#mystery story

[linya333]

mdzs fic rec: we meet at the thousandth step

Awesomely written wangxian fic! Reads like a book. I love that it's told around a series of night hunts. Some of the mysteries can get a bit dark but it is overall a very happy story. The setting is Canon divergent where wwx's parents didn't die. I particularly loved that there is a certain point of divergence that isn't entirely revealed until later in the story!

archiveofourown.org/works/48986509/chapters/123585124

[obsidian-sphere]

A Tarzan mystery story where Tarzan applies his jungle lore to solving the mystery of the disappearance of some people after their airplane crashed in the jungle. In the first chapter, Tarzan finds a downed Italian plane, with the pilot dead, not from the crash but from a bullet wound. Footprints tell Tarzan others left the wreckage on foot.

The development of a new device that will disrupt the ignition system of an internal combustion engine has spies from Russia, Italy, and England scrambling for possession. In the battle for possession of the plans, Tarzan is captured by cannibals and escapes by calling elephants to rescue him.

As the three factions tangle and intermix, Tarzan visits and is (falsely) identified as the murderer of one of the party. Tarzan vindicates himself with evidence, which he says is unnecessary because he already knew the guilty party by his scent.

Let's see Hercule Poirot pull that one off.

The story, along with two others, can be found in the book Tarzan and the Castaways. These are the stories about the Ape Man that Burroughs would write.

[layla-sanzo]

When Reality Falls Chapter One

DSVM IVZORGB UZOOH, UFM IRHVH 

Running was something Bill had always known was beneath him. It was an act only for scared flesh bags running from their inevitable demise. But, as he sped down the chrome hall he decided the mortal saying of ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ might not be idiotic. 

He tore past a turn as the alarm started to go off. Not a real hearable alarm of course. Even a place as boring as Theraprism could invest in psychic alarms to alert their guards. 

“Oh son of a world-ending @#$%&-” He huffed. Bill’s usual echo was muffled along with the rest of his magic by the glowing pink cuffs on his arms. 

 Most of the walls were pure chrome blandness, blanker than an amnesiac’s Mindscape, with not a door or window in sight.

As he turned and ran down enough halls to fill a labyrinth he heard the pounding of feet claws and tentacles rushing after him from behind.

 As he turned one more time, planning on burning every turn in this place down when he was free, he spotted a grey door. “Finally!” 

He rushed towards the door as he could hear the scraping of claws about to turn into the hall. Bill did not have to stretch to the tips of what would be his toes to reach the doorknob, nope that definitely was not what happened.

 And if it was, no one could prove it.

He quickly scuttled into the room and shut the door behind him as quietly as he possibly could. Bill sighed and leaned against the door as he gave himself a moment to look around. 

Bill quickly gathered that he had run into a cell block. The other ‘patients’ of this feel-good hell sat in barred cages, some paced back and forth with snarls, some stared up at the blank uncaring ceiling. They lined the walls like a zoo of evils and rejects. Each of them wore the orange prison-like jumpsuit that even Bill was forced into. A fact that made Bill vow to add ‘erase the color orange from existence’ to his list of mayhems to make when he escaped. 

Only two guards seemed to be in this section, standing in a way that left the corner near the door that Bill was hiding in a blind spot. One of them seemed to look like an anthropomorphic hamster in a space suit, and the other was just a regular-old morphing green hooded eldritch beast.  

“Cannot believe Axolotl hasn’t put the thing down yet.” The hooded loser snarled.

“He ended up letting that demonic craft of his out of the art therapy room right? Heard it got back to that dimension.” Bill rolled his eye and leaned against a nearby cage, happy to hear people gossip about him. So what if his book tended to corrupt minds and steal blood? The art therapist never said that wasn’t allowed! And if the thing is out there trying to recruit him a mindless follower or ten, then that’s a bonus as well. 

“Oh, that? Axolotl’s known about that for a while now.” The eldritch shrugged with a snicker. “He’s not happy, that’s for sure.” 

Ah %@#$, that’s a good way to throw a human ancestor wrench in his plan. It took a lot to make Axolotl act less than his usual blank happy look. Axolotl was a boring god, there was no other way Bill would describe him. Axie had all the power in the multiverse and he used it to micromanage ‘villains’ into ‘reforming’, he was a clown in salamander’s clothing. Bill rubbed a hand over his eye with a silent sigh.

“He’s got his little human assistant out chasing the book now. Good thing, give that hyper pest something to do.” The hamster huffed its eyes tired at the mere mention of the assistant. The hooded creature cackled under its breath with a nod.

Human Assistant? Bill’s eye shot back open and he looked over at the two in confusion. Axolotl didn’t have an assistant, and Axolotl certainly didn’t talk to humans.

 Making humans into fleshy worshipers was Bill’s schtick! Bill was the only being of his rank in power who manipulated the little pests, anyone else who did it was just copying. 

W-well his last one did turn on him and make his twin brother murder him. But-um-who cares!? He’s still standing and the Pines still fear him!

Bill would know, he knew everything!

Bill sighed with a glare. ‘!@#$ no one tells me anything anymore! You would think Axolotl would tell his oldest pal he was finally making friends!’ Bill almost huffed out a laugh at the thought. 

. 

. 

. 

‘Did Axolotl find an assistant while I’ve been imprisoned here?’

