The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Adventure IS The Final Problem  
by Kendra Smart  

Sweet slow dances in summer rain, a promise of love forever unchanged. The way time stopped inside your arms was frightening, for nothing existed but the light of discovering myself in your eyes. Memories of hushed fever dreams and wonderland wishes, a mesmerizing trance seduced by gentle kisses. Time and again this dance has brought tears, a shimmering veil to the young bride’s faces. Moments of love and gardens of light, smalltown love on a Saturday night. 

Nico Bailey captured it all behind her lense. An eye for the emotions and an ace at getting the perfect shot, Nico found her requests to work at all manner of events wanting photographs, but the events she found herself most at were definitely weddings. Lavish celebrity weddings, royal weddings, even the occasional aristocrat or senator got her handles and contacts. 

Nico had watched her grandfather before her capturing moments with his own eagle eye. The way he could set a scene had always fascinated her. His eye for detail had made her set her own standards of checks and balances. Always come prepared, remember how important it is to be there for the moment but to never distract from the shot. Remember the focus of the shot. Steady yourself and wait for the perfect time. 

Carpenters would give the advice, “Measure twice, cut once.”, and her grandfather had been a man of similar spouts of wisdom. He had always been ready with a mantra, or a quip. Some remark or fable, a story to spell out the dangers and the how’s and why’s of the world. Nico had once made the joke that the day she found a problem that he didn’t have a parable for… would be the day he died. 

And it was. 

When Herold Reginald Daulton had passed, there was no story to give her comfort. No joke or lesson learned. Just a mantle that was left with no one to steal in and find the purpose and duty. If she couldn’t find the joy within her, she would bring a smile to others. In the way her grandfather taught her. Nico created stories with her shots. 

The man was adorned with the right sign. She went through the database in her mind going through her checklist. The sign was correct, a purple petunia upon the lapel. She had lined up the shot, held her breath, and readied herself several times as the ceremony went on.  The bride held great malice towards this man, Nico was to make the kill painful, as painful as possible.  

Her marksman rifle magazine held 20 rounds and had been equipped with the bipod for stability, a riflescope for long range accuracy. She heard the strings begin as Vivaldi’s Spring began, even from here the notes rang true. Like the birds on the wind, the high notes sang. Like water trickling down a brook, the piano came in and there was her moment. Time to take the first shot. 

A crescendo of panic set in amongst the party as Nico watched her first shot take out the thumb of the man sending it flying atop a sorbet dessert. His skin paled beautifully as the spray shot out everywhere. 

In quick succession Nico had rounded off three more shots, one after another taking out the three long fingers of the man’s left hand. Almost a sullen sound had been taken by the strings and she was lost amongst the sadness of the violins as she watched the man feel each shot. She was careful. Surgical in her placement. He would die, yes. But not yet. Nico had been expert so as not to explode his hand. 

The bride had been shielded by her husband, but the smile she wore, hidden by the chaos and panic of those around her, was one of satisfaction. The smile the cat wore as it rose from the grave with the renewed knowledge of life. 

Nico smiled too, she really loved the path her life took sometimes. Five more shots, only one finger left. The man lay gasping. Ashen and balmy from the exertion of pain and stress his body was feeling. She could see the pleases and prayers coming from his lips but they were falling on deaf eyes and numb ears. She waited for the final signal from the bride, and it came, the bride laid her hand against the back of her new husband and with the twitch of a finger, suddenly below lay a man with none. 

Nico began the work of cleaning her area. Wiping down the gun and properly putting everything back in place. 

A true ghost in the paperwork and mortal world of man, she worried little of DNA but the process was the process. A systematic serial killer who had found her love in her work a little too much, so disbarred and dishonorably discharged…but the skills remain, even in death. 

Her code of honor led her, her attention to detail and O.C.D. made it to where her demons danced perfectly. Those in the know knew how to reach her. Her resume spoke for itself in the papers and splayed on the news. Horrible acts at countless events. Perspective. 

At least her actions were out in the light not hidden away in computers and dark mental closets. The people she took out had caused irreparable harm to many, she was little more than a clean up crew, ensuring that the trash was fully taken out. 

A ping lit up her phone as Nico made her way to the car that lay just a bit away. A new shadow joined the legion behind her, number 309 would make friends with the other souls she led to their doorway. Just a few more to go before she could unload her following. Her duster caught the wind as she walked through the woods, the shadows making their way behind her some as far back as the wedding…still dancing through the tile Colonnade.

Fiction © Copyright Kendra Smart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from author Kendra Smart:

Just Emotions:
A Gothic Bite Magazine Anthology

A collection of poetry.

‘Just Emotions‘ is exactly as it states, a group of writers who had feelings they wanted to express in poem form. Inside, there are a range of emotions to explore. Each writer has given a bit of themselves to you, each in their own way.

We hope that you enjoy these writings and that among the poems you may find some thing you can identify with or relate to. Thank you for giving us this chance to open the catacombs and share with you.

Available on Amazon!