Elizabeth Fenley

“Which Witch Is Which Witch?” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen, guys, I think someone’s gotten the wrong idea about this whole ‘witch’ thing.” I’m zip tied to a metal chair in an abandoned building surrounded by four very large, very demanding, and very ugly men. The fading sunlight slants through the high-set broken windows, painting distorted shadows on the dusty, debris covered cement floor. “I know everybody thinks its all point-your-wand and say ‘Vera Verto’ or ‘Wingardiam Leviosa’ and all that good stuff. I mean, all props to my girl JK and all. At least there aren’t as many fundamentalist...

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“Bone China” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #119

The keening of the Banshee woke Niamh up for the third night in a row. She was the only one in the family who could hear it. Being a Sensitive usually runs in families, but it seemed she was an anomaly. She spent her days closely watching the faces of those around her to see who was the next to die. Were the charcoal circles etched under her mother’s faded green eyes simply fatigue? Was the set of her father’s prominent jaw typical stubbornness, or masculine masking of pain he felt was weakness, determined not to reveal? Surely her little si...

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“Is Everyone a Monster on Halloween?” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

SorchaEveryone is a monster on Halloween. I am a monster every day. On Halloween, I don’t have to hide.I was human once, cursed after death for my supposed sins, condemned to an eternity of insatiable hunger for human flesh—living is delicious, succulent, but dead will suffice. We are the Jikininki, widely known in the US as wendigos. We retain our basic humanoid, bipedal structure, but our facial features are grotesquely distorted. Deep-set glowing silver eyes shelter under a prominent, hairless brow ridge of early humans, homo erectus. A f...

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“Halloween Justice” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

TW: Suicide, Child violence / pedophillia mention. You’d be surprised how many suicides occur on Halloween night.I can’t take credit for all of them—by that I mean Vatzio and I can’t. Some kill themselves without meeting us. I cannot speak to their guilt or innocence.What appears to be a huge bull mastiff with me is a Sin Hound. They sense the sins within people, and their physical contact draws it out of them. I’m not what I appear to be either. Humans don’t adopt Sin Hounds from local rescue groups and use them like discarded hunting dogs...

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“Guarding the Veil” by Elizabeth Fenley

They met at Mattie’s Diner in Bantry where Ensos kept watch over the vortex. The tall, skeletal Babadook, embodiment of grief, wearing an ancient black suit, removed his centuries old black top hat, setting it carefully down on the booth’s red leather seat. Mattie came by with a smile for the familiar human presence Ensos projected and filled a coffee cup for him. “Waiting for your friends?” she asked, accustomed to seeing Ensos here with other spirits who once lived in Bantry as well. “Yes, three.” Ensos inclined his head as thanks for the ...

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“The Blood Moon's Other Side” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything is ready for the ritual.”Four Blood Demons surrounded a figure in a desolate room, abandoned by its inhabitants, left for decades to the forces of entropy, decay, and chaos.Thresh, tall, pale grey, and skeletal with six horns atop her head, another set on her shoulders, used a talon to slice the burlap sack from the person’s head.Teegen winced, biting her lips to keep herself from screaming. Her eyes adjusted to the faint light—and wished she could crawl back inside the safety of the bag.Thresh opened her Jack-o’-lantern peaked j...

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“Cabin on Forbidden Land” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #116

The land had been cursed for centuries. Stories were spun and exaggerated over firelight after children had been put to bed. When Serdwyne heard the rumors and saw the cabin in the middle of the heavily forested land, she decided it would suit her purposes. For her “Forbidden” was a challenge she loved.Serdwyne’s appearance in the village attracted attention. As a six and a half foot tall bolva hevitar or “cursed white” with triple scars running diagonally across her face, she was accustomed to attention. Anyone looking was stared down by Se...

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“The Capitol: Compromised” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #116

“Get a message to Prodigal—Athena blackmailed. Go to ground.” ‘Moses’ ducked quickly into a copse of trees, pulling Felicia with her. “You asked me to meet to deliver a message for you? Jeopardizing all the conductors? Stupidly dangerous. Why Prodigal?” Moses hissed, her face an inch from Felicia’s. “He’s my brother.” Felicia lived and worked inside The Capitol and was an Underground Railroad conductor along the journey to the ‘Land of Canaan.’ Her brother Orion was a conductor at the last stop before Canaan. The Railroad helped people fleei...

