Write Her Story
SHADOW BOX
by Terri DelCampo
And there she sits on the edge of a crypt, jagged pieces of her sister and mother at her feet, after I have worked my artistry upon them. Her doom (my triumph!) approaches: Police – and is that an actual slayer?
Only Mason appreciated my little masterpieces – shadowboxes, he dubbed them.
Paintings? Sculptures? Hah! Far too pedestrian for the likes of me.
Mason sets my scene – holds her in his morbid embrace and coaxes her blood into his gut, vampire banality; correct? But he doesn’t kill her. Just…almost. And then she is mine.
Mason lures a girl.
I lure her family – I give the desperate hope. They scramble to meet me – offering themselves for the girl – no strings – no cops – no FBI. How can I refuse?
Just after Mason’s initial bite brings the girl to the brink of mortal death, I open a curtain before her, revealing her deepest fears – her loved ones suspended – shrieking marionettes…
…before being shaped into my art.
My palette – dull and blunted swords and battle axes – to prolong the pain of the dying, thus in turn prolonging the pain of the living.
She looks as though she’s just fed, does she not? But alas, the only blood she swallowed was her own as I removed her tongue to a chorus of her gags, and nailed it to the back of her head.
There she sits, on the brink of death, hoping for it, but nay.
Her final torture is being captured, forced to commit her horrors to paper, and then of course, deemed completely mad, committed to some cell in some asylum.
While Mason hunts for the star of my next shadow box, miles (and decades) from the yellow tape of this one.
Fiction © Copyright Terri DelCampo
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com Artist: Enrique Meseguer
More from Terri DelCampo:
James Reborn
Writer travels to mountain cabin,
Looking for a peaceful retreat.
On a quiet hike for thinking
A frightening sight her eyes did meet.
Young man imprisoned in a dog pen
Helpless to Pa’s sadistic whim.
Writer can’t believe the horror
And the injustice done to him.
She becomes involved in drama
More frightening than she’s ever known.
For James and Pa bring out her instincts
And sides of herself she’d never known.
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!
Reblogged this on .
My, my! This is a gritty bugger! I will have to keep a close eye on my wife.