Strange Brew
One night in a rural area of South Carolina, a scaly, red-eyed creature paused from chewing through a chrome bumper at the sound of leathery wings approaching. "Hey, Gringo!," said the fierce-looking creature as it descended to Earth. "Why are you...
The Augment
**The lithe figure moved with athletic grace and speed almost silently through the woods, keeping comfortably ahead of his pursuers from the secret government installation called only, "the Shop." Their scent signatures were readily discernible to him,...
The Familiar
**The Familiar** The sorcerer Hieronymous stood by an interior window, considering from the parapet the angry mob advancing on his Bavarian castle, his black cat, Bane, perched on his shoulder. It was a standard group of irrate townspeople bearing...
Apocalypse
**Leonard peered out of his apartment window at the gruesome scene on the street below, and pondered that the humans still living didn't deserve his help. They had, after all, mocked and scorned him all of his life, making him feel like a loathsome...
The Way the World Ends...
**Walking along a deserted street near dusk one evening, I became aware of the sound of footsteps some distance behind me. Although I knew it was foolish, I slightly increased my pace. To my discomfort, the unknown walker behind me did the same. I...
World Without End
Roger had regarded his cat, Frankie, to be his best friend, so much so in fact that when the cat died he cremated the body and retained the ashes, stipulating that they be put into his coffin upon his own demise. In accordance with his will this...
Cruelest Cut
Sylvia was extremely unhappy with the work of the stylist at the hair salon; her hair had been trimmed up her neck far higher than she had desired, a fact she hadn't been aware of prior to inspecting the cut in a mirror at home. Bending to stroke...
Trinity
Trinity by ff\_b Located just off the tip of Long Island and six miles from the Connecticut coastline, the Plum Island level-4 bioresearch facility was during the Cold War era a secret government installation reputed to be involved in the...
Anomaly
**Anomaly** by ff\_b Dr. Chan the paleontologist furrowed his brow and mopped beads of sweat from hisforehead. The newly-excavated Tyranosaurus Rex skeleton was highly unusual,with several remarkable features that couldn't readily be...
The Artist
The Artist by ff\_b It was one of those unseasonably warm days in early January when the butterfly flitted onto my shoulder. Those sixty degree days must have caused it to emerge prematurely, I thought. Still it was strange, and I...
Colosseum
**Colosseum** by ff\_b "See Rome and die," Roger's mother had always said. That was hopefully not to say that the visit would be lethal, but rather that Italy boasted so much for a visitor that one could be fully content just seeing the...
Deadfox
On his lunch hour away from his menial, soul-sucking job, Alex blundered upon a downtown store which didn't seem to fit in the 21st century. Drawn like a moth to the flame, Alex ventured into the small establishment, wondering why he had never noticed...