The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Remains
by A.F. Stewart

The unmistakable sound of a metallic spring being plucked echoed through the room, followed by a hiss. The cat lifted its paw, before scratching again at the metal bed frame. A fine red dust lifted into the air, rust mixed with something more.

The animal jumped back, watching the powder rise on a gentle breeze blown in through the broken window. It swirled in the air, riding the streaks of golden orange light filtered from outside, whispering its secrets into the adjacent shadows. The particles dispersed, carried to every corner of the room, settling into the darkness.

The cat meowed. A call, a question asked of the black beyond.

The space shifted in murmurs, reverberations of the past. Sensory pain lashed from infinity, snapped across barriers, chased by screams of insanity. Aftershocks whiplashed quiet waves, breaking walls, reallocating time and the dead.

The cat meowed again. Louder, more insistent.

And this time the voices answered.

Fiction © Copyright A.F. Stewart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from A.F. Stewart:

Ruined City

In the Northern Pass stands the city of Elowen, the glittering guardian between the Empire of Aloquis and the Kingdoms of Immra. It exists proud and prosperous, never dreaming its dark past was coming to call…

On a bright winter’s day a stranger arrives in Elowen, bearing a secret. From this man a dark blight of ruin descends over the great city and henceforth the day becomes known as Winter’s Bane.
The day the world changed for the people of Elowen.
The day their existence turned into a recurring nightmare.

Read of the aftermath of revenge through the eyes of a shopkeeper, a child, ghosts, a blacksmith, a guardsman, an innkeeper, and even a King.

Twelve Stories, One Evil.

Available for FREE on Instafreebie!