Mystery
The Sunken City
The few who survived the flash sauntered along the barren road in a bleary daze. Exhausted and stupefied, a band of ragged and disheveled youths dragged their footsteps along against the blazing heat. The pack was led by a boy of sixteen. Behind him trudged ten, six boys and four girls, all younger and (more unsure of themselves). It was Luke’s naturally assertive and commanding demeanor that convinced the reluctant children to depart from the ruined town in search of other survivors. The troop of kids were playing within an old bunker when death swept across the land and decimated everything within its path. When the deafening crash thundered across the sky, the children hurried up the ladder, and in vain, pushed against the hatch. The howling wind of a thousand gales pressurized against the vault and trapped the children for four days. When the wind ceased, it was immediately noticeable; it was as if someone were clapping cymbals in their ears without pause for days on end and suddenly relented. In fact, the abrupt quietude filled the air almost as quickly as did the howling, and from their restless sleep did the children awaken and anxiously scramble up the ladder. The open air was clogged with a thick layer of sand and sent the children immediately into fits of coughing. The wind, although distinctly calmer, still blew turbulently. The sky was a terrible haze of deep orange and sanguine streaks, and against the dust, the sun struggled to pierce through. Fine sand particles moving through the turbulent gusts of air scratched at the children’s exposed eyes and effectively blinded them, sending the investigation party back beneath the ground.The sand-beaten children sat rubbing at their irritated eyes, while those who had remained underground waited impatiently for a report.
By Jonah Blue Krell5 years ago in Fiction
Reset
“What? Where am I?” I mouth to myself as I’m standing in front of a mirror holding a bloodied bat in one hand and a reindeer mask in the other. Why is my heart racing? Why am I sore all over? What the hell just happened? I lean closer to the mirror to get a better look at my reflection. Even without a good source of light I can see that my face is bruised. The top of my head appears to be bleeding. “Is this my blood?” I wonder. My polo shirt is ripped at the collar seemingly from being pulled on. I feel I have just gotten into a fight... but with who? Where is the other person? My nerves are exhausted, I can feel my body has been panicking for longer than I remember. The muscles on my body are so tightly clenched, I can barely take a breath without shivering. Unless I find out what’s going on I’m not sure this will stop. I reach for my pocket and pull out a remote and a heart locket. I fidget with the remote for a bit but it doesn’t seem to respond with anything so I set it down. The locket is pretty plain and has a picture of a man and who I would guess is his daughter. “Why do I have this?”
By Evan Hernandez5 years ago in Fiction
Steps
"Six-thousand eighty-three... Six-thousand eighty-four... Six-thousand eighty five..." The pavement had long lost all feeling for Edward's feet. At some point the thought had occurred to him that he used to be concerned with what shoes he was wearing, but even that seemed like ages ago now. The highway was a straight shot south and had no visible twists or turns as far as he could see. He found that counting his steps made time pass with much less effort, and at any rate most of his thoughts had dried up some time ago. Fields of wheat swayed in the breeze around him.
By Ian Coleman5 years ago in Fiction
May She Always Reign
They struck the death blow at dawn. Always dawn. First, warning signs -- smaller attacks, traps, isolated kills. Scouts would return, shaken, with stories of intruders threatening our hunting ground. As summer wore on, fewer and fewer would return at all. Then, attacks at home -- the enemy would threaten the colony directly, once they found us. Their children would throw rocks at our walls, emboldened by their long-time military superiority. We tried desperately to defend our home, but attacking the young only brought our ruin faster and harsher. Eventually we gave up, fleeing even the smallest of them on sight. We knew we were no match for their warriors, and they always defended their young, no matter who made the first strike.
