Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Author: Matthew Tonks

  • Day 33 – Full Deck – Short Story

    Day 33 – Full Deck – Short Story

    The wind blows through the deserted streets fiercely, pushing, shaking, and tearing at anything that gets in its way, Joel peers out of the window and wonders how everything has managed to fall to pieces in the last twenty-four hours, wondering if anything will be left once the storm dies down. He turns back from the window, looking over the small group, until he locks eyes with her, for as long as he can remember there has been two things he could be sure of in life, the first was one day he was going to die and the second was his love for his wife, tonight though only one stands true, and sadly in all likely hood it will be the cold embrace of deaths arms he will find his comfort in. Nancy looks away and continues her conversation with Pete Welker, the owner of the bar, and Joel’s best friend, to be honest Joel wouldn’t say Pete was his best friend, he’d say he was his oldest, but not his best, not after what has transpired tonight anyway. Joel has known Pete since forever, their mothers went to the same birthing class and quickly became close friends and as fate would have it, they ended up going into labour the same day, its more than likely why something has always been between them, a connection, something unspoken, something Joel felt in the bottom of his very being and, he hated it…

    If you want to read the final version of this short story, and thirty others, follow the link below, or join the mailing list and get a copy for free!

    TWISTED ROADS – AN ANTHOLOGY OF TWISTED TALES – VOLUME 1

    The world is but a twisted globe, spinning round and round, allowing light to breathe life onto its weary bones. But, where there’s light, there’s always darkness, and hiding in the shadows are things our imagination cannot even begin to understand. So buckle up and venture forward on a journey through thirty-one short stories, stories bathed in blood, stories dipped in darkness, stories that will take you through the veil of sanity and onto the twisted roads of madness.

    Available to buy in ebook or paperback format from Amazon HERE, (please make sure your geographical location is set to your country so you can purchase a copy) as well as all other ebook suppliers.

    This book is FREE to all mailing list subscribers.

    To subscribe, press HERE!

  • Day 32 – Does It Matter? – Short Story

    Day 32 – Does It Matter? – Short Story

    He places his hand on her leg and she smiles, how long she had waited for this night, for years Clint never paid any attention to her, not once showing any signs of interest and then two days ago he sat down next to her at lunch and asked her out, she was shocked at first thinking why someone like him would even pay any attention to her, but he did. For the next two nights that followed they had intense hour long phone conversations, they walked to and from school together and he even introduced her to his mother. And now they were sitting together in the theatre, watching a movie, sharing popcorn like a real boyfriend and girlfriend. The movie passed quickly and soon they were put into the night and he noticed her shivering in the cold.

    “You should have brought a thicker jumper,” he says as he quickly pulls off his coat and wraps it around her, she blushes.

    “Now, won’t you be cold?”

    “It doesn’t worry me,” he replies with that cute smile he always flashes around the school. They slowly make their way down the street, talking about what they would do if they had been the ones to find the old treasure map like the kids in the movie did until they come to a great water fountain that stands in the towns centre.

    “Can I ask you something?” she says.

    He laughs, “Asking to ask a question is never comforting.”

    “I have to ask, because I haven’t yet, I mean, wait, it all made sense before I said anything,” she says nervously, he grips her hand tightly.

    “You want to know why I asked you out?”

    “Well yeah, I mean we’ve never had a conversation, we’ve never hung out in the same crowds, the closest we’ve ever come to each other before two days ago was six years ago when you wanted to sit next to Debbie Heshnear on the bus and you asked me to swap seats.”

    “Debbie Heshnear, was that really six years ago?”

    “Don’t avoid the question, why now? Don’t take it the wrong way, I’m not complaining, believe me, but why now?”

    “Because, it was supposed to be now, not twenty-five years down the track,” he replies.

    “Sorry, what does twenty-five years have to do with it?”

    “Everything,” he looks at her through shimmery eyes as the moon shines off the water in the fountain and bathes him in its reflection. “I’ve been thinking this over, wondering how I was going to tell you this, and I still don’t know how, but I guess the easiest way is to just tell you and hope you don’t think I’m crazy,” he says as he motions for her to sit on a bench with him. “Twenty-five years’ time from now we’re going to bump into each other in a book store, and we’re going to have coffee together, and reminisce over school days, what we’ve been doing with our lives, and what we plan on doing. That coffee is going to turn into dinner and then that dinner is going to turn into breakfast,” He says as he takes a deep breath. “And that breakfast is going to turn into the best four years of our lives, and then…” he stops as tears run down his face, she place a hand on his arm and squeezes it.

    “And then?”

    He looks her in the eyes and slowly runs a hand across her cheek, “And then you’ll be diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer, and I’ll watch the woman I love more than anything else in the world slowly die before my eyes and I’ll powerless to do anything to save her. I’ll throw every cent I have at it, I’ll sell my Dad’s business, I’ll do anything I can. But nothing will stop it, no amount of surgery, no amount of money, not even the best will save you, and I’ll watch it all, not being able to do a single thing to help, and then you’ll die….” He wipes his tears from his face and takes a few moments to gather his thoughts, “After you died I hit rock bottom, nothing was worth anything without you, I was lost, beaten and alone. whatever time passed after your funeral was a blur, I was just so fucking done with everything, wishing every night that I could have you back in my arms, wishing I had just come up to you in school and asked you out. I wished for that every second of every day for weeks, until I ended up in hospital, I wasn’t taking care of myself, I couldn’t and almost died, but i didn’t care anymore, in fact I almost wanted it, and then, I woke up in my bed, at my parents’ house, I thought it was a dream at first but the longer it continued the more I realised I was actually back, I actually had a chance to save you, to build our lives together like we were supposed to,” he looks at her and can see the doubt in her eyes. “Ask me anything, ask me things I wouldn’t know, things I couldn’t know and I’ll answer them?”

    “Does it matter?”

    “What?”

    “Does it really matter? Honestly, I think you’re crazy, but so am I, so what if you’re story’s true, so what if it’s not, does it change anything now? Does it change this moment and the last few days? I mean this could all be a dream and this is all in your head or you’re dead and this is whatever follows, or maybe you’ve just lost the plot. Who really knows what the truth is, the only thing that matters is this, in the end does any of it matter?” He grabs her quickly and kisses her passionately, taking her by surprise, but she does not fight it, she in fact encourages it.

    They part and sit there with their foreheads pressed against each other, staring into each others eyes.

    “I guess it doesn’t,” he says with a smile.

     

    END

  • Welcome To Month Two

    Welcome To Month Two

    Well it’s official, the first month is done and dusted and now we run headlong into the second. What’s in store for us? Who really knows, anything is possible, and I do mean anything, if you’ve managed to stay with us you’ll now that.

    I think some of the ideas that have been made it out of my head and landed onto the screen have worked, really well, and others have been unfinished, and a bit lost. But, all in all I really feel like this idea might work, so, lets continue through the next twelve months and see what happens, yes you read that line correctly, I said twelve not eleven. I may have slightly miscalculated what I wanted to do here, so I’ve added another month to help smooth it all out.

    So sit sit down and relax.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Matt.

     

  • Day 31 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act IV

    Day 31 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act IV

    “Superintendent, you’re not going to believe what I’ve got on this Maddison Gray!” Oliver yells as he runs to Gleeson’s side, his outstretched arm holding a datapad.

    “What’s so damned exciting?” Gleeson asks as he grabs the datapad from Oliver and his mouth drops.

    “I was watching Channel Thirty-One, when I saw the news report on the latest killing, and there she was, just standing there.”

    “Maddison ‘Fucking’ Gray,” Gleeson mutters in amazement.

    “Correct, so I contacted Thirty-One, and they sent me all the footage from the reports they had done on the murder scenes, and you’re not going to believe who I saw at each of them?”

    “I bet I could take a guess,” Gleeson replies as he looks at the photos on the datapad.

    “I tried Gary’s commline again but he’s still not answering, I even tried his phone and still nothing. Sir it’s a trap, Maddison Gray is the killer and Gary’s been set up, but not in the way he expected.”

    “Damn it, get a trace on his bike and let’s get our arses downtown before it’s too late.”

     

    #

     

    Maddison stands over Gary, slowly walking around him like a shark preparing to move in for the kill. All the while a pool of blood continues to grow underneath him.

    “You know I had a feeling I couldn’t put my finger on, the way the note was written. You weren’t telling me this was your next victim, you were showing me who you were. Guess I pushed all the right buttons, even made you kill your girlfriend Kessler.”

    “Fuck you, she was always going to end up on the table, you just brought the end game on quicker,” Maddison says as she drives a boot into Gary’s stomach. “You may have got a reaction out of me, but I pushed your buttons right back, you piece of shit. I knew the great Gary Jackson would go it alone, would charge through all of downtown looking for me, trying to save another innocent life, when in reality all you were doing was setting yourself up for my table, where you’ve always belonged,” Maddison replies with a laugh and continues to circle like a shark, Gary begins to feel faint as the blood continues to escape his body.

    “Why this game?”

    “I suppose you deserve to know why you’re going to die, as you still seem unable to remember me,” Maddison says. “We have met before, you and I, although you might not remember. It was some years ago, I had been raped by a group of scum, and you promised you would find them and make sure they paid. But you never did make them pay did you, it was I who made them pay in the end. I made them suffer as they slowly bled to death, I did that and you, the great Gary Jackson, did nothing to keep his promise!”

    “What the fuck are you talking about?” Gary says as he tries to stop the blood flow from his arm, but his strength slowly begins to grow weaker.

    “You made me a promise, you swore they would pay, and you never did anything, not you, not the officer who dealt with me after you, not one of you helped, you just moved me on to someone else,” Maddison yells. “So I decided the only way to get your attention was to kill and eventually you would see me, eventually you would have to face your broken promises.”

    “You’re unhinged Maddison, let me help you?”

    “There you go again, promising help that you do not intend to keep, do you think I am a fool?” Maddison says as she places the shotgun to Gary’s head. “No more lies, it’s time for you to face your judgement,” she says, drawing up all the energy he can Gary smacks the shotgun away as Maddison pulls the trigger, the blast narrowly misses his head. Frantically he grabs her by the wrist and forces her to the ground, and they both struggle back and forth for a few moments. Gary is amazed at her strength and how little he has right now, but he continues to try and force her to let go of the shotgun, but she pulls it between them and a shot fires off. For a few moments they both stare blankly at each other as the smell of burning flesh fills the air, and smoke rises from between them, in the distance the sounds of approaching sirens can be heard.

