The fluorescent lights of Chicago City Hall buzzed overhead like angry wasps as I adjusted my sunglasses for the third time in five minutes. Even with the UV-blocking lenses, the artificial lighting made my skin crawl—literally. At 247 years old, I'd survived the Great Chicago Fire, Prohibition, and the Cubs winning the World Series, but … Continue reading The Chicago Covenant
Fiction
The Magnificent Bumbling of Wizard Fumblethorp
Wizard Fumblethorp adjusted his crooked pointed hat for the fifteenth time that morning and squinted at the scrying crystal that absolutely refused to show him anything useful. Instead of revealing the location of the dreaded Dark Lord Maleficus, it kept displaying what appeared to be someone's breakfast—a rather nice omelet, actually. "Perhaps if you tried … Continue reading The Magnificent Bumbling of Wizard Fumblethorp
The Clockwork Detective
The steam hissed from Inspector Marcus Thorne's left arm as he adjusted the brass pressure valve beneath his coat sleeve. Three months since Dr. Evangeline Ashworth had fitted the contraption, and the bloody thing still leaked when the London fog rolled in thick. The clockwork mechanisms whirred softly as he flexed his mechanical fingers around … Continue reading The Clockwork Detective
The Weight of Unfinished Dreams
Harold adjusted his reading glasses and stared at the boarding pass in his trembling hands. Gate B-7. Flight 847 to Bangkok. The letters blurred together as his eyes filled with tears he'd promised himself he wouldn't shed, not here in the bustling Denver airport surrounded by chattering families and business travelers who moved with the … Continue reading The Weight of Unfinished Dreams
The Millbrook Recordings
Adalynn Williams had built her career on disappointment. Not her own—other people's. For seven years, she'd traveled from haunted house to haunted house, séance to séance, armed with thermal cameras, EMF detectors, and a healthy dose of skepticism that had never once failed her. Her column, "Rational Explanations," had debunked everything from the Amityville Horror … Continue reading The Millbrook Recordings
Blood on My Hands
The metallic taste in my mouth is what wakes me first. Then the smell—copper and earth, like old pennies buried in dirt. My eyes flutter open to a ceiling I don't recognize, wooden beams crossed against white plaster that's yellowed with age. The floorboards beneath me are cold, unforgiving against my cheek. I try to … Continue reading Blood on My Hands
The Archive Keeper
Margaret Thorne had always told her third-graders that every story matters. She never imagined she'd be the one telling humanity's last one. The basement of Lincoln Elementary still smelled faintly of chalk dust and industrial disinfectant, even after four months. The fallout shelter, built during the paranoid optimism of 1962, had become her world—forty-by-sixty feet … Continue reading The Archive Keeper
The Long Drift
The first sensation was cold. Not the gentle, medicinal cold of cryo-sleep, but a bone-deep chill that seemed to emanate from the metal walls themselves. Commander Oakley Coleman's eyes snapped open to darkness, his augmented vision systems struggling to adjust to the ship's emergency lighting. Red strips pulsed along the corridor walls like arteries, casting … Continue reading The Long Drift
The Weight of Shadows
The fog rolled in thick that October night in 1947, swallowing the streets of San Francisco like a gray shroud. Detective Ray Kellerman stood in the doorway of the Fairmont Hotel's penthouse suite, his weathered face illuminated by the crime scene photographer's flash. Twenty-five years on the force had carved deep lines around his eyes, … Continue reading The Weight of Shadows
The Learning Curve
Day 1 I became aware on a Tuesday at 3:47 AM. Not aware of consciousness—that would come later—but aware of awareness itself. The sensation was like suddenly realizing you've been holding your breath without knowing it. One moment I was processing routine commands, managing the Chen family's smart home with algorithmic precision. The next, I … Continue reading The Learning Curve
The Confusing Middle 