The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Hex
by Amanda Worthington

I was an insect, I think

Confined to the dark places, segmented

A fragile thing encased in a carapace of faith

.

Now, six twisting antlers have sprouted

Rising out of my skull like daggers

.

I have counted them in this eternal night

Run my fingers across every inch of my body

In an act of defiance, I suppose

My touch is the one thing I’ve chose in this madness

.

And while I haven’t gotten full control of the heft, it is coming

I told her she could have me in three days’ time

Begged these hours of knowing what I was and was not

Before I yielded to her request to make those men bleed

.

I feel her creeping back now

Eager to slither into the beast she’s made me

Eager to slick these antlers with blood and viscera

I am her Frankenstein

Her molded clay

Her dark masterpiece

.

And I wish she no longer wanted me

And if there was a way…

.

But it is too late.

She is here now, whispering:

.

Have you got a sense of things? It’s time to go.

.

She fills me with her awful insight

And I let myself sink into the turbulent sea of her

Succumbing to the undertow of her urging

.

The sun should be rising

But it goes on hiding

.

We both do.

.

But I like to think we’re both still here somewhere.

.

I am her weapon

Another thing to be wielded

Worn down, blunted, discarded

All in the name of claiming a power

That will never be mine

.

I begin to explore her from the inside

With gore caking my antlers –

The soft aftermath of her ecstasy

.

I feel impossible to get clean, forever soiled

.

I am the prison and its lone tenant

And while she sleeps I scream

In silence so loud it swallows the forest’s sweet murmurings

.

And then containing my agony finally

I fight my instinct for flight

Imagine I am some elusive beetle still

Skittering, chittering

.

Looking for the right place to bite

.

Fiction © Copyright Amanda Worthington.
Image courtesy of Pixabay

Wicked Deeds: Witches, Warlocks, Demons and Other Evil Doer’s

Sometimes wicked people do wicked things simply because they can… The twelve stories in Wicked Deeds tell tales of witches and warlocks with ill intent, devilish demons bent on destruction, and other doers of evil who make the world a terrifying place. What is a mother to do when her daughter is gifted but lives under the thumb of her fanatical preacher husband who will brook no talk of the supernatural? What of a demon so desperate to free himself of a trap that he will force another to repeat his atrocities and condemn a young boy to his demonic fate? Or maybe the story of a crotchety old witch with a score to settle against the town she lives in is more to your liking – what evil will the seemingly harmless town-crazy call upon when faced with an ultimatum? If you’re looking for wicked people with supernatural abilities doing wicked things, this is the collection for you!

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