‘How long had it been since I died?!’ ‘Not .. Not that it mattered of course! Time is an illusion made by the hologram that is the universe ...  And even … even though it’s felt like millions of years to me, in a place like Theraprism it could’ve only been two minutes!’

‘But … How long has it been since the multiverse feared to whisper my name?’

‘How long …’

‘How long since I'd got to break and smash and destroy a dimension until it was left to cinders?’

‘How long since the Pines were sent the painful nightmares they deserve?!’

‘How long since anyone remembered m-’

“There he is!” The hamster shrieked. Bill barely had a moment to slow his shaking breathing and blink away the blurring in her eye before he saw the guards leaping towards him. 

Bill was quickly grabbed and thrown onto the ground. Bill refused to let out a groan of pain. As guards began to flood in he could only think one thing, when Axolotl’s little assistant finds his book, they’re not gonna know what hit them. 

GSVIZKIRHN WIVZWH GSRH WZB, DSVM YOZXP ZMW DSRGV GFIM GSV GSRIW GL TIVB

In a dimension we know to be filled with monsters and mysteries, a girl fights off sleep. 

Her eyes drooped as the stick figure that was the chemistry teacher droned on about a topic the girl wouldn’t remember in five minutes. Her eyes glazed over the room, trying to latch onto anything interesting enough to keep her from sleeping in class. The closet-sized room was covered in childish posters and slate grey round tables. The ninth graders all looked seconds away from stabbing their ears just to stop hearing the teacher mumble. 

The girl sighed and rested her head in her hand, fidgeting with one of the small braids of dark red hair that were on each side of her face. On the girl’s head sat her black knit beanie. On the beanie, three pins were pinned. A rust-colored pin with a tinfoil hat on it, a light blue pin with the Illuminati on it, and a faded kaleidoscopic colored pin with scuffs and cracks on it that had a pink cartoon Axolotl in the middle. 

After a few more moments, that pin began to burn.  

“Cassandra . . .” 

The girl’s head shot up and her eyes widened. The classmates sitting next to her glanced at each other, some not so subtly scooted their chairs away from the girl. 

The girl glanced around, her fingers picked at the multiple hot pink and neon green bandages on her fingers as she thought of an excuse. With a sigh, she stood up and silently made her way towards the chemistry room door. 

“What are you doing Miss Sweetkin?” The teacher droned as she looked over her shoulder at the escaping student. The entire room snickered at the surname and the girl sighed deeply before turning to look at her teacher. 

“I-um-I have .. to.” The girl stared blankly for a moment before grinning, “… fix my hat! Bye!” With that, she rushed into the blank grey halls of Redwood High School. From the snickers and sighs she heard as she paused to close the door behind her, no one was really upset to see her go. 

She paused for a moment before the burning of the pin began to heat the hair below her hat, making her yelp. She sprinted down the blank grey hall, the only things decorating the walls were slate grey lockers and the occasional neon pink flyer. The girl blinked and slowed her speed as she passed one of her flyers. Drawn over with passing students' pens, under the graffiti were the words in bubble letter neon ‘Cassie’s Cryptid & Conspiracies Club’ and an empty sign-up sheet.

Cassie Sweetkin scowled before the burning of the Axolotl pin reminded her of what she was meant to be doing. 

She rushed into the girl's bathroom. A wave of cold and mold-tinted air hit her as she sped inside. It was a small room with cold blue tiles, three empty stalls and a ceiling fan that made enough noise to make Cassie want to burn the room down every time she rushed in there. The three mirrors over the sinks were smudged and tinted with a molding pink that no one wanted to touch, but they worked just fine for Cassie’s situation. She quickly closed the bathroom door, locking it behind her before shuffling over to one mirror.  

Cassie stood on the tips of her toes  to lean over a sink. She quickly caught a glimpse of her two low buns and two small braids of dark reddish brown hair, and her overly wide grey eyes on olive skin. Her eyes glanced over her slightly large nose with a neon pink band-aid with neon stars on it, and her too bushy reddish brown eyebrows. Her eyes then immediately darted up to the Axolotl pin on her knit beanie, strands of red hair frizzing out around it as the thing sparked with heat. 

A spark landed on her forehead with a scalding jolt, making Cassie hiss quietly as she jumped into an explanation to get the thing to calm down. “Alright, alright, my attention is grabbed fishy, don’t burn my hat off.” Cassie smiled at the pin through the mirror and chuckled under her breath as the sparks fizzled away and the pink cartoon axolotl blinked and looked down at her from on the pin. 

"What has caused you to take so long to respond, my child?” The echoing voice of the Axolotl bounced through Cassie’s mind. Axolotl had a voice that Cassie had always had a hard time trying to explain. His voice was both monotone and happy at the same time as it spoke with echoes that made it sound like a group of ten talking in almost perfect unison.  

“Sorry boss man! I was in chemistry class! I got out before you decided to fry my hair off. And they say I’m impatient!” Cassie shrugged.

 At a shushing noise from Axolotl, Cassie glanced around to make sure no one would soon try to break the door down. She sighed and rocked on her heels slightly at the thought of explaining why she was talking to herself in a bathroom . . . again. Cassie resolved to try and talk with a normal person's indoor voice while chatting today.  

