The Ladies of Horror
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Read Me
by Scarlett R. Algee

You don’t know me yet, but that doesn’t matter.

You’ve already taken the first step. Picked up the bottle. Unrolled the letter. You didn’t even wonder why it came up practically at your door, or why the opening in the glass was crumbled smooth. Instead, you had a passing thought that the red twine around the neck of the bottle was a nice touch.

And then you were reading.

That was the important thing. It got me behind your eyes. It’s letting me get to work. Tonight you’ll go to sleep with a vague feeling that you’ve forgotten something. Tomorrow you’ll wake up and you won’t know your own name at first, but you’ll think of it with a little laugh at your own silliness, and then you’ll remember the letter.

And you’ll want to read it again.

And from the inside, I’ll chip away at you.

You won’t remember the words; you’ll never remember the words. They’ll slide through your soft pathetic brain like water with each reading. Because there will be another and another as I restructure you, until you’re no longer able to wonder why the meaning never sticks.

Until the person looking out from your eyes is me.

Oh, you’ll still be here. Stuck in a corner unless I let you out. Helpless. Probably afraid. Not understanding what’s happened to whatever you can remember of what you are.

But you, as a vessel, don’t have to understand. You only have to help me replicate.

Your hands. My reach. Bottles upon bottles, twine upon twine, letters upon letters that you neither understand nor contemplate, only writing until your meat bleeds, until I’m in other hands and other eyes and all hands, all eyes, everything and everywhere is me and me and only me.

You don’t know me yet.

But you will.

Fiction © Copyright Scarlett R. Algee
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from author Scarlett R. Algee:

The Lift: Nine Stories of Transformation, Volume One

The hall is dark and the overhead light flickers. Sounds echo, and there’s a creaking and clanging that gets louder as you stand in the semi-dark. The elevator opens and you’re offered a ride. Step inside and ride it to the story chosen for your transformation. Don’t be afraid, for Victoria, the mysterious girl who operates The Lift, waits to guide you. Set in the same world as the award nominated audio drama, The Lift’s first written anthology features nine all new stories by fan favorite writers and special bonus content by creators Daniel Foytik and Cynthia Lowman. The collection is brought to life with beautiful illustrations by Jeanette Andromeda for each story.

Available on Amazon!