife patterned with skulls and red belly black snakes I payed there in terror I was frozen In fear I couldn’t move, it’s like my body has already prepared my death and made my body not capable of moving.I look behind him and there it was the thing that could pretentiously save my life. There it was as it now was clear of what it was it was a portal from another universe. Except instead of saving my life it was like a vacuum, sucking everything in its path I taking it to another dimension or internal death. I felt like a professional gymnast doing kart wheel after kart wheel after kart wheel except I could either be kart wheeling to my death or safety or a hole clan of unsuccessful experiments. GASP*, I wake up and realise it was all a dream. I go downstairs and rub my eyes as I walk down the cream coloured stairs, You would never...mum dad I shout as there are freshly sharpened knives and cutlery everywhere, cupboard doors open, plates smashed and pots and pans everywhere. I walk carefully over the broken pieces of ceramics d into the Lounge room where everything is everywhere like a blind robber had tried to find something and walked into the wrong house. And there it was the thing everyone seems to be afraid of these days..... blood! Like a small trail so I decided to follow it curious of what what be at the end but also frightened of what be at the end. I follow this path of blood past the laundry, past the hallway,past my parents room, past my bathroom and to the spare room into the back of the room where when I screamed at the top of my voice and fall to my knees heavily using all of the emotion inside of my Bode right now pain anger eager to get revenge sadness darkness and like as if the only reason I am still alive to day haas been murdered oh wait it has. I look up again at my parents bodies lying there on the floor grousimly , my mothers neck has a knife the same of what the creature was holding in my dream. Maybe my dream wasn’t just any ordinary dream maybe it was a warning of danger that my only reason to be alive would no longer exist and now I will have to give up but sadly enough I knew this day would occur.I hardly banged my head thinking it was all I dream and in denial of what ha happened.I looked up again to see the one the that gave me an emotion I have never felt. Guilt and revenge. I look up and see the failed experiment, the creature I saw last night in wha tis to believe a dream, or maybe it was a warning or maybe that portal put me into bed in order to make me believe that it was just a dream, hallucination well whatever it was I believe it was a word of warning, I warning that everything is over like as if I’m in a Video game and is game over. I shake my head right to left over and over again like as if I’m trying to wake up out of this nightmare.I notice this knife sharp enough to easily cut through a pile of apples lined up. I know that I’m going to regret what I’m about to do, I pick up the knife like I’m fighting for my life as this dangerous creature is standing at the back corner of my spare room like a devil watching over me waiting for my death to occur. The regret of what I’m about to do is like a bag full of a ton of bricks. I charge at the creature with the knife in my hand and slice his neck and thick dark red blood oozes out of his throat, I feel free like I’ve been released from the devil but at that moment I knew I was in trouble as the police man shouts,” i I drop the bloody knife and put my hands in the air. He takes my hands and roughly twist my arms and places Hand cuffs around my wrist so tight it feels like zip ties cutting off my circulation. I hesitate to keep my hands still he kicks my legs and I fall to the ground with a loud THUMP!he looks at the tree grousimly murdered body’s assuming that I was the sociopath who without feeling a slight bit of guilt murdered these body’s lying on the floor with blood everywhere, and that’s all it was to him, just random people who have been murdered but to me it was more it was my family, the loving, caring, kind, generous people who are the reason I’m still alive today, still alive today. As he started to claim my arrest rights. It feels so weird say MY ARREST rights, do you seriously think I murdered my own family members,the only thing keeping me dare not only from other people in the world but also myself. I’ve been in a dark place for a while and they saved me but now I couldn’t return the favour.as my head is slammed to the floor I listen to the police man, who’s badge reads Dave,” you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the order of caught .” He goes on but I feel no emotion except guilt for the murder of my family, my loved ones. Although I did not physically murder them I could have saved them if I just were awake or listened to the warning if I weren’t so weak and stopped the creature when I had the chance then maybe my family would still be alive even if it meant I weren’t. Dave forces me up and I play along he takes me through the house where there is the broken furniture and knifes,forkes, plates smashed, glass and more all scattered throughout the house. And next thing I know I’m being forced into the back off the patty wagon that they used back in 2021, it’s like if already been put in a jail sell for a crime I didn’t technically commit but then again don’t the town of Stanthorpe doesn’t count technically as an excuse for murder. One thing led to another I was in a holding cell awaiting for a caught appointment with a judge. Rumours around the cell have started to spread that I’m the chick who went on a killing spree, soon enough I find myself trying to prove my innocence in the caught room where it seems that everyone is against me but the again I have felt like that my whole life. I try to tell my side of the story, where I had a dream where this miscreant tried killing me with the same knife was used to kill me mother and farther and how I killed the creature that stood in my spare room but somehow turned to look human when killed but yet again who would believe me. I was then ordered to 4 years I juvenile detention centre until I’m 18 and then I’ll be transferred to Launceston reception centre in Tasmania. So there I am in a old bus with all of the widows covered with bars and next thing I’m already being transferred to Launceston reception centre and then one Thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was 74 years of age and put on hous arrest. I was putting out my bins when I saw someone running past and stopped and said hello, for once I thought that someone didn’t recognise me for the first time for ever. For the first time in forever I feel like I belon. While I was in jail I had time to think, think about how I need to focus on the positive of my my life instead of the negitive and also need to stop relying on others to help me stand up and fight for my own life not rely on others to.. THE END...... SIKEEE when all of a sudden I see someone standing there with a 12 gauge single shot shotgun and then next thing I know they start going on how I killed her daughter,Catherine, ur I think and remember that that was my mother’s words but no time to explain when I believe she thinks I’m a murderer and that was when all of a sudden it hit me.........bang my ears ring and I get pounded to the ground with a bullet wound in my chest and blood oozing out of my chest but I didn’t even hesitate to hang on to the life I have I know that it’s my time so I just relax and close my eyes. THE END