“Sorry! Um-what do you want fishy? Got some cosmic paperwork you don’t feel like doing? I’m fine with it, that stuff's interesting when you’re researching aliens instead of imprisoning them.” She grinned, looking up at the pin as it frowned and rolled its black beady eyes. 

“I am not a jail warden, I am a keeper of multiversal peace and order in helping fix the-”

“-Shattered minds of the world’s most broken creatures, I know your speech Axie, I’ve only heard it for eight years straight.” Cassie giggled, covering her mouth with her band-aid-covered hand so that her cackle of a laugh wouldn’t alert the entire school to her whereabouts. 

“Eight years is nothing in the eyes of the eternal.” The cartoon Axolotl shrugged with a slight smile. 

“Well, then fourteen doesn’t mean much either and yet you’re sending a fourteen-year-old on quests. So, whataya got for me?” Cassie said in a singsong voice while the Axolotl’s sigh echoed in her mind. Cassie beamed widely, Axolotl only acted this unamused if he was letting Cassie do something dangerous for once!

“You are aware of the problem that is bill cipher, no?” Cassie froze on the tips of her toes, the rocking of her heels coming to an abrupt stop as her already large eyes widened.

 Axolotl had rarely mentioned his old friend Cipher, and when he did he only did it to make Cassie promise to never, under any circumstances, approach the Gravity Falls conqueror. Her orders to avoid the beast even included avoiding the town it tried to rule as well . . . Though Cassie had forgotten that rule a few times in curiosity. 

Most of her knowledge she had on the strange triangle was from places she knew Axolotl wouldn’t approve of. “U-um … he’s your old friend right?” Cassie decided to play it safe today, not wanting to get into an argument about her investigative habits. 

“He would rip a dimension apart if he suspected someone in it knew about our once friendship.” For a second Cassie swore she heard an echoing chuckle bounce in her mind, but she shook her head, Axolotl never laughed. She should know. 

“Wow, he sounds fun,” Cassie said blankly in a way that only the Axolotl with direct access to her thoughts at the moment could decipher as sarcasm. 

“He certainly thought so, child. And that leads us to the problem at hand. He released a book-”

“-Authors do tend to be nutcases,” Cassie smirked with a shrug and the Axolotl groaned though the pin's smile gave away his true emotion.

“This book, the book of BILL as he has decided to call it, has instructions to release him from theraprism before he is healed! It is a very big problem for the plans. I wouldn’t ask you to deal with anything to do with Cipher usually but if you could-”

“-Where and when is it boss man? I’ll get it to you as quick as human legs can run.” Cassie smiled warmly as she heard the Axolotl start to ramble slightly. 

There was silence for a moment before the pin grinned. “Gravity Falls, of course, I suppose I’m letting you in there for this task. Now it first showed up at the Pine’s shack about … How long has it been in your dimension since the ‘Weirdmageddon’ issue?”

“Like … four years?” Cassie tilted her head, one of her mini braids falling into her face.

“Ah! Well since a week or so after that. Though for me it feels like a mix of five hours and five millennia ago since it happened. Then the Mr. Ford Pines' fellow threw it into a dimension rift in annoyance according to Theraprism intel.” 

Cassie blinked, “...Does time mean nothing to you people? . . . Awesome!” She grinned. 

“Be that as it may be it has now again resurfaced right back in gravity falls, but now all the pines are on their boats or in their school years, so none are there to stop some random rebellious youth from finding it and trying to summon the triangle for peer validation. It has become annoyingly popular among that town's youth to worship the old triangle to act .. how do you tiny humans say? Edgy?” 

“So you’re sending another edgy rebellious youth to counteract this and save the day? Logical, that’s logical.” Cassie nodded to herself as she thought it over before smiling widely. “You don’t think I could read through it a bit-”

“-Absolutely not,” Axolotl said blankly. 

“I’m not gonna summon the eldritch egomaniac! I’m not an idiot! I’m just gonna add it to my research notes!”

“Nope.” He sighed. 

“And I’ll make sure to bring it back to you right after!” Cassie tried to do puppy dog eyes into the mirror, but seeing as Axolotl had no idea what a dog was, it was ineffective.

“Not happening.” If Axolotls could be more expressive, Cassie was sure Axolotl would be fixing his nails snarkily from the bored tone that echoed in her head.

 “Oh fine! Steal the joy outta life!” Cassie whined, adding drama to her voice as she leaned against the sink, careful for her olive green jacket to not touch the sink’s cracked bit. 

She couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she watched a smile etch onto the pin Axolotl’s face. “Are all human younglings this dramatic?”

“Do all Axolotl’s have your highfalutin lexicon?” Cassie droned back in Axolotl’s tone. 

“Yes.” Cassie covered her mouth to hide her laugh at the blunt reply. 

“Now, the book hid itself in the Gravity Falls library. Obviously, it was thinking that it would be a safe place to hide. Luckily for you, that library will only have one black leather book with a red Illuminati and the feeling of death on it!” 

“Hurray! Sounds cool to me!” Cassie said back in equal excitement, never catching the sarcasm that had been in her boss’ tone. “Don’t you worry fishy, I’ll have that book back to you before you can say Plaidypus!” Cassie threw up a mock salute to the mirror and the Axolotl pin grinned. 

