Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Her Name Was Nancy

The water explodes into his lungs as he takes mouthful after mouthful of the putrid fluid. Desperately, he reaches for the surface, thrashing violently as he feels his chest burn with pain, screaming for air. But he continues to sink downward as his body fails him, and his world slowly fades to black.

Above him, he sees a light shine through the murky waters, followed by something plunging into the depths, gripping him by his long, knotted locks of hair, and pulling him upwards. He feels the dryness of the air tear at him as he’s tossed onto a hard, solid surface.

He desperately gasps, quickly followed by vomiting; mouthful after mouthful of water pours out of him. His lungs throb with pain before the sweet taste of air finally fills them.

Minutes pass before he regains some composure. He struggles to his knees as the torchlight shines in his face, blinding him momentarily.

“You okay there, boy” a husky, gravelly voice asks.

“T-T-Thank you” he says uneasily, shielding his eyes from the light, trying to focus on the figure behind it. “Y-Y-You saved my life. I-I-I-I… I can’t swim.”

“You can’t swim? Then what in the hell are you doing all the way out here? And where’s your boat? I ain’t seen any other vessel out here all night. God damn kids, you’re lucky I saw your scrawny arm poking out of the water. At first, I thought you were Old Musky himself, taking some poor sod down to their final resting place.”

“Y-Y-You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. H-How far are we fro-from land?”

“A long way. A couple of hours, tops, and that’s burning the motor. So, you might as well tell me how you ended up here, considering we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

He takes a deep breath and sits back in the boat, his hands still shielding his eyes from the torchlight. “Her name was Nancy” he says softly.

“Don’t you mean is?”

“Is, was… aren’t they the same thing?”

“They sure as hell are not the same thing—well, not where I come from anyway. Far as I’m concerned, is means she’s still with the living, and was generally implies she’s passed on, dead and buried. So which is this Nancy, a was, or an is?”

“Okay, okay, was—her name was Nancy. Satisfied? Can I tell you my story or not? And can you get that torch out of my goddamn face” he spits.

The gravelly voice cackles with laughter as the light moves away, revealing the owner of the voice. His eyes empty sockets, surrounded by torn flesh and bone. “Go on, Douglas. Like I said, we’ve got a long way to go, and I’m a great listener. You wouldn’t believe the sins I’ve heard before this day, but when your boat takes rotten souls like you to hell, you get a lot of them” he says as Douglas begins to scream in terror.