Descended from Darkness: Apex Magazine Vol I

by Anthology

  I readied the poker and stood next to the door; if I was lucky I could brain one as he came through, crack his head open like a stale egg and be done with it before the others swarmed. Maybe I could frighten the rest of the pack off, make them think we were dangerous, better equipped than they'd suspected. They struggled with the windows and kicked at the doors, insulated against the taser discharge but still struggling to break down the barricade. It would take time, but not a lot. I waited. I waited, and the minutes ticked by. I thought about Jackson and his stories, about Rose and her mangled tongue, the patchwork scars that will cover her body when the stitches are pulled out and she's finally healed for good. Jackson was right, she wouldn't be beautiful, but I was right too. I knew it.

  * * * *

  Jackson is in the tunnel now, waiting for his chance to run. I wish that I were with him. I wish that I had kissed Rose, just one more time. I wish so many things.

  * * * *

  I can hear the Corvidae outside now, a murder of thugs and runaways, hungry for a fight. They're almost in. It's time. I think about Jackson, about his stories. Outside the Corvidae gather, jangling the windows and kicking the door. Four-and-twenty skinny boys, their flesh twisted by drugs and designer mutagens, black claws ready to rend and tear until I'm nothing but blood and parts. I can hear something hissing, see sparks underneath the doorjamb. I hold my breath, waiting for the inevitable. My heart tick-tocks, measuring out the silence. I repeat the same phrase like a mantra, reminding myself why I'm staying: Downside isn't a place where fairytales happen. I hope I'm wrong. I know I'm right.

  The front door slides sideways, hinges and locks worn down by the careful application of a blow torch. The first of the Corvidae comes in, a smaller bird with a nervous tick, his caw humming in the back of his throat. "Tick-Tock," Rook3 croons, calling through the open doorway. "We coming to get you Tick-Tock." The smaller bird hasn't noticed me lurking in the darkness; the clockwork arm steady, the poker raised and ready to strike.

  I can buy some time. They're going to need it. Jackson isn't fast, and he certainly can't fight, and the gurney will slow him down even if they don't spot him the moment he breaks cover. Downside is not a place where fairytales happen, but maybe just this once we can sneak one by.

  The Corvidae scout takes a few steps into the room, hunched over and eager. He sniffs the air, cocks his head to one side. He can hear my heart ticking, low and ominous in the darkness.

  "Go," I whisper, "Please Jackson, get away," and I swing the poker down. It bites into the feathered scalp of Rook3's scout, sends him sprawling to the floor in a pile of blood and skewed limbs. My heart beats steadily, no adrenaline can speed it up. Steadily like a clock, dependable and slow. Jackson isn't fast, but he's always been faster than me. I can hear Rook3's keening, the murder of black figures joining his angry scream. They surge, a dark cloud of anger. I think I can hear my pulse, roaring in my ears. I raise the poker. I wait for them. This is not a place for chivalry, but I can pretend I'm a champion. I can stand against the tide, for a few moments at least. I can buy time for Jackson and Rose. I can. She is not a princess, but she deserves this chance. My kiss did not wake her, but she can still be saved. She deserves this. She does. I hope I'm right.

  My pulse rattles in my ears as they swarm in, swarm over me, clawing, slashing; Tick-tock.Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-

  Hideki and the Gnomes

  Mark Lee Pearson

  There were twelve moons in the night sky: one from this dimension, the others reflections of the eleven dimensions. One switched off like a computer monitor. On the blank screen, Hideki watched the Space Shuttle, Confronter, hurtling to Earth, out of control.

  There were eleven moons in the night sky: one from this universe, the others from ten parallel universes. One turned off like a television, digital blocks deconstructing a digital world. There was a high pitched screeching. Hideki ran into the garden to witness a Boeing 747 crash into the garden next door. According to the Ten O'clock News, planes were falling out of the sky worldwide, for no apparent reason.

  There were ten moons in the night sky: one orbiting this world, the others orbiting nine parallel worlds. One faded slowly into the black analog tube. Hideki stood by the fishpond and called up to his mother's bedroom window. She was in bed watching the Ten O'clock News. The screen showed a picture of a man in a shopping center, reeling on the ground, holding his throat in pain as if he'd swallowed his entire set of false teeth.

