Charlotte pushed herself off the blackened street, using considerable effort to do so. Small grey stones stuck to anywhere her flesh was exposed while her knees and elbows were caked in crumbling macadam. She was aware there was heat all around her body, aware of the peaking electricity in the air, no more than twenty minutes from a summer ( Read more... )

Charlotte gasped, finally breaking the warm surface of the water. She heaved a few deep breaths, her lungs burning with the effort, and kept her eyes clenched tight. She let her arms bob with the motion of the sea as her legs instinctively cut the darker water with controlled motions. She wiped the water from her eyes, pinched her nose and exhaled ( Read more... )

Charlotte rose slowly from the sidewalk, a trail of her blood running from the bone around her eye and over her lips then down to the concertina grey rubble. Her cheek held the imprint of the concrete; her left eye rolled in its socket.
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Charlotte looked at the water, so cold and green, and thought about putting her toes in it. It was an unbearably hot summer just passing into fall now. School had started, and Charlotte was just entering high school. She was looking forward to being so adult. She had already met the man who moved in down the road. His name was Gregory, he was ( Read more... )

Rachel didn’t know how much blood the human body held. She figured it to be a few gallons. According to a book she found on her brother’s shelf, the total volume of blood in the average human being is 5.5 liters. Metric didn’t help Rachel much; she was an American with no inherent concept of measurements outside pounds, gallons, and inches. But ( Read more... )

Josef was not a believer in the Final Solution. He was not sure the Jews were a godless fellowship. He did not believe they were dogs, ruthless curs set upon destroying and corrupting the world. But Josef had very few friends, fewer he’d call close, and when his oldest friend, Armin, joined the movement, he did as well. Josef loved Armin, but Armin ( Read more... )

Charlotte would sleep, she decided. It had been a long day, longer than any day should be allowed to be, and the next promised to be even longer ( Read more... )

The weeks preceding Gregory’s accident were a trying time for Charlotte. Her infidelity had put a strain on their marriage. Gregory was working increasingly long hours, often spending his nights away from home. Charlotte had started smoking. Gregory didn’t approve of such vices but he wasn’t around to protest. Charlotte spent her nights watching ( Read more... )

This would be the last time, she promised. The blade was cool and flat in the palm of her hand. It wasn’t a traditional dagger but it would do. She had removed the wooden handle so only the metal remained. That was how it was done, she was taught as a child ( Read more... )

Charlotte hated when she cried. It made her feel stupid and reckless, and she knew-she just knew-it satisfied him to see her tears. Charlotte leaned her head back against the black rock and closed her eyes. The tide brought the water up and over her feet. It was a refreshing feeling, a nigh-holy ablution, and she wished she could summon it on ( Read more... )