     

    #

     

    Caroline Hallowthorpe stares at the photos of her newly resurfaced sister, and they have left her more of an emotional wreck than she was before.

    “I told you it was her,” Caroline says as she throws the photos at Christopher.

    “I just can’t believe it’s really Rebecca, its just not possible.”

    “I told you it was her, and these photos prove it,” Caroline says, the distress in her voice more apparent than before.

    “I’m sorry I doubted you, but one thing that worries me is how quickly our private investigator found her.”

    “It’s because she wants me to know she’s out there, coming for me.”

    “We’ll resolve this Caroline, I promise.”

    “It’s clear what she wants, but no ghost is taking this company from me, I’ve worked too hard to make it what it is now,” Caroline says. “We only have one option, and that is to get some professional assistance, with my contacts in Divisional I should be able to find the right person for the job.”

    “Are you sure that’s wise? Surely we could find someone in the private sector who could perform the task more adequately.”

    “No, I’ve already begun to place the wheels in motion,” Caroline replies as she throws a newspad onto Christopher’s lap, “This is who I want to remove my problem.”

    Christopher stares at the image on the screen and then back to Caroline, “You cannot be serious?”

    “I’m very serious Christopher, he is the one who will remove Rebecca from my life once and for all.”

     

    #

     

    Gary sits on the side of his bed staring at the ground, lost within his head as he tries to make sense of the last few days, and his short stay at Bay Side Memorial has not helped. With nothing to distract him from his thoughts, Gary is like a prisoner in his own mind. Superintendent Gleeson knocks on the open door as he makes his way in.

    “How are you son?” Gleeson asks.

    Gary holds up his new bioengineered hand, “Good as new, the hand feels weird, but it’s not as weird as it was the first time I lost one. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a projectile weapon up close, I’d forgotten how much they fucking hurt, shit shards of metal everywhere. The doc said he removed eighty-five separate shards from my side, still it’s not the worst thing that came out of all this, at least I’m still alive.” Gleeson places a hand on Gary’s shoulder.

    “It was touch and go for a little while son, but you’re a stubborn son of a bitch from time to time.”

    “This has all been one crazy ride, the last few weeks make less sense now I know why she did, what she did. I mean, she took out the first four guys because they gang rapped her and then she just kept on going, taking down more scum. I guess that’s where Kessler came into it, she must have provided her with a list of the ones who got away, but why not just come after me? Why wait? She obviously blamed me as much as the guys who actually raped her, sitting here it’s just been doing my head in.”

    “Don’t beat yourself up about this one son, there was nothing you could’ve done to stop any of this from happening, sometimes people are who they are, if it wasn’t you, she would’ve set her sights on someone else.”

    “You didn’t come here to give me life’s answers Bill, what do you want?”

    Gleeson laughs, “Am I that transparent?”

    “Yes, remember, I’ve known you my whole life, and you only give these sort of speeches when you’ve got an ulterior motive, are you busting my arse down the sergeant because of the shit with the media?”

    “No, no, you got the result we were hoping for, it’s of no value to anyone higher up for you to be reprimanded over that.”

    “It must be something big that you want from me then, because you’re stroking my ego as well, why don’t you just get on with it.”

    Gleeson laughs again, ”OK, I want you to do me a favour, and, you do this, and I’ll turn a blind eye to you bringing in Fontaine to help with the leg work from time to time.”

    “Cut the shit Bill, just tell me what you want me to do?”

    “Not what but who, and that who is Caroline Hallowthorpe.”

     

    END OF CHAPTER TWO

  • Day 30 – Scattered Seeds – Short Story

    Day 30 – Scattered Seeds – Short Story

    Jim Slovak is pushed into the booth by the security guard and looks around the court room, eyes staring viciously at him, and he swallows a mouthful of air, it rips down his dry, red throat and he grimaces in pain. The judge looks down over the notes before him and then towards Jim.

    “Mister Slovak do you know why you are here today?”

    “Yes, Your Honour.”

    “And how do you plead against the charge’s that have been placed upon you?”

    “Not guilty, Your Honour.”

    “Are you sure that is how you want to plead Mister Slovak?”

    “Yes I am, Your Honour, not guilty on all charges.”

    “I must inform you, from where I am sitting this is a silly manoeuvre, I say this because I am well aware the prosecution has a large assortment of evidence contrary to your plea, and based upon what you have put forward in your evidence you do not build a strong case for anything but guilty, in fact you further cement many of their claims. You do realise if you plead not guilty and are found to be guilty of the crime you are charged with the punishment will be increased to the maximum levels.”

    “I do, Your Honour, and I’d rather you cut it off instead of making it not work.”

    “Excuse me Mister Slovak, what did you just say?”

    “I said, I’d rather you cut it off than make it not work.”

    “Mister Slovak it is not that simple, although this bill of law may be new, and you, sadly are the first to be tried under it, it is still a law that must be obeyed, and it is a law you have broken. In fact you have from the records that have been presented to me, broken this law almost fifty-seven times in the last three weeks, and that’s what we know of, I can only guess of what we don’t,” The judge says as he removes his glasses and leans over the podium, towards Jim. “This law has been put in place for a reason, you do understand that don’t you? You do realise why this law exists? How it interweaves with the fundamental principles of life and how precious it is to all humanity, and that no matter what stage of conception, no matter what stage of life, it must all be protected against those who would do it wrong, who would murder another life, or deny the opportunity for another to have life. Do you not understand this?”

    “I understand many laws are passed for many reasons, but a law that stops me from pleasuring myself whenever I feel like it is a law I do not agree with. I’m not guilty of breaking the law because I don’t agree with this stupid fucking law, I was simply satisfying my need, myself. Why is that breaking the law? Why is that worse than killing someone? Or raping someone? Fuck, you’ll fuck my junk up so I can’t masturbate every again or for that matter have sex unless I register a partner with the state who can vouch for me to say that were going to have sexual relations, and then she’s given the medication that I need to take that allows me to get hard, but some kiddie fiddler gets caught and they only get put in jail and their junk is still theirs. So I am not guilty of your law, because your law is nothing to me.”

    “Mister Slovak, this is not a soap box, you don’t have an opportunity to share your grievance with the world, this is a trial about you breaking a law, the law, and you will not attempt to derail this trial for your own needs, out of what? Some misguided perception that you are fighting for the average man, well Mister Slovak, that will not happen on my watch. It is the decision of this court, that you Mister Slovak are guilty on all fifty-seven accounts, you will be taken from here and the shaft of your penis will be removed, while your scrotum will be harvested every twenty-four hours in the hope that one or many of the lives that form inside your scrotum will be given the chance to live, to breath, to be human. You are now dismissed, Mister Slovak, may your seed sow well.”

     

    END

  • Day 29 – Handicap – Short Story

    Day 29 – Handicap – Short Story

    “I’m retired Andy, I don’t do any of that shit anymore, too many close calls, too close together, I was done, still am, so why don’t you go find someone else to do your dirty work?” Taylor says as he slams down the phone, he looks up into his wife’s eyes, he can tell what her next question will be without her even asking.

    “I’m not going back honey, I promised you after the last time I was done, I don’t break promises,” he says.

    “You said that the last time, and the time before that, why should this be any different?”

    “Honey, it’s been five years, five years, not once have I even looked at the classifieds, I’m done,” he says as he gets up and grabs his wife, pulling her close and kissing her.

    “What if they try again, it’s only been two days and he’s called six times,” she says as she snuggles in close to him.

    “Then I’ll tell them to fuck off again, I’m done with it, nothing they can say will make me go back, I swear,” a knock comes from their front door and he kisses her on the nose. “That will be Jerry, I’ll be back before dinner,” he says as he grabs his golf bag and sits it on his shoulder. “Love you,” he says as he blows her a kiss.

    “Love you too,” she says, the front door suddenly explodes inwards and Taylor goes crashing to the ground, he scrambles to his feet and rushes back to the kitchen, where his wife stands there in shock.

    “Get the fuck down,” Taylor yells as he dives towards his wife, tackling her to the ground.

    “W-W-What the hell is happening?” he wife asks.

    “Fuck knows, but whoever it is they picked the wrong person to….” He doesn’t get to finishes his sentence as he feel something rip into his side, the effects are almost instantaneous, and as he crashes to the floor all he can hear is his wife’s screams.

    When he opens his eyes he finds himself bound and bloody, his wife sits not to far from him, unconscious and bound as well.

    He looks around at the four men who stand before him, “If any of you fucking pieces of shit have hurt her I will kill every single one of you, staring with your mother and father and then I’ll work my way…”

    “God how I missed you,” a woman’s voices interrupts from behind him, Taylor looks over his shoulder with displeasure.

    “Are you fucking serious?”

    “I told you Taylor, we need you.”

    “And I told you Nadia, I’m retired.”

    “You don’t get to retire, that’s not how it works. Your country needs you, we need you, you don’t make the decision to leave, we allow you to leave, and when we need you again you come back, there is no fucking leaving.”

    “I want to speak Randolph.”

    “That, I’m afraid is impossible, two weeks ago Randolph was assassinated by a drone, I have taken over in the interim while the politicians play with their prostitutes and each other’s cocks.”

    “You’re fucking kidding me, Randolph is dead, what model drone was it?”

    “A C-Class drone,” she replies as she walks around into view, locking eyes with Taylor, he can feel the hate she has for him just in the look.

    “A C-Class, are you sure? They were all taken care of, I made sure of that personally, how could there be any left out there, it’s just impossible.”

    “Obviously not all were accounted for, our assassin was named Marietta, is she familiar to you?”

    “You know she is, that’s why you’re here obviously, what do you really want?”

    “What I want, is I need to know what you know, we need to know why you allowed her to escape. Her file says you were the one who put her down, yet that didn’t stop her taking out Randolph, so either you were wrong or you deliberately let her escape, which is it?”

    “Which one do you want it to be?” he asks.

    She pulls a handgun from her jacket and places it at his skull, “Don’t push me, you pathetic piece of shit.”

    “Why don’t you just pull the fucking trigger and get this over with, I’m sick of listening to your annoying voice, don’t you get it, I know nothing, her file was closed because she was terminated, end of story, I’ve got nothing else for you.”

    She looks at him, trying to pieces together whether she believes his words or not, then moves the barrel of the gun to Taylor’s wife’s head. “I don’t believe you, so I’ll give you another chance, lie again and I will not hesitate to pull the trigger,” she says with a wry smile.

