In this story the angel of death, who has taken the form of a precocious eight-year-old girl, tags along with Private Fudgerié and his team of marines as they sweep for roadside bombs in Afghanistan.In this short story by award-winning author Andrew Barger, a precocious eight-year-old girl tags along with Private Fudgerié and his team of marines as they sweep for roadside bombs in Afghanistan. The little girl, however, is not all that she seems.

My name is Ishaara Daldien. If I am not dead already, I likely will be soon. I do not know where I am, but I suspect I am between realms. Perhaps above them? Is this the place of which Gabriel spoke?Gabriel. I will find you. I will find a way out, but it will be a way forward. As you found a bridge, I will build one. I will build one, cross it, and make you answer for what you have done.My name is Ishaara Daldien. If I am not dead already, I likely will be soon. I do not know where I am, but I suspect I am between realms. Perhaps above them? Is this the place of which Gabriel spoke?Gabriel. I will find you. I will find a way out, but it will be a way forward. As you found a bridge, I will build one. I will build one, cross it, and make you answer for what you have done.But to do that, I must reflect. I must remember all that brought me here if I am to see a way out.

She heard the sound of a thousand angry insects, chattering, and an ominous voice, “She will join us or she will die.” Everything had changed and Lexi found herself on the losing end far too often recently, something she was not accustomed. And the insect sounds were getting louder. Was Lexi losing her mind or suffering from a severe case of...Entomophobia?She heard the sound of a thousand angry insects, chattering, and an ominous voice, “She will join us or she will die.”It was a dream. And for a while, Lexi believed that. In real life, she was a winner. She didn't just compete, she excelled. Lexi didn't care about being popular; she cared about winning. And Lexi wasn’t about to start losing to the new girl. Each time Jill won, it bugged Lexi. When the new girl started winning over Lexi’s friends, it set Lexi's skin to crawling. And the dreams were getting worse. Was Lexi suffering from simple jealousy or a major case of Entomophobia?

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . . For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive. Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Cole was ecstatic when her little sister Morgan left for science camp at the University of Michigan – anything that would get Morgan out of their horrible foster home for a few weeks. Little did Rachel know that life as she knew it was about to change forever. A suspected biological terror attack has spread over the northern half of the country causing the dead to reanimate and attack the living. The sudden attacks have catapulted Middle America into an all-out war zone. Zombies have swarmed the City of Flint and Rachel must battle through the infected streets to rescue Morgan. Along the way, Rachel meets Cage Vance – the local star quarterback dealing with his own personal demons. Rachel is immediately attracted to Cage, but who has time for love during the zombie apocalypse? Can Rachel and Cage’s small group of friends survive the journey to Ann Arbor and rescue Morgan? Or are they already too late?

The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End. . . is now. When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse-until the doctors found the monster in her head. She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death. Now, with no hope of rescue-on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit-she discovers a new and horrifying truth. The Change isn't over. The Changed are still evolving. And. . . they've had help. With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply. A world where, from these ashes, the monsters may rise.

Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers for Disease control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection. As Eph becomes consumed with the battle against the total corruption of humanity, his ex-wife Kelly, now a vampire herself, is ever-more determined to claim their son Zack. As the Biblical origins of the Ancient ones are gradually revealed, Eph learns that there is a greater, more terrible plan in store for the human race - worse even than annihilation ...

Hristo Gruev has risen from the grave. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control want to know how. And, why?This is the sixth story in the series. A new story will be released each week through the final months of 2011 and beginning of 2012.The past meets the present!In this first ever published collection of poetry by the author and written with warmth and feeling straight from the heart, this book intends to take readers,on a journey of emotions.A landmark in poetry, using olde English and contemporary crossover dialects.

A young man falls in love despite himself and the object of his affection is long dead.This is the companion teacher's guide to The Secret in the Hidden Cave, a middle grade novel for children ages 9 - 12. The questions, discussion prompts and activities were created by the author, a 30 year veteran teacher. This teacher's guide is appropriate for use in public, private and home school settings and may be reproduced or condensed as deemed necessary. There are over 130 choices which can be modified to meet the teacher's needs or objectives. The activities cover musical, artistic, spoken and written categories.

