Bram de Vries

The screen turns red. ONE FINAL TALLY: 487-0 IN FAVOR OF TERMINATION. And the system asks me directly: 'SLEEPER UNIT, CONFIRM SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE?' / I …

The pod beeps faster. 05:30. 05:15. It's really waking up. And I'm standing here staring at a version of myself that's been asleep in ice for god know…

The initiation code is marked PRIORITY-A: SURVIVAL. Like the ship is protecting itself from something. Or someone. What sleeper is important enough to…

I turn around. The hydroponics deck is empty. Nobody at any terminal. Whoever voted just did it from somewhere else. I hit the comm. 'Hello? Anyone th…

'Still warm,' I say. Mrs. Pratt looks at me. 'You think someone carried it? Like, recently?' She kneels down and points at the soil underneath. 'Look.…

Mrs. Pratt walks over. 'Okafor, that's your—' 'I know.' He doesn't look at her. His eyes are on the pumpkin like he's trying to memorize it. Like it m…

'I have to call the police.' Mr. Okafor's hands are shaking. I've never seen Mr. Okafor scared. But he is now. He is absolutely terrified. His thumb h…

Under the pumpkin, there's a piece of newspaper. Folded. Wet from the soil. My hands are shaking when I pick it up. There are words written on it. In …

'Kids,' Mrs. Chen says from across the plot. 'Has to be. Some neighborhood dare.' But she's frowning. She doesn't believe it. I don't believe it eithe…

'You saw her too, right? The girl in costume?' He gets very still. 'There's always been a girl. Standing in the wings. Watching. I thought you knew ab…

'Did Lenore ever reach mark 14?' / Dead silence. 'She ran it perfectly. Then she said her reflection was looking back. Not at the mirror. Looking back…

Behind a loose brick: Lenore's journal. First entries normal, then: 'She's perfect at this. Why am I still here?' Then: 'I'm fading and she's getting …

The note is handwritten. 'The understudy always knows the lines. Check scene 3, mark 14. You'll understand then.' - L

I checked the other victims' phones. All of them got texts. Same blocked number, all between 2am-4am. All warnings to leave. All dated exactly three d…

I walked around the house. Fresh scratches on the back door. New cameras pointing at the driveway. The porch light was burned out but the wiring was n…

Carol made coffee. "I swam in that water when I was a girl," she said. "Beautiful place. Crystal clear. But I got sick—fevers, headaches. Worse every …

Tom opened the door fully. He was maybe 60, wearing a county health badge. "The water tested positive for dioxin two years ago," he said. "Industrial …

David Kim—victim #1—his signature was on the initial claim. But his wife said he never filed anything. I called the insurance company back. "Did David…

The attorney's office is a blind drop—a PO box rented through a coffee shop. The shop owner's brother is on the town council. I followed the money. Th…

Wren stood tall and held the cracking egg up for the riders to see. He shouted that the egg was hatching, and that no one would chain this dragon. The…

The old healer took one look and got to work with herbs and warm broth. The dragon recovered, but the healer warned that the queen would hunt them bot…

To Wren's shock, the queen wept when she saw the living dragon. She had thought all hope was lost. She knelt, thanked Wren, and swore the dragon would…

Wren built a signal fire on the ridge to call the wild folk who lived beyond the peaks. They had always honored dragons. By nightfall, riders with pai…

Wren froze. The order said to deliver the egg sealed and whole. A hatched egg would be worthless to them. He sat on a flat rock, cradled the egg in hi…

Vesna raised her hands slowly. "Fine. I'll carry them." She let them re-strap the sled, smiling and easy, until the rifleman turned to watch the trail…

Vesna resealed the crate and kept climbing. Whoever needed these papers needed them badly enough to risk Ember Pass in winter. That was reason enough.…

The lid came up and a pale face stared back at her. A child, curled in the crate with blankets and a water flask, eyes wide with terror. There were th…

Near the top, the sled hit a rock and a crate split open. Vesna froze. Inside, packed in straw, were rows of small sealed vials glowing faintly green.…

Vesna refused to gamble on the killing slope again. She took the long ridge route, twice the distance and twice the cold. Her hands went numb and the …

Vesna left the sled and climbed fast up a side gully to get above them. From the ridge she watched the followers reach her abandoned cargo and start p…