Havok Publishing

S13 - Encore

Werewolves and Raspberry Jam

Twilight falls, and shadows hang heavily over me.
I snuggle deeper into my red cloak, tighten my grip on my basket of treats, and continue down the tangled path.
Darkness deepens with each step.
What I thought was a tree’s shadow moves

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Stealing Sight

Anticipation pulses through Anya as she hears the car pull up outside. She rises, making her way to the door, giggling quietly before schooling her features and opening it.
The man steps onto the porch, his aftershave hitting her nose, the scent marking his youth. “Mrs. Jansen? I’m Jed Barker. The agency sent me.”

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Making Zero Sense – A Dreaming Machines Story

Having my brain poked and prodded while I’m awake is a surreal experience. Prick on one part, and I feel like thick goo is running down my left arm. Boink another, and I can hear my aunt Patel singing the 1995 Indian hit,

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Robot Elegy

I jogged to keep up with Mother, my clanging footfalls on the raised metallic walkway nearly lost to the cacophony of the market. The unique technological marvels in the city of Cantabile had convinced our captain to land on this world and let me, the crew’s

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Wish

Once in a lifetime, a birthday wish came true.
Theo wished his hadn’t.
He surveyed the bustling marketplace and leaned back against the fruit vendor’s stall. Beside him, two women haggled with the farmer over the price of a clementine. He groped forward and plucked two

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Night Watch

“Ain’t afraid of heights, are ya?” Viv peered down from the top stair.
Whit shook his head, trying to catch his breath from the steep climb. The old woman wasn’t even winded.
He grabbed the handrail as Viv’s dog, Trooper, bounded

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The Super Taster

“Good morning, sir.” The smiling woman in the white lab coat held the door open. “Cubicle One, as usual.”
“Thank you.” Donald returned her smile as he limped through with his cane. I’ve wanted superpowers all my life, but this is what

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The Quest for a Good Night’s Sleep

It was 10:30 p.m. on December 18, and I was desperate.
Sleep had grown more and more elusive as I aged. In my teenage years, I often dropped into dreamland as soon as my head hit the pillow. These days, I tossed and turned while the

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Apostasy

Aberrant Psi44126108-4127R
Hall of Reclamation, Location Undisclosed
Year 468

The best—and worst—thing I have ever done is lie to my beloved. The right and wrong of that falsehood swirl into a whirlpool of white and black, and I shall drown in the engulfing grey.

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Under His Nose

“The colonel and I have searched them both.”
I sniffed. “It’s surprising how often people miss essential information when it’s right under their noses—”
“Quinlan!” Colonel Englert intercepted us fifty meters down the corridor, his hair and uniform gray as the station’s walls,

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Beyond the Veil

Naria sighed heavily and gathered her auburn hair into a ponytail. How had she been accepted into the most prestigious artistry battle-mage academy in the realm?
“Focus, recruits,” General Peters demanded as he stalked between rows of easels. His voice echoed

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Pug Payback

A man in a suit dropped a bottle cap on my table at the back of the soda shop. I flipped it over. It had a white dot painted inside. He knew my code, which meant he was part of the underground crime system, but

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