Eighth Grade was a really tough time for me. One of the reasons was during this time my parents split apart and by the time I was fourteen I had to choose who I wanted to live with. I chose my mother and she ended up moving to Arizona and that meant Chicago was no more and I had to find another school. All the schools that we looked at were already in the middle of the school year and my mom wanted me to do an online school but fortunately I was able to find one. I took about a week to prepare myself for this new school even though I knew I wasn't going to be able to fit in. Eventually the time came around to go to my new school. I remember the first day being actually quite easy. I realized that I wasn't the only student on his first day. This kid named Gregory was also on his first day. I quickly befriended him and we helped each other find our classes and since he was really good at science and I wasn't he would help me out with homework too. But unfortunately, there was something really wrong about him. Everyday, it didn't matter where he was, he would get bullied to death. Kids all over the school were shouting hurtful words and terrible things at him. Everyday kids would call him, freak, loser, the reason his parents divorced. He said it didn't let it get to him but the demons were building up inside him. Gregory was a really smart kid but his one weakness was his feelings. He said his parents divorced about a month before school started and he decided to live with his dad who is known for having gambling and alcohol addictions. His mother left his dad and ended up taking her own life after realizing she was living like hell. His parents were both sick and honestly I couldn't believe he was able to keep up with both of them. A Lot of the kids at our school said he was adopted but I knew not to believe them since it was another tease. Soon his head was not in the right place after about a month of being bullied. One day after our history class, we were sitting outside in a secret place we shared when he told me something that made me question if he was still himself. “I can't hold on anymore,” Gregory told me, “my eyes are filled with smoke, I feel like I can't breathe no more. I think I might give up.” After the day he told me that, he had only gotten worse. His grades began to slip and he started lashing out on himself. He would cut his hands open and try to turn the mental pain into physical pain. I kept saying to myself “he’ll be fine, he can make it through this” but I knew he might not. It hurt like a blade in my chest that I couldn't help him and I really tried to give him all the advice I could give, but he still had demons inside him. Later on, he started not talking to me at school. I would wait for him in our secret lunch spot but he never came. The only time I got to see him was when I would sit right next to him in a few of my classes. After more and more weeks of him being like this, I think he may have snapped. I checked his notebook one day and I found a list of names. The names were people I knew and they were also people who bullied and picked on him. I spotted a total of 5 names written on the pages. The names were Johnny, who is one of the most annoying kids in the school so I wasn't surprised. Then I saw Tanner and Adam, who are also people who tease him a little bit but I'm sure they don't mean anything bad. The one name that scared me was the name Andrew. To make it worse the name was crossed out in red pen. I've been around the school and I know who everyone is and I can guarantee there is no Andrew in this school. I thought for a minute on who could ruin his life outside of school. Gregory was a really sheltered kid so that narrowed it down to one answer, his dad. The more I thought, the more it seemed to be true. His dad is the reason his mother is dead and his dad is also a sinner, it all lined up. I assumed the worst and began to think this was a death note, he’s keeping track of his targets. I kept thinking and thinking but then I heard something coming from outside. Our teacher stopped to go look outside the window and a few kids followed her. I put Gregory's notebook back and ran to see what the noise was. I looked out the window and I couldn't believe what I was staring at. I felt like I couldn't move and couldn't breathe and I couldn't look away. There was blood on the ground, shaped in a way where I couldn't read unless I got closer. Then I saw Gregory, he was standing right next to the blood with a rainbow bloody knife in his hand. I saw people coming out of their classes looking at Gregory as he stood above the blood. He had a smile on his face and blood spots on his shirt. “Don't come close to me.” Gregory said giggling. Gregory killed 3 kids and a father that day, and there was no coming back from it. When Gregory was there on that day, he never did anything when the police came and took him away, he just watched us. He was taken to a mental hospital and when he was asked why he did it he simply replied, “for the fun” and wouldn't say anything else. The school was never the same. It changed in a small way by getting rid of bullies in our school but some people still bully. Gregory became a name feared by everyone who ever went to that school. Even new staff are warned about Gregory. Things only got worse when people found out Gregory escaped that mental hospital. People feared him, people still poked fun at him, and some even adored him and what he did. I'm now 25 years old, and Gregory I assume is the same age. Eventually Gregory roamed the streets of our town once again. People who used to go to the school claim they see him stalking their lives. They say Gregory dawns a Plague Doctor mask to keep himself hidden but he rarely takes his mask off. From what I've learned, they say he walks at night so his black clothes can blend in. Newspaper articles claim he's killed more people but nobody has ever found him. He watches people at night then he strikes. I've been studying Gregory ever since I found out he broke out of the mental hospital. I'm just waiting for the day for him to come after me.


