The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Scent of Time
by Rie Sheridan Rose

It hit her the moment she opened the door to the bookstore…musty, moldy, magical. The scent of books written before she’d even been born. She trailed a finger along ancient spines that looked ready to fall to dust. Curious titles—some in languages she didn’t speak, others in familiar Latin or Olde English. A smile tugged her lip. What fun she would have! 

Here was a grimoire that looked like it was bound in calf-skin…but she wouldn’t bet on that being the origin of the leather. Too soft, even for baby cow. And the wizard who had written it was awfully fond of the old ways. She peeked inside. Yes, the rusty ink was most likely blood. She took a deep breath, inhaling the page, then huffed in frustration. 

She couldn’t enjoy her new acquisitions to the fullest as long as the air was tainted with the bright copper smell of new blood. Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him? And why wouldn’t he just give her the shop? He had promised it to her since she was twelve. It was her time!

With a sigh, she set the grimoire back in its place and went to fetch a mop.

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

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!