The Ladies of Horror
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Can You See Me Now? 
by Kendra Smart 

Alexandria Castile had always had the “imaginary” power of being invisible. Her Mother had instilled in her at every turn that there was never a want for her, it was all in her head. Her mistaken perception that warped the world to fit the narrative of her mind. In no short terms, her Mother made sure Alexandria never questioned the visage of the dutiful and perfect daughter her Mother had never wanted in the first place. No assumptions in that viewpoint at least. In one of the rare true conversations she had had with Claudine, from the horse’s mouth the truth had poured. An accident made in haste in the backseat, it would have been better if in truth Alexandria had been invisible. Had never existed at all. 

Hard enough to fight against that type of environment at home, but school had promised peace. A beautiful mirage of a lie, a delusion, but fallacy all the same. She tried to interact and to be their friend in the way she had always wished she had had. But the world is not as kind as fantasy permits it to be, and that could be seen in every media that portrays “lifestyle”. Relationships, bonds of any sort really, were not for her. But she still stalwartly trudged forward. Everything about her life began to become pretend. She just flowed through the days, time and date not mattering when no aspect of you is ever made important or special. 

She became numb. 

But really in the long and thick of life, what was she meant to have done? Was her course really to accept all the continued pain from the insanity of trial and error with the end result always being the same predictable ending? Pessimistic it may have been, but a truthful outlook was the least she owed herself. These peers her age had never made her feel any differently than her Mother had. In fact, they had found ways her Mother hadn’t thought of, and those seemed to cut worse in a way. 

Fate is not kind to those with insight and knowledge though, sometimes life decided that a smack on the hand was necessary. Alexandria made it to her Junior year of high school before life decided that her hand was the one meant to be rapped upon. Maybe that was how it was always intended to be.

A promise for extra credit wrapped in the thrall of adventure and memories made with friends. An easy enough venture for those not of the Physical Education fan club. 

She should have known better. 

It all started well enough, but the barbs began shooting around about why she was there. What help could she need with her grades? Five minutes. Alexandria timed them, it took all of five minutes for them to have her on their radar of conversation before they began joking and story swapping. The funny thing was, in the events of her pretending, she had BEEN there for most of their stories. Yet, none ever seemed to remember. 

Even the teacher would occasionally chime in. But never once after those five minutes was her name mentioned again. 

Alexandria just wanted to feel seen, to matter, to exist. Not as some forgotten bygone wisp of conversation, but truly feel seen by someone as necessary, as needed and wanted, just once. The more this sadness turned to anger, the warmer her body felt against the cold of the hike. The mountains weren’t too steep and the paths were clearly defined, but there were still warning signs for those outsiders seeking thrills. 

The gym teacher had probably done this hike himself several times over the years. But the path was icy, more so than anyone expected. But the ice conditions weren’t the only thing that worried her. Alexandria began to notice her skin changing as the warmth fed through her system. Her bones began to crack but it wasn’t painful, no the sound may have been cringe inducing but there wasn’t any pain. Only relief.

She was changing, becoming one with her surroundings. 

No. That wasn’t it. 

She was disappearing from view, becoming transparent. Invisible. 

She could see a small blur as her hands moved in front of her, Candy Moore, the girl directly in front of her, was clearly visible through her gleam. She dropped her hands, the cracking phase now gone. She felt a rush of energy with the warmth. She was faster, stronger, and all of her rage began to shockwave out from her body. 

She let the past go in the form of all her adornments and clothing. Embracing fully the fact that if she were truly to be invisible…she would make them all feel the pain that had created this monster. Why not? She had never been treated as human…so where was the impulse to keep acting like one going to get her? She would make them all suffer. 

The wind on the mountain howled, but as night fell the mountain was also alive with the sounds of torment and torture. A new myth would be born from the whispers and terrified musings of the townsfolk, but Alexandria had finally found her calling. The newspapers would soon enough catch wind of this “unseen terror” that had 157 deaths to their name…and counting.

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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!