Crane Books Novels & Stories

“I’ll stall them. It’s what I’m good at.” “No,” Anaïs said. “They’ll kill you.” Crane gave a half-smile. “Only if I stop talking.” He stood and crossed to a wooden crate near the shelves. When he opened it, the scent of metal and oil filled the room. Inside was a compact satchel, already packed. “You’ll need supplies,” he said, handing it to Maris. “I pulled what I could. Food, flashlights, gauze, spare rounds. Keep moving. Head toward Haver. There’s a contact there. Same network. She’s quiet, but she owes me.”

Coach Brimworth says. I take my bag and leave.

He knows I don’t skimp on the good liquor. The door opens and I stand up. Crane appears through the door with Matt as he closes the door behind him. Crane seems to be frozen in time. He looks old and wrinkled and well past his prime but is still as active as a young wolf. His eyebrows stand up like they were electrocuted and his nose is slightly crooked. I’m sure in his prime he was better looking. Now, he looks like life has fucked him every day and he can’t remember the safe word.

I always craved something more intense, something that would push me to my limits and beyond, leaving me broken and begging. That's what led me to this stupid idea on Christmas Eve. I was alone in my cramped apartment, the snow outside building up against the windows like a white prison wall. Bored out of my mind, I pulled out this ancient book I'd snagged from a shady thrift store downtown. It was all about old Alpine myths, and tucked away in the yellowed pages was a ritual for summoning Krampus… not the watered-down version from holiday movies, but the genuine article, the horned devil who dragged the wicked straight to hell for their sins.

The voices still whisper words I don’t understand. “Up here,” Crimson gestures to the empty space I created, but his finger points upwards to the very top shelf. I look around for a ladder before calling for Mathias. He steps down the long row followed closely by Tawny and Althea who watch on with curious eyes. Mathias lifts me up and my fingers brush the book that sends a jolt of sparks down my hand and up my arm. Removing the book, I find a box hidden behind it. “Here,” I say as I pass books down to Crimson while my giant still holds me up.

Chapter 2. Alex grinned and rose to his full height in one smooth, confident motion. His hands went quickly to the waistband of his jeans, and he shoved them down along with his boxers in a single movement, letting them fall at his ankles before kicking them aside. His cock sprang free, long and impressively thick, the shaft heavily veined and pulsing with obvious need. The swollen head was already glistening with a thick bead of pre-cum that caught the flickering golden light of the candles, making it shine in a beautifully obscene manner.

November 27th My name is Leyanne Cruden, I have graced these lands for what feels like an eternity, although compared to humans I guess I have lived that. I have persevered through some of the worst and best decades and now I find myself in present day, the 2020’s. I keep this journal wherever I go to record my thoughts and feelings, my memories, so that my mind can let go of the mundane yet never lose a way to reminisce because I have lived hundreds of lifetimes. I hope that one day all that remains of me are these memories and I would have finally found peace in death, although it seems unlikely.

A book fell from a bookshelf before the shelves’ bottom support succumbed and books cascaded down into a pile. In the living room, another narrow crack snaked across the ceiling. The ceiling creaked, its cracks spreading, until it came apart. Several cardboard boxes from the attic crashed down into the living room floor. The boxes split apart and photographs poured across the carpet. V One minute, Jake Grant drove over the River Bridge. The next, water submerged everything and his car became a water-filled steel prison. He sucked in his next breath almost without thinking. The heavy dose of oxygen sustained him as he instinctively fought his way out. He pushed and kicked against the force th

“Two batches of children’s rehabilitation equipment supplied by Crane Medical failed procurement standards. The prices were nearly thirty percent above market, and the excess funds moved through accounts tied to a private Crane family foundation.” The dining room went still. Nico hugged the cookie jar. “So he really is bad?” Matteo looked at Dante. “The audit confirmed it?” “Yes.” Livia clutched Pearl. “Will he come after Mom again?” Before I could answer, Enzo took a call. A few seconds later, his face darkened. “Don, Sebastian Crane is at his lawyers’ office. He is requesting a meeting with Mrs. Bellandi.” Dante said, “Refuse.”

The blackmail files hit at seven this evening. I know this because Warden Crane, who is not related to the administrator but who has the same quality of someone who has been inside an institution long enough that the institution's logic has replaced their own, began behaving differently at seven this evening in the specific way that people behave when something has happened to the information they were depending on to keep other people quiet.