The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Red 
by K.R. Morrison 

We are ancient – much older than whatever we inhabit.

It is the restlessness that got us imprisoned, but we had gotten to that point slowly. After all, we are eternal; time is meaningless to us.

The last time we dwelt in a Host of any use was a very long time ago. He was a disappointment to us – he didn’t last long. The others of his species destroyed him because of us and buried him where he would no longer bother them.

We were also trapped, until a tree took root over the burial and grew large enough for us to absorb its energy and rise from the soil.

The tree was not our first choice as a Host, but its sap was sufficient for our use.

Then one day someone chopped our tree down. We watched, impassive, as it was milled and ground down into a soppy mess. One thing led to another, and the wood became the substance in which we now live.

Our surroundings look like a human city, but much smaller. There is a full-sized human that comes to the city, where he arranges the buildings to his liking and sometimes makes humming noises as he pushes toy cars through the streets.

There is a building made of the “carboard” in which we dwell, with a very sharp point. We never gave it much thought, until a few days ago…

 .

The cityscape was a wreck. He had been so very careful building it, and now wondered if he could ever repair the scattered buildings.

He had bandaged the palm of his hand, but it was still seeping. The point on the Empire State Building model had been a lot sharper than he had realized; his hand had come down on it and the thing had gone straight in.

There had been blood, more than he would have thought possible. And now he had to go clean it up before it was absorbed into the cardboard and ruined the project.

But when, rag in hand, he had gone to take care of the mess, he was astonished to see that the cityscape was clear of any spatters.

“Weird…”

.

The Red had fallen on us, and we had quickly taken it in. It had been far too long.

We knew that our compatriots, who had been in the spire of that building, were now occupying the man’s hand. And they had an idea as to how to get the rest of us into what we knew would be our new Host.

 .

A wave of dizziness hit him, and he swayed. When his vision cleared, he blinked…

The cityscape had not changed, but to him it now held a new attraction.

He pulled a building off the board and quickly stuffed it into his mouth. And then another. He was suddenly frantic for the taste of carboard, and couldn’t stop himself.

Another wave of dizziness hit, and he fell, unconscious, onto the floor.

.

We are free! With a little work on those teeth, we can now move about once again.

And we are very, very hungry.

.

Fiction © Copyright K.R. Morrison
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from K.R. Morrison:

Enoch’s Return: Pride’s Downfall Book 4

All hell broke loose, as demon fought saint, and undead fought mortal. Fangs and swords, fire and light, mingled in a cacophony of noise that would have awakened the dead — if they hadn’t already been in the pitch of battle.

Toby was looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday with family and friends. However, the day is shattered by the arrival of his sister, Erica, fresh out of the juvenile detention center, where she has lived in isolation most of her life. There is something very wrong with her still; witness her biting the ear of her taxi driver and licking the blood from her lips, and the way she antagonizes everyone around her. The other thing that is very off-putting about the day is a gift he receives – a musty tent and a few iron spikes that have been lying in the ground for years. Toby faints at the sight of the “treasure,” while Erica reacts violently and runs off to who-knows-where.
While he is unconscious, Toby learns who he truly is, and of his mission.

Available on Amazon!