Featured Fiction
Shared Addictions
By Jacob Gines
Jenna stared at her friend as she lay motionless on the floor. Her breathing was shallow and slow. Her eyes rolled into the back of her skull as she released the needle from her left hand, a belt still wrapped around her right arm. Jenna had just been cooking up her own batch to send coursing through her veins when she noticed her friend had begun to shake. She carefully placed her tools back in the leather pouch she had just purchased to hold her paraphernalia, laying the spoon on the ground so that the heroine didn’t spill and waste. She bent down over her friend and at first didn’t say anything. Sasha’s lips were turning blue, noticeable though she had on her ugly bright red lipstick. Her pupils were barely noticeable as they rolled around, but Jenna could see that they were incredibly tiny. She had not ever seen someone go through an overdose before. It was exciting.
Edge of Darkness - 2019 Editors’ Choice Award
By Christina Gagne
Her feet slapped the wet pavement, breaths coming in short bursts with her long curls flowing behind her. The dark streets seemed to close in on her, alleys stretching like highways to places unknown. Her fear was so thick she could taste it.
She knew she shouldn’t have gone to that club. She had a sense of foreboding like storm clouds hovering above, but she had promised her friends. At the salon she felt like she was being watched and would glance behind her only to find the streets outside full of bustling people. It was just another day in the windy city.
After her day of pampering she had gone to the club with her girlfriends. “Some friends they turned out to be.”