I’ve been an agent for around 6 years now and no two day is the same. Last month I was escorting a high-profile ambassador from the airport to a World Peace conference, ensuring he wouldn’t get assassinated. This month I’ve been given a slightly different task. My agency, CKRUT Agency, had appointed myself and my partner, Agent Walker, to infiltrate a gun-smuggling operation. The plan was that I’d pretend to work for them, to get to know their structure and all that, and that Agent Walker would remain unknown and monitor their activities from the ‘outside’. Like, usually, he’d literally BE outside in a nearby van, gathering intelligence from a wire I’d be wearing, or taking photographs and so on. It’s always been like that. I’d dive in, head first, wanting to be close and play a part in the action, infiltrating and acting undercover. That was the whole appeal of being an agent for me. Agent Walker is the complete opposite. He prefers to work behind the scenes, to compile and organise the evidence. I don’t think he likes to be in dangerous situations, which is pretty odd for an agent. I always joke that he should change career, that he’s not cut-out for this. He’s a great agent. He’s good at keeping me on task, at following the procedures and thinking logically. He always says to me; “Manny, you need to use your head. You can’t wing it, you always need a plan.” So, anyway, I’ve been working with these gun guys for about a month now, getting to know them, gaining their trust, and Adam has been outside recording the information. It’d all been going smoothly too, up until now. “Patrick, it’s great that you're here. We have something you should see.” That’s my secret name, Patrick. The guy who’s just welcomed me is Gerard, the main man in charge of the illegal activities I’ve been monitoring. He phoned me like 20 minutes ago, saying that he has something he wants to show me. He wouldn’t say what. I was hesitant. Every time I get a phone call and an order to show up somewhere with no explanation, I panic. I always think they’ve discovered my identity. This time is no different. Right now, I’m shit scared. “Of course I’d be here. Yeah, what is it?” I said, trying my best to sound confident. He turned on his heel and walked toward the back of the marvellous mansion. I followed him nervously around the front of the building and to the side, where there was a long, stone corridor with windows showing views of the lustrous grounds of the property. I purposefully kept a few steps behind him, hesitant of what was going to happen. He steered to the right and so I did the same. We went down some steps and through a small archway. I knew where we were going. There was a small basement located under the house that wasn’t actually accessible from the house. You had to go through the corridor. I hope that Adam gets some good info on this, whatever it’ll be. Somewhere along our walk, one of Gerard’s henchmen had joined us. Shit. We got to the basement door and before going in, Gerard turned to me. “Look, kid. I know you haven’t been with us long, but I feel like I can trust you. Now, you can’t say anything about this, OK? Not until I’ve dealt with it anyway. You haven’t been with us that long, but I know who you used to run with, so I’m sure you’ve experienced situations similar to what you’re going to see now. But, just...stay chill.” Stay chill? This guy is 50+, and he’s saying stuff like ‘stay chill’? “Yeah, sure. You can trust me. I won’t breathe a word.” I stated. Adam, you better be ready, man. This is going to be biiiig . Gerard opened the wooden door and we walked into the basement. It’s a smallish room and is different to most typical basements, in the way that it’s extremely well lit. Honestly, it feels more like a lair than a basement, or a dungeon. It’s quite creepy, which is weird because it’s so bright. The room kind of bends to the left a little, so you can’t see the contents of the room immediately, you have to go further into the room. I walked alongside Gerard before bumping into a wooden cabinet that stood in the middle of the room. What I saw before me had startled me so much that I’d forgotten to stop walking. The sudden movement of the cabinet caused a metal vase to skid off the cabinet. It landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Luckily, it didn’t break. I told myself to bend down and pick up the vase, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of what was before me. Gerard crossed in front of me and picked up the metal vase, placing it back on the cabinet. “You OK there, Pat? I told you it could be a little bit of a shock. Come, let’s sit.” He put his hand behind my back and guided me to a small sofa that stood directly behind the metal cabinet, so that when we sat we were facing the wall. Well, not just the wall. We were also facing a bloodied, beaten man, duct-taped to a ‘spinning’ office chair. The body was badly injured and blood dripped down onto the floor, but that’s not what had shocked me. Bruises had formed on his arms and face, but I wasn’t particularly phased by those either. Even the purple, swollen eye that couldn’t even open wasn’t that startling. It was the person that all those injuries had been inflicted upon, which had stunned me. Adam. Shitting hell. I gulped loudly which broke the silence and brought Gerard’s attention to me. He put his arm across my shoulders and leaned back into the