The Ladies of Horror
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Shards of Glass
by A.F. Stewart

I watched the rain fall against the wet sidewalk, the drops splattering on the asphalt and melding pieces of shattered glass into the growing puddles. Colours refracted in the water as the police lights reflected their harsh blues and reds over the scene. 

I shivered, the sky’s tears hiding my own as raindrops soaked my skin and hair. Someone, a neighbour maybe, threw a blanket over my shoulders and handed me a coffee. She patted my shoulder in sympathy; a rare thing these days. Whenever incidents happened, most people retreated into their homes and locked the doors. I couldn’t blame them.

I know I always did, but no escaping this one. The broken window of my apartment and the body on the sidewalk were proof of that. 

He didn’t look that different, lying there. Limbs a little askew, but I guessed the major damage was on the inside, and not just from the fall. I hoped they didn’t turn him over. I couldn’t look at his face again, if there was any of his face even left. There wasn’t much remaining before he jumped.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. I wanted to scream. Nothing will ever be the same. 

I’ll be taken to a facility now for decontamination procedures, and they’ll cleanse my apartment and inspect the building. His workplace, too. Not that it mattered. He was gone, and the memory of our last moments together was replaying in my head like a nightmare.

He had time for one last scream before tentacles squirmed from his eye sockets, ears, and mouth. It must have taken the last of his will to jump and he shattered the window like paper. I ran towards him, only able to watch him fall away from me in shards of glass and rain. 

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Fiction © Copyright A.F. Stewart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from A.F. Stewart:

Visions and Nightmares

Tragedy spares no one… and takes no prisoners.
In the twilight shadows, secrets are revealed past the whispers of madness.

Wander into the realm of the old gods with Elenora, where humanity and marriage are a prison.
Step through a looking glass of dark horrors with an Alice you never knew.
Join with Zenna to seek the truth as her death by magic grows closer.
Journey with Olivia as she crosses paths with a monster of the forest and runs for her life.
Watch Isobel summon the faerie to solve her problem of an unwanted husband.
Shiver as Doctor Killbride experiments with corpses to create life from death.
All that and more await within the pages.

Ten stories. Ten women.
Who will survive? Who will fall? And who will succumb to their inner evil?
Find out in Visions and Nightmares.

Warning: This book contains disturbing scenes that may be upsetting to some readers.

Available on Amazon!