Envy was reeling with sheer, mindless ecstasy. Each time she returned to the mortal realm it seemed a little more suited to her: hypersexualised celebrities strutting about inspiring insatiable jealousy into the masses with their perfect bodies and vast wealth; social media addicts perpetually wishing they were living the lives of influencers or brand ambassadors or even just friends who seemed far happier online than in reality; the endless pursuit

Strutting down the pavement, Pride wore a self-satisfied smirk as the crowds parted around him. The street was thronging with Halloween revellers – children scurrying about dressed as ghosts and zombies, twenty-something women wearing scarcely anything making their way to house parties in giggling groups, flustered parents hurrying after their kids in cheap outfits bought from the store. The air was filled with the excited buzz of their conversation, not

‘This is so dumb,’ Isaac sniffed, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair with a roll of his piercing grey eyes. ‘I mean do you losers really buy any of this voodoo crap?’ Addison leaned over and looped her arm under his, pressing herself close to him with a playful smile. ‘Not me. I’m with you on this, it’s just a waste of time. In fact, I could

Talia had never been more scared in her entire life. Her heart felt like it was about to give out at any moment, her stomach was a bottomless pit of terror, cold and gnawing, and raw fear crawled up her spine in thick, icy tendrils, writhing over her nape and across her shoulders so it felt almost like a heavy cape around her. Even so, though her eyes brimmed with

Stumbling through the thick bushes, Robert struggled to remain calm. Though he had been traversing these forests for close to two decades, anyone with an ounce of experience knew not everybody who entered made it out again, no matter how well they knew their way. To his dismay, it looked as though today was the day his name joined the long list of men and women who had gone missing

The abandoned manor which sat atop Cursed Hill was something of a local legend. Passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, stories of the decrepit old estate, as such superstitious tales are wont to do, had taken on a life of their own such that no two families agreed on the truth behind them any longer. Some believed the manor to be the former abode of a

Breathing hard and scrunching up her eyes, Yui gripped hold of her bedside table in an attempt to ground herself in reality. She could feel it coursing through her, trying to take hold, to take control. She couldn’t hold it off much longer; every second it grew stronger, welling up inside her like a bubbling geyser. She knew she stood no chance against it once it went off. Though her

‘Quiet, I think I hear them coming,’ hissed Melanie, pressing a finger to her lips. The other girls fell silent, straining their ears to listen. Sure enough the familiar beat of Penny’s strut could be heard in the corridor and a moment later she was striding through the door, cheeks rosy and hair in a mess. Her uniform was on, just about, but she had dressed poorly with buttons in

The dormitory was occupied by half a dozen girls when James was ushered in, most of them lounging on a single bed halfway down the long room. They wore their uniforms loosely with hanging ties and shirts buttoned low and were giggling at a joke they had been sharing. As he entered, prodded forward by the bony finger of the headmaster – a tall, broad man in his late-forties –

‘Shit,’ Ryan gasped, ‘shit, shit, shit. This cannot be happening. Are you fucking kidding me? Of all the guys to be secretly gay, it has to be the one I go and possess. Fuck you, Justin. Why couldn’t you have been like every other normal hunk in the gym and chase some cheap slut?’ Clinging the towel tight around his waist, Ryan stood in the doorway and peered helplessly up