The place was desolate and the weather was dark and low, but the only sound that echoed was the laugh of a CROW.
The CRYPTIC presents a fresh set of blood curdling stories, penned down by some of the most exquisite, famed and award winning authors o...
The sun sank slowly towards the horizon as she lay in a pool of her own blood, her breaths slowing. A knife to the heart was the least she could do to save her only sister, the sister she'd helped raise. A sharp, shuddering pain filled her chest, spreading, growing, filling her completely. Her last thought was of those she loved and how they were now safe thanks to her self-less act.
~THE END~
Click, click, tap... enter. Yes, I thought. Finished. This was another masterpiece, if I did say so myself. Six months churning out this story took a lot out of me. I scanned the front room of my little house. Ugh! I needed to spend a bit of my upcoming downtime straightening. I'd let the place go over the last few weeks trying to meet my editor's deadline. Empty Chinese take-out and pizza boxes littered every available flat surface. A thick layer of dust topped them, driving the word single straight through my heart. I leaned back stretching both arms over my head taking a deep breath before a cough wracked through my body. I'll need to do something about that smell too. I leaned down debating a minute before sniffing under my arm. And a shower wouldn't hurt.
A loud cawing floated in from outside through the open window. A crow peered in, sitting on the lowest branch of the shade tree in my front yard. It tilted its inky black head to one side and then another, its beady eyes judging me. Shaking my head, I cracked my knuckles looking back at the screen in front of me. Time to hit save, wrap this epic novel up, and send it off. My finger hovered over the mouse ready to click send as I glanced at the last line again. Had I rushed it, I wondered? Naw. That ending was the best yet!
"You call that an ending?"
I jumped, my chair flying backwards before teetering sideways, crashing with a loud thump on the floor. I jerked around looking for the very feminine voice. The room was as empty as before. No one there. I glanced out the window; no one walked by on the quiet street or stood in the yard. Unless you counted the crow, who was still staring at me. I straightened the chair, lowering myself as an icy hand gripped my shoulder.
"You're so tense." Breath stuck in my throat as icy fingers massaged my shoulders. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. Sure, I wrote dark fantasy, a bit of horror thrown in now and then, but in real life, I liked my days uneventful. Boring, even. Every hair I had stood on end, goosebumps raising on my arms.
"That's better, huh? Good. Now let's look at that ending." Glancing over my shoulder, a woman stood behind me, golden tresses falling down her back. Her dress looked like she'd just returned from a ren faire, but it was the knife sticking out of her chest which sent me shrieking backwards. A scream filled the air several minutes before I realized the high pitch shrill was coming from my own throat. I definitely lost some man points. It's not my proudest moment, I'll admit.
"Who are you?" The woman looked unimpressed, crossing her arms under the long-handled dagger where it entered her chest.
"Really? We spent every day together for the past six months. All those late nights, early mornings. And you dare ask me who I am? Maybe it's this... this thing stabbed through my heart although it should truly be in my back considering the way you betrayed me." Her green eyes sparked with rage, the soft lilting drawl I'd imagined her with becoming more noticeable the angrier she got. But... this couldn't be happening. Could it?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