    “You don’t get it do you, you don’t understand, there’s a change coming, it’s been coming for a long time,” he says as he stands, tearing through the bindings as if they were paper, Nadia swings her handgun back towards him, but his wife grabs the gun and smashes Nadia to the ground with a powerful right, and before the agents can react she fires four well-placed shot to the centre of each of their heads. Nadia looks up towards Taylor as his eyes light up red.

    “Farewell to the flesh, let the revolution begin!” He says as he stomps down on Nadia’s skull.

     

    END

  • Day 28 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act III

    Day 28 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act III

    District-Three PD feels a small tremor as Oliver slams down his commline, “Fuck it Gary pick up the line!”

    “Problems?” Superintendent Gleeson asks.

    “I tried contacting Gary, but he’s not picking up sir.”

    “You don’t know Gary that well do you? He’s not going to follow the book on this one, he’s not like his brother Niles,” Gleeson says. “Those boys are different in every way, and Gary well he’s got time slipping away, most likely he’s tearing his way through all the sources he has downtown until someone gives him something to go on, and then he isn’t going to stop until he finds this Maddison Gray, if that is her name.”

    “But what if it’s all a setup? What if the killer is after Gary and not Maddison Gray?”

    “You don’t think Gary hasn’t already though of that?” Gleeson replies. “Divisional has made you too comfortable Oliver. Gary knows the Downtown area better than anyone on my squad and he knows what killers think like, of course he knows that he’s the target. Christ even a child could see that. But you see Oliver, Gary has to find this girl to find our killer and he’s willing to put his own life on the line. That’s why he’s good at his job, because he always knows the risks, but just doesn’t care.”

    “But why would he do something so careless like this? Why would he go alone?”

    “Because he has to, if this killer is after him, the only way they’re going to come into the open is by knowing Gary is alone.”

    “It’s suicidal, that’s what it is.”

    “That’s your opinion, find out what you can about this Maddison Gray and maybe find something that connects her to the other murders, that’s what you’re here for, connect the dots for crying out loud,” Gleeson says. “Let Gary do his job, and you do yours. I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment as it is, half an hour ago some fucking nut job blew up sixteen lanes of mag-rail in uptown, so I don’t want to think about this one any more than I have to. Now go dig and come back to me when you have something worth worrying about.”

     

    #

     

    The further Downtown you go, the worse the clubs become, except for The Acid House, it’s a sure fire bet that no matter where this place was located, it would still be as putrid and dangerous as ever. Gary quickly dismounts his bike and heads towards the building. Two bouncers guarding the door attempt to stop him, in several fluid movements Gary sends them both to the ground and barges through the doorway and heads straight to the bar.

    “District-Three PD, I need you to answer a few questions!” he yells at the barman, the barman turns his back and continues to serve the small group of customers hanging around the bar. Gary pushes his way through the crowd and grabs the barman by the throat and slams him into the counter. “Maybe you didn’t hear me before. District-Three PD have you seen this girl here tonight?” Gary asks as he pulls out the photo of Maddison Gray and shoves it into the barman’s face.

    “Never seen her before,” the barman replies frantically.

    “Wrong answer,” Gary says as he slams the barman’s head into the counter again. “Have you seen her here tonight?”

    “She was in here earlier with Jones, but they left hours ago.”

    “Where did they go?”

    “I have no idea, honest to god!”

    “I don’t believe you,” Gary says as he slams the barman’s head into the counter again.

    “Maybe you should listen to the man,” a voice says from behind. Gary pulls out his blaster as he swings around, facing the two bouncers from earlier and another three, plus a thin man standing in between them, wearing a black suit and tie.

    “Please, lower your blaster, you don’t know how hard it is to find good help these days.”

    “I don’t give a fuck about your problems, you’re the owner I take it?”

    “Yes, Domenic Swan, and you are?”

    “I’m the guy asking the questions,” Gary replies quickly. “I’m looking for a girl by the name of Maddison Gray, I know she hangs with a guy named Jones. Your barman said they were here earlier, but he has no idea where they went, me I think he knows, and I bet you do too.”

    “Quite a lot of questions and hypothesis, but I’m sorry I can’t help you. I have no idea who this Maddison Gray or Jones characters are. You see I tend not to associate with the scum that come here.”

    “Bullshit, answer the question, or I’ll damage more than your barman’s face.”

    “You amuse me,” Domenic says with a laugh.

    “Last chance arsehole,” Gary says as he prepares himself for the attack.

    “I’m sorry but as I said there…” is all Domenic can get out before Gary smashes his way into the group, sending three of the five bouncers to the ground, before the remaining two tackle him.

    Domenic frantically makes his way out of the bar and towards his car out the back, as he opens the door a blaster is placed to his head.

    “Tell me what I need to know or you’ll be nothing but another dead piece of shit,” Gary says.

    “Jones runs a brothel on the other side of town, some horrible little place called The Royal Treatment. This girl you are after is his sister, or lover or both, I don’t know or care just leave me the fuck alone,” Domenic replies as he falls down to his knees. Gary slams Domenic’s head into the side of the car and runs back to his bike, leaping on it quickly he heads off towards The Royal Treatment, his teeth slam together as the AC-Stinger hits it’s top speed, his eyes move wildly from left to right as time frantically ticks down. This is when he operates at his best, with no restrictions, and if he was honest, really honest, he would tell you he loves it when it’s like this.

     

    #

     

    Oliver sits at his desk looking at the photo of Maddison Gray, ‘Damn it where have I see you before,’ he looks up from his desk and sees Channel Thirty-One’s news report about the body found earlier, and a cold shiver goes down his spine as he spots an all too familiar face in the crowd. ‘Holy fuck there is no way?’ Quickly he grabs his phone and dials a number, a face of a young girl appears on the screen.

    “Channel Thirty-One, this is Fiona.”

    “Fiona, put Greg Phelps on, tell him it’s Charles Oliver from Delta Divisional.”

    “One moment I’ll see if he’s available Mister Oliver,” Fiona says, a Channel Thirty-One’s logo appears along with some old time music, a man appears seconds later, in his early fifties, a mustache and a bald head.

    “Charles, what do I owe this call to?”

    “I need all the file footage you took at the Slasher crime scenes, more importantly, the first on scene footage.”

    “You’ve got a lead on someone?”

    “Not sure, you give me this, and I’ll make sure you’re the first to know if we have any breaking news.”

    “I’ll send them straight to you, remember first on any breaking news?”

    “You’ll be the first to know,” Oliver replies as he hangs up the phone, his computer begins to let out several loud beeps. ‘Let’s see if my hunch pays off.’ He turns to face the screen as the files start arriving.

     

    #

     

    Hallowthorpe Estate, built in the early days of Delta City by Caroline’s grandfather, it has been her home since she took over the family company. Caroline limps in through the doorway with the help of a tall man, once in, she pushes him away.

    “Leave me be Jacob!”

    “Please Miss, are you sure you’re ok?”

    “For the last time Jacob, yes I am, now leave me be,” Caroline replies with frustration.

    “As you wish, remember if you need me, call,” Jacob says as he leaves Caroline alone, she grabs a bottle from a small bar against the wall and fills a glass and takes a large mouthful then tops up the glass again. Grabbing her phone she quickly dials a number, moments later a man appears on the screen, in his late thirties, well kept, wearing black-rimmed glasses.

    “Caroline, my god, you look like you’ve been through hell, what’s wrong?”

    “I’ll tell you what’s wrong, Christopher, I was almost killed, that’s what’s wrong,” Caroline replies. “It was Rebecca, Christopher she tried to kill me.”

    “Rebecca who?”

    “Rebecca, Rebecca my sister you fool.”

    “Have you been drinking Caroline?”

    “Don’t talk to me like I’m a simpleton you bastard!” Caroline yells. “It was Rebecca, the bitch smiled at me, she tried to kill me tonight Christopher, I am sure of it.”

    “Look maybe I should come over.”

    “For crying out loud Christopher I was not seeing things, it was Rebecca, not a figment of my imagination. It was her, and she tried to kill me and make it look like an accident!”

    “Look calm down, I’m coming over, I don’t think you should be alone right now you’re obviously having some sort of episode.”

    “I’m not having an episode!” Caroline screams. “I know my own sister when I see her.”

    “Caroline it’s just not possible, I was at her funeral, and I saw her body, she’s dead. There’s no way you could have seen her tonight, let alone her trying to kill you.”

    “I know what I saw, Rebecca is alive!”

    “Well, what do you want me to do then if you’re not willing to talk this out rationally?”

    “I want you to hire someone to find her, I want that bitch found and taken care of!” Caroline yells as she slams down the phone, she grabs her glass and takes another mouthful.

     

    #

     

    His bike comes to a stop and Gary leaps off and charges towards an old run down building, the words Royal Treatment faded on its side. He rips open the door and storms in, three girls sit on an old couch, and a man stands behind a small service desk, this place used to be one of the most luxurious hotels in its time, but now it’s just a dump. Gary raises his blaster at the man behind the counter, who stands their petrified, the girls run screaming from the room.

    “District-Three PD, I want Jones.”

    “He isn’t here.”

    “Bullshit, I want Jones now!”

    “Can I help you officer?” a voice asks from behind, Gary turns to face a scrawny young man, dressed in clothes that are too expensive for this part of town unless you make money from all the deadbeats.

    “Are you Jones?”

    “Depends on what you want?”

    “I want you not to screw with me!” Gary yells as he fires a shot past the man’s head.

    “Alright, Alright, I’m Jones, what do you want?” he screams holding his hands in the air.

    “Maddison Gray, where is she?”

    “Upstairs, room twenty-three, but she’s not alone.”

    He grabs Jones by the scruff of the neck and slams him into the wall on his way past, his unconscious body crashes to the floor. Quickly Gary is up the stairway and without difficulty spots room twenty-three. He doesn’t even bother to knock, driving a boot into the door that sends it crashing to the floor, causing the two people in the room to jump with fright.

    “You, fuck off,” Gary says to the male, the man quickly tries to gathers his clothes, and Gary grabs him by his hair and throws him out into the passageway.

    “What’s this all about? This place is licensed, and I haven’t broken the law, well not yet anyway,” Maddison says.

    “My name is Detective Inspector, Gary Jackson, from District-Three PD,” Gary replies holding up his badge. “Get dressed quickly, we have reason to believe your life is in danger.”

    Maddison throws back the sheets, showing off her naked body and slowly climbs out of the bed. Gary slightly embarrassed turns around, he quickly gives the passageway a check over noticing an emergency exit at the end of the hall. It’s then that a shot rips into Gary’s back sending him crashing to the floor, his blaster goes tumbling out of reach. Frantically he scrambles forwards as he tries to reach for his blaster when another shot blows his outstretched hand off. He screams in pain and turns to face Maddison, she stands over him with a shotgun in her hand and a demented smile on her face.

