fiction
Mystery, crime, murder, unsolved cases. Contribute your own tales of crime to Criminal.
The Sins That Betray Us
It was a warm Parisienne evening and fog rose from the Seine. It mingled with the smog of industry and clouded the gas street lights that dimly lit cobblestone streets. Beside the Seine, in the 4th arrondissement, was La Force Prison, within which was the man Eugène Vidocq, whose wrists were shackled to the dungeon wall by cold steel chains and ankles bound by manacles.
By Aditya Choudhary5 years ago in Criminal
The Girl With Fire In Her Eyes
CW: Mentions of murder and crime (but not much) You hold the hilt of the dagger in your hands, its metal pressing against your frostbitten arm. You've never held a weapon before, and wielding one makes you feel strong. Powerful. You take a deep breath and run the blade through the rope, slitting it into two with a snap that makes your blood run cold.
By Aditya Choudhary5 years ago in Criminal
Dammed if You Do
“Find a way to pay me, or leave the bank,” my boss, Teresa Tedescho, snarled her ultimatum. My entire professional life felt like it was slipping away. If caught, I could lose my licenses, get fined hundreds of thousands, and be banned from the securities industry for life. Life, hell, I was only forty-two. Cutting lawns and plowing driveways for the next thirty-plus years was a decidedly unattractive proposition.
By Aditya Choudhary5 years ago in Criminal
The Satellite Image
A friend of mine showed me how to use Google Maps. I'm sure you've seen it. It lets you use satellite images to look at locations all over the world. A few years ago, I was in a car accident. Since then, I really don't leave the house that often. It's difficult, and the idea of a seeing a car drive by me makes me feel lightheaded. I was fascinated by the fact that I could see all over the world, almost like being there. I could virtually walk down the streets, and it almost felt like I was really there.
By Aditya Choudhary5 years ago in Criminal
Running From Freedom
Generational curses plague many of the families residing in the Orlando community of Pine Hills. Some of the youth become institutionalized at a very tender age. It would seem they feel more comfortable behind bars than running free in the world. Crimes are committed for very little gain at a high risk with dire consequences. No forethought or great planning goes into their criminal behavior; usually it is based off of opportunity or emotion. Poor decisions and youthful indiscretions equate to long prison terms and broken families. The generational curse can be broken but it starts in the mind. These youth are often blinded to the possibilities of the future because they don’t see examples of it from the elders in their family. Sometimes it’s hard to be what you never get an opportunity to see.
By Cam Rascoe5 years ago in Criminal
Just Let Me Die Here (A Serialized Novel) 12
“Alright, let’s give this one a try,” I say, pulling to a stop at the ridge of a run. ‘Strawberry Surprise’ reads the sign posted next to me. The blue square indicating difficulty has been partially covered with a sticker. The words on the sticker are in French. French I have not learned. But the cartoon image of a male skier and an underdressed, well-endowed woman gives a pretty good hint at what the words mean.
By Megan Clancy5 years ago in Criminal
Just Let Me Die Here (A Serialized Novel) 11
It is a perfect morning for skiing. There is fresh powder on the mountain and the air is crisply chilled. Everything looks so vivid, unreal. As if the dial has been turned up on the color of the world. And everything is silent. We got up early, one of the advantages of having an infant alarm clock, and, after Tucker puts Millie in the ski resort day care, he and I are some of the first skiers on the mountain.
By Megan Clancy5 years ago in Criminal
Alexa On My Mind
I hit end call, kissing the screen as I did so. I hated Connor working away but it was an opportunity we could ill afford to turn down. It hadn’t been a huge upheaval, but loneliness still plagued me in a strange town with only my sister Ellie to call on in my hour of need. In fact, it was only Ellie and her annoyingly successful business that had brought Connor and I to Cleethorpes in the first place. Connor wasn’t keen on my sister’s job offer, not because it wasn’t a good offer, on the contrary it was a very lucrative offer, but because a wise man once told him never to work for family or friends. He knew that trying to juggle that fine line between work and personal life would become increasingly difficult, but for the moment at least it served a purpose and made a small but not insignificant dent in our growing mountain of debt.
By Max Stephanitz5 years ago in Criminal
Just Let Me Die Here (A Serialized Novel) 10
It’s our first full day in Canmore, and it’s raining. We hadn’t planned to ski today. Thought we would give ourselves a day to see the sights. But there are no sights to see in the torrential downpour outside our window. From the bed, I can see that all the mountains are now trapped behind walls of cloud and will surely be stuck there for a while. I imagine all the snow being washed away by the rivers of rain and I just hope it’s colder up near the peaks. Snow. Just let it snow. The clouds move quickly, as if swirling around a single point in the distance and I hear a rumbling. It’s not long before a flash of lightening illuminates the entire view.
By Megan Clancy5 years ago in Criminal
When Nothing More Could Be Done to Dodge a Bullet
It was quick after Clara Rose Fox, criminal defense lawyer, entered stage 1 of NON-REM sleep during an attempted evening nap on September 3rd 2016 that she was woken up by a call from a police officer who informed her John Smith had been arrested following a fairly big drug trafficking investigation and wanted to speak with her. After she accepted his call, the latter explained: "We’ve spoken a few times a while back concerning a highway safety statement of offence. I’m now caught in something a little bigger. Are you free to meet me at the courthouse tomorrow to discuss the possibility of representing me?”. She told him she would arrange to be there and he gratefully thanked her.
By Clara Rose5 years ago in Criminal
