The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Watch Tower
by Rie Sheridan Rose

“Almost night,” Ainnir whispered. “New shift coming.”

Beagán stretched. “Good. Me back is killing me.”

“Baby,” she teased. “This is better than cutting sod, ain’t it?”

“A bit.” He lay back on the stone floor. “This outpost is hardly worth defendin’, anyway. Our lands are fadin’ to naught. No one even remembers us anymore.”

“As long as the Morrigan says ‘watch this road’, we watch it.”

Beagán sat up, ears twitching, “Ye hear that?”

“Aye.” Ainnir grabbed her spear, holding it white-knuckled tight. “Let’s get to tha road.”

Together, they stole down the stairs of the watch tower, creeping through the undergrowth to crouch beside the road. One of the fire-eyed monsters was coming towards them.

“Ready?”

Beagán nodded, his face grim in the twilight.

***

“It’s just as wonderful as you promised, Jack,” Jill murmured, sitting as close as the shift would allow. “I’ve wanted to visit Ireland all my life. Thank you for giving me this honeymoon.”

He glanced over at her. “Anything for you, Pumpkin.”

The road was narrow and straight, unspooling before the convertible like a ribbon.

Jill sat upright, pointing over at the side of the road. “Look, Jack! Isn’t that little tower adorable! We should stop and take a picture.”

“It’s too dark for that, and we’ll be late getting to the inn. Maybe on the way back.”

“Okay.” She pouted.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the car spun out of control, hitting a tree and bursting into flame.

***

“Well done, Ainnir! Right in tha foot—just like I told ye! One less beast invadin’ our land.”

“But did ye hear it, Beagán? I heard it talkin’, I swear.”

“Don’t be daft. They’re jes’ monsters.”

They stretched their wings. “Let’s get home t’ Tír na nÓg.  Time fer dinner.”

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

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Skellyman

“I have always preferred the supernatural in tales of horror, the knot between life and death. Rie Sheridan Rose’s Skellyman is cool and creepy. Her first horror novel is a chilling read.” — Charlee Jacob – Stoker winner, Best novel, “Dread in the Beast”

Brenda Barnett is trying to cope with raising her four-year-old daughter all alone after an accident tore her family in half. As she and Daisy go for a much-needed treat, the little girl spots a Skellyman on the corner.

This pivotal encounter leads to a wave of mounting terror as Brenda’s life begins to come undone around her. Who is the Skellyman? Why does he keep appearing? Can the sympathetic policeman Brenda turns to stop the madness before it is too late?

And why does Daisy insist that her dead brother is trying to tell them something important?

Available on Amazon!