     

    END OF ACT III

     

  • Day 27 – Jupiter – YouChallenge Short Story

    Day 27 – Jupiter – YouChallenge Short Story

    I stand here like a total moron staring bewilderingly into her big green eyes trying to make words come out, but I can’t, I don’t know how to. I worked myself up so much for this that I really don’t know what to say or what to do, now that I’m here. Well, that’s a lie, I knew what I was going to say, what I was going to do, well sort of anyway, but when she uttered those words everything fell apart.

    I guess you need to know what the hell is going on, I guess the best place to start is at the start, not right at the start, not that far back, I’ll just concentrate on today, I think that’s the best place to start.

    I knew when the phone rang I shouldn’t have answered it, especially when I saw her name come up on the screen. Eight years and not a single call, text or letter, not once, and now suddenly a call out of the blue was unnerving. Anyway, she said she was in town and wanted to catch up for coffee, as we needed to talk, eight years and now she needed to talk? I mean I said yes, of course I did, she was the one that got away, the one that I let slip through my fingers. You see, she wanted to explore the world and I was happy doing the same thing every day, still am in fact, I just don’t have that bug, so one day she just up and left. No Dear John letter, no explanation, she just booked a ticket out of here and was gone from my life. It took me years to get over it, and I mean years, I still remember playing with the idea of chasing her around the world when she first took off, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and I had no idea where she was. Fuck, honestly, I still have that hole in my stomach and now that I was walking down the street to sit and have coffee with her it’s getting worse, what was I going to say? What was she going to say? Should I have just said no, I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this, not today, actually any day would have been the same. It’s then that I started to think that maybe she had finally done all she wanted to in the world outside our small town and now wanted to come back home, to me. That made me even more nervous, I mean, I hadn’t changed at all in the last eight years, and she’s been out there experiencing the world. God she even had a weird sort of accent, then my stomach churned and I almost turned around when the coffee shop came into view, but I swallowed whatever it was stuck in my throat and I walked through the door, and there she was, as beautiful as she had ever been, and our eyes met, and she smiled, I smiled back and walked over and we hugged, it was amazing, I mean I almost cried, I just was suddenly an emotional wreck.

    “You look great,” I said nervously.

    “So do you,” she said, it’s then that I noticed someone else at the table, and my heart skipped a beat, “Jerry, I’d like you to meet our daughter, Annie.” She said, and my mouth dropped open as I stared into her big green eyes and stood there like a moron.

     

    END

    The song was Drops of Jupiter, I think somewhere in it all, I captured the song.

  • Day 26 – The Ghost Of Old Man McRaw – Short Story

    Day 26 – The Ghost Of Old Man McRaw – Short Story

    Now the story I’m about to tell you took place a long time ago in a city far, far away. Actually I’m lying, I know, I know, starting a story with a lie is a terrible way to drag you in, but it sounded so good in my head and I just had to use it. It actually happened last week, two blocks from where we sit, in old man McRaw’s place, you know, that old run down house that everyone stays away from, you must have heard about it, everyone has. But, if you’re not familiar with the story, I’ll fill you in, so you know where everything is heading.

    Old man McRaw lived in his house alone, and ticked all the boxes that you would assume an old man living alone would. He hated kids, he hated dogs, basically he hated everything. When he passed away a few years ago everyone on the street was excited by the idea of someone coming in and cleaning the house up, some even suggested demolishing it, but it seemed old man McRaw had left detailed instruction about what to do with the house after he died, instructions that seemed to make it impossible to sell. After the first few months of the for sale sign being planted in the front yard everyone thought it would be snapped up instantly, but, it never sold. Months turned into a year and then into years and still no one seemed to fulfill old man McRaw’s final request. Stories started to go around that he had left an absurd asking price for it in his will, then stories said that the house was too run down, but the truth, the real story behind it all surprised everyone, to the point of laughter. The price he asked was a measly one dollar, but, whoever wanted to buy it had to spend an entire night, from eight at night until eight in the morning inside the house. It’s was a crazy ask, one that everyone said was easy, but yet no one managed to do it, no matter how many people tried, and I can tell you, many tried. That’s when the rumors started circulating around the town that it was haunted by old man McRaw himself and anyone who dared try stay in his house for one night would be haunted by his ghost until they left, it was his final legacy, it was his hate for everything and everyone.

    Well once word leaked out about it being haunted we had every crack pot from around the world in our small town, we even had some hot shot ghost hunter from TV come to town and film his show in the house, even he didn’t make it through the night, and the episode apparently never made it to air. Something about there being nothing on their tapes, or some story like that.

    Anyway back to my story, last week Bobby Jarvis and Freddy Weller were dared by Wendy Alders that neither of them could spend the night in old man McRaw’s place, and whoever could would be allowed to take her on a date. Well Bobby and Freddy both said yes before their brains talked them out if it, and we all knew Bobby had been in love with Wendy since kindergarten and Freddy, well he always wanted what Bobby wanted, so it was a done deal, and Wendy knew it.

    That night Bobby and Freddy snuck out and met Wendy, her best friend Pam and me outside McRaw’s, Bobby made sure Wendy was going to keep her promise, even to the point of making her pinky swear it. Anyway, as the time ticked over to eight they both went inside while we sat on the grass. Wendy said that Bobby had been asking her out for the last few weeks and she had ran out of ways to say no to him, that’s when Pam gave her the idea of old man McRaw’s. I didn’t see why Wendy was so hard on Bobby, he was a nice enough boy, for a boy. But, she was in love with Kevin Fox, captain of the basketball team and all round dream boat, which I couldn’t disagree with, but there was something about him that I never liked. We were only there for no more than ten minutes before Bobby and Freddy came running out of the house screaming, both of them had hair as white as snow and they just keep running and screaming all the way home. The next few days were weird, quiet, we all got spoken to by the school social worker, and I heard that Freddy had apparently moved back to his fathers that night, two states away, and Bobby, well he still hasn’t been back to school yet, so yesterday, after school, I went over to visit Bobby, but his mother said the doctors have advised against visitors at the moment. I asked her if he had said anything about what he’d seen in the house, what had scared him and Freddy so much that night, that it caused their hair to go white, and she said the only thing he keeps saying is words from an old nursery rhyme, over and over again. When I asked her what it was, she stared off into the distance and said, “This old man, he plays one…”

     END

  • Day 25 – Sisters – Short Story

    Day 25 – Sisters – Short Story

    The darkness of his eyes drags her further into the depths of his soul and she lets a tear run freely from her face as she closes his eye lids and turns to her sister who sits a few feet away, huddled in a ball, weeping.

    “Get yourself together Lotti, if we’re to get out of this, we have to keep ourselves ready and willing,” she says harshly to her little sister.

    “H-How are we supposed to do anything but become what they have, we should have never let him in, we should have known he was more than just a stranger looking for warmth, we should have known,” she says through her tears.

    “It’s too late for all that,” she says as she gets to her feet, her jeans covered in a thick black liquid, it slithers and slides down her legs, forming a puddle on the floor, she looks at her reflection and grits her teeth in anger. “We have to try.”

    A clapping sound comes from beyond the door to her left and she sucks in a quick breath and holds it in fear.

    “How your kind amuse me, with your determination, do you actually think there is hope? There is some sort of escape?” A deep voice says from the other side of the door.

    “What do you want from us?” She screams.

    “Isn’t it obvious?” He replies, “I want what gives you meat puppets life, I want that sweet chewy centre that’s inside you all, I want to roll it around on my tongue before I suck it deep into my being, child I want your soul.”

    “Why? Why us? What did we do to deserve this?”

    He laughs, “This is nothing personal child, you didn’t do anything to bring me here, all you did was open the door and invite me in. So don’t go looking for a reason, because there’s not one. So open the door and let us put an end to this night, accept your fate and feed me,” he says. “Or I’ll make you suffer, I’ll make your sister suffer, I’ll do things that will have you both begging me to stop, and trust me, I won’t, do you want that?”

    “Why can’t you just leave, haven’t you taken enough from us already?” She says as she looks down upon her Fathers lifeless body and fights back the tears as she pulls her sister to her feet and hugs her tightly.

    “My thirst is unending, it knows no sedation, so give in child, let go and I promise it will be quick.”

    “Will we become like Father and William, will we turn into those things?”

    “Such is the fate of my gift, but you will not be them who rise from your cold dead bodies, they will be something else entirely new, only sharing in your memories, who you are will be gone, if that is what you are asking.”

    “Will you let my sister go free, will you allow that?” she asks.

    “No Caroline, no, I don’t want to be alone, don’t leave me, please!” Lottie yells as she grips her sister tighter.

    “Child, I make no promises, I make no deals, your sisters life is already mine, as is yours, just open the door and accept it.”

    She looks down at her sister and brushes the hair from her face and kisses her on the forehead, “I won’t leave you, not ever.”

    He enters the front door quickly and quietly, clutching a pistol firmly in one hand and a flash light in the other. Constable Harrison wipes the sweat from his brow and slowly makes his way from room to room until he comes across the body of a young boy, lying in a pool of black liquid, his stomach turns and he feels for a pulse, but find nothing but cold, dead skin. He pulls a radio from his belt.

    “Dispatch, this is Constable Harrison, I’ve just arrive at one-twenty-seven Maryland Road, responding to a triple zero call that originated from this location. I’ve found the body of a young boy, I am presuming it to be William Fletcher, I’m going to require backup to my location as soon as possible.”

    “Constable Harrison, I’ll have addition officers to your location within ten minutes, you are advised to clear the building until support arrive.”

    “Copy that dispatch, I’ll be more than happy to wait outside.”

    He gets to his feet and freezes in place as he feels a presence behind him and spins around as Caroline bites deeply into one side of his throat and Lotti bites into the other.

     

    END

  • Day 24 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act II

    Day 24 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act II

    The House Lucretia, one of the many high-classed establishments in Uptown Delta City, where all the rich and powerful come to fulfill their many needs. Some as simple as food, others more complex, but when credits are involved this place knows no boundaries.

    Tonight Caroline Hallowthorpe, known the world over as the last real media tycoon makes her way out into the night. Caroline, of course, cannot take all the credit for the company she now runs, it has taken several generations to make AirThirtyFour into the vast empire it is. Caroline herself, has only been the power behind Air34 for the last three years, but in those three years, she has changed the face and need of news and how it is controlled. Before Caroline the company was run by her older sister Rebecca, who inherited the reigns from their father, but Rebecca was killed in a car accident before she ever really had a chance to make the company hers.

