Tonight is All Hallows’ Eve, and what better time to start up a new Horror Short Story blog!! I will be uploading some of my older stories as well, but for the most part these will be brand new shorts! The first is down below, hope you enjoy. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
He scribbled it out four or five times, re-reading and re-editing his masterpiece. This advertisement had to be perfect. It could not outright state what was being bartered, but it had to allude to the important details. Henry read the headline again, “Person Wanted for Life-Changing Exercise”, was it too pushy? Maybe he should change it to something like “Experimental Mental Relief” or “Relaxing and Calming Execution”, then again that may be too spot-on. Henry gave his best effort for the text, which read, “Man seeking a person to help with an experience of a lifetime! Do you wish to leave everything behind, give it all up, for something better? Do you dream of a day you could escape the mundane and give your life to a bigger cause? This may be the advertisement for you! For more details, Please contact (202) 555-0103”. Who could resist that? Henry printed out the advertisement, folded it into an envelope, and mailed it off to a “local” paper 3 counties away.
“Hey, what’s this bullshit about? You just want someone to blow you or something fag?” the voice blared on the other end. Henry had no issues with gays, in fact, if a homosexual called and fit the criteria, he would have them over in a heartbeat! With no rebuttal to the scathing voice, Henry turned off the call and threw the phone onto the desk. That was the third troll caller he received today. It had been a week since Henry’s ad went out and he paid up for 3 weeks of publishing, but at this pace, he felt his dream escaping him and desperation settling in. He picked up a paper off his desk and read over the ad one last time. It was perfect to him, nothing was out of place, except for his victim.
This itch crawled over his skin into his blood for almost a year now, and something had to be done about it. Henry paced his floor, wondering if maybe it led on too strong, maybe if he changed that damned title. He went to the window and watched as a little girl with her mother walked down the street darkened by nightfall, only appearing in the spotlights of the streetlights, their sheer presence awakening Henry felt the urge to know what it was like to slice their flesh off slowly, what pieces would be tougher than others? Could he stand the blood? he was never a child of violence, never harmed a pet, never watched either parent beat the other. It was as if something came and planted in his brain as he slept some killer instinct. At first, he thought it was a phase in his life, something that would pass, but the idea of taking a life sprouted like a wildfire. What began as a once in awhile flash of thought was becoming an omnipresent force. What scared him most was it did not matter who it was. All humans were gradually becoming more and more repulsive to Henry. He had to do something, so he took out a notepad and began to write.
Three days before the death of his published piece, Henry was watching his favorite episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent he felt it taught him something, yet wasn’t sure what, since every baddie got their due punishment. He kept seeing sparks of violence in his mind of what he wanted to commit on Detective Robert Goren when his cellphone began to ring. He picked up and greeted the caller. “Hello, I am calling about the ad?” said a young female voice. “I wanted to ask more about what exactly this exercise was going to be? and how will I be compensated for my time?”. Henry felt a jolt of excitement, this might be it! “Well ma’am, the exercise is to… examine… how the body works from the inside. We would be dabbling in experimental procedures resulting in your timely dismissal at the end. We will be in a secluded area to avoid contamination from outside forces, and your compensation will be riches beyond your dreams, these experiments could awaken things in you AND ME we would never imagine”, Henry’s voice starting to shake with adrenaline towards the end. He prayed in the silence that he had not just fucked up this lead when she replied “Where do I need to go to meet you? And what do I need to bring?”.
Henry sat silently for a moment in his SUV as the road carried on beneath them. He looked over at his new brunette passenger, noticing her same drifting focus. Her name was Elaine and in her late 20s, yet had a glint in her eyes that showed a much older person inside. She told him about a part of his history where she was beaten by some men and ever since didn’t feel complete. If his soul hadn’t been taken by unknown forces, he may have felt some pity preying on such a harmed creature. She talked about how she ran from home at a young age and nowadays was just looking for some everyday work. Her life hit rock bottom and she wanted out. She was perfect for Henry. The silence was almost unbearable when his house came into view. It was a lone property on the outskirts of a bigger city. Just far enough out there was no one to bother them and their “exercise”.
The car pulled up a driveway, stopping 10 feet in front of the entrance to a large home with a standalone garage just behind it. “Here we are miss, not much, but the garage is all set up”, said Henry. The farm a few miles out in the country, long forgotten by any remaining family, was fitting for such an occasion. An uncontrollable smirk grew on the sides of his mouth. Elaine got out of the car and headed to the front door when Henry said “Not that way, we have an entrance over here” and walked to the backside of the house. He unlocked the side door of the garage, “are we going to start already? Seems rushed but maybe it’s for the best”, something in her tone had changed, as if giving up the little hope she held to. Henry popped the door open and replied, “We will get set up and can proceed as slow or fast as you wish” smiling almost ear to ear now. He gestured for her to enter and she so.
Henry clicked on all the lights, showing a room covered in plastic with a cot in a corner and an operating table in the middle. He thought this would unnerve Elaine, but she walked in very stoic and stopped a few feet from the table. Henry motioned her towards a chair as he took out a few bags with nearly every medical tool one could think of. Scalpels of various size, different needles and drugs, clamps, pliers, you name it. He placed the bag on the other side of the table and noticed Elaine was no longer standing there. He quickly glanced around the room and finally saw her by the door, locking it from the inside. She turned slowly with a face of pure horror, pure evil, pure insanity, all mixed together. Henry screamed “what the fuck are you?!” noticing she somehow picked up one of the larger scalpels. He began to run at her when she turned off the lights. He slipped on the plastic covering the floor, falling to the ground with a violent thud. He struggled to regain an idea of what happened when he felt something approach. It was right next to his ear and whispered “Now we can begin”.
The Reaper's Writings 