  There were nine moons in the night sky: one from this time, the others from other times. One cut the radio signals, killing the static and the background radiation. Hideki ran into the house and up the stairs to his mother's room. He yelled at her, "We have to go, now! There are only eight moons left." She didn't see the significance, so he dragged her out of bed.

  There were eight moons in the night sky: one made of rock, the seven others made from each of the sins. One expired like a lighthouse in a blackout. Magnetic fields moved, and migrating birds lost their way. Hideki dragged his mother, kicking and screaming, down the stairs. He bound her from head to toe with a twenty meter LAN wire.

  There were seven moons in the night sky: one made of rock, and six made of cheese. One was swallowed up by the dark night sky. Birds hit the windows. Hideki pulled down the shutters and then went through his father's desk, looking for the gun.

  There were six moons in the sky: one for each of the bullets Hideki loaded into the gun chambers.

  There were five moons in the sky: four signifying death, and one signifying nothing. Hideki's mother lay sprawled on the tatami with a hole in her head.

  There were four moons in the sky: one real, and the others symbolizing the Holy Trinity. Hideki stuffed his mother's body into the refrigerator, nailed the door closed and then cleaned the tatami mat.

  There were three moons in the sky: one true, one false, one neither true nor false. Hideki pulled the plug, sending asteroids hurtling toward Earth. He led the gnomes at the garden pond to a revolution.

  There were two moons in the sky: one for reason, one for folly. Hideki had the switch now. He had to make a choice for his people. Men and women ran for cover as mushrooms pushed their way up through the lawns, signaling dawn.

  There was one moon in the sky; Hideki and the gnomes worshipped it, but they were unsure whether it was the right one.

  Biographies

  James Walton Langolf is a full time mother and part time college student from Mesa, Arizona. She believes that crazy from the heat is a valid defense for just about anything.

  Previously published in Surreal Magazine and the erotic anthology Love at First Sting, her literary influences include Tom Piccirilli, Joe Lansdale, Ken Bruen and many, many more.

  Katherine Sparrow is a social worker and social science fiction writer who lives in Santa Cruz. She's been published in Apex Digest, Escape Pod, Nightshade Press, and a few others. She attended the Clarion West Workshop in 2005, and is currently working on a young adult novel about mental illness and superpowers. When not writing she can be found taking urban hikes and dreaming about apocalyptic punk rock bands.

  Andrew C. Porter was born in Kentucky but now calls Nashville home. He has written one novel which is currently unpublished. His work often explores the emergent forms of awareness brought about by new technologies, although he has an abiding love of H.P. Lovecraft. "In the Seams" is a story borne of the latter's influence. You can contact Andrew at silverstairs@gmail.com.

  George Mann is the author of The Affinity Bridge, The Osiris Ritual and Ghosts of Manhattan, as well as numerous short stories, novellas and an original Doctor Who audiobook. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective. He lives near Grantham, UK, with his wife, son and daughter.

  Mary Robinette Kowal is the 2008 recipient of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Hori
zons, Cosmos and Asimov's. Mary, a professional puppeteer and voice actor, lives in NYC with her husband Rob and eight manual typewriters.

  She has performed for LazyTown (CBS), the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Pictures and founded Other Hand Productions. Her design work has garnered two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve.

  Steven Francis Murphy is a reluctant resident of Kansas City, Missouri. A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, he took advantage of his Army College Fund to pay most of his way through a Bachelor of Arts in History. He topped that endeavor by going into debt for his Master of Arts in European History with a specialization in Gender Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. These days he is freed from his cage in an undisclosed location for the purpose of teaching history; and ever so often, he gets to write science fiction. The nominal compensation is fifty-five gallon drums of black tea.

  Nathan Rosen is the founder and editor of MicroHorror.com. He lives in a crumbling old Victorian in Baltimore with his wife Jenesta Matthews and three spoiled cats. A mild-mannered paralegal by day, by night he can be found singing and carousing with Pirates for Sail as the dread pirate Black Dog Nate.

  Lavie Tidhar is the author of the Apex Publications' book HebrewPunk, a collection of dark fantasy stories centered around three mystical Jewish characters.