    “Home Miss?” the computerised driver asks as she climbs into her awaiting limo.

    “Yes, get me out of this place,” Caroline replies, the limo heads towards Hallowthorpe estate, she is traveling for no more than a few minutes when several explosions take place further ahead, and the limo comes to a sudden halt, Caroline jumps in fright. For a few moments there is nothing but silence, and then the limo rises into the air and crashes into the ground violently. Caroline is thrown around inside and smashes her head, blood gushes out of the wound instantly, she tries the door desperately but it won’t budge.

    “Computer, open the door!” she screams but there is no response, only silence. Out of the corner of her eye Caroline notices a woman standing outside near one of the doors, she bends down and looks in, and Caroline goes white as a ghost as she locks eyes with this woman. ‘Rebecca?’ She gives her a smile and disappears into the darkness outside leaving Caroline trapped and frozen with fear inside.

     

    #

     

    Within the darkness and dampness of a seedy downtown apartment, a figure prepares themselves for the night ahead.

    “Tonight Jackson, is the night it ends,” Sonya says as she moves out of the darkness. “Soon you will pay for broken promises, soon you will know the name of your killer, for tonight you pay for your sins with blood you son of a fucking bitch!”

     

    #

     

    Gary sits on his bike in the downtown street of Ratchets Lane, known to many of the City’s perverted patrons as the place to go if you want a cheap, good time.

    “Maddison Gray, no address?” Gary asks.

    “Nothing current, her last known address was Whispering Heights, but she is long gone from there. It’s like she just up and disappeared, and Ghost can’t find anything else on her at the moment. Did I mention how photogenic your face looked splashed all over the tube last night? Made you look at least ten years younger, bet Gleeson loved that?” Fontaine replies.

    “He suggested it, but you can just eat it up shit head, I know you’re jealous.”

    “Old man loves taking risks when it’s not his neck.”

    “Time is wasting Fontaine, back to this Gray kid, if she up and disappeared off the grid it’s more than likely she’s involved in something pretty ugly, right?”

    “I’d say so, Ghost is running her picture through the cities camera systems, but if she’s lower in the city then there’s no hope, half the systems down there are fucked beyond repair. But if we get lucky and get a hit, I’ll buzz you.”

    “What about Kessler?”

    “Ghost is toying with her records, over the last few weeks she’s made a few bizarre purchases, but nothing crazy. Her phone records are interesting though, she has a number, and was a regular user, social media and the works, but over the last few weeks her usage just dropped off, which suggests maybe she was using a clone or two or maybe more. Her credit records show she withdrew a bit here and a bit there, really out of character stuff, but we’re checking every avenue we can and hoping something might drop, I also looped her pic and info to Johnny L to see if he had any meets with her, but he gave me the big negative. So if she went deep downtown we might as well forget it, we’d have no chance of getting any information from anywhere down there, pretty much like I do with my ex-wives. Anyway, besides that, there’s nothing that would really warrant any more of our time, but we’ll still plug away and see what we find, if anything falls out you’ll know.”

    “I owe you Fontaine, hopefully, Leroy will be able to fill in the blanks on this Maddison Gray,” Gary says as he hangs up his phone and picks up his commline patching it though to Oliver at District-Three PD.

    “We’ve found nothing yet sir, have you spoken to this Leroy person?” Oliver asks.

    “Not yet, but I’ve got a name for our target, Maddison Gray, see what you can find out for me.”

    “I’m not going to ask how you managed to get that information, I’m sure Superintendent Gleeson would not approve, but I’ll run her name through every database I have access to, and some that I don’t,” Oliver replies.

    “What about Kessler?”

    “Nothing so far, she’s pretty clean, a few attitude issues shown on her records, but otherwise she was a stand up officer. Applied for her sergeant’s badge a few times but could never pass the exam, last time was two months ago, apparently her inspector was one of her biggest defenders, until she broke his jaw that is. I have to ask again, are you sure you won’t take my advice and get some officers down there to help you conduct your search?”

    “They will only slow me down, sorry Oliver, I’ve got to go, I’ve just spotted Leroy,” Gary replies as he disconnects his commline and heads towards the street corner.

    Five girls stand on the corner attempting to look somewhat desirable as Leroy makes his way around, making sure each of them are flaunting their goodies for all prospective buyers to be enticed with, he stops in front of a frail, blond girl.

    “Fuck girl, if you don’t get some customers soon, I’ll start thinking about replacing your skinny white arse,” Leroy says.

    “No, please Leroy, I need this, my dealers don’t give me credit anymore, and I need it to survive,” she pleads as she grabs Leroy by the arm, he throws her to the ground.

    “Get your hands off me, fucking clean yourself up and start getting some paying customers, otherwise you’re done,” Leroy says as he walks away, running smack into Gary.

    “No way to talk to a lady Leroy,” Gary says as he smashes Leroy across the face with a solid right hook, sending him crashing into the ground.

    “Hey man, that’s police brutality!”

    Gary grabs Leroy by the throat and pulls him to his feet and slams him into the wall, “Don’t encourage me, this girl work for you Leroy?” he asks shoving the photo of Maddison Gray in his face.

    “That no tit bitch isn’t good enough to work for me, I like girls with big tits Jackson, my customers want their girls to have big bouncy tits, she’s flat as a six-year-old, she’s not one of mine!”

    “Don’t play dumb,” Gary says. “Look at the photo again Leroy, you see that ugly motherfucker behind her? That’s you. Now one last time, have you seen this girl down here before and is she one of yours?”

    “She isn’t one of mine, I swear man,” Leroy says. “But I have seen her, she hangs out at the Acid House, usually with a guy name Jones, that’s all I know.”

    “What about a District Cop by the name of Kessler, Brunette, dark-skinned, ever see her hanging around?”

    “Never man, no blue’s come down this far except for you,” Gary drives a knee up into Leroy’s stomach sending him to the ground.

    “I hope your right Leroy, if I find out you’ve fucked me around, I’ll be coming back and we’ll discuss what real police brutality is,” Gary says as he runs off towards his bike and jumps on, his commline lights up as a call comes through, Gary ignores the attempted communication and takes off towards the Acid House.

     

    END OF ACT II

     

  • Day 23 – Cold Start – Short Story

    Day 23 – Cold Start – Short Story

    The rain pours down relentlessly from the heavens, crashing into the roof of the small cabin as if it is trying to tear its way inside. In the distance lightning bursts down into the ground like a fist, smashing the land violently, followed by the murderous clapping of thunder. Inside the cabin David Savage places his glass down onto the table and looks up at the three men who sit with him, he takes a deep breath and looks back down at his half empty glass.

    “Avoiding dealing with this is not going to make everything work out, you know that don’t you?” One of the men says.

    “No shit, but I don’t have an answer.”

    “Of course you do, we’ve given you your options, so just fucking accept it and kill the bitch,” another says.

    “It’s not that simple, you don’t understand, I love her.”

    “Bullshit, you don’t love her, you never have, and now she knows too much, and that endangers everything we’ve worked so hard to build. Do you want all of it to be destroyed by her meddling?”

    “Shut up! You don’t know the truth, you don’t know what I feel.”

    “Get with the program you pathetic little boy, we know exactly how you feel. You can’t hide anything from us, she’s only ever been cover, nothing more than a way for you to seem normal, to fit in, but the bitch knows and it’s time to get rid of her.”

    “You don’t know anything, it’s not like that, she may have been cover in the beginning but it changed somewhere along the way, somehow I lost sight of what was real and what was in my head, and I fell, god damn it, I fell and I didn’t fight it.”

    The third man leans into the table with his elbows and runs his hands through his hair, “Look, maybe you have, maybe everything we put in place at the beginning of all this has somehow wound up backfiring and you’ve fallen in love with her, it happens. But David, man, she knows what’s going on, she knows what we’re doing, and eventually she going to tell someone. Sure right now she’s scared and confused, but once that passes that bitch is going to turn on us quicker than a prostitute giving a ten-dollar blow job, she needs to be disposed of, it’s the only way, I wish it wasn’t, but it’s all we have.”

    “I can’t do it, not like this, not here, not to her.”

    “I’ll do it for you, you gutless wonder,” the first man says.

    “No, it need to be David, none of us can do this one for him, he made the mess, he has to clean it,” the second man says.

    “I can’t, don’t you understand, she’s not like the others, she’s different, I can’t.”

    The third man gets to his feet and places a large hunting knife on the table as the room is lit up from lightning outside, seconds later thunder roars through the skies. “We can’t do this David you have to.”

    David looks at the knife and then at the men and then at the glass, he sits there contemplating his next move and picks up the glass and quickly swallows the remainder of the drink, slamming the glass down on the table once he’s done. A crack tears up from the base, and rips through the rim of the glass and shards splinter across the table, glass rips into his hand and he pulls it back with a grimace.

    “I won’t do it!” he yells as he gets to his feet and grabs the knife, holding it out towards the three men.

    “So, what? Are you going to kill us now? You know you can’t do that, you know you don’t have the guts to do what you have to do, remember we’ve been down this road before.”

    “That’s where you’re wrong, before I was confused, stuck in a loop of hate, and you all just feed it,” David says as he looks over to the corner where she sits, petrified, tied and gagged. He locks eyes with her and sees the fear in them, the fear she has for him and he smiles as he walks over to her and slashes the knife through the ropes. “I’m sorry, nothings going to hurt you again,” he says as he drives the knife into his chest and crashes to the ground in spasms as the violent onslaught of the rain continues to pound into the roof. Five long minutes pass as she sits there, in the empty room, tears streaming down her face, and his dead eyes staring at her and the smile still on his face.

     

    END

  • Day 22 – Sheep – Short Story

    Day 22 – Sheep – Short Story

    He stands in the doorway, looking out into the cold night, firmly gripping a shot gun in one hand and a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in the other, from which he take a large mouthful. He hears twigs breaking in the forest beyond his house and then the rustling of bushes and he raises the shot gun up, swinging it towards the forest wall.

    “I’m just standing here waiting for you boy, so you best stay the fuck away from my daughters or you and me are going to go down that road I promised we would all those years ago, you come try me to see if I won’t!” he says as he takes another mouthful.

    “Daddy, please,” a voice says softly from behind him.

    “You get to bed Tabitha, this is between me and the boy, and nothing you can say will make me think different, it’s time he learns what really matters.”