Sharp pounding knocks rapped on the door, “Unlock the bathroom, Sweetkin.” An older girl growled, the huffs and grumbles of other girls behind her following. 

The smile drained from Cassie’s face, and Axolotl sighed.

“That is my cue to leave and your cue to go back to human school. Do not pull the fire alarm to escape, you do not need to rush to complete the mission. Time matters to no one important. Do well in your class, I’ll know if you don’t.” With those definitely not ominous words, the expression left the Axolotl pin and it went back to its regular stationary form,  leaving Cassie staring alone into the mirror as the girls complained outside.

“Bye,” Cassie whispered with a smile as she walked towards the door, not feeling the need to rush even as it was practically pounded against. 

When she opened the door with a loose smile she looked up to see five girls glaring down at her. “The hell are you doing in here? It take you that long to pluck your brows?” One girl growled as she shoved past Cassie, the others knocking her back by her shoulder to get to the mirrors. Cassie winced and put a hand up to her shoulder. 

“How long did it take you to think of that one, Cherry? It’s so original I might sob.” Cassie rolled her eyes. 

“Pft she’s right Cherry, if she was fixing those things the room would be flooded with hairs.” Another girl mumbled and another snorted with a laugh as they crowded around the mirrors to touch up their makeup. 

Cherry looked over her shoulder as she fixed her perfect strawberry blonde hair to sneer down at Cassie in the doorway. “Well she wasn’t talking to her parents, I know that.” Cherry grinned as Cassie’s face tightened and her hands turned to fists. 

“What did you just say to me you dressed up rat-” Cassie growled with a glare and stepped towards Cherry with ready fists. Cherry’s smile wobbled and she glanced around nervously as she saw the look in Cassie’s eyes. 

Before Cassie did something Cherry would regret, Cassie heard a bell in the school go off. It was time for the new class, Chemistry was over. And that finally meant one of the only interesting classes in this school was about to begin. 

She glanced at the door and her shoulders fell as she sighed. With a final glare at Cherry, she stomped out of the bathroom, the girl’s snickers following her down the hallway. She kept her eyes on her black combat boots with eyes painted on them as her face went from scowling to her usual too-wide grin.

Who cared what that blank-minded normie thought? Cassie had something more important to think about than mean humans. Cassie had a quest. A quest to find a book meant to bring back a monster. 

Cassie’s arms swung at her side, the clinking of the conspiracy and cryptid pins that lined her long green jacket making her steps instantly recognizable to the people in the halls around her. 

As Cassie approached the art room with fire in her eyes she knew one thing, this Bill person wouldn’t know what hit him. 

UVZIH D SVM XSZLGRX NRMWH XLOORWV, ZCLOLGO PVVKH LMV GL SRWV

[snowflakeanimelover]

Author’s Note: so uh…this is an original story, from me of course :D it’s based off of a prompt I found on Pinterest. Feel free to take a read and give me some feedback! There’s really no intention of continuing it, unless people really want it lol. It’s a short story, most like a one-shot. I won’t say much, but it’s full of mystery and some creepy vibes. Enjoy!

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL OR RE-POST ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Thanks.

Prompt: You wake up one morning and check your phone. You have one text saying “It’s not real. None of it. Trust no one. Escape.” You dismiss it and leave your room to find your family lined up facing you, each with a slight frown. “You didn’t see anything strange this morning, did you?” Asks your mom.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

All But A Dream

She remembers it vividly. People in her home, smiling and being friendly. Her family. Her parents telling her dinner is ready, and her siblings eager to explain their day as everyone sat around the table. It was normal. It was fun and familiar. But…why couldn’t she see their faces?

Sophia’s body begins its wake, all of her senses slowly coming back to her as she peels her heavy eyelids open. Her bedroom was bright, covered in the morning glow of the sun through the open window. A dream. That’s all it was. Sophia usually can’t remember her dreams when she wakes up. Sometimes she does, and this one in particular she certainly does. It was weird, however. Everyone in her dream were so familiar and so comfortable, yet she couldn’t see their faces. Just blank canvases, ready to be painted.

With brows furrowed in confusion, Sophia sits up in her bed. Her gaze roams around her room, nothing in particular to look at as she thinks about her dream. It didn’t make sense, yet it did at the same time.

She’s read about this before, if she recalls. The internet explaining certain dreams people can have. Such as the fact every stranger you see in your dream is actually someone you have met before. Or, that feeling of falling in your dream, only for your body to jolt back awake, just so it can make sure your brain is working correctly to keep you alive. She’s never read anything about blank faces in dreams, though. Maybe she’ll look it up later.

Sophia jumps back to reality when she hears a loud knock on her door, almost sounding like an impatient bang. “Hey! Wake up, Soph!” The voice says on the other side, and she realizes it’s her sister, Jessica. “If you need the bathroom, use it already. I need to take a shower.”

“Okay! I’ll be there in a minute!” she calls back, letting out an irritated groan from the obscene knock on her door.

Sophia pushes the blankets off of her body, bringing her legs over to hang off the side of her bed. The first thing she does when waking up is to check her phone, making sure none of her friends have messaged her. Unplugging her phone from the charger, she picks up the device that laid on her bedside table, watching as the screen lights up in acknowledgement. She scrolls on the lock screen, curious to see what notifications she had received throughout the night. One, in particular, caught her attention. An unknown number in bold letters on her screen, that has been sent barely a minute ago.

