The lodge was already crowded with other cabin tenants, and someone had started a small fire in the fireplace. The warm flames crackled contentedly in the hearth and people milled around talking and laughing. There was a refreshments table near the stairs, and Greg pulled me toward it. I pulled l...
It was unlocked and led to the kitchen and rear passages into the main portions of the castle. The kitchen was sturdy with a stone floor and walls. Brick ovens were set into the left-hand wall and a stove occupied the opposite wall. In the center was a large wooden table. Utensils and pans hung f...
"There you two are!" she scolded as she hurried up to us. There was a cigarette in one hand and a hot dog in the other. It was a surreal moment, but she did an admirable job of switching between the two. "I thought you had abandoned me to a life of solitary!" That wasn't possi...
Something caught my eye, and I could barely make out a faded name etched ever so slightly into the metal. "Ezekiel Laughton," I read aloud. I furrowed my brow. "Laughton." I snapped my fingers as I recalled that was the name Alistair had given to Luke's family. "Wonder who this Ezekiel guy was. ....
In a few minutes I was in a taxi and on my way home. The buildings passed by in blurs as my mind reeled with Johnny's news. The dead bodies, all those people. I wondered if anybody else had survived, if anybody else could corroborate my terrifying story. My mind took a break from panicking and gl...
I groaned and groped for a blanket. My hand pressed against something more firm and definitely not fluffy. I forced my eyes open and blinked into the bleary face of David Dives. I yelped and shoved myself away from him. Unfortunately, that also shoved me out of the small quilt that lay over us. T...
It was mummified with police tape so I couldn't look inside, but I still remembered every detail of that mess. Garrison stepped up beside me, and glanced between the door and me. "I hope you haven't had any nightmares from the experience." I shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I think ...
Not overweight, just big boned and under-short. This was an anomaly in our office full of sticks and bones, and hurtful words. The other girls talked about their weight-loss diets and gym memberships, I talked about watching movies with a bowl of popcorn in my lap. I was thrilled when Twinkies we...
I wasn't scheduled to work that night at the diner, but one of my coworkers slipped on a packet of ketchup and sprained her butt. That's why I was called in to fill her position that dark and stormy night when he showed up. It was the usual chaos around the diner, a dirty little place off the int...