As I walked up the gravel driveway to the house, I had some time to look around. The oak trees lining the drive were huge, craggy, and ancient. They were draped in Spanish moss, the long gray tendrils hanging down from outstretched branches like thick spiderwebs, in some places so long that they touched the ground. It gave the trees a majestic grace, but also looked a little creepy. Like they should be a graveyard somewhere. This late in the fall, most of the leaves were gone, littering the ground. They had not been raked, even from the gravel driveway, and in some places they covered it so thickly it was hard to see gravel at all. Continue reading →

“Hi, you’ve reached the voice mail of Carolyn Wilkowski. Leave me a message, and I’ll call you back!” Her voice sounded cheerful and chipper, quite different from how it had sounded on the message she left me.

“Darn,” I muttered, and waited for the beep. Continue reading →

I woke up in a cold sweat at three in the morning, fighting with my blankets. I was hyperventilating and shivering, and the shadows in my bedroom, cast by the streetlight shining in through the blinds on my window, looked sinister and threatening. Apparently my subconscious was not a fan of being shot at, and had decided to let me know by giving me bad dreams about shadowy attackers.

I reached to my nightstand and turned on the light. I was alone, of course. The room looked a lot less scary with the lights on. I took a deep breath, and tried to relax. Continue reading →

I was still sitting on the curb when the cops showed up. Or rather, when they drove past. The police car flew through the intersection at the end of my street, lights flashing and siren wailing. And kept going.

I blinked. The sirens faded into the distance again, clearly headed somewhere else. Continue reading →

The gun went off with a bang, and I flinched. Well, obviously.

I also kind of expected to die. Or at least hurt a lot.

I didn’t. Continue reading →

It was after midnight when I got off the train at the metro stop closest to my house. I climbed the from the metro station to the street slowly, still a little wobbly from that last beer. Well, let’s face it. I am a bit of a lightweight, and I had probably had at least three too many.

My phone beeped. I pulled it out and looked at it as I walked. Apparently I had missed a call. I did not recognize the number, but there was a voice mail. I must have missed the call while I was in the subway with no service. Continue reading →

I took another sip of my beer, set down my glass and leaned back in the wooden chair. I glanced around the bar, soaking in the feel of it.

The place was small, and crowded even this early. It was Friday, after all. There was already a line to get to order from the single bartender, a college aged guy with a shaved head, a full beard, and a pierced eyebrow. Continue reading →

I got off the metro at the King Street station, and walked the four blocks to that lawyer, Mr. Johnson’s, office. It was getting cold out, and the wind was whipping down King Street from the West, gusts carrying bits of paper and fallen leaves and cutting through my coat. I shivered, wishing I had worn a heavier coat. It was already late fall, but it had been warmer in the morning.

Heh. Welcome to Northern Virginia. Summer in the morning, winter in the afternoon. Continue reading →

I think it all started with the crow.

Until I saw the crow, everything was normal. A normal life, with a normal job. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary.

That all changed when I first saw the crow. Continue reading →

It is amazing what a person can become used to given enough time and exposure. For example, I woke up to find a vampire in my living room this morning.

Most people would have been somewhat bothered by this, to say the least, but probably not for the same reason I was. A few years ago I would have run screaming, or possibly fainted.

I mean, living dead! Gasp! Continue reading →