The roll of her eyes was expected. Sophia receives spam messages or calls almost daily. Something she has asked her mom multiple times to stop the annoying interruption of her day. And as much as they have tried, it seems that everyone with a device gets them. With a sigh, she logs into her phone and heads straight to her message app, ready to delete the unknown number and report it. However, just as she’s about to do that very task, the words written under the number are certainly…not normal.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

“IT’S NOT REAL. NONE OF IT. TRUST NO ONE. ESCAPE.”

A chill runs down her spine as she reads the creepy message. Was this some kind of joke? A prank her friends decided to pull on her? They’ve never done something like this to freak her out, and it’s not even close to Halloween.

“Sophia, come on!” A whine comes from the other side of her door, practically startling her.

She lets out a breath to calm her racing heart, turning her gaze to her closed door. “I got it! I’m coming!” She calls, shutting her phone off and setting it back on her bedside table, before leaving her bedroom to the main floor of the house.

The smell of bacon wafts in the air instantly, bringing a smile to Sophia’s face. It was a good morning, she could tell, just by the fact that her mom is making them breakfast. However, just as she steps into the living room to see what everyone was up to, she pauses.

There, in the middle of the room, stood her family. All of them in a perfect line, facing her. Sophia’s smile falls at the unnerving sight, confusion quickly replacing it. Her parents, her little brother, and her sister all held a small frown, standing completely straight and calm. Like robots.

“You didn’t see anything strange this morning, did you?” Her mom then asks, a hint of sternnes in her tone.

Sophia hesitates. What did she mean by that? Not once has she ever heard or seen her family act this way. Was she in another dream? “U-Um…” a mere sound leaves her lips. Her mind spiraling on what to say. And for some reason, she felt that mentioning the text message was not a good idea. “No…? Is there…something wrong?” If theres one thing Sophia is good at, it’s lying. She never thought that being in a drama club in her school would come in handy.

Her whole family seems to relax, letting out breaths of air as if they were relieved. “Oh, good. We were just worried, honey,” her mom says, pressing her hand to her chest as if to calm her racing heart. “Jess said you were in there for a while, and we didn’t know what to think.”

A lie, she could tell. Sophia hasn’t read many books, but this whole situation just didn’t feel right. The unnerving question her mom asked earlier didn’t really make sense to what she’s saying now. It’s as if…they knew Sophia had received that creepy message earlier.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, to come back to reality, Sophia turns and heads back to her bedroom. She closes the door behind her, grabbing her phone faster then she can think. That creepy message from the unknown number was a spam, she originally thought. But now…now she isn’t so sure.

Sophia’s thumbs trembled as she returned to her messages app, looking for that unknown number to respond to it. To ask questions, understand what was going on. However, as soon as she clicks into the app…the unknown number is gone. She doesn’t see it anywhere, no matter how many times she scrolls to the very bottom of the list, and checks through the options on the side.

This has to be a prank.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

The bell rang for the tenth time that day. It was an exaggeration, but it sure felt like it. Sophia feels that, even when she graduates high school, she’ll hear the school bell for the rest of her life. Sometimes, she wonders if the other students in her school felt that way, but its not something she’d bother to ask.

Sophia steps into the busy cafeteria, smelling the different aroma’s of the foods the cafeteria is providing, or the the lunches the kids bring themselves. Her gaze roams over the large room, eventually finding the certain people she was looking for.

“Hey,” Sam nods at Sophia in a casual greeting, grabbing some napkins from a nearby food stand to add to his tray of food. “‘Bout time you made it.”

The tease was light, gentle, and familiar. He often thinks he’s funny, and Sophia tends to not burst his bubble. However, she does roll her eyes in response. “My class is on the other side of the school,” she complains, which is a fact her friends already know about.

“Well, you’re lucky I grabbed an extra cupcake for yah,” Cassy grins, who was standing beside Sam the entire time with her own tray of food.

Sophia’s expression brightens at that, and she takes the cupcake from her trey far quicker then she intended. “I didn’t know they were doing cupcakes today!” She beams. “You’re the best, Cassy.”

Cassy takes the praise to heart, as always, and flips her hair over her shoulder dramatically. “Always, girl.”

Sam, on the other hand, shakes his head. “You didn’t watch the morning announcements?”

“She never does, Sam. She’s always on her phone,” Cassy retorts.

Sophia is quick to pout, following her friends to an empty table nearby. “I do, too! Sometimes…”

Sophia and her friends soon fall into a comfortable conversation between eachother, full of jokes, laughter, and familiarity. The buzz of students around them seems to zone out, as if they were in their own little world. Sophia loved this part of her life. Talking to her friends, enjoying time as if they had no worries, unless homework deadlines are brought up.

In the midst of their conversation, Sophia feels her phone vibrate, indicating a notification. Curious, she grabs her phone from the table top and looks it over, seemingly zoning out her friends for a moment.

Another uncomfortable chill runs down her spine at what she sees, her gaze quickly glancing to her friends to see if they noticed, before turning back to her phone. The unknown number was back.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

“THE TREE ON THE LEFT.”

