[ 1. ] Francis awoke to the grey, mid-morning light, which streamed through the blue curtains of his small, boxy room, highlighting the ample dust that floated freely but dully throughout space. The pillow his head was lying on was soaked with what he hoped was sweat. He didn’t want to check. He didn’t want…Read more What is Cravenmoor? – Chapter One
Fiction
The Complex – Chapter VIII: “It’s Chill”
Sarah sighed and got out of bed, swinging her feet onto the thin carpet. It was a half an hour before she actually needed to get up, but sleep had only come intermittently: 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there. Pulling on and zipping up a purple hoodie, she walked over to the frosty window, which looked…Read more The Complex – Chapter VIII: “It’s Chill”
The Complex – Chapter VII: “Oh, For the Love of God!”
The stairwell was silent except for his keys, which jangled and clinked as he strode quickly down the stairs, taking them two-at-a-time. The hallway was different, humming with a vitality unexpected at such a late hour. Walking through the dimly-lit corridor, the dull thump of his footprints could only be faintly heard. They were eclipsed…Read more The Complex – Chapter VII: “Oh, For the Love of God!”
The Complex – Chapter VI: Sophomore Year
Laying in her cramped, twin-sized bed Sarah listened to her house. The storm wouldn't let up. Outside, snow and wind pushed relentlessly against the facade, prompting creeks and moans. Even laying underneath a pile of blankets, Sarah bristled at both the sounds of the storm and the room's meatlocker-like temperature. The sealant around her bedroom's sole window was…Read more The Complex – Chapter VI: Sophomore Year
The Complex – Chapter V: The Application
At 11 p.m., the night felt different than it did at 2 a.m., just like how 2 a.m. felt different from 3. Sitting in the office, he tried to savor the fleeting nature of the night's beginning, something only possible because he knew it would end. The first thing to set in was almost always…Read more The Complex – Chapter V: The Application
The Complex – Chapter IV: A Homecoming
There were times where Sarah knew where she was going, and there were times where she didn't know at all. After leaving work and the apartment complex, she had driven eastward, towards the highway, but had become stuck when her car had come up against a slight, snow-covered incline. Out of frustration, she quite literally…Read more The Complex – Chapter IV: A Homecoming
The Complex – Chapter III: The Circle
The office was located inside a three bedroom apartment that was shared with two clients. Stepping inside, he sighed with relief at how much better the apartment looked at night. The late evening darkness cloaked the room, which masked much of its generally disheveled nature. He walked down the hallway of the apartment towards the office,…Read more The Complex – Chapter III: The Circle
The Complex – Chapter II: Sarah
And so he sat there - with only a few minutes to spare - staring at the snow that continued to amass upon his windshield. By morning the car would be entirely encased, its bulk indistinguishable from the glacial surroundings. He quietly cursed himself for moving back from Chicago. For as bad as the weather was…Read more The Complex – Chapter II: Sarah
The Complex – Chapter I: The Night Shift
Six months had passed since he had accepted the job, a part-time position working nights. The apartment complex where the job was located was one of those relics erected at the height of suburban sprawl, resting on an isolated campus amidst freeways and thoroughfares like a mid-Atlantic island, catering solely to the automobile crowd. There…Read more The Complex – Chapter I: The Night Shift
To Live
Standing wearily in the small, dingy bathroom, with its chalk-white walls and uncleaned mirror, Darren studied his reflection. Sharp angular features, populated by freckles, and flecked with whiskers stared back at him. Sighing heavily, his chocolate-colored eyes drifted towards his bathroom's tub, an unassuming, utterly normal piece of porcelain, its milky color broken only by…Read more To Live