couch. “Pat, meet Adam Walker.” He spat. I was frozen. How in the hell... “We found him outside my house there. Andre, you know Andre, my head of security, well he said that there’d been a white van parked on the street opposite the house for the past week. He sent a few guys there to check it out, and guess what. This little rat was in there, recording us! He had all the set up; microphones, headphones, cameras, everything. We don’t know wht, we don’t know what stuff he found out, but we do know that he’s working for an agency.” He explained. “Damn...” Is all I could muster. “Jamie, show Pat the ID.” Gerard snapped his fingers. The guy that stood behind me handed me a black, leather wallet with a small ID card in it. I analysed the card. Adam Walker, Special Agent. Property of CKRUT Agency. A picture of him and everything. Goddamn, Adam. I could feel Gerard’s eyes on me as I read the ID card. I shook my head and spat on the ground. “Goddamn agencies,” I hissed, “they gotta get into everything, don’t they? Annoying rats.” I tossed the wallet back to the henchman. Facing Gerard, I asked. “So, what now? What’s your plan with him?” I asked, trying to not seem interested. I didn’t want him thinking that I was soft or that I knew Adam, for mine and Adam’s sake. Gerard let out a long, deep sigh. “I just don’t know, Patrick. Don’t know at all.” “Well, if he was part of some operation, his little agency probably knows that he’s surveying this place. If he doesn’t report back to them soon, I’m guessing they’re probably gonna send a lil’ search party out to find him. We can’t keep him here. They’ll know that he was around here so this is probably the first place they’d come. I mean, it’s probably a government agency, don’t you think? I reckon it’d be best if we let him go, for our sake, otherwise we’ll get a lot of heat from this shitty agency...Probably.” I finished uncertainly. The men glared at me, their eyes squinted and their arms crossed. Have I said too much? Have I been too precise? Shit. Gerard broke the silence by standing up and striding toward Adam. “He’s right. We can’t kill him and we definitely can’t keep him here, otherwise we’ll have the whole government up our ass. Good call, Pat.” He praised me. Thank God. “However, we need to send a message-” Uh, what? “We need to let them know that we know. We ain’t gonna tolerate this shit. We need to make an example of what happens to rats who try and spy on us.” He growled, pulling Adam’s head back by his dark hair. On instinct, I shot up, as if to object, but quickly stopped when I saw the puzzled faces turn toward me. Adam gave me a look, as if to tell me to stay calm. He knew as well as I did what would happen if they found out we knew each other. “Uhh, how about if...i-if we interrogate him first? Y’know, get all the info out of him. Maybe we can convince him to, like, terminate their operation?” I suggested. Gerard let go of Adam’s hair, causing his head to fall harshly downwards, and walked toward me. He got right up into my face, analysing my expression. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his hand reach behind his back. I’d been with him long enough to know that he kept a small handgun in the band of his trousers. “Do you know this piece of shit, Pat? I mean, you sure seem very interested in not hurting or killing the guy. You acquaintances or something?” He quizzed intently. I couldn’t stop myself from stammering. “Wha...What? G-God, no! I ain’t ever met this asshole! I ain’t ever seen him before in my life!” Marching back over to Adam, he gripped his chin and squeezed his face, pointing it to my direction. Addressing Adam, he asked him frantically. “What about you, huh? You know this guy? You seen this guy before? Maybe you’re working with him or something?” Adam shook his head slowly. I stepped forward. “What is this, Gerard? Are you losing it? What do you mean ‘do we work together’? You’re talking crazy!” I scoffed, trying to take another step forward, but my feet stopped when Gerard pointed the handgun directly at my face. I put my hands up on instinct. “No, no. You know what? This does seem a little weird, don’t it? I mean, you have to admit it. You joined us, like, what - a month ago? Out of nowhere! And then now, for a whole week, this pig has been recording us? I mean, how would he even be able to do that? He’d have to have some insider to plant the mics and cameras and shit, right? And you, Patrick, just now, you seem to know an awful lot of ‘technical agency spy’ bullshit words. You working with him? Is it you who’s been setting up cameras, mics, recording us? Huh?” He pointed furiously with his gun. The henchman, ‘Jamie’, stepped up. “Yeah, you got a wire under there, ‘Patrick’?” He asked, a hand hovering over his gun. I gave a nervous laugh and stared at Gerard. “You’re paranoid, man! You’re crazy!” I tried to seem convincing. I could see the panic in Adam’s eyes now. “Go on then, show me you ain’t wearing no wire. Search him, Jamie.” Jamie walked up to me. I was in fight or flight mode, although I wasn’t really in a situation where I was able to do either. He was steps away and I had no plan. Damn. I looked over to Adam. Jamie extended his arms to search me and I took a chance. I grabbed the metal vase off the cabinet and brought it down on his head, causing Jamie to stumble back, stunned. I made a grab for his gun. I gripped it tight and aimed it at Jamie’s