The tree on the left? What in the world could that even mean? Sophia couldn’t help but to bring her blue irises up to roam over the room. She looks around, confused and unnerved by everything that’s been going on today. Her gaze eventually lands on the large windows in the cafiteria, the school back yard on the other side.

A few students were sprawled out on the grass, either on the ground or on tables to eat their lunches. Sophia’s brows furrow in even more confusion, not really getting what the message was telling her. Then, she sees it. In the distance, there was one lone tree on the left of the property. No one was really that far from the school. In fact, she’s never seen anyone go back that way…

“Hey, are you listening, Soph?”

Sophia whips her head to face her friends so fast, she felt dizzy. She felt like she was caught doing something she shouldn’t have, instinctively turning her phone to where they couldn’t see the screen. “Huh?”

Cassy raises a brow, curious and rather annoyed her friend hasn’t been listening to her yap. “Were you even listening?”

“Oh…uh, sorry,” Sophia gives her friends an apologetic smile, knowing she couldn’t really lie that she was listening. They’ve already caught her, so why try?

“Geez. Got a boyfriend or something? That who you’re texting?” Sam then asks, stuffing a cold fry into his mouth.

Sophia grimaces at the thought, never particularly interested in being in a relationship, unlike Cassy. “What? No.”

“Then whats so interesting on your phone?” Cassy asks, leaning over slowly to peak at her screen.

“Nothing,” Sophia responds rather too quickly as she keeps her friends from seeing the screen. “Sorry, it’s just…my mom texted me, is all.”

“Oh.”

“Oh, makes sense.”

They both shrug, seemingly going back to their conversation. Sophia lets out a sigh she didn’t realize she was holding, her gaze falling on her phone screen once more. Lunch was almost over, so, she decided to make this quick.

SOPHIA

“WHO ARE YOU? YOU’RE FREAKING ME OUT.”

UNKNOWN NUMBER

“GO TO THE TREE.”

The unknown number responded so fast, Sophia could barely process her own message. She blinks, furrowing her brows at the screen. This was starting to get frustrating, to say the least. An unknown number is really starting to creep her out. Just as she looks back out the windows, to the lone tree in the distance, the bell for lunch to be over echoes in the room.

Sophia bites her lip in worry, the nerves prickling her skin the longer she thinks about this. Half of her brain is giving her alarm bells, telling her to ignore the message and go back to her normal life. The oither half is telling her to do as the unknown number says. To seek truth and meaning behind them. And what do most people do in horror movies? Make the wrong decision.

“I’ll see you guys later.” Sophia tells her friends, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders, rushing to get out of her seat. The crowd of students was starting to get suffocating as they all clean up and head to class.

“What? Oh, uh…sure,” Cassy gives her friend a curious yet worrying expression, watching as Sophia disappears into the sea of students.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Once again, no matter how many times she checks her messages, the unknown number is gone. It disappeared from her inventory, and she just doesn’t understand why. How is it even doing that, when she’s not the one deleting it?

The walk to the tree only took a couple minutes, and she couldn’t help but to constantly look over her shoulder. She felt like she was doing something terrible. As of she’d get arrested for it if she got caught. Obviously, she’s overthinking the possibilities, but she is skipping class. No, she’ll just be late. She’s just going to check this tree out, then head back.

The thoughts running through her mind slowly dissipate the closer she got to the tree. Well, for some reason, it looks as if the tree was getting farther and farther away. Sophia freezes in her tracks, tilting her head to the side a little as she stares at the tree. Is it just her, or is the distance between her and the tree not changing at all?

UNKNOWN NUMBER

“KEEP GOING.”

The vibration from her phone startles her, a gasp escaping her lips. She lets out a relieved sigh when she realizes its just her phone, and checks the message. A frown falls on her face as she reads the demand, ultimately getting irritated with this unknown number.

This situation was only confusing her more and more, as time passes. Maybe the unmoving distance between her and the tree is just her mind playing tricks on her. Maybe the tree is genuinely farther then she thought? If she kept going, she might end up missing the rest of the school day, and her parents would be pissed at her for skipping classes.

Honestly, she should have ignored the messages from the start. What if she gets in trouble? Or, maybe this person who’s messaging her is trying to kidnap her? Panic rises in her system with that last question, and she looks over her surroundings in worry. Shit, is this what this is? Is she going to get kidnapped?

The longer she stands there, though, the more she realizes she’s simply just going crazy. And instead of doing the right thing, which is turning around and heading back to her school, she angrily taps her thumbs against the digital keyboard on her phone.

SOPHIA

“I CAN’T, THE TREE ISN’T GETTING ANY CLOSER.”

SOPHIA

“I DON’T GET IT. WHATS HAPPENING?”

With no response, even after waiting a little while longer, she lets out a groan and begins to stomp forward. “I swear. If this is just a big waste of my time…” her words trail off, a warning to whoever could somehow hear her.

It only took a few steps before she involuntarily hits something. Sophia yelps in pain as her face slams into something hard, and she falls back. She’s quick to bring her hand up and rub her sore nose, tears welling up in her eyes as discomfort erupts in her face. “What the hell was that?!” She barks out in irritation.

However, when she looks up, the tree is no longer so far away. In fact, its right in front of her. Now she was way more confused then earlier, and the more she looks at the tree, the more she notices something else. The tree is flat. The tree, the sky…it was hard to tell, but she can see it. The way it ends at the ground, an outline of…a wall?