By Amelia Grace Newell5 years ago in Fiction
The Caves
I don’t know what happened first, opening my eyes or not being able to catch my breath. My head swivels around and I can’t see much. There’s a sliver of light that creeps through the roof of the small, enclosed space around me. It’s a...pod. I try to move my arms to feel for a latch or handle to get out but I can’t lift them. My heart beats so fast I think it’s going to thump out of my chest. I slightly lift my right hand to feel--there’s a heart shaped locket in my hand. It’s warm and clammy, rusted now.. My hands are trembling so bad I can’t open it. I feel so weak. I can’t. I give up. All I notice now is the subtle, warmed metallic smell from the old locket that fills the pod. How long have I been in here? As my mind draws a blank I hear a thud that sounds far off but is close enough to make the pod vibrate. I imagine this is what small earthquakes feel like. The sound is followed by smaller thuds and screeching. The screeching gets closer and closer. It’s so close now I hold my breath in anticipation of what comes next. Something hits the metal on the outside of the pod and drags, making a squeaking noise. The sliver of light disappears for a few seconds. Once the thing being dragged across it passes it leaves a film, diluting the light. The thuds and screeching continue for a few more minutes and die off into the distance. Finally allowing me to have a moment of calm.
By Magdalen Davidson5 years ago in Fiction
Beyond the Grave
Year 2023 Somewhere in the desert of Southern California (Faint sounds of Bullets and explosions in the background) When I was a little girl, I would constantly eves-drop on conversations my parents were having, late at night after they thought we had gone to bed or were out of earshot, I would hear my dad talking about the end of the world- he was notoriously falling asleep in 'his chair' watching something on the History channel about Nostradamus or the apocalypse or some sort of 'doomsday' phenomenon. It used to drive my mother crazy.
By Shelly Modica 5 years ago in Fiction
The Locket
The early morning light filtered in through the cracked bedroom window illuminating the dusty space. Rebecca knew darkness, so the scant light was no issue for her. Slipping out from under the oversized flannel she’d poached from some trendy vintage shop weeks before, Rebecca rose from the bed and padded towards the window. Outside the sky was a sharp sketch of pale yellow light against a dark grey skyline. The city had never looked this menacing, this stoic before; something about the lack of people made the city feel more like a morgue than the streets she was used to running. The city was empty. Rebecca knew that. When the lights went out and the world stopped, everyone ran. Panicked. Families fled their homes, looters ransacked shops and apartments, and violence surged. The pandemic had made people scared of going outside, of being a part of society, a reality that had made it harder for Rebecca to live the way she needed to. What good is being a pickpocket with no crowd to pick, or a con artist with no naïve tourist to scam? This was different though; the pandemic had made a hard life harder, but now, with the threat of death lurking in the eyes of every stranger, violence in every shadow, with everyone willing to do anything to survive, now Rebecca was scared.
By Elizabeth Waller5 years ago in Fiction
Persevere
Beverly Hills, it was a normal day. Some would even say it was better than normal considering Jenny was named Top Lead in her Firm. She walked into her office with the biggest smile on her face pulling her phone out of her pocket to text her boyfriend Chad. “Jenny,” Cloe said, rushing into her office. “ We are taking you out to celebrate. How soon can you be ready,” Cloe said, smiling from ear to ear. “Umm sorry Cloe I have plans with Chad, he's taking me to some new fancy restaurant on Sabe Street,” Jenny said trying not to sound too excited. “No worries we have all week to celebrate,” Cloe said, rushing back to his desk. Jenny packed her things and headed for the door. She wanted to hurry and get home before Chad made it there to get her. Rushing off the elevator Jenny bumped into a man causing him to fall on the ground. The man was very old and looked as if he had been homeless for years. “Excuse me Mr. How clumsy of me,” Jenny said, helping the old man to his feet.” How eager a real tomb.” The man said, looking Jenny in the eyes. “What was that?” Jenny asked, leaning in closely. “Nothing,” the man said, stumbling away. Jenny stood there as if she had heard something she couldn't make out. Turning around to head for the garage she stepped on a box. “Sir you dropped” Jenny tried to stop the man but he was gone out of the door. Jenny put the box in her pocket and headed out to the parking garage where her car was. Jenny all of a sudden felt a pain rush through her