The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

London Calling
by Rie Sheridan Rose

“Come in, my dear.”

The figure in the doorway was gaunt to the point of skeletal. The hair piled into an intricate coiffure atop her head was black with threads of silver glittering in its darkness. The only light came from a candelabra clutched in her bony fingers.. Flickering flames pulled hints of crimson from her velvet gown.

She turned and led the way into the depths of the mansion.

“Why am I here?”

“In good time.”

She gestured into an open doorway, and I stepped through the portal into a study papered with flocked red velvet. Chairs slip-covered in gold satin were pulled up to a circular glass table that felt out of place among the antique furnishings.

“Sit.”

I did as she asked. She set the candles in the center of the table, and took the seat across from me.

“I have been receiving messages from the spirits. They speak of you.”

I hid a smile. “Mrs. Lowder—”

She held up a hand. “I know you are skeptical of the spirits, my dear, but I assure you, these messages are real.”

“I will listen.”

She stared down at the table, and clouds formed on its surface.

I gasped.

Figures formed in the mist. A man in a greatcoat and top hat strolled slowly down a cobblestone lane. A woman lounged against a brick wall at the end of the road. She called to him, and he closed with her.

Suddenly, a knife flashed in the gloom, and she screamed.

I felt my face grow cold.

The woman was splayed upon the ground in a spreading pool of blood. The man raised his head and stared directly at me. He wore my face.

“Welcome to the New World, Jack.” Her lips curved into a smile.

Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

The Grotesquierie
Short Story: House Call

Twenty-two short horror stories written by women are here on display for your enjoyment or your perverse fascination. Within these pages, beauty becomes deadly, innocence kills, and karma is a harsh mistress. The Grotesquerie is now open…

Available on Amazon!