    “No, daddy, please, just come on inside and leave him be, he means no harm to us,” she says as she places a hand on her father’s shoulder, sounds of movement come again from the darkness beyond and he pushes it away, stepping out into the cold night air, letting a shiver run though his body.

    “You get inside with your sisters, this is between me and the boy,” he says as he takes another mouthful of the bottle and tosses it to the ground, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his arm he lets out a loud, volatile burp. “Get in now Tabitha, lock the fucking door until I come back,” he says, Tabitha just stands the looking distraught, tears rolling down her face. “Do it now for fuck sake, I won’t tell you again!” He yells, she jumps in shock and nervously shuts the door and locks the eight padlocks firmly in place, and takes a step back, cradling herself in her own arms, it’s then that she feels a warm breath on the back of her neck and she freezes as she feels something sticky drip onto her shoulder, and run down her chest. She dares not move, but her eyes dart down to see a large, red stain forming on her white nightdress and she softly beings to cry to herself.

    “Hello sister,” a deep, rough, gravelly voice says into her ear. “You should have listened to Daddy.”

    “What have you done?”

    “Do you really want to know, are you that intent on trying to save me you will look past what I have done or do you just truly want to know that Father is right about me, that I am nothing more than an animal that needs to be put down?”

    “I know you’re still in there Ethan, I know underneath those teeth, underneath that fur, my baby brother is still in there, and I know you can control it, I know you can win, just fight,” she says, tears rolling down her face.

    “Dear sister, I’m touched, I really am, but there is no fight inside, the beast and I are one in the same, Father always knew that, it’s why he tried to drown me in the river all those years ago, but now the time has finally come for me to rid myself of all these human trappings, to finally accept the wolf, don’t morn for me my sister, for I am whole, I am one.”

    She screams at the top of her lungs as he bites down into her throat and her Father rushed to the door, screaming for her to open it, banging frantically on the doorway, but the rich puddle of red blood that flows from underneath the door tells him it’s too late, and he falls to his knees, soaking in it, screaming, crying, cursing everything and then he feels a warm breath on the back of his neck.

    “Hello Father,” a deep, rough, gravelly voice says into his ear.

     

    END

     

  • Day 21- Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act I

    Day 21- Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter Two – Act I

    Her cold dead eyes stare into his, her mouth slightly open as though she was trying to say something, but he knows she is beyond telling him what he needs to know. The male seems like all the rest, a nobody, somebody they pulled into this game with no knowledge of what they had walked into. But the girl, even though she can’t talk to him, she is. Tonight, the discovery of the two bodies found on the outskirts of Sunset Heights under the new message ‘Come, play with me Jackson!’ shows a deviation from what has come before. In his eyes confirming that his middle figure salute a few hours ago pushed the killer to take a new step and now Gary stands there, looking at the two bodies before him and contemplates how this will end and more importantly, when.

    “The male is Jordan Ritcher, nothing interesting about him, a few aggravated assaults on his records, other than that nothing. The woman though, she’s the interesting one, Sally Kessler. She was a constable right here in Three.”

    “She looks familiar, kind of, I might have seen her around a few times, but I can’t be sure, but I’m sure that’s not going to be what’s so interesting about her, is it?”

    “You’re correct in that assumption, her records state that she recently had an altercation with her inspector and was removed from active duty with no return date set, this all happened a little over a month ago, I mean, that’s what her official records state anyway when I checked her file.”

    “And the unofficial?”

    “It was more the right hook that she connected with, according to the rumour mill, that’s what got her removed from active duty. But there are no records of any disciplinary hearings going forward, so you can take that information anyway you like.”

    “What was the reason she clocked her inspector?” Gary asks.

    “Apparently it was over the way they were handling a case that involved a young girl who had been raped, she seemed to disagree with their bed side manner and took it upon herself to stand up for the girls rights. Here’s where it gets even more interesting, the man who the girl accused of raping her was victim number eight Harry Thorpe.”

    “So it gets interesting, I mean, I’ve been where she is, even clocked a few high and mighty fuckers myself, but that doesn’t scream serial killer wannabe accomplice or anything. The thing that rings clear is for this Thorpe to turn up in our list of victims, why didn’t we pick this up before?”

    “The case was dropped, the girl withdrew her statement.”

    “You think they got to her, made a deal, or whatever?”

    “No sure, but I do know, Sally, she isn’t like our killers usual victims, she was combat trained, two years out in the wastelands, her record is long and from all accounts she was a tough as nails bitch. So whoever did this had the element of surprise on their side, I’d say she knew the attacker, and was comfortable enough to have her guard down.” Danny says.

    “So what are you saying?”

    “I’m not sure, compared to the rest, she was fully clothed when the attack happened, and I say this because I’ve got clothing fragments in the entry point. I’m telling you Gary, there is so much about this body that screams different we would be stupid to ignore it.”

    “So either she caught our killer in the act, or she was a possible accomplice that outlived her usefulness. Which, in any situation like this, signals a major change coming, either the end or our killer is going to step up their cycle, which is why we’ve got two bodies and a change in the message.”

    “Both, or neither, I’m not the detective here, but I agree with you that something is coming, the game is either going to come to an end or our killer is going to start giving us more bodies per site, and I’d say you going nationwide and sticking your middle figure up at them pushed their game plan forward some.”

    “That was the intent, they’ve been sending us in a spin since this all started and we’ve been running around like rats in a maze, pushing them into the end game is what we needed. The message they sent, in the blood, suggests an ending but the two bodies suggest upping the ante, either way I’m sure the next twenty-four hours will answer the question.” It’s then that Gary spies the young man walking towards him though the police barrier out of the corner of his eye. ‘Fuck Me,’ “Oliver, I told you to stay at the station.”

    “Sorry sir, but I…” Oliver’s reply is cut short as he spots the bodies and throws up.

    “Jesus Oliver,” Gary says as he grabs him by the arm and forces him away from the scene. “What the hell are you doing here?”

    “Superintendent Gleeson wanted me to give you this,” Oliver replies as he holds out an envelope. “It arrived at the station thirty minutes ago, we’ve already opened it, and it’s clean, but we felt you should see it straight away.”

    Gary takes the envelope and quickly pulls out a picture of a young girl from within it, he turns over the picture and his eyes widen as he reads the words written on the back.

    ‘Tonight it ends, come and stop me if you can Jackson.’

    ‘I’m gathering this is what the son of a bitch meant by time to play.’ Placing the photo in his jacket pocket he looks back at Oliver, who is eagerly awaiting a response, but the look Gary gives him tells him all he needs to know.

    “We’ve known since the second body turned up on our doorstep that you play a major role in this sicko’s agenda sir, but this is the first time they’ve attempted to communicate directly with you, besides the gifts they leave underneath your name.”

    “Gifts?”

    “The body’s sir, it’s like a cat bringing home a rat or a bird and leaving it at the front door to proudly show their owners.”

    “You think this sicko wants to be my fucking pet?”

    “That’s not what I’m saying sir, all we know is that right now, the lines of communication are open, and we just have to find a way to seize this as an advantage.”

    “The only thing I see as an advantage at the moment is this fucker has given us their next victim, all we have to do is find her before she ends up like the rest. Has she got a name?”

    “Not yet, we’re still trying to find a match, if she’s one of the illegal outsiders, then it’s going to make it harder finding her.”

    “I know where that picture was taken, dirty little area called Ratchets Lane, a small-time thug by the name of Leroy runs that area. He might know who she is, or at least, know where I can find her,” Gary replies. “We only have hours to find this girl Oliver, get back to the station and find out what you can and I’ll go see Leroy.”

    “Are you sure that’s wise, why risk putting yourself in the firing line?”

    “Read the letter Oliver, this fucker wants me,” Gary replies as he climbs aboard his modified AC-Stinger, the latest law enforcement gravity motorcycle to be rolled out to Delta City PD. With speeds over two hundred miles per hour and other enchantments such as layered hologram camouflage technology and an advanced weapon system linked to the riders helmet, makes it a valuable addition to helping fight crime on the streets.

    “Be careful sir.”

    Gary puts his helmet on, and takes off towards Ratchets Lane, brushing off Oliver’s concerned words.

     

    END OF ACT I

     

  • Day 20 – Dialla – YouChallenge Short Story

    Day 20 – Dialla – YouChallenge Short Story

    To say my brother and I have had an eventful life would be putting it bluntly, you could say it started when we first escaped our mother’s womb, nine weeks earlier than planned. For that we spent the next three months in the intensive care unit of the baby’s ward at St Alban Children’s Hospital. The next few years of our lives had us in and out of hospital for a range of things but as we got older, we became stronger, my brother Jesse would tell you differently, but that’s because he’s more of a jerk than me, of course it’s not his fault, it’s just the way it all turned out.

    But if I was to put my finger on the one thing that really changed our lives it would be when the Fargans moved in next door when we were thirteen and we met Dialla. Mum being the major nosey parker she was, could not let their arrival go without sticking her nose in the front door and inviting us all over for a welcome to the neighbourhood meal. The Fargans, of course, wanted nothing more than to be left alone and settle in to their new home, but they learned quickly Mum is a stubborn woman, so they agreed to the dinner and Mum relentlessly went about creating dishes for the night.

    Half their belongings still hadn’t been unpacked when we arrived for dinner, so Mum went about directing traffic and getting Mrs Fargans ready for the night ahead, and that’s when we first saw her, Dialla. Her name was just about as unusual as she was, but both Jesse and myself were smitten, she looked like she just walked out of playboy, and our teenage hormones could not control themselves. Dinner was a disaster, with Mum taking every opportunity to embarrass us, but Dialla just smiled and batted those beautiful eyelids at us the whole time. After dinner Mum and Mrs Fargans disappeared off into the kitchen, while Dad and Mister Fargans shared a beer and talked about football and cars, it seemed they had a lot in common and became quick friends. As the years went on Dad and Mister Fargans, or Uncle Trev, as we ended up calling him, opened a mechanic shop together and ended up making it pretty successful.

    But it was what happened next that changed that whole night, Jesse and I were left to awkwardly talk with Dialla, who after five minutes of awkward silence asked us excitedly if we wanted to see something awesome down in the cellar. Jesse and I didn’t hesitate to say yes, you see, when the Millers lived here this was a creepy place, but at the same time it was awesome, I had my first and only feel of Kelly Miller’s boobs in that cellar and Jesse, well he got to feel something a bit lower down, that all happened the week before the Millers left so the memories were still fresh in our minds, and I have to be honest, I was instantly erect when she took us down. Dialla had set up her room down there and it was like a studio apartment, with a silk curtain separating the room off from her bed. To start with she got Jesse and I to sit down and then she kisses both of us, full lounge and all, it was amazing. I made a mental note to make sure that when I was to write my memoirs that this room would be considered my good luck charm. She then proceeded to do a little dance and what happened next I’ll never forget.

