Divine (3/3) by Blair Ashworth

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

A trolley with a monitor screen was wheeled around and in front of Hitler. Henry drew attention to the tray of surgical implements on its bottom shelf by shaking it slightly and then straightening out the more intimidating examples. Henry Czyrski watched Hitler, not the film. He'd paid for this privilege, in blood and suffering and cash.

The scenes were of chemical and medical experiment, gas chambers, crucifixion, decapitation, disembowelling and hanging. Actual footage of barbaric tortures and executions, and yet no one within the semi-circle seemed disturbed or even looked away for a second, they just seemed detached. "Heartbeat's high, doctor" said a white-coated assistant who was studying the display on the vital-signs monitor. "So what?" replied the doctor, his attention on the film that flashed vividly a few feet before him. Hitler's struggling was moving the chair sideways, but not far.

Henry took the cap from Hitler's head and solemnly collected the paper slips in it. After separating the votes into several stacks on the surgical trolley he dropped the cap into Hitler's lap. "It appears," said Henry, "that we all want to see you die in several different ways." "The thing is, that's something we can do - if we want to. When we've killed you one way, all we have to do is bring you back into one of the other twelve bodies and start all over again."

Henry stooped, turned his gaze towards the tray of sharp implements and whispered into Hitler's ear, "I'm saving mine for last." Adolf Hitler's eyes closed tightly and tears were squeezed out onto his cheeks. But they were not the tears of a brutal dictator, they were those of a dental assistant who had lived and died in that building.

Fiction - Off To See The Wild West Show Part 10 (1886: Hull, Yorkshire) By Frank Beill
	'So how are we gonna get in?' George kicked a loose stone across the street. 'We've got to circle the camp and look for a weakness in their defences. That's what Buffalo Bill would do.' I was not certain what my hero would do, but I thought my scheme had the right sound to it. 'Aye, but it's Buffalo Bill we're wanting to attack. Read more...

Fiction - Welcome To Hellville - Part 9 By Rich Mills
	The analysis of the VHS tapes have come back. Keith reports back that indeed one of the tapes did contain episodes of He-Man, along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Inspector Gadget and Battle of the Planets. Be worth something to an animaphile out there. I will stick it on eBuy-GUM, the online Global Underground Marketplace. Read more...

Fiction - Scissors, Paper, Stone! By Bob Spence
	The Lord Nelson was your typical run-down seventies pub. The decor was in disarray, with half a mind to venerate the Royal Navy's biggest hero or to catch the eye of the potential clientele with the latest fashion. In this manner it achieved neither. Mickey was the prototype glass collector for every Read more...

Fiction - Drowning, Swimming By Joe Hakim
	Keith sat and stared at his wife, who was holding his daughter and staring at the 28" Philips Widescreen TV situated in the corner of his house, on his laminate floor, flanked at either side by his Sony sound system and his X-Box. He was sweating and his head was throbbing - the general effects of the weekend Read more...

Fiction - Any Instructions? By Denis Price
	It wasn't the first time he'd missed the bus. From the Mess to the monitoring hangar was only a quarter of a mile walk, something he relished during the central European summer as the airbase had been carved out of heavily wooded countryside teeming with wildlife. Read more...

Fiction - Kat Out of the Bag Chapter Ten By Steve Rudd
	As the sun rose, so did my spirits. The men before me were all aged and seemingly wise. You could just tell that all three of them had been born in this valley, and had all lived and worked there ever since. If any, or all, of them genuinely believed in a heaven, then it wouldn't be an, other-worldly place delighted by harp-twanging angels. Read more...

Fiction - Second Chances by Nick Quantrill
	Available now, Second Chances is a crime fiction novella set in Hull that is already attracting praise from readers. Influenced by crime fiction heavyweights Ian Rankin and Hull's Robert Edric, Second Chances is set to be a great success. For a taster, see the extract reproduced below, only available Read more...

Fiction - Invasion By Bob Spence
	Moody just couldn't stop scratching. His shirt was far too stiff at the edge of the collar and the coarse material was driving him to distraction. You could also say that Moody was distracted anyway. He was waiting for a letter from his fiancee and there was none. Read more...

Fiction - The Death and Birth and Death of a Legend By Bob Spence
	Goober liked to be busy. Some people could handle doing nothing, not Goober Walton. Running the tidy but ancient gasoline concession suited. Suited well. It was orderly and everything clearly had its place. Some would say it looked almost military in its order and for that it Read more...

Fiction - Feller's in Cut By Maurice Fairfield
	Well that's her gone. You don't remember me do you? I'll have a pint while you're thinking about it. It's me Jack, Harry Fergus's son. Here for the funeral. Thought I'd see her get put under. Not sure why. It's always a laugh though, watching a parson doing a Read more...

Fiction - Fishheads By Michelle Dee
	Monstrous silver and blue -green severed fish heads emerged at the forefront of her mind. Open, close, open, close the gaping mouths. She fancied there were others behind it. Each time the razor sharp teeth were bared she looked into the blacker than Read more...

Fiction - Firm but Fair By Mark Pollard
	Cry-Baby Jim Breaks. He pioneered it, they say. And the hushed, almost ecclesiastical tones of Ken Walton had heralded it's entry into Saturday afternoon folklore: the bright lights of Blackpool and Great Yarmouth, down to the lesser reputes of Ilfracombe and Skegness had all borne witness Read more...

Fiction - Puzzles By Denis Price
	I've got a really nice room, when the door's closed I feel ever so safe and warm. It's quiet as well, just the swish of the wind in the trees outside. I like the trees; they hide the big tall fence. My watchers say the fence is there to keep me safe, and that's their job too, they're always there Read more...

Fiction - COLD WAR TALES- THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS By Denis Price
	The piercing insistent wail of the siren woke him. `For Christ`s sake now what!` Over the tannoy the smooth expensive voice intoned languidly that this was only a drill and that all personnel should continue with their normal duties. He groaned and thought, this is my normal Read more...

Fiction - Scrawls Of The Unexpected By Mark Pollard
	Professor Colin Pillinger, lead scientist on the Beagle II programme, was calm but well pissed off inside. He had been clinging to the idea that his £35 million Mars Probe was stuck in a crater, waiting for some narrow rays of sunlight to banish the shade for a few precious hours each day in order that Read more...

Fiction - A Short Story - The Beaver Stalker By The J.E.M. Cult
	I stepped out into the cold frosty air. I pulled my muffler tighter round my hands and crunched across the frozen grass. Today was the first day of the beaver season- and by golly, I was sure gonna get me one. I love beavers. I can't help it. There's just something about stroking that damp fur that sends me Read more...

Fiction - The Art Of Being Alone In A Crowded Bar By Rich Mills
	What music are you into, man? The American exchange student who had earlier introduced himself, without any regard for Jean-Paul's need to be alone, suddenly threw a curve-ball of a question in his direction. Well I listen to... What followed was a definitive list of bands from Jean-Paul's wide ranging rare vinyl Read more...