There are three things you need to know about Ariel, my wife. First, she’s gorgeous. I mean, she might not be to everyone’s taste, but she is to mine. Ari is an absolute shortstack of a woman. She’s short even for a Filipina at a smidge under five feet (I’m sure she’ll yell, “Four-eleven-and-a-half, Kyle! Round up!” when she reads this), with the missing height apparently deposited in some truly magnificent curves. Add to...

The inevitable never came. After what felt like hours but was probably closer to a minute, I unclenched just a bit and opened one eye. The bright light was still there; it hadn’t been a flash after all. Trying to locate the source, I peered over my shoulder and found the light at the end of the dock, which had hung overhead as we made love, had flared back to life. Sitting up, I looked back at the house, then towards the...

Everyone screamed. Some screamed louder or longer than others, but we all cried out. Eventually, only a few sounds remained: Heather’s keening wail in the kitchen, Mari’s sobs, Tyler’s stream of profanities, and Lakshmi’s renewed, desolate moans. The heartbeat pounding in my ears threatened to drown them all out. Kyle and Blake had bolted from the room to check on their significant others, knocking over a couple of smalle...