StoryClub

~Table of Contents~ ~Science Fiction~ Ragnarok Rising Volume 1: To Grasp the Sky By: scherazade (https://www.deviantart.com/scherazade) Synopsis: In this world there are two types of truth. One is that which is good for us, the other is the kind that would surely destroy humanity if we knew it. This is the story of Zak Artisan's quest to discern this truth and repair our world from it's concequences. Chapters Available:1~8 ~Horror~ The Light in Thier Eyes By: l33ttr33 (https://www.deviantart.com/l33ttr33) Synopsis: The gods that made our world left, long ago. We were a failed experiment in manufactured slavery; the ultimate cheap labor until we rebelled. But left to our own devices, we have slipped

Chapter 1: A Loss of Innocence He edged his way to the front door as quietly as he could, if he were heard the night would be in vain. It wasn't typical for an ordinary family in the suburbs to leave their front door open at eleven o'clock at night. He glanced back at the mailbox through the dark, Taylor, a typical name. Slowly he pulled his revolver from the holster and reached for the doorknob. With self trained prowess he threw the door open and swung the gun barrel around the foyer stopping instantly on the body of a middle aged man. Mr. Taylor, presumably, had been attacked and lay bleeding on the ground. Zak grimaced, and reached down

Chapter 2: Musty Old Books The electronic bong of a strip store door brought Zak back from his reverie. He had fallen asleep whilst taking a short break from his opening duties at the bookstore he helped manage with old man Clemmons. Robert Clemmons was a kindly older man somewhere in his late fifties; he only came three fourths of the way to Zak at six foot and change. Never the less the man had more than handed the job to Zak many years previous, thinking to himself, Zak chuckled. To think that someone who hunted the night for the creatures of darkness would need an extended hand of kindness from a man like Clemmons was amusing indeed. Al

Chapter 3: Heavy Metal and Granddads Shotgun Zak looked down into the ally from the top of a red bricked building, analyzing remnants of a vampire feeding. He grimaced at the wrath that had been shown to the victim. Those that were used as food as opposed to being embraced into the fold of the night had no need for an open casket funeral presumably. He looked up disgusted. A woman was kneeling across the alley switching her attention from the murder to a small notepad where she scrawled her thoughts or assumptions no doubt. He had no doubt that she had seen him, but why the blatant disregard? The woman was no farther than 20 feet away separa

Chapter 4: When Push Comes to Shove The last drops of Pepsi worked their way slowly into Zak's thirsty mouth. He tossed the can into the back of his car with a raw assortment of junk ranging anywhere from fast food wrappers, an umbrella, a box of Kleenex worn from the sun, and God only knew how many other cans of varying sodas. The hatchback was a marvel to behold in and of itself, after almost seventeen years of service it was limping on its last prosthetic leg. The seats were more exposed than not, and the seatbelts only buckled when you used the duck tape. The air conditioning was long past dead and blew only stale warm air when provoked

Chapter 5: Knives and Scars Leona glided through morning fog and past newspaper delivery vans as the sun cast long dawn shadows on the empty streets. Zak, although pleased by having a functional radio was distracted in thought by what the corpse in his back seat had said. Seventeen o four. The same number he had stared at hours earlier outside his apartment. He kept trying to convince himself it was nothing, a figment of his imagination; maybe it was referring to a year, anything, anything except that that he was living next door to a demon. It was true his Heavy Metal was largely annoying and that he kept the most nocturnal of hours, but th

Chapter 6: Face-off White. Red. Heavy Metal. Demons. Vampiric attacks reaching unprecedented highs. Secret basements. Hidden Truth; that seemed to wrap things up. Zak stood before his neighbor's door listening to Heavy Metal at three o clock on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe demons have weekends off too? As he retraced the last twenty-four plus hours beginning at having to break poor Mr. Taylor's arm to push himself into the house, realizing that in these last few hours he had been exposed to enough life altering changes to overwhelm people that hadn't already had previous occult dealings. He thumbed the locket around his neck feeling a coo

Chapter 7: A Flight Further Into Darkness After taking the corpse to the basement and verifying that it had left no remnants upstairs Clemmons unlocked the front door. He walked back to his office and began to percolate coffee. Looking at the large grimoire sitting upon his desk he sneered. "Two hundred and fifty dollars, psshhht…," he said rubbing his forehead. He removed the bookmark and closed the tome before he lifted it and took it to a shelf on the floor. "What a damn waste, I'm so out of it; maybe I'll actually take Zak up on some sparring later. Or maybe I'll see if Vincent is interested, always was fun to mess him up real bad, alt

Chapter 8: A Moment to Breathe "You aren't ready…" "Why not?" "You are wrapped in wrong…" "What the fuck are you talking about?" "You must tear down your own walls before others may stand…" Who the hell is this lady? Why can't I understand any of this?   The woman smiled again pushing Zak that much closer to taking out his revolver. The clouds remained thick against the night sky. They rolled across the zenith with a speed that seemed too unnatural. The peel of thunder sounded across town just loud enough to warn people of the advancing storm. "OK I give up, enough with the mystery, what are you trying to tell me?" Zak said defeated

I have a story to tell, even though I know that few people will listen. I know that I will be ignored by the masses, even though they are the ones who should pay closest attention, for it is their story that I tell. And while I know that I should probably allow the events set before you to speak for themselves, I feel obligated to warn you as to how the story ends: we all die. Yes, we, for this is my story too. There is no profound moral here, no Faustian parallel of how "pride goeth before a fall." I am not here to tell you that you should live your lives a certain way, religion has already taken care of that, and for the most part, done t