The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

In the Smoke
by R.A. Clarke 

“Welcome to my smoke reading tent. Shall we get started?” Says a dark-haired woman, looking like she stepped straight out of the 1800s. 

Me, my buddy Jake, his fiance, and my newest fling, Dara, all sit down. Taking Dara’s hand in mine, I squeeze and smile, acting excited for this oh-so-otherworldly experience we’re about to have. When she smiles back, her sexy dimples show and I forget my skepticism. Oh, how I look forward to later tonight. It’ll be our tenth date, and she’s been laying hints all night that she’s finally ready to sleep with me. Which means even more fun is yet to come. My mouth practically waters.

The psychic lights candles, incense, an odd looking stove, and closes all vent flaps. It’s not long before the tent is totally hotboxed, and the different aromas clash.

“My name is Hilda. I’ll be your smoke reader and spirit guide today.” The woman flicks a switch at the front of the tent. We’re plunged into darkness. Light erupts from a projector lens protruding from the rear wall. 

A conical beam slices horizontally just above our heads and the smoke in the room wafts and billows within the glaring swath of photons. Hilda moves and curls her hand through it, sending it swirling.

“Smoke is pure and discerning. It came before and it will live on. There’s no hiding from its perception. Connecting with the smoke, I will sense your energies, hopes, desires, and fears. I’ll also sense all that surrounds us now, both living and dead.” Hilda starts humming a steady flow of wordless, repetitive sounds vaguely reminiscent of chants. 

I lean closer to Jake on my right and we exchange skeptical glances. “WTF” I mouth. He grins, nodding in response.

“Mmm hmm, yes, I am learning about each of you…the push and pull, the light and dark we all possess. And—I see—I see—the pleaser.” The white light abruptly changes to hot pink and lands on Jack’s fiancé, Felicity. Hilda swings her arm, pointing dramatically.

Felicity laughs nervously. “I guess, kinda.”

Hilda hums loudly before her sweeping finger strikes again, landing on Dara. “The empath.” Her projector light shifts yellow and it illuminates my current lady love. 

Dara raises her hands in mock surrender. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She lets out a laugh. “I can’t see dead people though.”

Hilda releases a chuckle. “Not many can. I’m one of the rare few, my child.”

Dara whispers in my ear. “My child?”

Wrapping my arm around her, I whisper back, “She’s cray cray. Just go with it.” She settles into the nook of my arm and my groin twitches against my wishes. It makes my mind wander with fantasies. 

Fuck, tonight’s going to be electric. It’s been way too long. I need to get off so damn bad. Need to feel a woman’s skin.

The light turns green, landing on Jake. “The Wisher—never satisfied.” 

Jake’s jaw tightens hearing that. “Hate to disagree. I’m satisfied with lots of things. He kisses Felicity’s cheek. “Especially you.” Though she smiles, curiosity also shines in her eyes as she looks at Jake through the haze. Briefly, I wonder what insecurity rolled through her mind, then cast the useless thought aside. She’s not my romantic target. Not my concern.

Hilda replies quietly, “Smoke never lies…” her gaze settles on me and I hear breath catching in her throat. The light shifts to a brilliant shade of crimson. It swings my way, illuminating my face and casting my sporty silhouette onto the rear canvas.

“Ooooh, red. Sexy,” I mumble jokingly. 

Her hand flings up, finger pointing, eyes widening. “The wrecker—who takes and ruins.” The woman’s gaze suddenly darts around the room, irises turning white and skin paling. Her head perks in different directions like a paranoid bird before her neck cranes back atop her shoulders and her arms splay wide, muscles straining.

“Oh, God, what’s happening to her?” Felicity blurts as both she and Jake jump to their feet, backing away.

“Somebody help!” Dara shouts, tentatively reaching out to the spasming psychic. “Ahm, ma’am, are you okay?” 

I had kinda frozen in place after hearing what she called me—wrecker—but I now snap out of my daze. “Dara, don’t touch her.” I grab for my date, but it’s too late. 

The moment Dara’s fingers touch Hilda’s arm, the psychic flings her limbs skyward. My girl squeaks in shock, jumping back to hide behind me. Shit, now I don’t have a shield between me and this crazy freak. 

A frantic barrage of whispers explodes from Hilda’s mouth. “The smoke has thinned the veil. We can reach him now.” One finger slices down, pointing at me once more. “The one who used us. Cut us. Killed us. We’ve found him! This is our chance. He must pay for his sins. Pay for the pain. Pay for the lies. Pay. Pay. Pay!”

