Write Her Story

Corvidae
by Eden Royce

It was the mask that brought the crows. Thieving little monsters. Their beaks poking, jabbing, stealing bits of my flesh, caws triumphant. Carrion crows.

“I’m still alive, you bastards!”

At least I think I am. Behind the porcelain mask, I can’t see myself, my eyes. Only forward. I hear my breathing. Or is that the breeze from the flapping of wings? The hair attached to the mask is real, human, the same inky, silken black of the birds

My skin grows back each time they pick me clean. Each time, it is different in color and in texture. Every inch of me exposed to their horn-like beaks. Except for what the mask covers. I must look as I did when I put it on, but I have not seen in an age.

Get up, I tell myself. Or the mask tells me.

You wished for power, for fame once. Fool you. Get up. You have a wasteland to cross. For it is you who brings the storm. You bring death. In this body that is picked clean each day by crows. Let them feed.

Soon, it will be your turn.

Fiction © Copyright Eden Royce
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com   Artist: Mystic Art Design

More from Eden:

Spook Lights II: Southern Gothic Horror

Y’all gather round for thirteen more tales of Southern Gothic horror:

Boys find evil in their favorite sweet treat, a perfume shop that makes more than scents, a hurricane carries a mother’s vengeance, a conjure woman lies dying, unable to name a successor…

This is Gothic horror Southern style—shadowy rice fields, creatures that assume humanity at will—where even the most damaged and delicate have their power.

Spook Lights II takes us again South with stories that are graceful in the telling, and beautifully edgy in their details. Humans and haints traverse historic land in search of magic and revenge, finding salvation and justice in unexpected ways; each tale unwinds magnificently in Royce’s hands.
—Linda D. Addison, award-winning author of “How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend”

“Eden Royce’s collection of Southern Gothic fiction is an elegant and haunting read. Her stories filled with the kind of quiet chills born of things glimpsed mostly from the corner of the eye. From the genius of ‘To-Do List’ (just try to forget this tale once you reach its ending!) to the landscape she has created in the house of secrets known as Azaleas Hall, in Spook Lights 2 Ms. Royce has created an experience—and one of those favorite books likely to be enjoyed over and over again.”

—Gregory L. Norris, Tales From the Robot Graveyard

Available on Amazon!

Stop by my other blogs for more Women in Horror Month content!
Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel – Dark emotive flash fiction written by me.
The Road to Nowhere – Horror movie picks staring strong leading ladies.

And don’t forget to visit the Women in Horror Month official web site
for more great WiHM8 events and posts!