The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Night We Disappeared
by Christina Persaud 

“Seema? The realtor is here.” Rob and I exchanged the same look. Pure excitement. Today was special. We’d worked so damned hard for this, and it was about to pay off.

As we sat in the office and signed papers and finally received the (our!) keys, I closed my eyes and said a little prayer. The drive to our new home was bathed in sunshine, and as we stepped inside the freshly painted living room, I felt the warm embrace of new beginnings.

“Is it weird being back in your childhood house?” Rob asked for the millionth time. I reassured him that it was not, even as time seemed to fold in on itself, making the present feel like the past before returning back again.

“We didn’t live here very long, just a year,” I reminded him. He looked like he didn’t believe me.

“But… the memories.”

I blinked them away. The room. The window. The attack, or what I imagined happened.

“It was just a dream. None of it was real, remember?”

“Yeah, but—”

“I put that all behind me,” I said and recalled all those years of therapy I’d undergone. I hugged him tightly. “Don’t start that again. Not today. Not when the house was such a steal. I’m so happy, hun. We’re home.”

We unpacked and all the while, I did not admit to Rob that I avoided my childhood room, the place I played in for hours when I was just ten. We would be sleeping in what was once my parents’ bedroom, so everything would be good and safe.

But within the first week, we were standing inside the second bedroom deciding how to turn it into my office. I put away the recollection of my old posters and décor and imagined it with a different color on the walls and a new desk. It’ll be different in here, I told myself.

***

Summer turned to fall and we kept the windows closed to keep the draft out. One evening, I was working late while Rob was away on a work trip. My old bedroom had been transformed into a modern workspace, without a hint of what it was once before.

I had lost track of time when the sound of running water caused me to stop what I was doing and stand.

Someone hummed in the kitchen.

The memory of my mother washing dishes left me frozen.

“Hey, Seema. Can you open the window so I can get in?”

My sister’s high voice came through the glass, but I could not see her.

Why doesn’t she just use the back door?

I put my hands on the window. The springs were stiff. I could see the large jasmine tree just beyond. Beneath it, a shift.

A young girl. My sister.

“Open the window so I can get in. I’m locked out.”

My hands felt the cold gaze of the glass.

“No.”

My sister looked at me in disbelief. “What do you mean, ‘no’? Let me in! It’s nighttime and I’m scared.”

Me too.

***

That night, I slept restlessly.

I dreamt that the house was back to the way it was when I was young, everything from the 70s era linoleum floors to the wood-paneled walls. I felt the shag carpeting between my toes as I walked into my old bedroom. The sweet smell of jasmine filled the air. The only light came from the moon outside.

A soft, warm breeze wafted through the open window. Something in my heart told me this was wrong. What was once my sanctuary sat with open seams, vulnerable, and unsecure.

At the window, I reached up and tried to pull it down. To lock it and back away. But the old thing wouldn’t budge.

Mom was in the kitchen washing dishes. The smell of jasmine was overwhelming.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Let me in.”

She showed itself beneath the moonlight. Pale, shining in its wet, translucent skin. Blue veins crisscrossed over its shivering body. It held onto to the windowsill, and slowly, it let itself in.

I knew then like I knew now – that thing is not my sister.

Dried blood caked the vampire’s fingers and the corners of its mouth.

Before I could scream, I was kissed with sharp teeth, so my tongue would never again speak again. And my eyes cried tears of blood for the sister that disappeared the same night eighteen long years ago.

.

Fiction © Copyright Christina Persaud
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Xingirl
by K.R. Morrison

Ryan needed space.

This is what he’d told his friends and family. A time to get his head around his current life situation, without unneeded help from those around him.

He sure had that space now…

In fact, he had no idea where he was. Only that he was in the uncharted depths of a mountain forest somewhere in China. He had started out in a remote place that morning, but even then he’d had some idea as to where he was.

Now it was growing late, he had run out of food and water, and the batteries on everything he had with him were low or completely shot.

He stumbled forward through the gathering dusk, hoping and praying that he would come across someone, somewhere, who could point him to sanctuary from the coming night.

The weak beam from his flashlight had all but petered out when he saw a sight that sent his heart leaping with joy. A light flickered ahead of him, and without thought he flew toward it. Funny how very much like moths we are when the light becomes paramount.

He stopped short at the edge of a small clearing, where he beheld an old man sitting before a blazing fire. He looked up, startled, at Ryan’s presence.

Ryan paused, wondering how he would communicate. He didn’t know the language, never imagining that he would be in a place that didn’t know his own tongue.

He opened his mouth to make an attempt, but to his surprise the old man just grinned and indicated a spot beside him. He produced a plate and filled it with fish from the grill over the fire.

Ryan, tears in his eyes, sat down beside him. The fish was hot from the fire, but he wolfed it down regardless of the heat.

Then the man produced some water, and his new companion spent no time washing it down.

There was a noise outside of the light, in the now-complete darkness that surrounded them. Ryan tensed as he saw a figure coming toward him.

Then, biggest wonder of all, a beautiful young woman stepped into the firelight. Ryan’s jaw dropped as she came closer. He’d never seen such a beautiful creature.

She sat next to him, and Ryan became awash in exhilaration. Or was it something else? He wasn’t sure anymore.

They didn’t talk much. Ryan told her his name, and she had indicated that hers was something like “Shing.” The old man offered his name also, but Ryan hardly heard him. Something like “Yeren.”

Now Ryan found himself in a dazed semi-swoon. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He was tired beyond comprehension. So much so that he was starting to hallucinate.

He blinked a few times, not willing to believe what he was seeing. Until she reached an arm around him and…

…picked him up from where he sat! He was so terrified that he couldn’t even let out a scream.

The now-animal dragged him off into the mountains, struggling and kicking but to no avail.

The old man watched, still smiling. Yes, his daughter had made a good choice. His people would live on.

.

Fiction © Copyright K.R. Morrison
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from K.R. Morrison:

Enoch’s Return: Pride’s Downfall Book 4

All hell broke loose, as demon fought saint, and undead fought mortal. Fangs and swords, fire and light, mingled in a cacophony of noise that would have awakened the dead — if they hadn’t already been in the pitch of battle.

Toby was looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday with family and friends. However, the day is shattered by the arrival of his sister, Erica, fresh out of the juvenile detention center, where she has lived in isolation most of her life. There is something very wrong with her still; witness her biting the ear of her taxi driver and licking the blood from her lips, and the way she antagonizes everyone around her. The other thing that is very off-putting about the day is a gift he receives – a musty tent and a few iron spikes that have been lying in the ground for years. Toby faints at the sight of the “treasure,” while Erica reacts violently and runs off to who-knows-where.
While he is unconscious, Toby learns who he truly is, and of his mission.

Available on Amazon!