fiction
Mystery, crime, murder, unsolved cases. Contribute your own tales of crime to Criminal.
Contract #87
It all started with an unpleasant surprise. Sure, most of you would call an unmarked envelope with twenty grand of sweet smelly cash in it everything but unpleasant - but honestly, it freaked me out on the spot. Right there, sipping my morning coffee and preparing for another busy day, this envelope in my postbox was among the worst things that could happen.
By Ivan Ertlov5 years ago in Criminal
I.O.U.s
A young man standing in the blinding beam of a street light stands inches from his front door. Clearly settling his nerves, he stares into the house’s void. Slowly, he unlocks and enters, sliding inch by inch until he clears the door to lightly close and then lock behind him. He takes a moment to look into the darkness past the fish tank’s glow in his living room and decides to journey on.
By A. L. Glover5 years ago in Criminal
Red Snowflake
Blood splatters dressed as bloody red snowflakes had invaded her dreams since early childhood. They appeared on her windows and walls no matter what the season. The dreams faded for a few years but came back strong around the time her Dad died when she was a teenager.
By Freeda Babson5 years ago in Criminal
The Debt Collector
I wrote his name in my little black notebook after our first encounter. James Sturgeon. Like the fish. The final name in my list of victims. Names I could call upon at a moment’s notice when I found myself in need, so to speak, which was more often than I cared to admit.
By Robyn Neilsen5 years ago in Criminal
Uneasy Money
It was a chilly February morning. Saturday, the day he was supposed to be off, but there he was at the shop, and by himself at that. He was fine with it, he was a lone wolf, anyway. He found people to be annoying, and it was amazing that they would practically blurt out their life's story in places like the line at the supermarket, This old rural waste of a town, where most of the factories had closed, and the population had made way for petty criminals and dollar stores. He was stuck here, with a wage that twenty years ago would have been considered bordering on rich, but now barely meets the middle class, and few connections.. He had more in mind than this, he thought as he banged through his work, pressing this, programming that as the aluminum bars formed into parts, based on what he told it to do. He reflected back to just a couple of years prior, when the old boss used to hand crank the machine. He chuckled out loud, what a sap. People were so averse to change that they would rather hand crank and get burned by the little bits of metal than be able to use a simple computer program and be able to do other things, like sit in their office watching porn.
By compassion245 years ago in Criminal
Something Went Wrong
I wake up lying on a cold, hard basement floor in a room I don’t recognize. In fact, I don’t recognize much of anything, including the man completely prone next to me. My head is aching, and when I touch my right hand to my temple my fingers come away with blood. That may explain the most important thing I can’t reconcile… Who the hell am I?
By Amanda Shea5 years ago in Criminal
Misfortune
Kana- My alarm went off at 5am on a Saturday morning. I woke up, and brushed my teeth. I got dressed, wearing a black and green zebra striped Nike Pro sports bra, black Nike Pro capri-length weighted leggings, black Nike Crew socks, and green, teal, and white Nike running shoes. I put my red bicep-length hair with blonde ombré in a braid and stuck my AirPod pros into my ears.
By Jade Zemlock5 years ago in Criminal
The Execution of Marissa Wilkes
November 3rd, 1975 Reed Thatcher never wanted to become a journalist, on the contrary, he wanted to become a novelist, a mystery novelist to be exact. His parents, on the other hand, saw that career as unrealistic and gave him an ultimatum, either pursue a more realistic career or go without their help in school and possibly failing. So, of course, Reed broke and gave into his parent’s demands.
By Kasey Ratliff5 years ago in Criminal








