fiction

Mystery, crime, murder, unsolved cases. Contribute your own tales of crime to Criminal.

Tesorino
The sweltering heat of another summer’s day bore into Edmundo de Santi’s back as he strode into the market. Sweat coated his body, soaking through his once-white button down shirt. That always seemed to happen to people living in Cessirae. Finery went to waste faster than money changed hands in the back alleys of the city. No one was rich or poor in Cessirae, they just were. At least, that’s what the government tried to shove down it’s people’s throats from their ivory pulpets.
By Reegan Wolford6 years ago in Criminal
My First Reader Was A Bank Robber
It sounded like a combat zone. Instead of bullets and gunfire: shopping carts skittering along the marble floor, scanners beeping and booping, children that were told no, crying.
By A.L. Washington6 years ago in Criminal
The Book In The Bag
Allison buckled her fanny pack to her waist and strode to the back of the bar. She set the alarm, stepped into the alley, and locked the door. An athletic man staggered towards her as she turned around. He clutched a small paper bag in one hand and clasped one side of his neck with the other hand. Blood gashed around his hand and fingers. He pinned her bodily to the door, pushing the paper bag into her hand.
By Justin Holt6 years ago in Criminal
Hello, Good Father
It has never occurred to the priest that the smell of a church could be ruined by words. This particular scent has always comforted him, evoking memories of stillness and comfort. The smell of old tarnished wood, gently and lovingly polished, and the light odor of dust settling over instruments and iconography have always signaled home to him.
By farmills6 years ago in Criminal
So Many Questions
Shellie Halverson never knew her mom had belongings in a storage unit. Her mom had died nearly five years ago; the letter Shellie received from the U-Sav-It warehouse on Monday was a total surprise. Her mom had always lived a minimalist lifestyle. Why did she need a storage unit? Her mom had apparently prepaid five years’ worth of rent. A payment was due by the end of the month or the contents would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Shellie thought about letting her mom’s stuff go, but curiosity overcame her common sense. She Googled directions to the warehouse and planned to go after work on Tuesday.
By Kim Schaefer Lehnhoff6 years ago in Criminal
The Yolanda Hotel, 1933
It rained steadily the night they crossed the border. Bill drove, easing the car over the patchwork dirt road, with Jack at his side. A thin film of red dust lifted into the air behind them and concealed the endless line of telephone poles strung along the horizon like thin black crosses. With the rain came mud, and in the mud their pace slowed.
By Q H6 years ago in Criminal
Full Circle
The ‘dead of night’ is an apt term for those fleeting few hours of early morning when the world stops because right now, even though I’m beside a highway, it’s quieter than a cemetery. The darkness around me is thick enough to touch. A waxing crescent moon hangs high in the sky. I continue walking.
By Cam Brierley6 years ago in Criminal
Fussin'
Clem was fussin’. Didn’t make no nevermind whether he wanted it or didn’t, when a foul mood struck him, he would start to fussin’. He had just spent a stone cold week in the snowy hilltops miles from the town, sifting and digging through ice cold water and frozen dirt and had never seen a wink of nugget. The people in town frequently laughed at his failed efforts in searching for gold, another week with not a flake to show for it wouldn’t change a thing.
By Stephen Jackson6 years ago in Criminal
Leonardo's Notebook
I had settled in a small suburb of Florence to undertake my studies and escape my previous life in England. I was on a scholarship to study Painting at the Florence Academy. My family wanted me to study Business, although their intentions were not entirely selfless.
By will arthur6 years ago in Criminal
Secrets Revealed By The Little Black Book
I remember nothing about my first few years on earth. All Grandma Misty ever told me was that someone murdered my parents when I was a baby. I know that they loved me dearly, and Grandma Misty raised me as her own. She constantly reminded me of how much my parents loved me. We would lay on the floor next to the fireplace, where she told me stories about my mom while we both sipped on some hot cocoa during the winter nights. We didn't know much about my dad but that he was a refugee with no living relatives.
By Ali SP6 years ago in Criminal
The Fight
It was a clear night; not a cloud in the sky. The moon was shining so bright, the streetlights were barely needed. Jake couldn’t help but look at the stars, wishing he was going anywhere else. Still sore from last time, Jake held his ribs and took a deep breath as he scanned the area to ensure he wasn’t being followed. He clutched his gym bag in his hand as he ducked into a dark alley, where even the man in the moon couldn’t see him. Jake walked up to a large, steel security door and knocked two times. A small window popped open and a set of eyes glared at him. “Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches,” Jake said confidently. The door opened and Jake walked in.
By Heather Fritch6 years ago in Criminal
Grandma's Black Notebook
As I opened the letter from my Grandmother a chill came over me. I wanted to throw it away but couldn't. "You have to find the black notebook. It was taken or lost in the black of night. In this book are the codes for the continuation of our species and if the code is not connected before the 21st hour of the 21st day in the 21st year we will die. You are the deliverer born on the 21st day of the 11th month. You alone must find the Black Notebook."
By Michael Neumann6 years ago in Criminal