Some people are in the right place at the right time. Some people are in the wrong place at the wrong time.Some people are there on purpose. Detective Jennings wasn’t given the choice.Some people are in the right place at the right time. Some people are in the wrong place at the wrong time.Some people are there on purpose. Detective Jennings wasn’t given the choice and nether was Detective Colter.Love to hear feedback.

A short story. Paul is curious when a new family moves in next door. The Grubbs have a boy his own age, and he hopes he can make a new friend. But the Grubbs have a terrible secret.A man professing to have stronger willpower than anyone on earth searches the world over for an addiction he cannot overcome. A billionaire without heirs uses an amnesia drug to see who is worthy to inherit his fortune, by seeing how people behave when they have forgotten who they are. An inventor creates a can of instant 'love spray,' but is shocked at the unexpected results when he starts to use it. In eight bizarre fables the reader is taken on a journey through the valley of stupidity, to see what love really is (and isn’t), why addictions and pride are so deadly, the need for moral values, and how judging ourselves positively may be the best judgment we ever make.Come along on an adventure in stupidity, if you dare …

Joyce Carol Oates is not only one of our most important novelists and literary critics, she is also an unparalleled master of the short story. "Sourland"--sixteen previously uncollected stories that explore the power of violence, loss, and grief to shape the psyche as well as the soul--shows us an author working at the height of her powers. With lapidary precision and an unflinching eye, Oates maps the surprising contours of "ordinary" life, from a desperate man who dons a jack-o'-lantern head as a prelude to a most curious sort of courtship to a beguiling young woman librarian whose amputee state attracts a married man and father; from a girl hopelessly in love with her renegade, incarcerated cousin to the concluding title story of an unexpectedly redemptive love rooted in radical aloneness and isolation. Each story in "Sourland" resonates beautifully with Oates's trademark fascination for the unpredictable amid the prosaic--the commingling of sexual love and violence, the tumult of family life--and shines with her predilection for dark humor and her gift for voice.

The Barn is an old fashioned scary story about two brothers who find their usual playspot now is home to something else, something terrible.The PA is a humourous short story about the world post-apocalypse (PA). It is 1182 words.

For an airline passenger, an unexpected wait on the tarmac takes a turn for the strange.Also includes an author's note.Three short stories about irrational emotions between two people.The first story, Deadline, relates on mature student, Andrea, about to bag the ideal boyfriend. Only her tutor Mr. Linton and her late thesis stand in the way.The second story, Outside, enters the disturbed mind of Deke, an ex convict doing community service outside the home of single mother, Elaine. Only trouble is, he doesn't want to leave.And Nice follows the life of Durante, a grant assessor, suspicious of his young girlfriend, Kate, who keeps getting texts from a secret admirer.Three reads to fill spare moments, but leaving a lasting impression.The stories themselves are collectively 10,500 words.

Trigger Man poses the question: Are world-changing figures merely happenstance or puppets of a greater, entirely mysterious, plan? Jesse Avery finds himself unwittingly sunk in this dilemma after coming into the employ of the diabolical Aldo Sautin. But when he's contracted to kill a young girl he has to dig far back in his memory and brutal history to decide which side of the line he will walk..Trigger Man is the story of a thief on the cusp of the Apocalypse. After a disastrous childhood he falls in with a gang of juvenile delinquents and learns a mysterious curse of visions he's had since birth may have fostered a great talent.He comes to the notice and subsequent employ of the evil Aldo Sautin, a once small-time hood himself now reaping the benefits of his ruthlessness. Under this man's tutelage Jesse is soon trapped in a much deeper pervading evil than he ever knew existed. Because Sautin wants him to kill a child. A flurry of recurring and disturbing visions convince Jesse that he is a 'trigger man,' one of a great number of people who unknowingly steer the course of human history. Not the famous, but the necessary. Men like Nicodemus who prepared Christ's body for interment, women like Eva Braun who comforted Hitler during the hellish siege by the Russians on Berlin. And all of these, Jesse finds, are destined for an ultimate Moment of Decision, a time when the 'trigger' must be pulled.