The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Nice Costume
by Nadia Corin

I thought it was odd to have a costume party in the middle of summer, but I figured what the hell, why not go? I’d been invited on a whim. I didn’t really know the kids who invited me. I mean, I knew who they were, everyone in that school did. But I didn’t know them. Either way, for whatever reason, I was deemed worthy of attending.

I was a few beers in, watching a bonfire dance against the darkness of night. I didn’t socialize much. I’d always been an observer—I watched, I listened, but rarely engaged. And for the most part, no one really noticed me. I was just as invisible there as I was in school. But honestly, I was fine with that. I didn’t really like a lot of attention anyway.

By the time I finished my fourth bottle, I had to pee. We were in a field skimming the woods at the edge of town. No bathroom anywhere nearby. So I walked to the tree line to find a nice private place. I hated to go outside, but it couldn’t wait.

As I undid my jeans, I heard a twig snap not too far behind me. Oh shit, I thought, I’m not alone out here. How embarrassing.

I turned around to see an unfamiliar girl in full costume makeup. Around her eyes had been painted a strange color blue, and her mouth resembled that of a sugar skull.

“Hi,” I squeaked awkwardly. “I’m Abby. Guess you had to go too, huh?”

She didn’t answer, didn’t blink, only tilted her neck unnaturally. It looked as though her neck had been broken.

I tried to ease the tension in the air. “Nice costume. Did you do it yourself?”

She remained silent, and just stared at me with a curious expression, as if she were studying me. It more than creeped me out. Real fear rose from deep in my stomach. My heart was pounding. My mind and body instinctually told me to flee.

I turned to go back to the party. For once, I didn’t want to be alone. For once, I didn’t want to be invisible.

An insectile clicking assaulted my ears, the high-pitched tone hurt. As I went to cover them with my hands, I felt a strange sensation, pressure in my abdomen. I looked down to see a sharp claw protruding from my stomach. First, confusion took over my mind. How did that get there? Agonizing pain soon followed. The shock I experienced faded away and left me fully aware in that moment. The claw tore up my middle, ripping through my flesh like butter. I heard the splat of my insides hitting the ground.

I fell to my knees as the claw was removed from my body, blood soaked the torn clothes still clinging to me. I slumped forward, face down in the grass. The cool earth felt good against my skin. My heartbeat slowed, and time with it, as death began to crawl over me. I could feel flesh being torn from by back, but it no longer hurt. My eyelids closed and I let the darkness take me wherever it led.

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Fiction © Copyright Nadia Corin
Image courtesy of Pixabay