chest. I pulled the trigger and the deafening sound was accompanied with the wet splatter of blood landing on my face. His body slumped to the floor and I turned the gun onto Gerard. “Drop the gun, Gerard.” I ordered, though with no sense of superiority. My voice wavered like crazy and I felt my eyes tear up. “What the shit, Patrick!” He raged. “My name’s not Patrick,” I stated, taking a step forward, “I’m Agent Manny Richards and you are under arrest for gun-smuggling, assault and tax-fraud, among other things.” I stated. His eyes filled with rage and his face turned a bright red. I was surprised that he didn’t start foaming at the mouth or that steam didn’t blow out of his ears and nostrils. He looked piiiissed. “So you do know this piece of shit? You RAT! You lying RAAAAAT!” He shouted, the gun shaking in his hand. I glanced at Adam who gave me a small nod. “I never said I know him, I'm just an agent too. Gerard Goodman, drop the gun. If you don’t I will shoot.” I repeated. I knew he wasn’t going to, so that’s when I nodded faintly back at Adam. Finding some strength, Adam drove his head into Gerard’s stomach, causing him to double over and drop his gun. I aimed, breathed steadily, and took the shot. Gerard fell to his knees and fell forward, a pool of blood flowing around his head. My hands shook violently as I lowered my gun and tucked it into my trousers. I hurried over to Adam. I knew there’d be more henchmen on their way. We had to leave, now. I started to untie Adam quickly, a relieved smile on his face. “Goddammit, I was scared.” He murmured, as I untied the last of the ropes and cut the tape. “Thanks, man. I owe you.” “Damn, how did you even let them get you? You dumb asshole.” “I don’t even know.” He said defeatedly, lifting a hand to his swollen eye. I lifted him to his feet and walked him toward the door. I glanced at him sideways, and with a smirk I said. “See, you don’t always need a plan. They hardly ever work.”


River of Knowledge Wet, cold, tired, and hungry. These feeling I could name. They were solvable and temporary. The emotions swirling inside were less tamable. Embarrassed was just the base line. I was in way over my head, and being surrounded by other people only added to my misery. I’m not sure anything would have been different; it might have been a lot worst had I been alone. But I was used to being alone. It was how I preferred these times. Alas, the population for this adventure far exceeded solo, and I found myself struggling with a near emergency and wresting the inner turmoil that arose from it. I knew setting out on this particular trial that it was well traveled and I would not experience the solitude I normally had on my frequent backpacking trips. I also knew it was a long hike in, and known for steep inclines and declines. Roller-coasters as it were. That was the main reason I picked it. 10 miles in, following along the Big Sur River, I came to see if I was physically capable of managing not only the distance, but the elevation gain/loss. I consider myself an experienced backpacking and avid hiker. Very familiar with my gear, set up, break down, pack weight and supplies. The farthest distance I had done up until this point was 8 miles in. Most of the time I do 3-4 miles in to a designated trail camp with individual sites. This was different. It is a first come first serve dispersed “camp ground”. I put camp ground in air quotes, because it really is just a flat place along the river where you find anywhere you can to lay down amongst the others all vying for the same thing. -------------------------------------------------------------- The trees speak in very soft voices. Almost imperceivable. To hear them, a person must not only quiet their outward self, they must quiet the soul within. What the trees say to the soul is profoundly relevant and meaningful, giving wisdom and guidance to whatever life situation you find yourself in. The trees stand tall, firm, and are incredibly generous with their knowledge and ability to lend strength. Help is like the oxygen they release. It doesn’t take them much effort at all, it’s just something they do, naturally. This is the reason I go out on my adventures. To find and achieve solitude, quiet, stillness, and the peace that comes when my soul communicates with the tree’s soul. Upon my return, each and every time, I come back refreshed, restored, centered, and ready to embrace and engage with life once again. ------------------------------------------------------------- This was not the case during or after this particular adventure. It started out as all the others do. I arrived fairly early, paid and parked, and began loading my pack onto my back, checking the straps, zippers, ties, balance and making sure my shoes and socks were secured to my feet properly. I had everything I needed for an overnight, so I stopped for a brief 5 min meditation calling in fun and safety, and then began by putting one foot in front of the other and continued doing that for many miles and many hours. My pack was heavy, my legs were tired, the view was spectacular. I could see out over the ridge line, across the valley and all the way to the Pacific Ocean sparkling blue in the morning sunlight. Other hikers, some with overnight packs on, some just day packs, and a few runners passed me, I held slow and steady as is my trademark speed. The only speed I have. Stopping for a brief