Chapters tagged impregnation

by Zeebop

Chapter 2

Anya lifted the nearest candle. It was black, small, and when she held it in the palm of her hand the others could see the strange sigils inked into her skin. She stared into the flame as if she could see something in it the others could not. "Many people do not believe in the o...

by Zeebop

Chapter 6

Latoya already had her candle in hand, as Leroy doused his. She leaned against her brother's shoulder, the patch of vitiligo along her chin catching the light of the small flame, even as her flat cap hid her eyes from view. "A good story about how one step into darkness can lead...

by Zeebop

Chapter 12

Leroy's long fingers stretched out to snatch a thin white candle, holding it in his hand like a Frenchman holds a cigarette...and smiled. "We all think we like secrets. That we want to know what people have locked away, even if it's something uncomfortable. Nasty, even. Sometime...

by Zeebop

Chapter 13

"Of course, the story of Andrew and Andrea isn't a closed book," Latoya said, as she picked up her own candle. "Quite the opposite. While Andrea was busy with the baby, Andrew just couldn't help himself. A new chapter was opened in their life, after all. It was time to turn the p...

by Zeebop

Chapter 18

Roberta took a deep breath, then leaned over to lift another candle. Its soft white glow seemed to form a halo for a moment. "In my studies of parapsychology and unknown phenomena, I have often wondered if truly is an end," she said, her voice suddenly cold and sepulchral....

by Zeebop

Chapter 19

"Sex and horror go hand in hand," Leroy said, as he threw an arm about Latoya's shoulders. "Fear and lust are both states of excitement. There are moments of pain so intense that they verge on pleasure—and they speak to something primal within us. Some instinct deeper than reason...

by Zeebop

Chapter 21

Miu rose from where she sat, on the steps of the shrine, and walked over to a candle that rested on a particular gravestone. "Generations. It is what binds past to future. We are all our ancestors. I am reminded of another story that took place in this very graveyard, on this ve...

by Zeebop

Chapter 27

Latoya's smile was as wicked as her brother's face was somber. She leaned over to grab a candle. "It didn't end there, of course. The boy, Hermes. What do you think happened when his mother died? Auntie told me what happened with... > THE BOY WITH THE THREE GOLD RINGS Hermes T...

by Zeebop

Chapter 35

Miu stepped into the shrine, and bowed her head slightly before she picked up a candle on the topmost step. None had been laid inside the shrine itself, which was dark. "The first Japanese here had no priest. Later, though, a need was felt. For prayers, for exorcisms, for weddin...

by Zeebop

Chapter 41

"Nothing lasts forever. The sleepers must awaken sometime, the laughter ends, the spunk drips out of the spent cock for the final time," Latoya said. Her brother, Leroy, handed her a candle. "So it was with Marcus and Antonia. In a story I call... > ADHARMA The television playe...

by Zeebop

Chapter 49

Miu rose to find the next candle. She selected one that was slender and listing badly. The light was reflected in her eyes. "Times change, but the cemetery remains. So, customs must be adapted to deal with new laws, new ideas. In such moments, there lies opportunities. So was it...

by Zeebop

Chapter 51

Anya picked up a candle. She held it in front of her in her right hand, as her left touched her chest. "There are images on my body I cannot show you. That aren't for the uninitiated," she said softly. "People think it strange that an image could do anything except shock or titi...

by Zeebop

Chapter 57

Jason cracked open another beer. Was it the growing darkness that gave his eyes a haunted look, or simply a memory? The others leaned forward a little as he began to speak, softly at first, and then loud enough for them to hear. "I told y'all about Amelia, the Leech Girl," he sa...

by Zeebop

Chapter 81

"Many people need help in their marriages," Roberta said, a hint of tiredness in her voice. She rose and found the shortest candle, the one nearest to going out. "And they do not always appreciate that help, but may benefit from it anyway. Such a thing happened in this very town....

by Zeebop

Chapter 87

"There is more than one way to raise the dead," Asenath said with a smile. "As a friend of mine at university found out. Money was an issue, and she answered an advertisement for a job that would pay her schooling, room, and board for the rest of the year. This story I call > TH...

by Zeebop

Chapter 88

"Fertility," Roberta said, as she held a candle in both hands. "Reminds me of a strange case I had. Unusual. Detective Oldman called me in during the investigation. I call it > THE CASE OF THE MANDRAKE ROOT The bloodstained mattress was the centerpiece of the scene. The...

by Zeebop

Chapter 92

Jason selected the nearest candle. Held it in his cupped hands, elbows on his knees for an uncomfortably long moment. At last, he broke the silence. "Let me tell y'all about > ZIPPERLIPS We had a dancer working the pole in the regular shows. How much she took off in a show dep...