  Lavie grew up on a kibbutz in Israel, lived in Israel and South Africa, traveled widely in Africa and Asia, and lived in London for a number of years. Currently, he is living on the island nation of Vanuatu where he spends the days farming and the nights writing.

  In 2003, Lavie won the Clarke-Bradbury Prize (awarded by the European Space Agency). He has edited the Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (PS Publishing, 2004) and the anthology A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (The British Fantasy Society, 2006), and is the author of the novella An Occupation of Angels (Pendragon Press, 2005). His stories have appeared in Apex Digest, Sci Fiction, Chizine, Clarkesworld, Postscripts, Nemonymous, Infinity Plus, Aeon, Book of Dark Wisdom, Fortean Bureau, and many others.

  Visit him on the web at www.lavietidhar.co.uk.

  Jason Heller has been writing sporadically since his epic poem about alligators appeared in Humpty Dumpty's Magazine when he was eight. His words and comics have popped up in dozens of zines and alt-weeklies over the years, and he's currently the Denver editor of The Onion A.V. Club. He also plays in a punk band called The Fire Drills; they do the worst Cheap Trick cover you've ever heard. "Behold: Skowt!" is his first published short story, but more stuff is forthcoming in Kaleidotrope and Expanded Horizons. He's also launching a punk-skewed SF zine titled New Dawn Fades.

  Find him at www.puzzledpanther.blogspot.com

  William T. Vandemark can be found wandering the back roads of America in a pickup powered by vegetable oil. He chases storms, photographs weather vanes, and buries mason jars. A lock of Houdini's hair, a fragment of Poe's headstone, and a pair of Jackson Pollock's shoe strings were recently laid to rest one foot below grade at a crossroads in Indiana.

  When not wandering, William T. Vandemark hangs out in Maine, in Texas, or in Oregon, depending on season and inclination. His permanent e-residence can be found at www.williamtvandemark.com.

  "A Splash of Color" was written at Odyssey, The Fantasy Writing Workshop, directed by the amazing Jeanne Cavelos and was Vandermark's first sale!

  Geoffrey W. Cole graduated from Simon Fraser University's Writers Studio in 2007, and since then his work has appeared in The Ubyssey, where he won the annual science fiction rant, emerge 2007, and is forthcoming in Clarkesworld Magazine. Geoff has degrees in biology and engineering, and lives with his wonderful fiancé in Vancouver, British Columbia.

  You can visit Geoff at www.geoffreywcole.com.

  Jason Fischer is based in Adelaide, South Australia. He is a graduate of the 2007 Clarion South workshop, and a recent finalist in the Writers of the Future contest. He has a story in Jack Dann's new anthology Dreaming Again, and stories in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Aurealis Magazine. Jason likes zombies and post-apocalyptic settings, and when he's not writing he wishes he was. He can be found lurking online at http://jasonfischer.livejournal.com/, and is a contributing member of the Daily Cabal.

  Jennifer Pelland is a Waltham, MA based writer of dark science fiction and fantasy. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula and Gaylactic Spectrum awards. In 2008, her first collection of stories, Unwelcome Bodies, was published by Apex Book Company.

  Visit her blog at jenniferpelland.livejournal.com.

  Joy Marchand holds a B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of the Pacific. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts, where she takes photos of odd signage, churchyards and the occasional roadside shrine. Joy's poems and short stories have been featured in Bare Bone, Writers of the Future Volume XX, the Elastic Book of Numbers, Modern Magic, Time for Bedlam, Polyphony 5, Interfictions, Talebones, Apex Digest, and Interzone, among others. Joy has also worked as an editor for Shimmer, a small magazine packed with quality short fiction and stunning artwork. She is currently at work on a road novel set on Route 66.

  Visit her website at http://www.joymarchand.com.

  Jason Palmer's published and upcoming fiction ranges from dark fantasy to high science fiction to science horror. Look for more from him in the pages of Murky Depths, Spacesuits and Sixguns, and the Terrible Beauty/Fearful Symmetry anthology from Dark Hart Press.

