As the music blasted, she let out a puff of smoke, placing a hot iron on the board. The song playing in that particular moment she randomly found online. The rhythm was so upbeat and the message everything's-going-according-to-plan hit so well that she couldn't help but play it on repeat. Her husband was suddenly called that morning and told urgently that he has to come to work. She did not mind. After all it was better that he did not see this.Large piles of white linen were placed all around her as she carefully ironed and folded them all over the large open area. By the time, the clock turned 3, she had placed the ironed covers all around her living room, dancing and singing to the loud beats.A man knocked on her door. Not having anyone greet him, he entered the front door with confidence. He walked into the living room and observed the carefree woman doing her chores."We finally meet," he said calmly. Tiff still near her ironing board glanced at the man. He was in his mid-50s,

"Cocktails for everyone!" the 19-year-old Tiff yelled. Her friends and her were out to a bar, dressed to a T, near her college. Disco was blasting, overpowering their chatter. "Too bad they're nonalcoholic," Jenifer sulked at the glass, but Regina already had the solution. She carefully pulled a tiny flask out of her bra and poured a transparent liquid into the girls' glasses. "I knew those melons of yours would come in handy one day," Tina squeaked delighted, taking the first sip. Tiff smelled her first. "What is this? Brandy?" "You know it," Reggie winked. The girls chugged their drinks, gagging from the taste a moment later. "That was bitter. Let's get another," Jenny yelled. Unknown to them, a group of college guys was already checking them out. A tall athletic type kept staring at them with a mysterious smile. Tiffany side-glanced him and looked away. "Is it my imagination, or is that guy checking you out?" she said to Reggie. Her friends discretely looked his way. The g

Basil entered the elevator deep in thought. "Nice guy," he exhaled, lowering his head. Starting to chuckle, he repeated the words, breaking into a crazy laugh as the elevator went down.He remembered a row of women and children coward as they were ushered by soldiers to a train. Thick snow covered the field, as their weak bodies shook under an insufficient amount of clothing. Alive and in his 30s, he counted bags placed on a folding table, neatly writing down all the valuable items in them. "Alright, if that is all, I will be on my way," he told the guards who escorted him to the gate. Once outside, he took a deep breath and looked at the gray sky. A small hand emerged from the snow, grabbing his hand. Startled, he looked down only to see a small boy in tatters. He was around ten, with large brown eyes, and small frozen fingers that protruded from his ripped gloves."Please, Sir. Take me with you," he begged, with his teeth chattering from the frost.The man tried to push the boy awa

Managing to reach the city. Everything was eerily quiet. Filled with newfound hope, she rushed to the tower and into the elevator, hitting the button for the hospital floor. "I'm sorry, Teo. But I don't see any other way out of this," she muttered to herself, slowly creeping into the dim hallways. "You would understand if you were in my position." "Stop your yapping and get on with it already!" Jane said impatient. "There is no better time to get rid of him than now." She was right. With everyone gone, everything was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even Lavinia was brought to the stands to witness the colossal event. Cass cautiously popped her head, glancing into the patient's ward. There was no one there. "They must have moved him," she stuttered. "Don't worry. We'll find him," Jane said. Cass moved from room to room, opening every door. He was nowhere to be seen. "Can it be that he had recovered?" went through her panic-stricken mind. "Don't be ridiculous. Not even demons

Deep underground, magma swished and splashed in the place where Helltown used to be.The tower, so high and menacing, was now nothing but floating rocks. Cassandra's apartment complex was already under the magma. With all the others trying to find footing after their great fall, only Stalin was left there. He watched the lava levels rise, making the kitchen sizzle and burn. "Finally some peace," he thought as the heat reached his cut head, letting out a breath before being engulfed by a hot wave.Further away, a number of carcasses were being carried by the current. One of them, a damned soul with longer hair and one horn, heard a sweat voice call out his name."Bernard, are you there?" the female voice said softly.The carcass twitched. "Margaret, is that you?" he uttered, not sure if the voice was coming from inside his head or was it a hallucination of his damaged mind."Bernard, what have you done to yourself?" the voice said sad."Please, tell me you are real," The burnt individua