NewPseudonym

Simply say the word, and I’ll be to you as Lenore to Edgar - nevermore will you hear my name, except as a terrified whisper into the dark.

 Andy was wandering about an art museum. He had been going on a tour – he wasn’t entirely sure why, he just made the decision on impulse – but he found the tour guide boring and the other visitors somewhat annoying. So, he separated from the group and started wandering by himself. He wound up in a room with only one painting in it. There was open space on the walls all around the room, and only the one painting hung on the wall. The painting stretched nearly floor to ceiling, and depicted a sole man in casual clothes against a black background. There was nothing particularly special about the painting, the man in it was

 The duel ring was abuzz with chattering. The viewing platform was filled to the brim, with countless scientists and military officials stuffed in like sardines. The whole room had been built as scientists had once again taken up the tradition of dueling to settle their differences, though the audience was usually smaller, and the platform creaked under the weight of so many people. A duel was a rather appropriate measure for the specific issue at hand. Some scientist had recently invented a kind of energy field, and it had been developed into a kind of full-body shield. The particular disagreement was between two other scientists, Doctors

 The sun was beginning to set. It couldn’t be seen through the gray clouds spread across the sky, but it was hanging just above the horizon. The encroaching twilight dimly lit the beach and the town beyond, the wind bringing the scent of the sea inland, the waves lapping not-so-gently at the shore. A girl walked alone down the private beach, hands in the pockets of her hoodie, head bowed against the wind, the sand cool beneath her bare feet. Lena had run away from home again. Her friend Devon drove her down to her family’s beach house, to get away from her parents. She wished he had stayed, if only so that she wouldn’t be

 Will walked through the streets of the inconsequential village he had found himself in. He went as fast as he could without appearing to be trying to escape. In truth, he was more excited to leave than anything else. Still, he couldn’t ignore the weight of the strange satchel on his belt. The satchel was red and black, in contrast to the gold-trimmed blue and green he wore. With luck, nobody would notice the discrepancy. Even if someone did, everyone thought Will was rather eccentric anyway, so he doubted they’d be suspicious. Still, Will was eager to leave. The contents of the satchel, and the panic stretching across the kin

       Becca ran down the street, the sun quickly setting behind her. Her bare feet stung and bled from smacking against the asphalt, having discarded her high heels miles back. She had finally gotten back to her neighborhood, but was still a ways away from her house. She wouldn’t get back before the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.                She had been crying “HELP” since she had gotten into town. The houses all around her were inhabited, though one wouldn’t know based on looks; there was nobody else outside, the doors and windows were all boarded up, and none of the lights were on. Nobody came out to hel

Sterling's eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw the headline. I picked up another paper and started reading aloud. "Yesterday, around 10 PM and in broad daylight, a group of teenagers was attacked by what witnesses describe as a large dog or wolf. Over the past month, wolves have been frequently sighted, though there is no indication of what prompted this aggression, or if this attack is related to the strange incident last month in which an unknown large animal left twenty-two students from a local high school injured and one dead. The victims of the recent attack have all been hospitalized but are in stable conditions." I started t

Elizabeth led Erin into the large stone building. Elizabeth was trying to say something, but Erin couldn't pay attention to her. There was something in the air, a buzz or hum that she didn't hear so much as she felt. Erin mindlessly wandered into the center of the large foyer where the buzzing was the strongest. She stood in the center of an elaborate design on the floor, a large circle that was half sun and half moon, with four rays radiating from each side, each ending with another decorated circle. The eight circles around the perimeter were each unique and each had a distinct symbol within, though they were unrecognizable to Erin. For a

I was just wiping a mugger's blood off my hand when I got Lenore's text: He's here. I told the nice old woman that she didn't have to pay me, and I had to let the mugger run away before I ran in the direction of the abandoned church. When I got there, Lenore was by a nearby tree, playing with a little cat. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it must have been the person we were looking for. I sneaked as close as I could, and tried to bark like a dog. The cat-person found me convincing enough, judging by how quickly he darted up the tree. Lenore half-heartedly threw a rock at me, knowing I would catch it. "About time you showed up.

Erin awoke to a faint light streaming through the open window. She shivered as the cool Autumn air blew in, so she quickly got dressed under her covers. Stepping into the hallway, she saw Elizabeth. The other girl turned and ran toward her. For a moment, Elizabeth was her sister again, and she was surprised to see a smiling face devoid of scars. Then she remembered where she was and who she was looking at. She had to stop herself from crying. As Elizabeth got closer, she noticed that Erin seemed upset. "What's wrong?" "Nothing," Erin told her. "Just tired. And cold," she added as she started shivering again. Elizabeth seemed unconvinced, b