Sophia scrambles to get on her feet, her hand hesitantly touching the ‘tree’. But her hand gets pressed up against something solid, flat…not a tree. It looked like a painted wall, as if the sky and tree, and whatever else thats in the distance, is fake. It was slightly warm to the touch. A texture of noise on the wall. It looked a lot like a computer or a TV. A screen?

UNKNOWN NUMBER

“OPEN THE DOOR. BE QUICK.”

“A door? What door–” her words cut short when her eyes land on a dark line on the wall. She follows it, watching it form into a rectangle. Her blue orbs follow the line to the top, and then back down to the bottom. There, she sees a handle.

It takes her a moment to really process what the hell was going on, but she involuntarily reaches out, grabbing the handle and pushing it down. A click sounds, and the wall moves. A door opening towards her as she pulls on it.

Light floods into the darkness behind the door, and she’s froze in shock. What’s behind the door is a hallway, with concrete floors and heavy metal walls. Tubes, pipes, and other electrical things align the walls. She couldn’t see where it lead off to, since it eventually ends at a corner, from what she can tell.

Sophia couldn’t believe it. This wall, from what she has always believed to be trees, mountains, and land all these years…it’s all fake? And, somehow, this unknown number knows about it. Are they in this place with her? Or somewhere else? What is this place? Was anything real? Is…she real?

Once again, Sophia can’t find the words for whats going on. She can’t even think on what to do. Go back. Ask her parents about this. Ask anyone about this. Or…

Go inside, and never look back.

And that’s exactly what she does, the door shutting behind her as she enters the dark hallway.

TO BE CONTINUED…?

[moltenwrites]

PAINTINGS: CHAPTER 1 - FATE

Paintings is a short love/mystery story following Astera and Asim. I’d give more of an introduction, but that’s what this chapter is for :)

Story starts under the break!

Astera looked up at the painting that loomed above her. It was spectacular. A red arm jutted out from the bottom left corner of the canvas. Directly on the wrist, a cut had been inflicted. Yellow blood poured down the arm, coating it in its golden glory. Something about it stood out to Astera. Maybe it was something about the colors not fitting perfectly together, maybe it was the red matching her newly dyed hair and her complementing maroon jacket, maybe it was the emotions the colors made her feel; or maybe she was just overthinking it. Astera smiled, continuing to look up at the painting. She let the museum's faint smell of wood and chilly air conditioning sink in. Astera sighed peacefully.

“ Beautiful, isn't it? “

Astera gasped, the masculine voice had shaken her out of her comforting world. She turned to face the person who had spoken. He stood far taller than Astera, which was admittedly not a hard feat to achieve. A waterfall of black hair flowed from his head, stopping slightly below his shoulders, brushing against his blue woolen sweater. He wore square glasses fitted in a dark orange frame, his nose was small, his glasses lightly resting on them. He had light skin and a soft smile.

The man turned his attention from the painting to Astera. His words flowed calmly from his lips like a river,

“ I apologize, did I startle you? “

Astera shook her head,

“ No, no! It's okay- I was just- “

She chuckled,

“ Immersed, I guess. “

The man smiled and nodded, turning his attention back to the painting,

“ Art can do that. Even without a clear meaning, something about this piece, it gives a sense of comfort, “

He shook his head, continuing.

“ Truly fascinating isn't it? “

Astera turned to the painting. She nodded slowly,

“ Yeah, I guess, though I don't know if I'd call it comforting“

She chuckled, then turned to the man,

“ Do you paint? “

The man turned to her in surprise, but seemed to enjoy the question,

“ Well, yes, but not like this. I do appreciate the art form. The piece, despite how interpretable it is, evokes very clear emotions. “

Astera smirked,

“ So what are you, some sort of critic? “

The man shook his head,

“ No, the arts are just a small passion of mine. “

Astera nodded,

“ Yeah I get that. I tried drawing a few times, but it's just so- “

She clenched her fist and sighed,

“ I'm sorry, what's your name? “

“ There is nothing to apologize about! My name is Asim, and you? “

“ That's a nice name, I'm Astera. “

Asim nodded,

“ It is a pleasure to meet you, Astera! “

Astera smiled,

“ You too, Asim. “

They both turned to the painting. They examined it silently for a moment. A feeling of calm washed over Astera yet again. Just as it had been the first time, a sudden noise to her right disturbed her. A short ping from Asim’s pocket knocked both people out of their trance. Asim’s hand quickly darted to his pocket, where he dug up a phone.

He looked at it and frowned,

“ I apologize Astera, but I must be going, “

His tone shifted, his frown inverting to a small smile,

“ Thank you for indulging in this discussion with me! I eagerly await our next meeting. “

Before Astera could formulate a response, Asim was walking away. She smiled at him, and quietly muttered,

“ Bye. “

[thewritersspotblog]

Getting into Genre: Mystery and Thriller

Photo by Martin Lopez on Pexels.com They tingle your spine and chill your bones. They keep you guessing by creating a sense of suspense and anxiety. They can be based on real incidents or made up completely, set in the modern day or ages ago. Mysteries and thrillers remain popular sellers because of the human thirst for knowledge and innate curiosity. They provide us with questions that need to…

[kammieceleek]

When Luz Noceda gets partnered up with Gus Porter for a history project of monumental proportions, neither of them has any idea what they're about to stumble into.

