Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Criminal.
The Last Victim of the Black Notebook
I, Timothy Wright, found a magic notebook. I know what you must be thinking: this guy is certifiable. I’d have to question your credibility if you weren’t, but I can assure you that I am not crazy. While it is true that I am currently seeking treatment from Dr. Gregory Burton at the Wells and Associates Psychiatric Facility, I can assure you that I have never been in a sounder state of mine. I would also like to have noted that the only reason I’m getting help is because of a small and incredibly unfortunate misunderstanding with my previous employer. But I’m getting ahead of myself here; that’s another story for another time.
By Anna Dunigan5 years ago in Criminal
Secret Betrayals
The rain gently slid down the passenger side window. The movement of the windshield wipers had become hypnotic in the stillness and painful absence of conversation in the car. “Why is he still not saying anything?” Evelyn thought bitterly to herself as she gazed out the window. Evelyn took a deep breath as she unbuckled her seat belt. As she leaned forward, and placed her fingers on the door handle, James reached out his hand and placed it softly on Evelyn’s left shoulder, “Ev, wait...please.” he said desperately.
By Emily Gafford5 years ago in Criminal
The Custodian
He should have run for the bus. The day crowd would soon be starting their commute into work and he liked to have finished his journey home by the time they started theirs. Security handed the reception desk over to Luca at 9pm. His job was to stay awake and react if something happened. It never did. His real work was on his book. A science fiction story about aliens from Mars landing in New Mexico in the 1940s. Now they are living among us. Trying to stop us from destroying our planet.
By Nathalie Langton5 years ago in Criminal
A vicious cycle
Stacie Fidler, Annabelle Douglas, Amanda Cooper, all are names on a list that tally up. The lives of many widdled down to none. Thirty-seven girls scored on a list, and now there is a new name to scribble in a book. A new victim of his crime. Indistinguishable innocent or the perfect target in time? She didn't survive his heinous hands holding her body in place, strangling her struggling corpse as it squirmed to escape. And the reality is that her life was seen as nothing more than a game. A means to make a name and grow in fame; to prove a point.
By Laura Atieno5 years ago in Criminal
The Space Between the Stars
The stars had always comforted Simon. As a child, he would carefully slip out of his second story bedroom window and lower himself onto a small, steeply pitched patch of roof jutting out over the kitchen window. The rough texture of the tar paper provided just enough friction so that he could lie back and not slide off the edge of the house. And then he would just stare up and wonder and wish.
By Bryan Starchman5 years ago in Criminal
Abandoned Car
It was a cool, dim morning at the hiking trail. No one was around except Liza. She usually likes to take a hike this early so she can have some actual peace and quiet instead of hearing the city ambience. She was daydreaming about opening a forest themed cafe when she saw something odd. There was a car peeking in the bushes. "Is someone fishing around here?”, she wondered; It wouldn't be a surprise. There are always people who try to fish before park rangers can find them. She gets closer to the car and sees the car is empty and clean inside. It was as if the person got it straight from the dealership. On the driver seat, there are keys. She pulls on the car door handle. It's open.
By Courtney Jones5 years ago in Criminal
Silas
The sky was inky red; like the smooth blade of a dagger had cut its belly open, the blood cascading down. The stiff peaks of mountains towered up to greet the sky, framed with an orange glow of the setting sun. Even from this distance, the dappled rays of remaining daylight could be seen filtering through the trees that adorned the mountainside.
By Amber Hobson5 years ago in Criminal
The Cost of Innocence
Calloused fingers caressed the journal ritualistically, sweat and dirt had long since blackened its leather hide cover. Flipping the journal open, revealed one single page, all others torn out. He had no need for the memories held on those pages. His past gone and buried. This final page was all that mattered to him.
By Kaine O'Regan5 years ago in Criminal
The Billionaires Secret
"Lizzy get down!!" yells my best friend Sarah. I see her drop to the floor and not a second later as if something pulled on me, I did the same. As I am falling to the floor, my heart drops. I heard a faint whistle and then the crash of broken glass. Then the realization hit that the driver side window just got shot out right were my head used to be. While I'm on the ground in complete shock, Sarah managed to open the back door. She was half way in, when I hear another faint whistle and Sarah let out a high pitch scream as a bullet tears through her thigh. She pulls her feet in the rest of the way and closes the door. I roll under the car trying to seek shelter from the shooter. From what I could tell they were on the left side of the car, hidden somewhere in the dense tree line. So I rolled out to the right side of the car praying that I didn't misjudge their location. I sigh in relief as I open the passenger side door. Then all I could hear is Sarah's muffled cries. I look at her and see that her left leg is covered in blood. I take off the sweater I'm wearing and hand it to her "put pressure on it, okay". She shakes her head yes and did just that. I turn around to start the car, and in the rear view mirror I see the silhouette of a man standing behind us. He's a few feet away from the car, and he's holding a gun. It's aimed right at us. I start the car and put it in reverse. "Stay down!!" I yell at Sarah as I hit the gas. I head straight for him, pressing the gas pedal as hard as I can. He fires a few shots at the car but jumps over before I could hit him. He's on the floor and looking straight at me as I drive by. I kept going until I was all the way down the driveway of the log cabin we were staying at. I back into the road and switch into drive to pull away. I'm driving as fast as I can to get away. I ran all of the stop signs and red lights, my only priority is to get away from him as fast as I can. We were about 8 miles away from the log cabin when I pullover to the side of the road. I put my hazard lights on and get out. I go to the trunk and grab the med kit my dad packed when we left on our trip. I grab the gauze, medical tape, antibiotics and the tweezers an bottle of water. I walked over to the backdoor and helped Sarah to the edge of the seat to try to fix her wound on her leg. I managed to get the bullet out although the pain had her resisting completely. I wrap and tape her leg up. As I am putting the med kit back, I grab the leather suitcase that we found in the log cabin. "Do you suppose this is what we were getting shot at over?" I asked Sarah as I put it onto the trunk of the car? I opened it, The 20,000 dollars was still there and so was the black note book. I grab the note book and open it to see what's inside that's sooo important that we almost lost our lives. It was so wierd, I just couldn't make sense of it, it was in some kind of code. "We need to go before they find us, and they still have Jess, we have to go to the cops Liz" said Sarah. I shook my head no. "We can't go to the cops, they might kill her if we do" I said. As tears roll down her face she asks "What do we do then?". " Give me a minute, I have to think about it... there's only one thing to do, we negotiate" I answered. She nods her head in agreement as I put the book back and close the trunk. I walk to the driverside door and get in. I start the car and start heading in the direction of the nearest town. "Get comfortable and get some sleep, the next town is hours away and we need to get rid of this car. They will be looking for it" I said as I turn on the radio to tone out the doubtful thoughts I was having.
By Cynthia E. Collazo5 years ago in Criminal
