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Latest Stories

September 18, 2023
General Stories Timothy

Journey Into The Void

In a world veiled in enigma, my route into these depths may have seemed insignificant to others, but it held a certain significance to me. What truly mattered was that I was managing to emerge from this daunting journey with both my life and my sanity intact.…
September 10, 2023
Flash Fiction Sophia Sanchez

Black River

Renton, Washington age 14, long blonde hair, with scabs that ate away at her natural skin on her knee caps. She visits the local river as much as she possibly can, she states that it calls to her. Her parents observe her as she lingers by the shore, admiring…
September 10, 2023
Flash Fiction Benoit

The Kiss

Synopsis – James got lucky. He did not like the airport, no sir. The narrow alley leading out was loud, noisy, and crowded. Two announcements were clashing against one another. Just then, a cart behind him sounded its siren to move aside. When he got to the…
September 10, 2023
Crime Stories Jason Smith

The Bully

 Brad Tuttle was remembered as Jefferson High’s best ever quarterback or the high school bully, depending who was remembering him. He had gone steady with the head cheerleader Tiffany Ziggler and they were voted prom king and queen. He had also been voted…
September 02, 2023
Flash Fiction Gary Duehr

Block 87

There has been a murder in Block 87. A few miles away at PS 52 (Peace and Security branch 52), the gunshot finder pinged faintly at 4:13 pm, a green dot blinking on its screen like radar. A hovercraft with two officers, Badges 1087 and 3495 (a trainee and his…
September 02, 2023
Horror Stories Samantha Brooke

The Abandoned Cabin

Arthur lay in his bunk - unable to sleep both because of the uncomfortableness of his bed, and the uneasiness which swirled within him. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the bed on his immediate right. The silver glow of moonlight which crept in…
August 26, 2023
General Stories Thomas Rokkala

James Jackson

It was 8 a.m in Martinez Commons at U.C Berkeley, James Jackson, who went by Jackson, woke up to his phone ringing. His friend Blake was calling to ask Jackson if he wanted to play Call of Duty Black Ops III. “Get on BO3”(Black Ops III) Blake demanded. “Dude,…
August 26, 2023
Horror Stories Steven Bruce

Ransom

The luxury saloon cruised along the dirt road at forty-four miles per hour. ''Bloody genius,'' Norman said from the passenger seat. ''I don't know why we didn't think of this before.'' Don watched the gothic mansion disappear from the rearview mirror.…
August 20, 2023
Fantasy Stories Dr Adyasha Acharya

The Mayhem City

‘Willa,’ Dale catches up with me as I hurry through the streets of The Mayhem City searching for the lost soul. Mayhem city is not one of your ordinary cities. It is where all the souls who get lost end up. The doors to Heaven and Hell are shut down for them.…
August 20, 2023
Flash Fiction Benoit

Wrest Point 1955

Synopsis – lost property can kill. Loud, Latin music rocked Skelly as he parked at Wrest Point, the epicentre of glamour and fun. That was a quake on the Richter scale of 3, no 4. The rich opposite don’t get much sleep, Skelly mused. He parked carefully since…
August 20, 2023
Science Fiction Stories Nelly Shulman

Welcome Adam

A white mist enveloped the mountains on the other side of the lake. The night of rain has left the lush greenery soaked in moisture and the emerald grass squelched under his feet. Adam smiled because the trees and bushes enveloping the observation post were…
August 20, 2023
Flash Fiction Benoit

Rescue Cinderella

Synopsis – Pan slipped up. Mrs Yu recoiled and screamed: You stink! Get a bath! And clean up this awful mess! She slammed the door, swearing fiercely. Dragons would cower and hide. Oh, and the rent! Pay up! The assault had silenced Pan. For a young man, Pan…

From: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Re: Reduced Sentence for Murder

 

Dear Neal,

 

Thank you for taking the time to work with the police recently.

 

Before I begin, I need to make it clear this message will auto delete 5 minutes from opening or if you attempt to save it. So read carefully.

 

Over the past 3 months you have been working with Detective Pater, from Metro Police. You recorded a series of interviews to aid us in our investigations. And for your generous help with our inquiries you have been promised time off your sentence.

 

The twenty year sentence you received for the rape and murder of Sharon Glass was judged by the courts as sufficient. So, with good behaviour, you’d be out in ten. But once that steel door slammed shut on your first night inside your claustrophobia told you even 10 years in that hell would kill you. So you cut a deal. Confess to 2 unsolved murders and your sentence would be halved and then halved again - pretty sweet, out in two and a half years for the rape and murder of three young girls.

 

Detective Pater came out and went through everything with you. To discover what happened to poor Cindy Russell and Catherine Vine. Recording the interviews of what you had to say. You started coy, unsure how it would play out. The detective won your confidence though. To sign the immunity papers, he gave you that beautiful onyx fountain pen you loved so much and after that you were singing like a bird. Singing for your freedom.

 

“Singing” couldn’t be further from the truth though, could it? The degraded details you revealed on how and where you carried out the 2 unsolved murders feature some horrifically accurate descriptions. I didn’t know you could “slip” while strangling someone and crush their wind-pipe. Or how anyone could rape the dying Miss Russell as “the life went out of her eyes”.

 

 

I say interviews but they have become your confessions. The recordings leave no question to your guilt and confirm, beyond any reasonable doubt, you committed the other two murders. And how heinously you committed them. However, I did laugh during the last interview when you said “I feel like the truth has set me free”.

 

Now, though, it is time for my confessions. Detective Pater is no more a member of the police than you will be a free man. When he came to see you that first time you didn’t check to see if he was from Metro Police, did you? What you can now do is check the prison register - you have been visited many times over the last 3 months by David Paris. “Friend of the Family”.

 

It is my pleasure to reveal the man who conned you was the worst kind of con. A cheap, second-rate actor who I paid off in rye. It’s a crime to impersonate a police officer so I’ll spare you his personal details. But he’ll go back to his own, private hell while you’ll remain in yours. Forever.

 

You can rest easy, the evidence we collected is inadmissible in court so the police will not be receiving copies of your confessions. I am keeping those to drag myself back into darkness whenever my mood brightens. Instead the police will receive a tip-off telling them where to find the bodies of the missing girls. Amongst the orgy of horror you left will be the onyx fountain pen you admired so much. With your unmistakable finger prints.

 

Soon your life sentence will mean life. All that now awaits you is an eternity so ugly, lost and lonely in that tiny steel box you’d be better off just curling up and using your bed sheet as an eternal gag.

 

Do not worry. You are not alone. For the last 4 years I have always had hope my daughter Cindy would be found alive. From your description, I visited her mangled, decayed corpse 5 days ago. Unable to touch her, bury her or bless her, instead of flowers, all I could do was leave that onyx pen. What I saw will be my steel box for the rest of my days.

 

Forever together,

 

Conrad Russell

Father

 

 

My name is Thom Goddard and I am a writer living in High Roding, Essex, England. I previously wrote for the BBC and other television companies. This is my first crime flash fiction.

 

 

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