Mystery
Nothing in Stock
The automatic doors sighed open like they were tired of pretending. A burst of refrigerated air hit my face—cold enough to promise milk, to swear on the gospel of dairy—but the first thing I saw was a tower of cartons labeled WHOLE, stacked in perfect family rows, each one feather-light. A woman in a beige coat lifted one, gave it a little shake, and smiled.
By Flower InBloom10 days ago in Fiction
THE EXTRA CHAIR
The first time the chair appeared, it was already set for dinner. Marianne noticed it when she brought the pot roast to the table. There were five place settings instead of four. Five forks aligned like silver ribs. Five water glasses catching the yellow light.
By Ajan Lori Abei10 days ago in Fiction
The Hands That Rocked The Baby Killed Its Daddy
The Hands That Rocked The Baby Killed Its Daddy They said she was gentle. They said she had the softest voice in the ward, the kind that could calm a fevered child with a single hush. They said she was patient. Devoted. Harmless. They never listened closely enough.
By George’s Girl 2026 10 days ago in Fiction
THE QUIET RULE
(A family keeps one simple rule: never go into the basement after 9 p.m. But when something begins knocking from below - patient, deliberate, and alive - the real horror isn’t what’s waiting in the dark… it’s that everyone else has already accepted it.)
By Ajan Lori Abei11 days ago in Fiction
THE SIREN THAT NEVER STOPS
The siren began on a Tuesday at 9:17 a.m. It was a clean, mechanical sound; steady, mid-pitched, not urgent enough to demand panic but too present to ignore. It rose above the hum of traffic and threaded itself through open office windows, bakery doors, classroom vents.
By Ajan Lori Abei11 days ago in Fiction
The Men in Black
The Men in Black The first time I saw them I thought it was a joke. Two men in black suits perfectly pressed standing in the shadows of the streetlamp outside my apartment. I had never seen them before. No one had. And yet there they were waiting. Their eyes were flat too calm like they had seen everything and nothing at once.
By George’s Girl 2026 12 days ago in Fiction
The Weight of the Golden Bough
"The clock has struck three, the coffee is cold, and the shadows are beginning to speak. Welcome back to the desk of The Night Writer. Tonight, we unspool the thread of a hero’s journey to find the person left holding the tangled mess at the end."
By The Night Writer 🌙 12 days ago in Fiction