trail snack, I was passed by a few more people and this was the point in which I felt the start of worry setting in. The ups and downs of the terrain, the fact that I wasn’t even half way yet, and knowing my destination was first come first serve, and with the amount of people who were all heading to the same spot as me, a lot faster, brought up a growing concern that by the time I got there, there would be no more space to set up a tent. This was also a new trail and destination so I had only YouTube videos and paper maps to guide me as in what to expect. I took a few deep breaths and tried to focus on the reason I was here. Commune with nature and hear the trees. One in foot in front of the other, I put a few more miles behind me and pressed on. The day pressed on as well. The sun reached a high point and the heat of the day brought out sweat and an even slower pace. This increased my anxiety and lowered my ability to calm my soul and hear the message nature had in store for me. Still, I moved forward. Camp was now only a few more miles, and the sun was heading low with a quickness towards the horizon. My legs felt like two concrete pillars, my shoulders ached, I was hungry and smelled faintly like mountain goat. There was the “camp site”! I made it! Almost. The river, swollen from the recent heavy rains, was between me and resting in my tent. People lined the shoreline on the other side, safe and sound. No bridge. Just a deep swift moving wide body of water. My mind was as fatigued as my body. I had never forded a river such as this and had no clue what was in store. Mustering up all my bravery, I stepped in. Slowly, as the cold water pushed my legs, tested my resolve and drenched everything from waste down, I plotted through and touched dry land on the opposite shore. Dropping my pack, thankful to be unburdened, I dumped my gear out, set up camp within arm’s reach of other camps, crawled inside my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. I knew my body was hungry, and I had brought a meal, but that required boiling water, and I just didn’t have the mental energy for that. All I managed to do was open a pack of tuna and eat it. As the sun left the sky, darkness set in, a few lone stars appeared and I dozed off. Very aware of how close the other backpackers were, and that I was far away from stillness, exhaustion and a mild dread of what the morning would bring set in as a restless sleep carried me until dawn. First light, noise of many others breaking down and packing up, roused me. Groggily I emerged and started heating water for my coffee. I felt many eyes, and try as I might to ignore and just carry on with my business, the close proximity of the others was making me very claustrophobic. I drank my coffee, ate a handful of beef jerky and mixed nuts, loaded up and felt weak beneath the weight of it all. First steps of the 10-mile journey began with the treacherous river crossing. No choice. I had to get back. Short legs, heavy pack, swift water, cold slippery stones, faces of others and their well-meaning unsolicited advice; I was almost to the dry bank, a few more steps... down I went! Pack and all, drench and being swept downstream. Only thought was to point my feet down stream and keep my head up. A large rock braced and saved me from being dragged very far. I clung to it like a frog for dear life as two very kind women started calling out, “it’s going to be ok! We got you!!” With their help I scrambled and clawed my way to dry land. Taking a breath and inventory, realizing how many faces were looking concerningly at me, I felt slightly in shock and didn’t know exactly what to do next. The two women, sweet as can be, hovered over me peppering me with advice and concern. I just sat there. The reality of what I had to do next slowly washed over me. -------------------------------------------------------------- I’m soaking, and so is all my stuff, which has added a considerably amount of weight to an already heavy pack. There’s 10 miles of rough incline/decline terrain ahead of me, and I have no privacy to sort out these swirling emotions of failure, panic, and regret. I wait. I wait some more. I dry out a little. The crowd thins out as they finally decide I’m not going to die and they can get on with their day. This is what strength and determination look like. I strap on my pack, secure my belts and zippers, check my soggy shoes and socks, then one foot in front of the other. Continue for many miles and many hours. I pause for a snack break here and there, feel my resolve faltering, gather myself, call my energy back to focus on the task at hand, as one foot in front of the other maintains a slow and steady pace. -------------------------------------------------------------- As I collapsed at the car and burst into tears, I knew I had not heard a single word the trees had to say. I felt little to no stillness and between the crowd and falling in the river most of the fun had been taken out of my adventure. The fun had been replaced with something different. A deep sense of fortitude. A physical capability that can only shine when there is no other choice. It must. A reliability upon myself, and an understanding of my limits and how I handle and adapt when those limits are exceeded. I did not achieve the quietness of soul that is needed to hear the trees. I did achieve the adversity to be able to hear the depths of myself.


