The Only Casanova in This Dead Country

"She was so hot,” Sam says. “It was like she was blasting out chunks of magma. When we finished, the whole apartment looked like Pompeii. Anyway – how'd you do with your lucky lady?"

I light up a cigarette and think for a moment.

"I was depressed the next day. Does that answer your question?"

"You tellin' me you didn't make a formaldehyde fetus?"

"Oh we had unprotected sex. I don’t know. Something doesn't sit well inside."

Sam puts his hand on my chest.

“There's nothing comfortable inside that heart of yours,” he says. “It's an abandoned archaeological site. Like America."

From Guest Contributor Justin Karcher

Justin lives in Buffalo, NY. Recent works have appeared in Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Mixtape Methodology, and Maudlin House. You can find him on Twitter.

An Age Of Darkness

As Dr. Martin approached the site, she noticed the trees showed signs of ancient pleaching. That, combined with the ring of stones barely visible beneath the clover and moss, suggested to her the location once held an apotropaic intent.

Whatever danger these druids feared had long since been forgotten, but Dr. Martin would glean what she could from the remains. Her specialty was druidic song and she was pleased to find several inscribed on the stones. They each referred to a coming blackness, a dark age that would consume the world.

It was the age in which she currently lived.

The Long Forgotten Adventures Of Blake Worthington, Archeologist

We stumbled upon the entrance buried beneath the sand. It figured, with 14 miles of desert in every direction, the door had to be buried. Thank God for the stolen map.

The tunnel was cool, a welcome respite. We had run out of water hours ago.

"You know, if the Midnight Sun is not here, we are going to die," Semele whispered.

"It's here, trust me."

We lit torches, and descended into the catacombs. The passageway opened into a cavernous chamber. The walls, the ceiling, the dais, everything was stripped clean.

"It appears Dr. Jones beat us to the prize again."