I haven't gotten around to the end of I am the Kracken yet, but I do have a short for a Halloween prompt competition over at deviantArt (this is the competition info if you're curious).
Tell me if you'd pick me to win. I'm quite proud of my execution of a horror story. Tell me what you think...
Tell me if you'd pick me to win. I'm quite proud of my execution of a horror story. Tell me what you think...
Sometimes I think I could sleep through an earthquake, sometimes the tiniest noise or movement can wake me. This time, it's something crawling over my hand that jolts me awake. I bolt upright, my mind filled with the urgency of finding whatever critter invaded the haven of my bed. It takes my sleep-addled brain a few moments to figure out that my hands are groping about in leaves, and as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I see the shadowed shapes of spindly trees growing so close to one another they seem like a twisted mural on a wall. I'm encircled by the impenetrable wall of trees, and as I look up at their entwined branches reaching up like fingers towards the sky, I see the moon extending its glow down on me.
I stand and brush off leaves. It's obvious I didn't begin my night in bed, I'm wearing jeans and a thick jacket. I haven't sleepwalked my way into this situation, but I don't remember having any reason to be in a forest. I run my fingers through my hair, partly to check for an injury causing my memory loss, and partly to push out the dirt and dead foliage that makes my head feel like a bird's nest. A self-conscious, creeped out feeling comes over me, not just because I've woken up in something like a room with trees for walls, but because I feel like someone's watching me. I look around, but overhead is only the moon and its envoy of clouds and stars, while the dense circle of trees don't leave room for anyone to stand and watch. There's no doubt an army of insects and nocturnal animals amongst the thicket of trunks and bushes though, and some of them might be curious as to my presence. I shudder at the idea of all those beady little eyes and only make myself feel worse. Standing around thinking of night creatures isn't going to get me home, and I step towards my only exit: a door-shaped opening in the trees. It might have been natural, but it's more likely that someone placed a frame there so the trees would grow in place. During the day, this would be the hiding place of my dreams, but at this time, which I guess to be quite a while after midnight, it just seems wrong. On the other side of this doorway is an avenue of the spindly trees, forcing me in a single direction. These ones loop in an arch so that only trickles of light shine onto the ground to light my way. Its eerily quiet and I make my way along cautiously, suddenly and illogically paranoid that something will jump out from the solid mass of trees or follow me from the grotto I just left.
When I stumble into open forest, I feel more secure. The larger trees are evenly spaced and don't seem so sinister and suffocating. I see a path up ahead, and I'm so focused on reaching it that I almost trip over an upright stone. It's a gravestone. The surface looks smooth and well-tended, but it's old. The side I'm on doesn't have any text, and I'm curious as to who would be buried in the middle of a forest, so I move to get a view of the other side. I frown at it, which is a weird reaction, but I don't think there's a proper response to finding a blank headstone in the middle of nowhere. I run my fingers over the whole thing to check for indents; maybe time and the weather wore away the text or maybe I simply can't see it in the dark. The stone is smooth and unmarred. I spare a thought for the poor person buried without a name, but there is the more pressing matter of my own predicament.
The silence is suddenly broken by a rustling of bushes behind me followed by a humming vibration in the air. I jump up and face the direction I heard the noise come from. Everything in me is screaming that I should run and not stop until I hit civilisation, but I learned to override my instincts a long time ago, and so manage to stay rooted to the spot. The soundwaves in the air seem to seep into the very core of me and my vision begins to darken, but I see a figure step out from behind one of the trees.
"Who are you?" I manage to choke out through vocal chords that feel like they haven't been used in years. "And where am I? Fear has managed to creep into my voice, and I can feel my whole body tremble as the world gets darker. I close my eyes and open them again, this time glancing up at the sky to see that the cause of my semi-blindness is the a cloud covering the moon. The sound and the vibrations stop, but I can still feel the pulsing in my bones. A hand grabs my arm and I look at the hooded person in front of me. I'm sure it's a woman, but at the same time I'm not sure of what kind of creature the terrifying face belongs to. I let my revulsion instinct propel me backwards, but she holds me in place. I stare, horrified, into the glowing orange eyes looking back from a face that looks as though it has been torn to shreds. From the corners of her mouth two tusk-like teeth protrude, and she grins at my reaction, showing a mouth full of pointed teeth.
"You've been chosen," she says in feminine and delicate voice that doesn't fit her image.
I gulp. "Are you going to ... kill me?" My throat feels like I've been swallowing splinters.
She laughs sweetly and grabs my other hand as I reach up to scratch my face. "You don't want to scratch. You'll only make it worse."
"Make what worse?" The strangled sound that makes it past my lips doesn't come out as words.
The woman doesn't understand me either. She moves both of my hands to one of hers so she can caress the side of my head. "Shh. Don't try to speak, child."