  Ruth Nestvold's short fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including Asimov's, F&SF, Realms of Fantasy, Baen's Universe, Strange Horizons, and several Year's Best anthologies. Her novella "Looking Through Lace" made the short list for the Tiptree award and was nominated for the Sturgeon award. In 2007, the Italian translation won the "Premio Italia" award for best international work.

  Ruth maintains a web page at www.ruthnestvold.com.

  Gord Sellar is a Canadian living in South Korea, where he lectures at a University in the suburbs of Seoul. Since attending Clarion West in 2006, his work has appeared in various venues including Asimov's SF, Interzone, Fantasy, and Flurb. His story "Lester Young and the Jupiter's Moons' Blues" appears in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois.

  Gord's website can be found at http://gordsellar.com.

  Theodora Goss lives in Boston, where she is completing a PhD in English literature, with her husband and daughter, in an apartment filled with books and cats. Her short story collection, In the Forest of Forgetting, was published by Prime Books in 2006. Her short stories and poems have been reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens. Visit her website at www.theodoragoss.com, and find out more about her short story collection at www.forestofforgetting.com.

  Ekaterina Sedia resides in the Pinelands of New Jersey. Her critically acclaimed novels, The Secret History of Moscow and The Alchemy of Stone were published by Prime Books. Her next one, The House of Discarded Dreams, is coming out in 2010. Her short stories have sold to Analog, Baen's Universe, Dark Wisdom, and Clarkesworld, as well as Japanese Dreams and Magic in the Mirrorstone anthologies. Visit her at www.ekaterinasedia.com.

  Jamie Todd Rubin has been reading science fiction since he first picked up Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time back in the fourth grade. He is a big fan of the Golden Age of science fiction. His influences include Isaac Asimov, Barry Malzberg, Alfred Bester, Cyril Kornbluth, and Harlan Ellison.

  Jamie lives in Arlington, Virginia where he works as a software developer. His fiction has previously appeared in InterGalactic Medicine Show. His website is www.jamierubin.net.

  Barbara Krasnoff's short fiction has appeared in a wide variety of publications. Magazines: Space and Time, Electric Velocipede, Doorways, Sybil's Garage, Behind the Wainscot, Escape Velocity, Weird Tales, Descant, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Amazing Stories. Anthologies: Clockwork Phoenix 2, Things Aren't What They Seem, Such A Pretty
Face: Tales of Power & Abundance, Memories and Visions: Women's Fantasy & Science Fiction. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and earns her keep as a technology writer and editor; her web site is www.brooklynwriter.com.

  Peter M. Ball is a writer from Brisbane, Australia, whose work has appeared in Fantasy Magazine and the Dreaming Again anthology. He attended the Clarion South workshop in 2007 and he's currently trying to break the habit of being a perpetual post-grad student. He can found online at www.petermball.com.

  Mark Lee Pearson's fiction has appeared in Space and Time, The Book of Tentacles, Monkeybicycle, Alienskin, Strange,Weird, and Wonderful, Liars' League, Twisted Tongue, Susurrus Press, and Eternal Press. He lives and works in Japan, teaching English by day and writing tall tales at night. Visit his blog at markleepearson.blogspot.com

  Jason B. Sizemore is best known as the Editor-in-Chief of Apex Publications. A small press begun in 2005 with the first issue of Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, Apex Publishing now puts out approximately twelve books per year from award-winning authors and both established and new voices in the speculative fiction genre.

  As a quarterly print magazine, Apex Digest earned critical acclaim and positive reviews over the course of three years and twelve issues. With the move to digital in 2008, Apex Magazine was able to raise its author pay rates to SFWA professional level, allowing it to be declared a SFWA qualifying market in July 2009. By then, the magazine was only one small part of the Apex Publishing oeuvre. The book division of Apex allowed Sizemore to feature longer collections from rising stars within the genre such as Black Quill Award winner and Bram Stoker Award nominee Fran Friel, reader favorite Lavie Tidhar, and multiple Hugo Award nominee Michael A. Burstein. A series of novellas and anthologies from Apex have also earned critical and fan acclaim, including a recent Publisher's Weekly starred review for Gene O'Neill's Taste of the Tenderloin. Earlier this year, Sizemore began a search for Apex's first novel project; the company now has a zombie dark comedy scheduled for release in December 2009.