The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Old Lane Five
by Terrie Leigh Relf

My brother, Sean, and I had been staying at a rural Bed-and-Breakfast. Our hostess recommended a local winery nestled in the woods, where we had a Charcuterie board and a few flights of full-bodied reds. As we were preparing to leave, Sean checked the map again.

“Does Old Lane Five lead back to Alma’s B&B?” he asked one of the servers.

The young woman seemed to look off into the distance, shuddered slightly, then turned to us with a wan smile. “Oh, it is the most direct, but I wouldn’t take that road in this fog.”

We thanked her and Sean took the road anyway, going about ten miles-per-hour. As the fog thickened, he slowed down to a crawl. “Just relax, Emma. We’ll still be back in time for our dinner reservations.”

“No worries. What the—”

The road ahead began to ripple. It had to be an optical illusion, a combination of  damp asphalt, fog, and headlights.

And then she emerged . . . eyes wide and staring right at us, water flowing all around.

Sean swerved and we ended up in the embankment. After a few stunned moments, we climbed out of the car. The woman was gone, the rippling asphalt now solid.

“Now that was weird.” Sean checked the front of the car to see if he’d hit an animal. Not a drop of blood. We’d both seen the woman . . . how could we have a shared hallucination?

As we were heading back to the car, the road’s surface began to ripple again, and we started sinking beneath the surface.

But it wasn’t water . . .

It was blood . . . dark . . . red . . . blood.

And the woman wasn’t human . . .

It had tentacles . . . writhing tentacles and a huge angry maw.

Fiction © Copyright Terrie Leigh Relf
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from author Terrie Leigh Relf:

The Sisterhood of the Blood Moon

For thousands of Earth years, the Transgalactic Consortium has had a quiet interest in this planet and its inhabitants, the Haurans. While the Sisterhood of the Blood Moon works together with the Consortium and Haurans to maintain balance in the universe, the Blood Moon is fast approaching. The power of this moon reveals untold secrets . . . including a sacred covenant with the Mora Spiders. There is an ancient pact that needs to be honored—but at what cost and for whose purpose? The world may come to an end. But will there be a chance for a new beginning?

Available for purchase from the Alban Lake Store!