The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

As Expected
by Sue Renol

The sound isn’t anything like you’d think – it’s wild, animalistic, untamed. Even the plastic on the furniture in the formal front room is peeling back in an effort to finally free the fabric trapped within.

Something about the creaks and moans of the old house lighting sends chills up my spine. It didn’t have to be this way, all they had to do was want me, but no – that was too hard. So I drop a tab or two when I hang out with my friends, big deal! That doesn’t make me a troubled teen, or some friggin’ degenerate, just someone trying to have a good time.

Who’s having fun now?

There’s running overhead, I hear them scrambling to get out, but the muffled thump from above means someone didn’t make it.

They made their choice; they sent me there. They knew what those people did to me. They knew how harsh and cruel it was, yet still, they let me suffer. They said they couldn’t deal with a drug-addled delinquent. So that’s how I went in, on a NARCS watch; stripped of my clothes and dignity, deloused, every orifice searched and voided. They starved me for the first three days, and put me on suicide watch. Have you ever been on suicide watch? It’s almost as though they’re trying to convince you to do it. But all the Nurse Crotchets in the world weren’t going to save me from myself, or them from me. They didn’t even tell me about my new little sister. I guess I’m not good enough for her either.

I’ve been in the basement for about six minutes now listening to it burn above me. My sheath of flame tinted hair a fair greeting for what will soon be coming down the stairs. Do you think the flames will recognize me as their maker? Will they revere the shade I’ve donned for the occasion?

The stench is overwhelming – greasy, oily smoke is starting to seep under the jam and build a rolling cloud. The victory may have been short lived, but for a moment, it was mine.

I think I hear the baby crying…

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Fiction © Copyright Sue Renol
Image courtesy of Pixabay