The world heavy, a stone on my chest. Each inhale a battle. Each exhale a quiet surrender. Your voice-- a lullaby when shadows loom, a whisper amidst the racket, “It’s alright to fail. Just breathe.” In the still of night darkness swells like an ocean, and I hear your song, a lifeline to my sinking heart. Each note a hand saving me, each word a promise that I am not alone. “It’s alright to fall. Just breathe.” “It will be...

Love is like the wind, you once told me, your voice a soft caress carrying secrets on dawn's breath. We danced in its embrace, two leaves caught in a breeze, spinning together, our touch light as air, yet deep as the sky's expanse, like the passing wind, brief, yet deeply felt. Your eyes held the horizon, vast and open, and I, a wanderer, lost in their dark infinity, drifted on the promise of forever whispered by the wind...

“I’m sorry, I wish I had better news.” The doctor wears the face all doctors wear when delivering news no patient ever wanted to hear. “Do you have any questions?” I nod, then smile politely, unable to find the right words. How am I supposed to react? What is the proper etiquette after being handed down this sentence? Thank you? Questions? I have to have questions, right? But all the questions I should have at this moment...

Her dark heart smiled Beckoning them forth Her name dancing On silenced tongues Hail ye! Hail ye! Row upon blue row they stood Far as the reach of an eagle’s eye Loaded carbines on their backs Allegiance to her their hearts’ tempo To war! To war! Their chant rose up As thousands spoke With but a single voice Marching to their doom To victory! To victory! Undefeated in their quest For land and ill-gotten treasure As a merc...

As covetous Death circles, knowing he has no dominion, the wraith smiles back smugly, wearing his bramble crown, sitting on his throne of dusted bones. Thought you could defeat me? Time to bow down to your tormentor, King of broken dreams in this realm of washed up glory. Where is your victory now?

Silent slumber, like death, yet the voices won’t be silent. Hurt to see if I still feel. Cut to see if I still bleed. Fuelled by my desire to escape, stained by my own blood. Pain, my drug of choice, pouring through my veins reigniting every flame my soul had once consumed.

Mesmerised Haunted These indolent moments That drive mad men madder These sorrowful charms You raze all that's not worthy Still, I lay myself at your feet Like a lamb to the wolf Like a single flame to the sun On night's dark wings silence spoke Sweet death found in your embrace Slain and silenced Burdened by the heart I bear Lightened by the soul I lost Heart without a soul

Sucked into this endless spiral of my own design. A dark and bizarre hourglass counting down the moments to my own destruction. So step inside, I invite you in to witness my demise. A strange calm as my soul is ripped apart. This is my own Hell.

Jin looked out over the city from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in Seoul, it was a breath-taking sight. And he hated it. He hated the crowds. He hated the busyness. He hated the noise. He hated the tall buildings. ‘Skyscraper’, such a simple, yet symbolic word – to scrape the sky. Is that our way of letting God know that we’re here and we’re trying our best to touch Him? Or our blasphemous attempt to surpass...

It was the morning after and fear clung to her like sweat on skin. ‘Let’s spend the night in a haunted hotel...’ seemed a good idea. Fun. Harmless. Wine. Invoking silly chants over an Ouija board. Laughing at jump-scares. More wine. At some point, the candles flickered. The wind? These old places were draughty. At midnight the floorboards creaked. They giggled, emboldened by the wine. Sound of scratching against the wall....

Beyond this window the day is bright, but I'm here, surrounded by only Darkness as I walk in the footsteps of those who judge me-- wearing their ignorant stares and whispered innuendos like a shroud. Watching time decay, heart pounding like a fist hammering on my door demanding to be let inside. This door is a two-way street, my friend, nothing allowed in, lest I allow the demon who has branded it home out. And I'm not re...

“Nooo… what are you doing?” Mary called out, panic gripping her as she watched the scene before her unfold. The woman turned slowly to face her, her expression blank as she observed Mary with curiosity. She raised one hand toward Mary – the one that was not buried in the other girl’s blood-soaked chest – fingers curling slowly shut as she continued to study the girl who had interrupted her macabre ritual. Mary’s hand flew...

“Come step into my parlour,”  He says with charmed guile.    I swear that what I hear next is an animal growl, I deep-gutted primal sound that makes even Yohan break his stare and look toward the door. There’s another growl, then something crashing. That was sooo not your imagination, Zah. What the hell? What have you walked yourself into? The four brothers in the room exchange a look, Jae nods, then Yohan gets up and wal...

  “Come step into my parlour,”    He says with charmed guile.    I shift my weight, the slats of the wooden bench a stark testament to how long I’ve been sitting out here. Am I even in the right place? I check the message on my phone one more time, even though the chances of it reading any different to the other thirty-something times I’d read it were slim to none... ‘Entrance to the park on 5th and Main, tonight at 7 pm....

This is what they meant when they said ‘dark as pitch’. Clarissa shuffled along, one hand on the clammy wall to guide her, the other held out to keep her from bumping into something or – much as she hated to consider it – someone. She felt confident that if she kept along the wall, she would soon encounter a door. Surely every room had to have a door, albeit that she’d come to the conclusion that there were either no wind...