My sister, Kelly, said, “Close your eyes, and imagine you’re in dreamland. It’s a magical place where unicorns bound free, and mermaids swim in the deep blue ocean while playing with their dolphin friends.” While clenching my eyes, I tried to picture dreamland, but I knew that wherever we were was not even close to being dreamland and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t convince myself that it was. I didn’t know where we were or even how we got here and for a second, it seemed like we were in a frozen over hell. It was completely dark, I could barely see a few feet ahead of me, and it was chilly enough that I was shivering. *I don’t want to be here*, I thought. ‘*I know,’* Kelly answered, ‘*I don’t either. I want to go back home. How in the hell did we get here?’* I didn’t know how to answer her question and all I could think of was how Kelly and I were happily playing in our basement before all this happened. Kelly, while searching for Christmas wrapping paper that Mom had asked her to find, had found her old box of Barbie dolls that she collected when she was a preteen. She came back upstairs with the box of wrapping paper and gave it to Mom. Kelly looked to where I was sitting on the den floor and came over to me. I was playing Super Mario Bros. on my brand-new Nintendo Nes, which was an early Christmas present because I got all A’s on my midterms. Kelly sat down next to me and asked me if I wanted to play with the Barbies she found. She had her hair in a side ponytail with a hot pink scrunchie holding it up. She was wearing her favorite oversized Madonna sweatshirt with a pair of leggings and a mini skirt. She looked amazing as always unlike me, and I smiled at her. I was wearing a Metallica sweatshirt and acid wash jeans with so many holes that it couldn’t possibly be pretty like Kelly’s mini skirt. I wasn’t a big fan of Barbie dolls anymore because I was 14 and had outgrown them, but since Kelly was usually away at college and only came home for holidays, I said yes to her and followed her downstairs. Kelly shook me from my daydream and said, “Ok, no more daydreaming for you. We must buckle down and find a way out of this horrible place. Alice, I promise you we will.” I said, “Ok, but how? One moment we were playing with your old dolls and the next we wake up here in this hell. I want my mom.” I started to tear up a bit and she looked at me pitifully. She then knelt down next to where I was sitting on the floor and gave me a big hug. She answered with, “I know, sweetie, but everything is gonna be alright and if we are going to find a way out of here, we will have to work together. I understand that you’re scared and cold, but I’m here with you and I promise to protect you, ok?” I nodded while the tears swelled and made my eyes as red as a rose. I remembered being told that my sister was always protective of me even when I was a baby and she was eight years old. She was always there to catch me if I fell. I was bullied a whole ton throughout junior high and Kelly was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on. Therefore, I believed her when she said she’d protect me. I stood up, still a bit unsure about how exactly we’d find our way out of here, but I trusted Kelly and I knew she would never let me down. She wiped my tears away and thought, ‘*What would Magnum do?’* knowing that I loved Magnum P.I. and that watching his shows always cheered me up. I answered aloud cheerfully as if I had forgotten for a sec where we were, “I think he would investigate and find clues in his own way, of course. Let’s do that.” “Wait, did you just read my thoughts?” Kelly questioned. “What? I thought you asked me what Magnum would do.” “No, I asked myself in my head.” It then clicked with both of us what had happened. Our eyes met and we, in unison, said, “It must be Telepathy. We can read each other’s thoughts. So bitchin’.” Kelly grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the darkness. I couldn’t see anything or hear anything for that matter. ‘*Do you see anything?’* I thought. Kelly answered, ‘*No, nothing. I can’t...’* She stopped mid-sentence and before I knew what was happening, she fell and pulled me down with her. We kept falling and falling. I didn’t think it would stop until I saw a vast hole of light at the bottom. I braced for a hard impact, but once we got to the hole, we stopped falling and a flood of light surrounded us. Kelly and I gently fell, as if we were feathers, into a colorful room and heard children laughing. I landed on my squishy bum and Kelly landed softly next to me. She stood up while stretched her hand out to me and I grabbed it. She then pulled me up. *‘Where are we?’* I thought. Kelly answered, ‘*I don’t know.’* Two boys came out of another room and ran right past us while flying toy planes in their hands. I asked the boys, “Hey, do you two know where we are?” But they didn’t answer me. I walked up to one of the boys and waved my hand in front of his face. He didn’t even flinch. He ran right towards me and went straight through me as if I was mist. I looked towards Kelly and her face was white as snow like she had just seen a ghost. A raspy voice called out to me, “Save these kids or you both will spend an eternity with me in hell.” I then felt the icy cold fingers of death on my shoulder, and I blanked out. When I woke up, I smelled smoke and started coughing because the smoke was as thick as pea soup. I noticed that I was in my basement, again, but somehow it was darker than a moonless night. The smell was overwhelming, and I collapsed onto the basement floor. I used all my strength to call out for Kelly, but I didn’t hear anything back. So, I called again. Kelly came crawling up to me. She looked me in the eyes and said, “Everything will be ok. Someone will rescue us.