Ever a whirlwind of chaos Luz Noceda sweeps up her friends and family into something much bigger than a simple history project. And it all starts with a rumored monster in the woods and a secret long buried under Gallows Hill.

A collaboration project with @blundrstorm and @staryillustrations

(Star's blog would be linked but for some reason Tumblr can't find it, she's here tho!)

[mtskullz]

I’ve been coming up with this mystery circus story for a while but I can’t figure out if I want to it be a Murder Mystery or a Zombies Apocalypse story. Anyway, I drew some more. They don’t have names yet.

Psst! This is just an excuse to make a Y/N X Buggy the Clown story-sort of))

[moonviewjaystories]

WARNING! THIS IS A TERRIFYING STORY THAT MAY GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES! First story already out! Click now to watch my youtube original audio short story. My first story is 39:00 minute long, titled “When The Lights Go Out!” It is a very scary ghost story rated 14+. The story comes with voice audio, sound effects, subtitles, images, moving pictures, and more. Headphones are extremely recommended for an even better experience! There’s also a very mysterious element to it. (Sorry if some narration audio is slightly difficult to decifer without headphones, however subtitles are still provided)

Genre: Horror / Mystery / Thriller / Drama / Suspense / Psychological / Supernatural / Psychological Horror Elements: Jump-Scares / Ebook / Audiobook / Sound Effects / Gifs / Images / Scary Music Visit the video description on YouTube to see the list of soources/contributors that helped make this possible.

My name is MoonViewJay. My next Story will be a Christmas Murder Mystery like you’ve never read before! It'll first only be the write-up version which I will post very soon. Follow me for more posts like this and more. Head over to my blog description if you haven't already to learn what I do. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and please like, comment, or share the video if you enjoy the story, or if you get terrified.

[pulpsandcomics2]

Thrilling Mystery Novel May 1947

[morganmaietto]

First Seven Lines Tag

Thanks for the tag @axl-ul!

I haven’t written in a while so I found an older wip that I’m probably going to be abandoning. Just a trigger warning: mentions of blood.

Hannah Johnson has always been able to see spirits and other supernatural creatures that others can’t. Her parents had to take her to the doctors when she was younger because they feared she was sick because of all the gruesome things she told her parents. One day she remembered clearly, she was around seven years old, she saw a little boy with a bloody head watching her from her bedroom window, her room was on the second floor. He stared at her with unblinking eyes, she screamed and started crying. When her parents ran to her room she described what she was seeing but they couldn’t see the boy at the window even when she could still see him. She would stay in their room until the boy left her alone. She would still occasionally see him when she got a little older too but not as much.

I’ll keep this open tag for anyone who wants to join.

@narutofandude

[acidsneeze]

Chained Soul - Part Five

Check out the latest part of Chained Soul!

Welcome back to Chained Soul, my new serialised novel that I’m releasing right here on my blog, as well as on Tapas and Wattpad. Quick warning: this series does contain strong language, so if that’s not your thing, you’re free to skip this one! Check out Part One, including a synopsis for the whole series, here! If you missed Part Four, you can read that here! Day Five The psychologist came…

[twelvelms]

Bubbly and outgoing, Quinn Howell is great at magic and the natural leader of her friendship group. She's also its UNnatural leader, as one day she'll be leader of Coven Derwen, making her heir apparent, which does tend to skew the dynamic a little...

Felix and Reilly were sent to live with Quinn for their protection, and besides her younger sibling, Charlie, she doesn't really HAVE many other friends. Her experiences of the outside world have been limited and her education has been focused on making her kind and strong-willed.

She's definitely both of those things! But she also doubts her ability to be in charge, and is FAR more worried about whether people like her or not than she probably should be. Her whole life, she's been heir to Coven Derwen's leadership. She's not sure who she is otherwise.

Still, Quinn takes on this responsibility and the duties that come along with it proudly. She'll be the second ever woman coven leader when her time comes, and she wants to make her grandma - who was the first - proud.

Nevertheless, there's something at Quinn's core that longs for fun and freedom. Though she respects and dutifully upholds her position, she spends a lot of time thinking of her childhood, when things were simpler.

A song I associate with Quinn is 'Bros' by Wolf Alice. Especially: Shake your hair, have some fun Forget our mothers and past lovers, forget everyone Oh, I'm so lucky, you are my best friend Oh, there's no one, there's no one who knows me like you do

Has Quinn stolen your heart?? If so you can sponsor her by donating to the Twelvelms crowdfunder on IndieGogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-twelvelms-conspiracy-a-fantasy-audio-drama/x/26066738#/

[masterangst]

A string of disappearances of Passione girls in the Italian countryside has Giorno setting out his two best investigators to put an end to it.

Abbacchio comes to find out that a lot more is going on under the surface, and something far more sinister is plaguing this small town. With a Stand that can't help him, he's forced to relive his days as a cop, using the skills he learned then to solve this mystery before it ends up killing him too, but not without first taking things that matter with it in the process.

[itsglor]

Ok, is it just me or does this sound so cool? It includes over 100 characters from his various cases & comes w/a fold-out poster about his most puzzling cases.