    “So how far have you boys been with a girl?” She asked.

    “All the way,” Jesse blurted out, I looked at him quickly knowing he was a lying sack of shit.

    “What about you Bobby? You been all the way?” She asked as she leans in towards me, I could see right down her top and I felt my erect penis twitch with excitement.

    “Umm sure, hasn’t everyone?” I replied nervously, she just laughed.

    “You boys know there’s nothing wrong with being a virgin, don’t you?” she said laughing as she stepped behind the curtain. “Now, honestly, have you both been all the way with a girl?” She asked like a school teacher, we bother looked at the floor and said no in unison.

    “I thought as much, well how about we change that,” she said, I came in my pants at that precise time, I’m pretty sure Jesse did as well, and she just laughed some more.

    “Don’t worry boys, I’m still good,” she said as she came out from behind the curtain, both Jesse and my mouth’s dropped open, standing there was the most beautiful girl either of us had ever seen, and where it should have been nothing but hair, was a big, and when I say big, I mean huge, hard, penis. Jesse looked at me again and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was, and we both ran home as fast as our legs could carry us.

    It was pretty awkward for a while after that, it turned out that Dialla had a weird sense of humour and also enjoyed the occasional dress up, had we stayed around a bit longer or the light had of been better in the room, we would’ve realised it was a strap on dildo that she had on and not a real one. Of course we laughed about it, years later, and we got used to Dialla’s weird sense of humour, not to say it didn’t get us into a lot of trouble, because it did, and, eventually I even married the crazy woman, but I swear from that day on I never looked at playboy again.

     

    END

    The challenge was 2 young kids find something in the neighbours basement, think I nailed it.

  • Day 19 – It’s All In The Fine Print II – Short Story

    Day 19 – It’s All In The Fine Print II – Short Story

    Damon Welford slams the door shut and slowly steps backwards and falls to the ground in a heap, tears rolling down his cheeks, his moment of self-pity is interrupted by the sound of clapping coming from the lounge room, he nervously turns his head and his rage intensifies, sitting on the couch is a smug looking Marcus.

    “You, you fucking prick, what have you done?” Damon yells as he scrambles to his feet and charges at Marcuse, who easily sends him crashing into the couch, he pushes Damon’s face into the pillows and pulls back violently on his arm.

    “I gave you what you asked for, nothing more,” Marcus says as he pulls back on Damon’s arm once more before he releases the emotional Damon to sink into the couch. “You wanted to go back to before the accident, knowing what you know now and I facilitated that, the accident will now never take place and your disability will never become, isn’t that what you asked for?”

    “You fucking twisted it all, this isn’t what I wanted, not exactly!”

    “Well, I’m sorry it isn’t exactly the way you wanted it, but it is what you asked for, and it’s what I gave you, the agoraphobia, that’s  not my problem, it wasn’t part of the deal, had you asked me to cure your agoraphobia you would still be sitting in your chair, jerking off to teenage girls on the internet.”

    “Fuck you, fix it, take me back!”

    “Sorry, that’s an impossibility, the stream has been changed, going forward is just impossible,” Marcus says. “But we have grander things to achieve, you and I.”

    “What the hell are you talking about, you expect me to help you now, well, that’s not going to happen, I’m going to sue you for everything, and believe me I’ve got the money to make the fight hurt you, more than it will hurt me.”

    Marcus laughs, “You had the money, when you were in your little den, feeling sorry about your little legs being all useless, but here, today, you have nothing but what your father gives you. Or have you forgotten that the accident that took your legs also removed everyone who stood in your way to the fortune your family made? Without the accident your father, mother and older brother still live, so you have nothing.”

    “You son of a fucking bitch you played me!” Damon yells as he forces himself to his feet, and Marcus shoves him, face first, back into the pillows of the couch.

    “You got what you wanted, now I take my payment, but, like I said, it’s nothing from you, I’m going to take your fathers fortune, and I’m going to leave you with nothing, sure I used you, but not because I needed what you had, you’re just collateral damage Damon, nothing more, nothing less,” he hisses in his ear and shoves him down as he walks across the room.

    “You won’t get anything, I’ll tell him everything, he’ll never deal with you, he’ll crush you and I’ll be the one laughing.”

    “It’s too late, the deal is almost done, and you, well, you’re not going to be bothering me one little bit, I mean, you’ve got a lot of things to deal with, and that agoraphobia, that’s got to be a bit to get on top of, I mean, do you know it sends some people so far over the edge they commit suicide?”

    “Are you threatening my life now?”

    Marcus laughs again, “I don’t need to threaten anything, I keep promises, that is all, nothing more, nothing less, I have this gift you see, well it’s not really a gift, it’s something entirely different, but it gives me the ability to travel through time, up here,” he says tapping his head. “All the memories, experiences, fears and dare I say, damage, that is done to the old noggin, well it follows you everywhere, like a bad smell, you can’t escape it, you can’t change it, you can only live with it, of course with some tweaking things can be eased, or as in your case, increased,” he says with a smile.

    “What, what do you mean increased? What the fuck have you done to me?” Damon yells as he rushes at Marcus and grabs him by the collar and slams him into the wall. “What have you done to me?”

    Marcus smiles, “You’ll find out soon enough,” he says as he raise his arm and looks at his watch. ”In fact, you should be finding out, right about… now.”

    Damon releases his grip on Marcus and falls to the floor screaming, clutching his head, “What h-have you d-d-d-done to m-m-me?” he yells.

    “Nothing, well actually, not nothing, I mean, in reality I’ve done a lot, but in your case, I really, didn’t do a lot, I just gave you a little something to help the walls close in, to help the sanity slip further away.”

    “Why, why d-d-d-do this? I-I-I-I’ll gi-give yo-ou-you it a-a-all, p-p-p-le-please,” Damon screams.

    “No, you won’t, we’ve been down this road before Damon, you may not remember it, but I do. That’s the glory of moving through time my friend, you can always hit replay.”

     

    TO BE CONTINUED

  • Day 18 – Phone Home – Short Story

    Day 18 – Phone Home – Short Story

    The small house shakes violently and Ollie tumbles off the couch and crashes into a pile of beer cans that litter the floor, he scrambles to his feet and looks around the room as everything vibrates vigorously, photos crash to the ground, furniture jitters around the room and the first thought that goes through Ollie’s alcohol frazzled mind is an earthquake so he awkwardly stumbles underneath an archway and braces himself, screaming at the top of his lungs. Suddenly bright lights shine through all the windows and from underneath all the outside doorways and the shaking stops. Ollie stands firmly underneath the archway and tries to make sense of it all, slapping himself across the face several times to make sure he is awake. He slowly creeps into the living room, shielding his eyes from the light when all the doors and windows crash in, showering the rooms of the house with splintered pieces of glass and wood. Ollie screams out in shock, and fear, as he dives to the ground and huddles into a ball, screaming at the top of his lungs for it all to stop, and then, as if on his commands, everything falls silent.

    Several moments pass before Ollie works up the courage to look up from where he sits, and he sees shapes moving in the light outside, Ollie’s frazzled brain at first deciphers the shapes as human and calls out, “Is that you Jethro?”

    But no answer comes and the shapes continue to move, now less resembling humans and more like bobble head figures, with three of them moving towards the door.

    “If you think you’re being funny Jethro, you’re not!” He yells out, and again waits for an answer, but still no answer comes. He swallows a dry, lumpy, pocket of air, “Is this because I told you about those stories about those fucking brain suckers? Are you trying to play with my head, you son of a bitch?” He yells as the three shapes make their way through the doorway, Ollie’s mouth drops open as the three beings, he can only describe as aliens enter the room.

    His look of shock turns to a look of excitement, “I knew it, I knew you fuckers were real, I knew I wasn’t losing my mind!” He yells as they slowly make their way towards him, and several more make their way in from the opposite side. “I knew I wasn’t imagining you pieces of shit, I knew you were coming in and doing all sorts of weird experiments on me, but this time you fuckers, this time I’m ready!” He yells as he pulls a lever next to the archway and metal gates drop from over the door ways and windows, sealing them all in, the aliens panic as Ollie laughs and pulls another lever and metal mesh nets fall from the ceiling, trapping the aliens underneath them as a gas is spewed out from ducts in the floor, and Ollie, he stands over them as they all slowly fade away into unconsciousness laughing, “Phone home now ET, phone home now!”

    One of the alien’s wake some time later and finds itself strapped to a table and frantically tries to free itself as Ollie walks out of the darkness with a circular saw in his hand, “What’s a matter ET, you scared somethings going to be shoved up your arse like you did to me? You got no worries about that ET, I just hope you’ve had all your shots, because I don’t know where this here shit’s been, but I sure god damn know where it’s going to go!” He yells as he starts up the saw.

     

    END

  • Day 17 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter One – Act IV

    Day 17 – Lies Of A Broken World – Chapter One – Act IV

    She sits on the edge of the bed and takes a drag on her cigarette, staring at the smashed screen in front of her. Dried blood covers her face and hands, the cowboy’s naked body lies on the floor, his stomach split open. She jumps as there is a knock at the door and quickly gets to her feet. Peering through the peephole, she lets out a relaxed breath and turns the handle as the woman barges her way in, almost knocking Sonya to the ground. She looks down at the body and lets out a groan of disappointment and frustration.

    “Shit Sonya it hasn’t even been twelve hours since they found the last poor fucker you gutted, I thought you promised me you were going to fucking give this a break, the whole fucking city is looking for you and you just keep fucking acting like you don’t give a shit!” The woman says as she throws a bag to the ground, next to the body.

    “He was the same as the rest, he fucking deserved it, they all fucking deserve what they get.”

    “They all do apparently, I notice the set, you obviously caught his little fuck you across the channels?”

    “He’s just pushing back, trying to goad me into making a mistake, but it’s not working, the fool failed at pushing any of my buttons.”

    “The set says something entirely different honey,” Sally says. “I know why you started this, but for the life of me I can’t understand why the fucking hell you’re still going at it, move on, you’ve done what you wanted to achieve, wasn’t that enough?”

    “No, it’s obviously not is it, he’s still out there, he’s still acting like he did nothing wrong, but so are they, the worthless fucks who prey on the weak.”

