The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

These Ancient Hills  
by K.R. Morrison 

These hills, or, rather, mountains, have been my home since childhood. For a mortal, that is a number that can be reasonably understood.

However, I measure my time in eons, not years.

These peaks once were mere hills. I roamed them with my friends, playing in their crests and valleys in all innocence.

Until The Scourge came.

Overnight our village was anathema, a byword to the people in the nearby town. Those untouched by the horror found themselves on the cutting edge of reality, as my family and friends converged upon them. Driven by a bloodlust we had no control over, we pillaged the town to satiate our thirst.

Those who survived fought back, once the initial shock subsided. They went on a counterattack, and in no time my kind, only too happy to be exterminated, lay under several feet of soil. You have to realize, most of the people in the village we attacked were related to us in some way. Many did not want an eternity of the thirst for blood.

Those of us who escaped the villagers’ hatchets found our way into the hills, and there we stayed. Over time our occasional night visits became something the people learned to expect. We never took more than we needed, and never ended the life of anyone.

Over time, my remaining fellows moved away to pursue victims afield, and I am now the last one here. The last one “living,” as it were.

I have seen this village I am currently hiding in go from roundhouses to stone buildings to the 21^st-century materials they now use to make their homes. I have to admit, it’s getting harder and harder to keep from finishing off my current victim. There is no feeling of kinship there anymore. No one even believes in the threat I represent. Instead, they make toys and games from the ideas they have of my influence in earlier times.

But I can feel an undercurrent of anxiety now. It is because of a new presence.

Archaeologists have descended upon our hamlet, and they have started to dig up these mountains I have called home for so long. And from what I hear from my hiding place, they have discovered some shocking burials.

Shocking to them, at least. I remember these burials only too well.

Skeletons, decapitated, with their skulls placed between their legs, or completely missing and found somewhere else. Odd figures etched into the bones. Herbs buried with the remains.

I am divided in my mind. Should I tell these people why the burials have been arranged just so? I would like to remain the only creature of my kind roaming these mountains, but I also feel a wish to let the deaths of my fellows be avenged.

It won’t be long, I’m sure, until these scientists put the skeletons and their skulls together. It’s natural human curiosity. But it will also be their undoing.

My thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a scream from the faraway mountains, and I know it’s too late for me to do anything to prevent the coming destruction.

My kin have risen up, and I will soon be reunited with my family and friends.

The bloodlust is irresistible now.

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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!