I close my eyes again, trying to breathe evenly and praying that this is all just a nightmare. My skin itches and burns and I writhe, trying to pry myself out of her powerful grip. When I reopen my eyes, the moonlight once again shines brightly, illuminating the bloody gashes making their way up my arms as if an invisible knife is slicing them open. I fall to my knees, a pitiful wailing escaping me. My mind reels with questions and pain and the sounds of a million tiny critter feet, while my skin crawls and the image of the woman who now kneels in front of me flashes between a flawless beauty and a grotesque monster.
All I can do is sob and wait for it to end.
I stand and brush off leaves. It's obvious I didn't begin my night in bed, I'm wearing jeans and a thick jacket. I haven't sleepwalked my way into this situation, but I don't remember having any reason to be in a forest. I run my fingers through my hair, partly to check for an injury causing my memory loss, and partly to push out the dirt and dead foliage that makes my head feel like a bird's nest. A self-conscious, creeped out feeling comes over me, not just because I've woken up in something like a room with trees for walls, but because I feel like someone's watching me. I look around, but overhead is only the moon and its envoy of clouds and stars, while the dense circle of trees don't leave room for anyone to stand and watch. There's no doubt an army of insects and nocturnal animals amongst the thicket of trunks and bushes though, and some of them might be curious as to my presence. I shudder at the idea of all those beady little eyes and only make myself feel worse. Standing around thinking of night creatures isn't going to get me home, and I step towards my only exit: a door-shaped opening in the trees. It might have been natural, but it's more likely that someone placed a frame there so the trees would grow in place. During the day, this would be the hiding place of my dreams, but at this time, which I guess to be quite a while after midnight, it just seems wrong. On the other side of this doorway is an avenue of the spindly trees, forcing me in a single direction. These ones loop in an arch so that only trickles of light shine onto the ground to light my way. Its eerily quiet and I make my way along cautiously, suddenly and illogically paranoid that something will jump out from the solid mass of trees or follow me from the grotto I just left.
When I stumble into open forest, I feel more secure. The larger trees are evenly spaced and don't seem so sinister and suffocating. I see a path up ahead, and I'm so focused on reaching it that I almost trip over an upright stone. It's a gravestone. The surface looks smooth and well-tended, but it's old. The side I'm on doesn't have any text, and I'm curious as to who would be buried in the middle of a forest, so I move to get a view of the other side. I frown at it, which is a weird reaction, but I don't think there's a proper response to finding a blank headstone in the middle of nowhere. I run my fingers over the whole thing to check for indents; maybe time and the weather wore away the text or maybe I simply can't see it in the dark. The stone is smooth and unmarred. I spare a thought for the poor person buried without a name, but there is the more pressing matter of my own predicament.
The silence is suddenly broken by a rustling of bushes behind me followed by a humming vibration in the air. I jump up and face the direction I heard the noise come from. Everything in me is screaming that I should run and not stop until I hit civilisation, but I learned to override my instincts a long time ago, and so manage to stay rooted to the spot. The soundwaves in the air seem to seep into the very core of me and my vision begins to darken, but I see a figure step out from behind one of the trees.
"Who are you?" I manage to choke out through vocal chords that feel like they haven't been used in years. "And where am I? Fear has managed to creep into my voice, and I can feel my whole body tremble as the world gets darker. I close my eyes and open them again, this time glancing up at the sky to see that the cause of my semi-blindness is the a cloud covering the moon. The sound and the vibrations stop, but I can still feel the pulsing in my bones. A hand grabs my arm and I look at the hooded person in front of me. I'm sure it's a woman, but at the same time I'm not sure of what kind of creature the terrifying face belongs to. I let my revulsion instinct propel me backwards, but she holds me in place. I stare, horrified, into the glowing orange eyes looking back from a face that looks as though it has been torn to shreds. From the corners of her mouth two tusk-like teeth protrude, and she grins at my reaction, showing a mouth full of pointed teeth.
"You've been chosen," she says in feminine and delicate voice that doesn't fit her image.
I gulp. "Are you going to ... kill me?" My throat feels like I've been swallowing splinters.
She laughs sweetly and grabs my other hand as I reach up to scratch my face. "You don't want to scratch. You'll only make it worse."
"Make what worse?" The strangled sound that makes it past my lips doesn't come out as words.
The woman doesn't understand me either. She moves both of my hands to one of hers so she can caress the side of my head. "Shh. Don't try to speak, child."
I close my eyes again, trying to breathe evenly and praying that this is all just a nightmare. My skin itches and burns and I writhe, trying to pry myself out of her powerful grip. When I reopen my eyes, the moonlight once again shines brightly, illuminating the bloody gashes making their way up my arms as if an invisible knife is slicing them open. I fall to my knees, a pitiful wailing escaping me. My mind reels with questions and pain and the sounds of a million tiny critter feet, while my skin crawls and the image of the woman who now kneels in front of me flashes between a flawless beauty and a grotesque monster.
All I can do is sob and wait for it to end.
