The Ladies of Horror
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Shocking, Isn’t It?
by Rie Sheridan Rose

My father was disappointed in me from the day I made my mewling way into his house. After five daughters, you would have surmised he would be pleased to have a son…but apparently, just the block and tackle wasn’t enough. 

He tried molding me into the man he wanted me to be with whip and chain—literally—but was not pleased with the result. So, as soon as feasible, he foisted me off on one of his subordinates, a sea captain by the name of Smythe. At the age of twelve, I went to sea.

I never rose beyond the rank of sailor. Captain Smythe felt I hadn’t the temperament for an officer. Instead, I swabbed the deck and coiled the lines…until sailing ships gave way to steam, and steam to coal…and I was no longer twelve—or even fifty. 

I grew old on the sea, and the sea was indifferent. At the age of sixty, I fell ill and—apparently—died. 

At least, I found myself struggling out of a weighted shroud at the bottom of the sea. Water…water everywhere. But I had never felt more alive. I looked at my hands, and they were strong and young again. The brand from the heated chain my father had disciplined me with coiling down my wrist almost glowed.

I swam for the surface. It seemed the thing to do. When I broke free of the water, I saw a ship approaching. The name on the bow was familiar—familial, even. The image of a skull appeared before me…and I knew what I must do.

I called down the lightning—and the ship burned. Every soul aboard sent to their own watery eternity.

And, I felt nothing.

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!