thriller

The Light of the Desert
And the wind sang along the dunes, and Malik took a brush against his shabby cloak, and the desert sand was like tiny sparks on his face. This was hours of walking on part of him, in pursuit of the horizon that kept on pushing away. The sun was now setting, and coloured the sky with fire and gold.
By Nusuki3 months ago in Fiction
The Siren of Vanavara
The shack stood out among the snowy forest. Its rotting wooden panels and chipped roof tiles gave way to its dilapidated state. My boots crunched in the thick white powder around me as I drew closer to the door. The windows have been long since boarded up and are caked with dirt. There is no seeing through them to what lies inside. Many people have speculated to the horrors that were locked within those four leaning walls. My mind kept to the idea that it was simply an old shack meant to serve as some sort of a halfway house during travel, or even a temporary lodge for a hunter.
By Gunnar Anderson3 months ago in Fiction
Through 6B. Honorable Mention in Through the Keyhole Challenge.
“I think that’s everything you need to know,” the superintendent said, setting down the bags he’d carried to her new apartment. “6D. Here’s your key. Lose it and it’s a hundred bucks to replace.”
By Steph Marie3 months ago in Fiction
The Willowbrook Home for Foundlings. Honorable Mention in Through the Keyhole Challenge.
Cecil pressed his eye against the pupil-sized hole in the wall as he hunched down in the shadows of the west hall at The Willowbrook Home for Foundlings, which had been his home for the past month or so.
By Aaron Morrison3 months ago in Fiction
What Watches Back. AI-Generated.
Smyrna looked down at her phone and hesitated before pressing the call button. The late-night lights on the street outside glinted in the glass of the front door of Apartment 6B. Up close the door looked ordinary: brushed steel, a small rectangular mail slot, and the wide silver handle. But it was the small oval viewer—set at just the right height—that had drawn her attention.
By Smyrna3 months ago in Fiction
Moonlight for the Homeless
The city was a machine of forgetting. It forgot the names of the people who slept in its doorways, it forgot the faces huddled under its bridges. Kael was one of the forgotten. His world was a tapestry of cold concrete, harsh lights, and the averted gazes of a thousand strangers.
By Habibullah3 months ago in Fiction
Doxxing Shayna. Content Warning.
"Man, what's taking so long?!" "I just need a few more seconds," Pete grumbled, "this is an art, Davey, not a science!" Davey groaned in exasperation and flopped onto Pete's bed, not that Pete paid him an ounce of attention. One hundred percent of his brainpower was laser focused on his computer screen, and his task at hand. His fingers flew across they keyboard at Mach 5, weaving a tapestry of ones and zeroes so beautiful that it would make the old Dutch masters weep. Or, at the very least, his computer science teacher.
By Natalie Gray3 months ago in Fiction
A Long way back
It started through the woven metal screen. The front door was open halfway, which wasn’t normal. You don’t leave your doors open around here. Or your windows, for that matter. Every crack, every crevice is a chance for something to creep in. The hot sand is teeming with life, and your house is a shady refuge better left vacant of the tenants that crawl.
By Thomas Speer3 months ago in Fiction
The Sand Clock That Stopped On Thursday. AI-Generated.
"First, let's agree on one rule: there is no time. What you are reading now might have happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow, or perhaps it is happening the moment you close your eyes. The story does not follow a straight path; rather, it breathes and twists like blue smoke."
By elhacene benmami3 months ago in Fiction
The Light of the Desert: The Story of Bilal ibn Rabah (RA)
Heavy with the sun, with its rays scorching the desert into an oven of light and heat, the sun stood over Mecca. In a small corner near the Kaaba, a man was lying on the ground chained to the burning sand, his back raw from the whip, his lips dry and cracked. Each inhalation was punctuated by pain but from his shaking lips was uttered a word that would not die.
By Nusuki3 months ago in Fiction
The Spirit Box (6)
Chapter 6: The Snake from Heavens Gate I hadn’t even left for work yet when tragedy struck the office. As the early morning light seeped through the windows of the police station, a sudden explosion rocked the building. The night shift officers, not yet clocked out and minutes before their shift ended, scrambled to their feet and drew their weapons as a group of white-clad covered figures stormed into the station, firing shots into the air and throwing smoke bombs while humming chants.
By Alex H Mittelman 3 months ago in Fiction
Story within a Story
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which one or more characters in the main narrative encounter or present a secondary narrative embedded within it. Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes called nested stories. A play may have a brief play within it, such as in Shakespeare's play Hamlet; a film may show the characters watching a short film; or a novel may contain a short story within the novel. A story within a story can be used in all types of narration including poems, and songs.
By HearthMen3 months ago in Fiction