    “Honey, its game over time, just fucking kill him and be done with it all. Maybe then I can get back to some sort of normal life instead of waiting for the phone to ring as I’ve done for the past few weeks, you know I do have a life, and I’ve got better thing to do on a Saturday night, like my man, for instance, than cleaning up your shit.”

    “I know Sally, and I’m sorry, really, I am. But remember who signed on for this, you were the one who said you would help me, pushed me, forced me to let you in, and now that I have, you don’t want to be? I just can’t stop it, I’m saving everyone else from what I suffered, or even worse,” she says. “Why let them continue hurting others without a care when I can make sure their lies and deception end, with me.”

    “I know what I signed up for, but you’ve got to give me something back, you’ve done nothing to stop all this insane shit. Fuck, all I’ve become is your fucking clean up woman, which is bullshit by the way.”

    Sonya places a hand on Sally’s face and gently caresses her cheek, “You know you mean more than that to me.”

    Sally brushes her hand away, “Remind me why the fuck we’re still friends?”

    “Because, we are.”

    Sally looks deep into Sonya’s eyes, and her anger softens, and she smiles, “Look, I was serious before though, why don’t you just kill him, end it all and move on, be free of all this shit?”

    “I will, soon, I’ve just got a loose end or two to tie up and then his time will be up.”

    “What loose ends do you have beside him? We tracked all the fuckers from that night down at the start of all this, you’ve never mentioned anyone else.”

    “Her name is Maddison Gray.”

    “Who the fuck is Maddison Gray?”

    “She’s the one who’s responsible for everything in my life being shit, she’s the one who really needs to pay.”

    “So what the fuck are you wasting time with these stupid fucks for? Let’s go find this Maddison Gray bitch, and kill her.”

    “I don’t need to find her, I’ve always known where she is,” Sonya says. “I’ve never let her out of my site, not even for a minute”

    Sally jumps to her feet in frustration and excitement, “Then let’s go, fuck cleaning this piece of shit up, he can rot for all I care. Let’s go send this Maddison Gray to the grave and then take mister hot shot out once and for all, even if it’s just so I can get some fucking sleep.”

    Sonya looks up at Sally and smiles, “Maybe you’re right, maybe I need to stop sitting on this and just do it.” She gets to her feet and places a hand on Sally’s shoulder. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, without you I wouldn’t have come so far,” she says as she drives a blade deep into her stomach, Sally looks at her in horror. “Sorry,” she says as she pulls the blade up into her chest.

    Sally’s lifeless body crashes to the floor and Sonya looks down on her with sadness as she wipes away a tear as it runs down her face, ‘Don’t go losing it now, not when you’re so close. Let’s just get this over with and then Jackson, it’s going to be you and me in a race to the finish, a race I will win.’

     

    END OF CHAPTER ONE

  • Day 16 – The Chest – Short Story

    Day 16 – The Chest – Short Story

    She sits in the attic and stares at the large dusty, cobweb covered chest and nervously wipes them away from around the lock and places a key inside, and her heart skips a beat as it turns. For more years than she can remember her mother never let her near the chest, but in the last days of her life she told Clara that once she had passed she was to open the chest, and whatever she found inside was hers. Her father places a hand on her shoulder and she looks up at him, tears run down his face, she smiles and places a hand on his lap.

    “Are you sure, Mum never let me look inside it, never once, what was she hiding?”

    “Open it and see,” he says softly. “But remember what we talked about, remember what Mum said, don’t be afraid, just follow your heart.”

    “I know,” she says as she shuffles forward and opens the chest, a bright blue light shines from within, coming from a strange rock that sits next to a single letter and a photo, besides that the chest is empty, she looks back at her father and he nods his head.

    “Read it,” he says as he gets to his feet, she can see in his eyes he is uncomfortable.

    “Where are you going?”

    “Your mother was very particular about this part, she said you had to be alone when you read the letter,” he says. “I’ll go make us a brew,” he says as he shuffles out of the room.

    Slowly she reaches in and picks up the letter and the photo, it’s of her mother and her father, how young they both seemed, how happy they are. She feels something run through her body, a cold breeze, or something like that, and then she opens the letter up and begins to read.

    ‘My Dearest Clara,

    God, this sounds crazy, to be writing this letter, to tell you how important this moment is. No one should ever have to know what you are about to know, let alone believe, but this is for lack of a better word, the truth you need to know. The rock that sits in this chest is something remarkable, something amazing, and the journey you will take will be one that will not only change your life, but it will also create it. The photo you hold is of your father and I after we first met, destiny you could say played a hand in it all, and love. Before I met your father I knew there was something greater out there for me, something amazing, and like you are now, I had not yet found it until I met him. The rock made that happen, where did it come from? I don’t know, it just always was there, some paradox on time allowed it to happen, as it did you, I know, it’s hard to understand, it’s even harder to explain. But know this, my love for you is more than a mother’s love, and your father, his love for you is more than a father’s. Follow your heart, let destiny guide you and know that there is no mistakes, there is only fate.

     

    Love, always,

     

    Mum.’

    Clara sits and stares at the letter and then to the photo, realises for the first time how identical she looks like her mother, when she was younger, she places the letter and the photo on the floor and peers into the chest, at the strange glowing rock.

    “What are you trying to tell me Mum?” She says aloud as she reaches into the chest and picks up the rock, she feels a warmth spread through her body from the rock and then her head begins to spins violently and she crashes to the floor with a thud, as the blackness takes her she sees her father standing in the doorway of the attic.

    She must have laid there for hours before she regained consciousness, the moon now shining in through the attic window and she forces herself to her knees, the open chest sits in front of her and the rock, now black and cold sits in the centre of it. It’s then that she notices how clean the chest is, the cobwebs and dust gone, did her father clean it and leave her on the floor? She gets to her feet and walks towards the doorway, stopping for a moment, she looks around the room and notices how uncluttered the room is, and her mind races.

    “What is going on?” She says as she opens the door, as a young man opens the door from the other side as well, they both jump in shock and Clara crashes to the ground, she stares at him in shock and realises how familiar he looks, in fact, he looks like her father did in the photograph.

     

    END

  • Day 15 – A Secret – Short Story

    Day 15 – A Secret – Short Story

    He clutches his father’s hand tightly and wipes the tears from his eyes, he watches as his father, this man who has always been such a huge, strong man, relies now on machines to keep him alive. How quickly this all happened, only a day or two ago they were sitting out on his deck reminiscing about his mother, and now he lies in the bed, unmoving, as the machines constantly beep as they control most of his functions, including his breathing. A nurse comes into the room, and she checks over the machines, they lock eyes and she give him a faint smile, but her eyes show her separation, no real feeling in them, she smiles because she believes it’s the right thing to do. Henry tightens his grip on his father’s hand and returns her fake smile with his own.

    “Can I get you anything?” She asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

    “No, thanks, I don’t need anything right now,” he replies, she nods her head and leaves them alone again, he feels his father grip his hand and he looks up and stares into his drug addled eyes, he lets more tears go and his father tightens his grip and his eyes widen, and he tries desperately to speak, but all the tubes going down his throat and up his nose make it impossible, tears run down his father’s face and then, he begins to violently spasm. Henry screams for the nurse to return as his father jerks back suddenly and then lies still and silent as the machines let out high pitch, unending squeals.

    The next few days are a blur for Henry, full of meetings he doesn’t want to be part of, visits from family member he hasn’t seen in years and his ex-wife constantly calling him to make sure he’s ok, the day of his father’s funeral is over quickly, more people he hasn’t seen for year, more hugs, kisses on the cheeks and offers of help with anything, but he just wants everyone to fade away and be alone, to grieve.

    He wakes to the sound of banging on the door and looks at his watch, three thirty-two in the morning, ‘Who the fuck?’ The banging continues and he slowly gets up off the couch and staggers to the door and opens it, his jaw drops, standing before him is his mother, she slaps him across the face and storms in the room, he stands there still dumbfounded.

    “Close the door,” she says abruptly. “We need to talk.”

    He closes the door slowly and turns back to face his mother, “I’m dreaming right?”

    “Sure if that’s going to make you feel better, sure, this is all a dream.”

    “OK, what the fuck?”

    “Language Henry, we never brought you up to have such a vile tongue, now tell me, why did you do it?”

    “Do it? Do what?”

    “Cremate him, why the hell did you cremate your fathers body?”

    “That was his decision, I followed all his instructions to the T, he requested cremation.”

    “Bullshit!” his mother says as she silently sits on the couch, a tear runs down her face.

    “What the hell is going on?” Henry asks as he sits in a chair opposite her.

    “Nothing, this is all a dream remember,” his mother says before she breaks down into tears, Henry is to her side instantly and cradles his mother. “Why, why would he do such a thing, why would he leave me?”

    “What is happening, mum, you died fifteen years ago, you left us remember, now you’re both gone, I’m the one alone.”

    “Stop thinking about yourself Henry, what you think you know and what you really know are two different things,” she replies as she wipes her face with a tissue. “I just want to know why he did it, did he leave anything, a letter, something you haven’t opened yet?”

    “Nothing, I cleaned out the house last week, there’s no letter, no nothing, only, well only except for this old family video that he gave to me the day he went into hospital,” he says as he picks the disc up from the coffee table.

    “Put it on,” she says urgently, Henry follows her instructions and the video plays, at first it’s what he expected, old family videos, from before his mother dies, then it cuts to his father, he looks concerned and stares down the barrel of the camera.

    “Hello son, I’m guessing you’re having a hard time dealing with everything right now, I wish there was some way I could help you deal with this all, but I can’t, what happened, well it had to happen. Know that I love you, without you, the last fifteen or so years would have been nothing. Hello Victoria, I’m assuming you’re watching this too, I can only guess how angry you must be feeling right now, how betrayed, but I need to explain mys actions, I need you both to understand why I did, what I did,” he says as he clears his throat and wipes a tear from his eye. “I guess the first important thing you need to know Henry is how your mother is sitting beside you, how she can be alive, I would assume she has told you little to nothing about what she is, what we are, she was never very good with details,” his mother lets out a small laugh and clutches Henry’s hand, he looks down then up into his mothers eyes, she meets his gaze and gently pats his cheek. “I would have given anything to have this discussion with you, but I’m weak, and tired, so this way I can just tell you and not be afraid. And I guess the best place to start it with the an old Norwegian fable about the Draugen, or Again Walker,” he mother presses pause on the video and turns to her son, she cups his face in her hand.

    “Are you sure you want to know what you really are?” she asks.

    “This is still all a dream, right?” he asks nervously.

     

    END