Last month, I started my first solo hike on the Appalachian Trail. Growing up, I’d hiked a lot with my Dad, but it was never more than a half-day before we broke off into some activity or went home. But for the last few years,...
My hands were wet and clammy as I looked through the binoculars (field glasses, my mother used to call them), making the subtly curved view of my house jump and shift as I tried to hold on. It was inside with them, watching TV in...
I’ve received copies of the recent writings and recordings of Matthew Calder. I say “copies” because the originals are still in police custody in connection with several ongoing investigations. The writing is presented as is—I literally copied and pasted from the original documents, so aside...
The night was quiet until we got the call that three men were beating a homeless person to death. Dispatch called two patrol units along with EMS, and when the first deputy got there, they phoned me as the investigator on call. I went to the...
Every group of friends has a tradition. If you hang around a specific set of people for long enough, in-jokes will sprout from next to nothing. Routines will manifest out of thin air. Sometimes they’re clever; most of the time, they’re obnoxious, pointless, and asinine. Ours was...
I used to go hiking to clear my mind. It was nothing extraordinary. No backpack, no walking stick, no geo-locator app on my phone - just casual walks through White Leaf park. It wasn’t so much a hobby for me as it was a way to...
Leonard Skye was a bit of a local celebrity in the absurdly small town where I grew up. Hunter, survivalist, general “man’s man,” Leonard was both respected and feared. You would never catch him wearing anything other than jeans, a t-shirt, and flannel. The silver ring...
I met the old man at a Bojangles restaurant. I was about sixteen at the time and had just dropped out of high school with my parents’ blessing. It wasn’t the sort of place where you’d learn much of anything. Aside from how to take a...
“Look out for their eyes, Mom. That’s the first thing you’ll see.” Standing in the middle of a forest in the dead of a winter’s night was usually not my preferred method to wind the day down. With the canopy of branches overhead, the only light...
Dusk had only just settled over the vacant crop fields of Goochland County, a vast, rural, farming area just west of Richmond, VA. The sky was bruised in shades of burnt orange near the horizon that bled into deep reds, purples, and blacks as the...
Part 1 A single white rose quietly fell from her slim young fingers. I looked down and saw it had landed on the dark walnut top of the casket. The beautiful wooden box somehow seemed out of place in the cold contoured hole in the soil....
The gates of hell are open night and day. Smooth the descent, and easy is the way. But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labour lies— — Virgil, 70-19 BC Never did I feel more cast down this dark period of my life. Why...
“In the end, people will not be judged by the darkness they lived in, but the light they rejected.” — Anthony Liccione CHAPTER 1 Dartmoor, England. 1989 The small blotches of blood on his hands had already dried by the time Martin realised he had made a grave mistake. It...
“The world is full of monsters with friendly faces” — Heather Brewer It’s been almost thirty-five years since Danny’s gruesome murder, and the killer has still not been caught. Some say that they never will be. Like many unexplained deaths in the area, Danny’s untimely demise in...
Saturday night. It seemed to take forever to come around. I can hardly bear it, my head buzzing like a kid on Christmas Eve, goosebumps dancing across my leathery skin. “Usual time, pet?” “Please, dear. And don’t forget to feed Alfred.” “Never do, dear. Never do.” Now off you...
My name is David. For as long as I can remember, I couldn’t think of anything to be more ashamed of than my dad. I was a preacher’s son, you see, and my dad always made sure to make me feel awful about something in my...
I first heard the name “Gravity Sphere” uttered at an awards ceremony for my seven-year-old son Joey. The assistant principal, a hefty forty-something woman named Huffner, was rifling through a jar that had small shreds of paper with children’s names on it so she could randomly...
You’ll be told it was an accident. A freak storm that ravaged the Dominican Republic before slamming into us. You might even get to see pictures. Doctored ones showing a menagerie of stragglers being rescued off the coast of the Caymans. That’s if they decide to share anything...
When the pandemic hit, I was sure that I would be out on the street before the end of the first month. I work in a high-profile business, but most of us aren’t in a position to get unemployment. The contracts they make us sign...
Lee was proud of his first apartment. He would have been more proud had he been able to share it with Alyssa, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. He hoped it would come in time if he was patient. They had been dating since...