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. “Alice, are you ok?” brought me out of my trance. “Yeah, I am ok, but I think we’re dead, Kelly. It would explain everything. It would be why no one can see us or hear us.” Tears filled my eyes. Kelly said, “But... But we can’t be dead. I want to finish college and I want to see you graduate high school. It’s not fair.” Kelly then noticed I was crying and wiped my tears away. Kelly gave me a smile and said, “It’s ok, Alice. I shouldn’t be complaining as I need to be your big sister and help you. I can’t be selfish and think only about myself. I love you, little sister.” I stopped crying and said, “I love you, too, big sister. Also, a voice told me ‘Save these kids or you both will spend an eternity with me in hell.’ Do you know what that means?” Kelly shook her head and said, “An eternity? That’s a long time. I say we do what it said too, ok?” I nodded in agreement. I then heard the cute kid laughter again and began to walk towards it. Kelly followed behind me. I moved to another room which reminded of me of a playroom, but it was different somehow. I saw two little girls playing with Barbies. One girl had brown hair in two pigtails and the other was a blond with hair in a ponytail. They both were wearing summer dresses. “Aww...” slipped out of my mouth. The little girl with brown hair looked up and saw us. The blond just kept playing with the Barbies. The brown-haired girl ran up towards us and said, “Hi, my name is Abby. What are your names?” *‘Can she see us?’* Kelly thought. *‘I think so, Kelly.’* I answered. *‘Well, answer her and ask her where we are.’* *‘Ok, I will. Hold your horses.’* I rolled my eyes at Kelly. I smiled and answered Abby, “Hi, Abby. My name is Alice, and this is my sister, Kelly. How old are you and can you tell us where we are?” Abby gave us a huge grin and said, “I’m 8 and you guys are in my basement, silly. Come meet my twin, Angie.” “Ok, I would love to meet your sister.” I said and looked at her sister who has happily playing with her dolls. I went up to Angie. I knelt down beside her and said, “Hello, Angie. My name is Alice, and this is my sister, Kelly.” Angie didn’t even look up at me as if she couldn’t hear me. ‘*I don’t think Angie can hear or see us, Kelly.’,* I thought. *‘I don’t think she can, too. Maybe only Abby can see us’* Kelly answered me. Abby intervened and said, “Angie, remember what Mom said about what you should when a grown-up says hi to you. You can’t ignore them.” Angie looked up at Abby, “What grown-ups? You and I are the only people in here.” Abby got frustrated and yelled at Angie, “Alice is right in front of you and Kelly is standing behind her!” “No one is there. They are just imaginary friends. Either play with me or go somewhere else.” Angie yelled back. Abby, who apparently has a temper, said, “Fine, I’m leaving, and my friends are going with me.” She tried to grab my hand, but her hand went right through mine. Abby froze and asked me, “Are you and Kelly really imaginary?” Abby broke down into a crying fest. I reassured her and said, “No, Abby, sweetie, we are ghosts. We were alive once like you are now, but no longer are. I think we are here for a reason. By the way, what year is it?” Abby wiped her tears away and said, “It’s 2017.” My eyes widened. I thought to Kelly, ‘*It’s 2017. God, how many years is that? I remember it being 1985.’* Kelly answered, ‘*It’s been 32 years. I’ve be 54 if I was alive. Wow, no wrinkles for me, I guess. And you would be 46.’* Kelly always knew how to look on the bright side of any situation. I loved that about her. I decided to tell Abby, who was staring right at me, “Wow, Abby, we’re from 1985.” “Oh, that explains why you look like the people from my mom’s college pictures from the 80’s.” Abby snickered. A familiar smell pressed itself into my nose and I knew exactly what it was; It was smoke, my old enemy and where there is smoke, there is always a fire. “We have to get out of this house right now. Abby grab your sister’s hand and do whatever you have to do to get her out, ok? I smell smoke and I know that means there is a fire somewhere.” I said. Abby said, “I smell it, too. Ok, Angie, let’s go. I heard mom call us.” Angie sighed and said, “Fine, I’m coming.” Abby told me, “Wait, what about my brothers? Lucas and Mikel are playing with their planes down here.” I looked down at her and said, “Ok, let’s find them quickly and get out of here.” Kelly, Abby, Angie, and I looked for Lucas and Mikel. We couldn’t find them, and we hoped that they were upstairs safe. The basement was filling with smoke and we could barely see. We raced up the stairs as fast as we could. Luckily, everyone got upstairs, but we weren’t in the clear, yet. We had to get outside before the fire consumed the whole house, but as soon as Kelly and I reached the door, we both heard, “Good job, but I will be back to test you again.” A bright light reached out to us and we walked towards it as if it was calling us. I saw Grandma and Poppop. I yelled for them and sprinted straight towards them. Kelly quickly followed behind. They gave us a big hug and said, “Welcome home.