The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Last First Date 
by Rie Sheridan Rose 

Cassandra glanced up from the map she was puzzling over and peered out into the dark landscape. No streetlights graced this back-of-beyond wilderness. The storm clouds rumbling above them threw occasional bolts of lightning, as if trying to squash their bug of a car, but luckily it wasn’t raining, Yet.

Something caught her eye in the distance, and she strained to see details. Pointing excitedly, she turned to her companion. “There’s a light—”

“‘—Over at the Frankenstein place?’” Michael teased.

“If you tell me your middle name is Bradley, I’m walking home.”

Mike laughed. “No. Nothing so apropos as that. It’s Edward.” He winked, barely visible in the dim light.

“Well, my name isn’t Janet, Columbia, or Magenta, so let’s go see if they have a phone.”

Mike carefully negotiated the rutted track leading to the front door of a…castle. In the middle of nowhere.

“Some first date,” Cassandra huffed, trying to fold the map into some semblance of its former self. “Next time, I choose.”

“Next time?” He grinned.

Sniffing, she shrugged. “If there is a next time.” Then, she relented and grinned back. “I have to admit, it’s been interesting.”

They’d had a nice dinner at the best restaurant in town, though Mike hadn’t eaten much, and gone to see the newest Marvel movie. Cassie had really enjoyed herself so far. But then, Mike had suggested they go for a drive, and her spider senses had tingled a little. She should have called it a night, but it had been a while between dates, and the thought of a bit of moonlight necking had been too appealing to pass up.

They had been driving for about an hour now, and the countryside had gotten more and more remote…until Mike finally admitted he was totally lost, and she’d tried to find the way back on the map.

It wasn’t as if they could have gone too far off-track. The road had been straight and easy to follow…they should have been able to turn around and follow it back…but that didn’t work. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why.

Mike stopped the car in front of the dilapidated pile of stone. A light shone in a tower window, but the rest of the castle was dark.

Cassie reached for the door handle, but Mike caught her by the shoulder, leaned forward, and kissed her—long and deep. She melted against him. Now this was what she was talking about! To herself. In her head…

“For luck,” he whispered, when he finally pulled away.

She fumbled the door open and got out. Mike came around the car to take her hand.

Together, they cautiously approached the big wooden door of the castle and rapped with the door knocker.

It creaked open, just like in a Hammer film, to reveal a slim young woman with hair like plaited midnight. She gestured them inside. “Come in, come in. It’s about to get nasty out there.”

As if in response to her words, a deafening peal of thunder rolled over them, followed by the anticipated rain cascading like a waterfall from the heavens.

Cassie squealed and darted into the sheltering interior. Mike followed more slowly, with a glance at their hostess. Something passed between them in that glance, but Cassie was too distracted to notice.

“There, there, dear,” soothed the young woman. “You are safe now.”

“Thank you for the hospitality,” Cassie murmured, wondering if she should drop a curtsy.

“Come and meet my father.” The young woman turned and led the way deeper into the castle.

She stopped outside a closed door, and gave Cassie a crooked grin. “We don’t get many visitors. You must excuse Papá’s manners.”

She threw open the door with a flourish, and Cassie felt herself shoved forward into the room. She turned to Mike in bewilderment, but he was no longer the handsome, but slightly awkward, geek she had met at school.

He had grown in stature—at least five inches—and gained a regal demeanor she couldn’t equate with the boy she’d spent the evening getting to know.

“Good work son!” growled a low voice. “She looks tasty.”

Cassie turned to the new threat, and saw a heavy-set man dressed like a Bela Lugosi wannabee.

“Mike, let’s just go…”

“Sorry, Cassie,” he purred, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “It was my turn to get dinner.”

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

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Overheard in Hell:
Dark Poetry

Poems exploring hell and damnation. Tales of sorrow, vengeance, betrayal, and redemption. Ghosts, ghouls, and demons stalk these pages. Don’t read in a lonely house…in a darkened room by a single candle…

…unless you like the touch of an icy finger up your spine.

Available on Amazon!