The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Ink in the Glass
by Rie Sheridan Rose

Cadra sat behind the scarred oak table, chin in her hands. Staring into the glass of water before her, she bit her lip. It would tell her one way or the other. All she had to do was squeeze the bulb on the eyedropper and let the ink tell her the truth. She had tried every other divination tool she could think of—runes, scrying, entrails, crystal…and they all gave her the same answer. 

Damon was lying to her.

Now, the question was, what should she do about it? She picked up the stiletto sitting beside her laptop, toying with the point. It pricked her finger, and she studied the bright red blood. The drop fell from her finger to add to the other stains on the table.  

Sighing heavily, she picked up the eyedropper and held it above the goblet. She squeezed the bulb, and the blue ink swirled into the clear liquid. The image was easily readable. There was no longer the least bit of doubt in her mind. 

She gripped the stiletto and climbed the stairs to the bedroom where Damon lay sleeping peacefully—as if he had never cheated on her. As if he were an angel instead of a devil. 

Then, she saw the image in the ink again. It had to be now. He must die in bed…just like the ink said. She had seen the skull hovering over him. There was no other interpretation. The ink never lied. Unlike Damon.

She plunged the knife downward. And now the pattern she had seen in the ink was red.

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!