The Masquerade

They danced and glided effortlessly about the room,
Anonymous specters of prophesied doom.
Their faceless faces,
Their nameless races,
Concealed from each other,
Concealed from themselves.

Their secrets and lies,
Their fake joyous cries,
Echoed by a black ceiling,
Back to those hearts so unfeeling.
Their disguises become identity,
They forget what they're hiding.

Their ball is so truthless
With their facade so ruthless,
Their eyes filled with hate
For a once normal state.
Their masks try to cover their normalcy,
But they slaughter all uniqueness.

The Brave Knight

The brave knight sat, confined in a strange contraption in the dungeon of the dark castle. He was surrounded by others in a similar predicament: princesses, peasants and knights from countless other kingdoms. They were subjected to cruel punishments for hours each day by the evil sorcerer Mr. Stevens.

Frozen Fear, Part 5

Far North of the Arctic Circle:

"Are you feeling better now sir?" the security officer asked Hal.

Hal stood up slowly from his doubled over position. A pile of vomit steamed on the ground in front of him and splattered on his boots. He coughed and spit a few times and cleared his throat. Finally reaching the full upright position he took a deep breath and turned to face the security officer.

Frozen Fear, Part 4

Far North of the Arctic Circle:

"You just left him there alone?" Diana asked the security officer irritably.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" he replied.

"He's the one who killed Barry! He went and had breakfast with Hal and I before going to see you! If he was really that concerned, he would've gone straight to you!" Diana yelled.

"Oh god," the officer gasped, "Let's go!"

Diana and the security officers took off sprinting across the snow towards the command building. They arrived and Diana pulled at the door.

"Damn it!" she yelled. "He locked himself in there!"

"Move aside." The head security officer input a code on the keypad next to the door. Diana heard a hydraulic hiss and the door groaned and opened like a hungry steel mouth. The security officers drew their guns and moved quietly inside.

"Stay here," the head officer told Diana. She nodded and he dashed into the building.

Diana stood motionless, leaning against the outside wall. She could hear nothing for longer than she could bear. Finally, there was noise from inside.

A sickening crack.

A blood-curdling scream.

A metallic thud.

The shattering of bones and tearing of flesh danced with cries of agony in a horrifying symphony of violence. The orchestra of death played its macabre melodies in torturous time. Diana trembled and cried as the blunt bass bashed and the painful percussion played. Eventually the sinister song climaxed in a brutal twisting of metal, screams and splattering.

It was silent.

Diana curled in a terrified ball on the ground next to the building, and sobbed into her arms.

CRUNCH!

Diana looked up from her tears. She didn't know what she saw. But she knew that Clark was not the killer.

"You look like you've suffered enough. I shall make it quick."

Frozen Fear: Part 3

Far North of the Arctic Circle:

Hal was bent over, vomiting violently into the snow. Diana turned away from the gruesome scene, crying. She inhaled deeply. Finally she faced one of the security officers.

"Where is Clark?" she asked. "He went to the command building just before you guys came here, where is he now?"

"He was the one who told us to come look at this," the officer said. "He stayed back at command. I guess he didn't want to see this again."

Frozen Fear, Part 2

Far North of the Arctic Circle, the next morning:

Clark shut the door to Barry's barracks and locked it behind him. He covered his mouth with his hand and his face was extremely pale. He coughed as the snowy winds blew through his hair. He walked to the mess hall where some of the tech guys and security detail were conversing loudly. Hal and Diana sat at a table eating steaming bowls of oatmeal. Clark went to the kitchen and got some for himself and sat next to Hal and began eating.

Frozen Fear

Far North of the Arctic Circle:

The explorers trekked slowly and silently across the vast, empty expanse of the tundra. They were returning to base camp, the four of them bundled in countless layers, trudging through the sub-zero winds and rock-hard ice. Their mission was to collect data on the shrinking ice cap, and they had spent all day collecting samples of the ice cores, which they pulled along in a cooler placed on a sled. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was. There was no sound except the wind howling by their ears. No footsteps could be heard, as the snow underfoot was too frozen to crunch.