Dara’s gaze snaps to mine.

I shrug, acting bewildered.

How can she possibly know?

The smoke swirls in the light, faster and faster, taking new shape and form as it thickens into something palpable. Hands materialize, grasping and flexing in the air, as if tearing through some invisible fabric holding them back. Then, like a school of Herrings, they all turn my way and reach. There’s so many. A hurried count of dead bodies flashes through my mind. 

“What the hell is happening?” Dara screeches, recoiling from both me and the feminine throng of smoke-infused hands wafting through the air toward me. “Why are they after you? Why’d she say kill?”

“Dude, we gotta go now!” Jake barks.

I grab a chair and swing it through the beam of light, scattering the mob of hands into curling flurries. A haunting, echoing roar flies from the psychic’s mouth. The sound permeates the tent, causing the heavy fabric walls to quiver. 

I cringe, shouting, “I didn’t hurt anyone!”

“LIAR!” The legionous voice replies.

I look at Dara whose eyes are pinned wide. “No, I’m not. This is some kind of fucked up trick. This shit’s not real! That psychic—the bitch is setting me up for something. Trying to ruin my life!” 

She shakes her head and scrambles to lift the tent’s main flap.

“Dara!” I shout, but she’s already gone. “Jake, Felicity, you know me. You gotta tell her this is just a messed up prank!” I step toward them, but Felicity rushes through the flap, following Dara. 

“Fucking bitches!” I roar through gritted teeth, rage flaring molten inside. It’s an uncontrollable sensation—the same kind I inevitably get when a woman doesn’t do as I bid and submit to my every whim, pleasing me like they’re supposed to.

“Dude!” Jake looks past me, then bolts. 

I turn my head in time to see a billowing hand grasp my shoulder. At least six more slap onto my chest and upper arms, their smoky fingers squeezing. Painfully.

“Get off me!” I punch at them, but more and more grip and constrict. Nails dig into my skin and my movements grow feverish as I struggle to shake the smokey army. 

“Stop this now—whatever your fucking name is—uh, Hilda! Hilda!” I shout at her, but she’s locked in a deep trance. Digits constrict around my throat. Fear stabs my heart. I grab the offending hand, yank, and come away with a fair-skinned appendage boasting red fingernails and a lioness tattoo. 

What the fuck? Horrified, I realize this isn’t a trick, but a nightmare. I knew the owner of that hand. We hooked up last year… right before I killed her. Her tongue still floats in a jar hidden behind my bedroom wall along with the many other bodily trophies I’ve taken to celebrate my conquests. “Hilda, wake the hell up!”

The hand suddenly twists from my grip and flies onto my face, its nails driving into my tender skin, nose, eyes, mouth.

“Help!” The lights flicker like a strobe.

More fingers twist and rip into the flesh of my abdomen, chest, back, and groin. A scream bubbles up in my throat as I thrash wildly, desperate, before it finally unleashes, the sound shrill, grating. 

But, nobody rushes in to save me.

Hilda’s unseeing eyes stare through me while her lips move in unnatural ways, a conduit for so many vengeful spirits. 

All I hear as I bleed and sob, sagging to the floor, are hissing taunts from the vaporous horde of women I’ve killed.

“Pay, pay, pay!”

.

Fiction © Copyright R.A. Clarke
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from author R.A. Clarke:

A daughter’s last chance at redemption on an alien planet. A sweeping secret that could not only end her dreams, but her life as well.

Finn Rucker boards the starship to seek a fresh start as part of a colonizing effort on Joya. The race, sponsored by Governus, yields free land and startup funds for the lucky winners. The number of entrants guarantees someone is going to lose and Finn is determined that she and her bionic horse, Herc, are among the winners.

Racing through uncharted jungle to the settlement of Novus, Finn and her fellow racers soon discover that not everything is as it seems – and Governus withheld information from the contestants. Strange beasts attack the racers, mechanical equipment begins to fail, and the very air seems out to get them.

When all seems lost, a mysterious people arrive and help the racers, revealing the depth of Governus’ deception. Finn will have to keep her pulse pistols close and her new friends closer – but not too close – as they all race to survive the jungle.

You will love this mashup of Hidalgo and James Cameron’s Avatar as Finn navigates the guilt of her past, the promise of a future, and the imminent dangers of her present.

Available on Amazon!