hand. The pain was so intense it caused her to scream. Jenny gathered herself and got into her car. She couldn't help but keep thinking about what the man said to her. Jenny's phone began to ring which startled her. Pulling out of the car garage. It was her mom, “We have to move today, the governor made the call”. Her mother said, sounding very disturbed and almost as if she was being controlled by a computer. “What.. what mom, what are you talking about going where? Jenny said, pulling out of the parking lot. Her mom hung up the phone. Jenny tried calling back but didn't get an answer. She then tried calling her boyfriend and didn't get an answer. Oh my god, what has happened. The streets appeared very different lights were flickering as she drove under the lights. Everything appeared to be being controlled by a computer. Jenny rushed to her mom's house first. When she arrived the house was empty. It was as if there was no one ever there. No plants, no birdhouses, no dog houses. Everything seemed to be controlled by some kind of computer. Jenny's phone began to ring and it was her boyfriend Chad. “ JENNY'' he screamed, ''take it back please you have to take it back now”, yelling and almost crying her boyfriend begged her to take it back. “What is happening, take what back, Chad something weird is going on in my mom's house is different,” Jenny said screaming and almost crying. “You are in a game you have to surv-” Before Chad could finish his sentence the phone hung up. Jenny tried calling back three times only to get a voicemail each time. Jenny had no clue what was going on. She jumped in her car and started to drive. She had no clue where she was going. All she could think about was Chad screaming to “take it back”. Jenny took her phone and dialed 911. “Hello please, someone has to help me, something is going on and I am not sure what to do” Jenny screamed on the phone. “You have to play the game, no one can help you until you survive.”. The officer repeated the word “survive” over and over again until Jenny hung the phone up. Laying the phone on her seat she saw something lighting up in her coat pocket. Pulling her car over she took the box out that the old man had dropped right after she bumped into him. “What is this?” she mumbled in her head while opening the box. It was black and glossy, this wasn't just any kind of gloss it was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen. It was as if it had some kind of spell over it. It was something that couldn't be explained. A black heart locket that glowed. Jenny couldn't help to think that the locket had something to do with what was going on. She tried to open it but it appeared to be solid shut. A text message appeared on her phone. “You were chosen, we see you found the locket now, activate it and survive” Jenny threw the locket on the ground and started her car up. Tears flowed from her eyes as she tried to wrap her head around the emotions bubbling in her body. She drove back to her office only to find a completely empty building. On the building read to follow the clues. Jenny kept replaying in her head what Chap had said she then thought about her entire last 24 hours. “Am I going crazy what is happening?'' she said, sitting in the car in front of the empty building. Her phone began to ring again. This time it was her coworker Cloe. “ Jenny oh Jenny I'm so sorry this happened to you,” Cloe said yelling and trying not to cry. “ Cloe what is going on where are you, please come help me. I have no clue where I am, everything is different”. Jenny said yelling to the top of her lungs. “ Listen closely to me you have to find the homeless man you are in a game run by the government they picked you to do the test you have to find the old man the locket will lead the way. The locket is the key to everything”. Cloe said to Jenny as she started to cry. Where am I don't know what you're talking about? Before Jenny could finish her sentence the phone hung up and the locket began to glow. Jenny picked the locket up and the words immediately “ How eager a real tomb.” The exact words the old man had said to her after she bumped into him. Another text appeared on her phone. “Lookup in the sky, you should see a light your family is watching you from their TV screen. The moment you picked up that locket you went directly into a film ran and controlled by the government. We are designing a new game for the elderly. We are testing the game out on real humans. If you convince the old man to remember who you are, you will be set free. His name is “Heart” and he suffers from memory loss. The black heart locket is the only key to getting out of this dystopian city. Make him remember who gave it to him, follow the clues. Jenny looked in the sky. At first, she didn't see anything but as she looked closer she saw Chad, her mother, and Cloe all looking down at her.
By Jasna Pickett-Allison5 years ago in Fiction
