Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Today’s story is brought to life by the following prompt…

This is my submission for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday.

It Glowed Bright White

He grips himself tightly as his teeth chatter, his jaw jarring with each shuddering jolt. The blood that ran down his nose, through his messy moustache and over his lip, had dried hours ago, and only the metallic taste in the back of his throat remains. He grimaces as he rolls his shoulder, and then grimaces again as he rolls his other. A hiss escapes his lips, and a shallow, constricted breath catches in his chest. She sits across from him, cross-legged, a smile torn across her face. She tilts her head to the left and then to the right. Her inquisitive eyes blink, and then, with a playful laugh, she pokes him on the nose with a finger. He thrusts his head back and stares at her with wide-open, petrified eyes.

“Oh baby! Why so glum? You’ve almost survived the night!” she says as she looks over her shoulder, gazing down into the valley as the sun slowly creeps up from the sea beyond. Then she turns back to him, tilting her head again, her eyes widening with a disturbing fascination.

“F-F-Fuck you, A-Amelia!” he stammers as his teeth continue to chatter.

“Ouch!” she exclaims, sitting up straight. “I can’t believe how your simple insult has shaken the very foundations of who I am and made me see the error of my ways. Please, oh please,” she begs with an upturned frown, “forgive me?” She scoffs, giggling hysterically.

“Y-Y-You’re n-n-not funny!” he slurs through trembling lips.

“That may be true—I may not be as funny as I think I am,” she says, placing a finger on her chin and staring up at the sky, drawing out an awkward, dramatic pause. Then, as if someone had pressed play on a remote control, she looks back at him. “But I have it on good authority that the girl over there, she’s got the sense of humour thing down pat!”

He looks to his left, his breath catching in his chest as he sees himself sitting a few feet away, with another version of her across from him. The other Amelia waves at them, and he quickly turns back to the one in front of him, as her bloody smile stretches wider and broader across her face.

“W-W-What the fuck i-i-i-is going on?”

She giggles. “The end of time, that’s what!” she spits excitedly.

He shakes his head and looks over at the other him, only to witness her tearing his throat out. He turns back to his Amelia, his eyes wide with panic.

“W-W-WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?” he cries.

She shakes her head, shrugs her shoulders, and giggles. “Like I said, the end of time.”

“I-I-I-Is that m-m-my future?” he stammers, nervously pointing to the bloody mess the other version of him has become.

“Could be, maybe. I mean, we’d have to see where the here and now takes us, and who we see.”

“W-W-What do you mean, who we see?”

She turns to her left, her smile widening. “These guys, that’s who,” she says as she waves. He turns to see himself and her from a few seconds ago.

“F-Fuck,” he stammers as he turns back to her.

“Yup,” she says with a nod of her head.

“C-C-Can I at least see the sunrise?”

She shrugs and scrunches up her nose. “Sorry, it’s not up to me anymore. It was up to her, and she already made the decision,” she says, then leaps at him, ripping into his throat with her clawed fingers, as the sun rises over the valley, making the snow-covered ground and houses glow bright white.