What are we without flesh and blood? Are we nothing but a beating heart in a ribcage, a marching soul inevitably leading to our demise? Or are we here as a test of loyalty to our God, a God we do not know but must trust? And without this trust, we will be punished indefinitely for questioning his divinity. And what is a sheep without his shepherd? Without God, are we nothing but sheep led astray? How will we be guided to the light without a shepherd on earth? Should we trust our shepherd to tell us the truth? Or will we be covered in the blood of the lamb? A shepherd with blood on his hands could infect his flock with poison. And with this poison, he has control. And to Luke, this poison is all he knows. His seventeen years of life have been devoted to nothing else but God. He wakes up, goes to school or church, and sleeps; rinse and repeat. There is no place or time for anything else in his life, such as television, going out with friends, or discovering new hobbies. His father, Pastor Ivy, ensures this. His life purpose will be to serve the Lord and nothing else. A purpose that Luke believes is the right way. What else would there be to life? He hadn't questioned this until he met Gabriel, a man who was the complete opposite of him. A man who was strong in his sense of self. A man who didn't bow to anyone or anything and stood firm in his beliefs in The Church of Satan. A man who Luke feared. But also a man who felt like home to him.

Percy Flynn is the school's golden boy that everyone loves, he has a girlfriend, friends he loves and the one he hates. Spencer Tracey just happens to be among the ones he hates, after a falling out that included his brother, Percy swore never to have anything to do with Spencer anymore. Unfortunately, the heart wants what it wants and when Percy finds himself in a situation where he has to help Spencer, his compassion takes over and he goes against everything he swore not to do again, all in the name of Spencer. Has Spencer really changed though? Does he deserve Percy this time? Is Spencer the problem or the solution? © CriticallyIntense 2018 Highest Ranking- 1st in Short Story

Keagan is the definition of bad boy. College man with a body that could make even God moan and an attitude to put the devil to shame. Between classes and drinking parties , sex and boys, Keagan had it all. Until Jamison. Small, skinny , anti-social. Will he be able to tame the sex god or be eaten alive?

For months Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her - and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers. His family. But flowers can't survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out...

Every Tuesday during football practice, sixteen year old Sem Bolton finds himself stealing glances at the gorgeous college boy jogging down the path next to the fields. He was his dirty little secret. His guilty pleasure. His unobtainable fantasy: safe and distant on the other side of the chainlink fence. Then, through a series of unpleasant events including being forced on a camping trip, it turns out his unobtainable fantasy is not so unobtainable after all. Not only is gorgeous college boy gay as well, he also wants to date Sem. Now, Sem was never one to play it safe. But outing himself was in a whole different league than testing his mother's patience or taking hits in the boxing ring. Was he really ready to date a guy, all consequences included? As if internal struggles weren't enough, count on girls, friends, and an estranged brother, to complicate stuff even further. Photo on the cover by: https://unsplash.com/@nickkarvounis

He leaned in closer. I could feel his hot breath on my face, his eyes never once leaving mine. Closer. Closer. And then his lips captured mine. My eyes fluttered closed. Sparks flew behind my eyelids as his skillful mouth worked mine. I was frozen, caught up in the improbability of it all. "Kiss me back" He murmured, pressing himself even closer. Immidetly I obeyed, opening my mouth and letting him in. A single moan escaped me, and if I hadn't been so intoxicated by him I would have cowered in embarrassment. He growled at that and took my bottom lip between his teeth tugging harshly at the swollen flesh. He finally released me and leaned back with a satisfied grin on his face as he eyed my trembling state of need. "Eventually you're going to have to choose Angel. Who's it going to be? Me, or my brother?"