WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Is he real, or was it all in my mind?

Alice

After my mother remarried, my stepfather convinced her to move us into an abandoned estate, but I knew better. From the moment I stepped inside, I could feel the dark energy that permeated the walls. It wasn't long before I heard whispers, a haunting voice that seemed to be calling to me, or noises coming from the walls.

It's my senior year of high school. I want to go out, have a boyfriend, and avoid my mother's overbearing existence because she thinks I'm making things up. I want to explore my sexuality, but it's like the house smells the need for me to leave.

At night, it gives me what I crave. The more reckless I become, the more it becomes real, but I want the truth. I want to know if I made it all up. The only way is to find out the house's history, but I never imagined there were secrets from the reality haunting me for so long.

The truth was right in front of me.

I could feel it.

I just couldn't see...him.

CIRCLE OF FREAKS

Ivy Sloan

Since I was a little girl, I fell in love with the circus. It's all I ever wanted to see up close or be a part of. There was no room for things like that where I grew up. There was no room for anything except bad memories and bad expectations.

Every year around Devil's Night, since we moved to Stockbridge, the Circle of Freaks paranormal circus comes to town. It's an eighteen-and-over horror show in which no one talks about what goes on inside because they can't.

But this year is different. This year, my prayers have been answered by gifting me a ticket. Despite what people think of me at school. Despite the girls gone missing--- Found dead. I wasn't prepared for what I would see.

I wasn't prepared for...him.