Tag: dead by the river
Peter Serf looked directly at Dimitar, who shuffled on his feet. He looked like he was holding onto a secret that was too hot to remain in his grasp. ‘You want to tell them, or shall I!?’ said Peter, his gun pointing at Dimitar’s chest. Both Ivan and Sofia looked utterly perplexed. ‘Your friend here, […]
Both of them stopped and stared at their phone screens. Below the creepy message was a link, presumably to download an app. Sofia went to flick it open. ‘Wait, is that safe?’ ‘Dad, this is hardly the time to worry about Malware.’ Sofia clicked the app and a spinning wheel of doom loomed into view, […]
‘Elena!’ Sofia cried, dropping to the floor, cradling Elena’s head in her hands. There was blood staining the lower half of Elena’s white crop top. The dark maroon liquid was barely being stemmed by her hand, which was pressed hard to her side. She spoke in a croak that sounded like it hurt to leave […]
The next morning, Sofia arrived at Saskia’s salon feeling like she had stepped from one world into another. The neon of Glitter and the gloom of the Serfs from the night before had been replaced by bright daylight. Sun streamed through the windows into Saskia’s salon. Mercifully, it was empty, so Sofia accepted a cup […]
‘What are you doing here?’ Sofia asked Peter Serf over the din of the music. The nightclub was at its most raucous, the midnight hour aglow with neon lights that seemed to be amplified by the reflections from the mirrored walls. Loud dance music thumped from the speakers that were dotted around the dance floor. […]
‘It’s never easy to win a game of heads-up poker.’ Ivan Angelov slurred. He had way more chips than Dimitar, but the bouncer and barman seemed to grow in the jacket he had been wearing since the sixth level of play. At his side, Elena smiled encouragingly at him. She had only been dancing at […]
The players who had been sitting at the poker table jumped out of their seats as the explosion of gunfire filled the large room with a deafening noise. Sofia looked up in the direction of the blast to see one of the waitresses from Glitter in the doorway holding a long black rifle, the smoke […]
The start of the weekly poker tournament at Ivan Angelov’s mansion was always a busy one. Players often went on the attack in the first couple of hours, knowing that they could rebuy and enjoy the atmosphere and free drinks that their host always provided. He loved it too. Angelov may not have been liked […]
A day later, the stage was set. The sun was dying in the sky when the dozen players arrived at the Angelov mansion. Sofia had spent the day thinking a lot about the death of Georgi. There was no random element to his death. He was a strong swimmer. He worked deep in the city, […]
Sofia’s first memory was of riding a small pink tricycle up a garden path outside their modest two-bedroom family home. She was guided along the cobbled stones, not by the hand of her mother or father, but of Georgi, her older brother. She loved his energy, his heart, his sense of fun – it kept […]
Touching down in Bulgaria was always a routine that Sofia enjoyed. For one thing, she was landing in Sofia, the city after which she was named. When she was a child, it was all anyone talked about; her father’s relentless business drive and how he named his daughter after the city he hoped to one […]