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“The Capitol Walls: Breaking In and Out” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #115

Felicia’s comm hummed in her lab coat pocket. Annoyed, she stripped off her gloves. “Hello?” “Dr. Hughes, is that any way to answer your comm? Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” Felicia chuckled. She walked to the break room and closed the door. “Yes, both of them did, Dr. Hughes-Myers.” “Daphne and I certainly tried. Did I catch you at a bad time in the middle of an experimental progression?” “No—yes, kind of.” Her job was to assist The Capitol’s agenda: manipulate the mitochondrial DNA, beginning in utero, to correct or prevent an...

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“Alarmed” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #115

“Alarmed” by Elizabeth Fenley “Disturbance in Zone 16. Disturbance in Zone 16. Check Control Panel to View Trouble Zones.” What the fuck is that? My eye pop open to discover that Sparky has decided to plant his tiny little butt an inch from my face. But I don’t say anything about the lovely view because I know it will wake up all six of the dogs sharing my bed. That must have been one weird ass dream-- “Disturbance in Zone 16.” That’s not a dream. That’s the alarm system. “Disturbance in Zone 16. Check Control Panel to View Trouble Zones....

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“Blood Moon” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #115

“Blood Moon” by Elizabeth Fenley I hate people. So breakable. The skin under my tattoo starts to itch again. I try not to scratch it. I recite the lyrics to Tool’s “Eulogy” in my head but give up after “You claimed all this time that you would die for me” and dig my chewed up nails across it until it bleeds. I tug my black sleeve down over the blood. I don’t bother looking at the tattoo or the damage. In an hour it will be healed-- again. Tonight is the blood moon—and the vernal equinox. Intense, in a bad way. And why my tattoo itches...

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“In My Ears” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #114

“In My Ears” by Elizabeth FenleyEreshkigal is whispering in my ear again. I shake my head and flap my hands flutily around my ears. “No, no, no.”“Bats attacking you again, Darcy?”Gregg with two stupid ggs grin at me and laughs. He’s an asshole, and his teeth smell like cockroaches. I ignore him.“Gregg, that’s enough,” Nurse Ratched tells him. “That’s not productive in group. Darcy, is something wrong?”I shake my head—a “No” shake this time, not a “Get out of my head!” shake. I don’t like to talk in group. I don’t like to talk to people ...

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“Portals Through the Fabric of Castine” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #113

“Portals Through the Fabric of Castine” by Elizabeth Fenley Lenonirie, her Unseelie head tucked under her arm, and Ritassa the Kelpie hovered over the human whose dreams had unexpected consequences. In the middle of the dream, she twitched and murmured incoherently. A dinner plate sized portal appeared in the wall over her head. Small objects on the nightstand were sucked into it before Lenonirie closed it with a word from her severed head and a flick of her free hand. The Wedgewood blue paint returned to its proper place. The woman sig...

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“The Oneiroi: Darkness and Fear” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #113

"The Oneiroi: Darkness and Fear" by Elizabeth FenleyTheaI wake up every morning with a new word written on my right forearm in thick black Sharpie, so fresh that I can smell it. But it’s not my handwriting. Plus I’m right-handed, and there are no markers in the house—I have to scramble to find a pen to write down confirmation numbers.Someone is writing on my arm while I sleep.Pretty sure that would freak anyone out. I am out-of-my-mind freaked out.LarinnaI wake up every morning with a marker in my hand. But nothing in my house is written on,...

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“Not a Dream Gift” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #113

“Not a Dream Gift” by Elizabeth Fenley The dream deities must be pissed off. If I had to guess, Morpheus is delivering his messages in record numbers, his brother Phoebetor, the Son of Darkness, is bringing more nightmares, and Mara is sitting on the chests of the sleeping to pour nightmares into sleep-cycling brains. They have to be the ones responsible because the dreams are so palpable, so tangible that they exude from people as they go about their normal days. I have the misfortune of reading everyone’s dreams. I can’t control it—and I c...

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