Agnes and the Gift

Agnes and the “Gift”

Agnes was born into the world just like everyone else. Only she had a guardian angel right from the start. Agnes was named after an aunt who at six year old had died. That aunt Agnes was with her now at her birth and vowed to make sure she was protected.
Her Aunt Agnes was born in the early 1900’s in a very small town and no one knew exactly how Aunt Agnes died. Back then things happened and instead of finding the answers, people just faced the truth of the death and let it pass. Aunt Agnes’ parents, found her out in the backyard one morning looking all blue and swollen. They claimed she was probably bitten by a snake and died. An autopsy would have proven them wrong!
Aunt Agnes was there to protect this child.
Agnes grew up in a family that couldn’t understand her. They thought something was wrong with her because of her ability to see things more clearly than they could. Her family teased her a lot, they just didn’t understand. Why one time, Agnes had saved her Daddy from being hurt, by keeping him from going to work. She knew there was going to be a pile up on old Decatur road. She wouldn’t let him go out the door to work and ended up being spanked! Agnes didn’t care because she knew what she was doing, even though she couldn’t sit down for a week and her mother called her a real idiot!
When she was old enough to go to school she was very shy, afraid to talk to people, afraid of what she might say.
As a child she had moments where she felt so alone. She would go off by herself and cry because of all the things she saw and heard. Imagine being the only one who heard and saw things and couldn’t explain them to anyone! She knew to be silent.
She was slowly realizing that her “gift” was not so bad. Like the time she saved Little Billy Thompson from breaking his arm on the monkey bars. Agnes had lied to the teacher about Billy so he wouldn’t go out for recess, but after school, Billy waited for her and punched her in the face. How could she explain to Billy the voices that told her how his climbing would end that day? So she took the ridicule and the violence and kept it deep inside her.
Agnes was an OK student, but her fear of people was not of the people around her, but of the people that showed themselves to her in a dream, in her head.
Her only real companion was a dog the family had. She would sometimes just sit on the porch and talk to the dog, knowing the dog would not answer back - but she at least had someone to talk to.
She became very artistic. She painted and excelled in that, but they took that away from her too. Her family made her feel like she was unwanted and could do nothing of importance. She decided not to try out for Chorus or Acting Class, she had been teased so much by her parents, when she did speak she would start crying, waiting for the ridicule to start. So even her classmates thought Agnes was weird. When all she wanted was a friend.
Agnes was about to enter high school, when things started to take a turn. She started having nightmares. She knew she couldn’t go to her parents, but she saw the scene over and over again. A man entering the house, taking a young girl into the backyard, strangling her and disappearing. (Little did she know it was Aunt Agnes she was seeing.) In fact her family never even told her about Aunt Agnes, they just didn’t talk about those things.
When she asked where she got her name, they would just say “Your grandfather named, you. “
And that was that.
One day she and some friends decided to go to a fortune teller who was in town. When she walked in the first thing the fortune teller told her was that she had a beautiful soul and that she had the “sight”. She was told that she had a little girl about six years old standing beside her and protecting her.
“Do you remember anyone in your family dying at a young age?” the fortune teller asked her.
“No, no one at all.” she replied. Little could she tell her that her family didn’t talk to her at all, unless it was to make fun of her or criticize her.
“Check into it, I thing you’ll find some answer?” the fortune teller told her as she was getting up to leave.
“How much to I owe you?
“Nothing” the fortune teller told her as she walked out the door.
The next day after school she couldn’t wait until the got home to ask around about her family history. Finally she found old Mrs. Greshon, the town gossip in the telephone book and called her. Mrs. Greshon was very glad to talk and talk about her grandfather and grandmother and the mystery of the little child, Aunt Agnes. She thought she’d try to go to the cemetery to find her grave. The family plot would hold no tombstone for Aunt Agnes. She went to the court house and looked for death certificates. No luck. Finally in a Census report she looked down the row of names and found it, Agnes Gerard b 1930 d. 1936. This was it. Now to find some answers.
“Mama, do you know anything about daddy’s sister Agnes that died when she was six years old?”
Her mother was shocked, “How did you find out about that?’
:“Why in the Census report of 1937.” She knew not to tell her mother about the fortune teller’s words.
“Well your father did have a sister who died young. No one knows what happened, she just died.”
She went about all day and the next week asking about this relative, but none of the family members, uncles, aunts, cousins knew anything of this Agnes. In fact, when she tried to find her grave and couldn’t , she then remembered that they had burials at the Church, Macedonia Church. The Church would have records of it.
The Church was long ago deserted. Agnes went around to the back where the cemetery was but the graves were overgrown with weeds and briars and time had faded all names and dates. It was of no use.
She knew in her soul what had happened. Why she was dreaming the nightmare over and over again . Aunt Agnes was just an innocent child when someone came into her house and strangled her. She would just have to keep this secret for the rest of her life.
Agnes knew what she had to do, she had a “gift” of sight and had to use it to help other children, even though she couldn’t help Aunt Agnes. Aunt Agnes was there to help her.
When she got home the next day after school, there was news about a little girl who went missing. They didn’t have Amber alerts back then. So no one knew all the details about this abduction.
As Agnes laid down that night, her thoughts went to another place. She saw a man take the little girl, Penny from her bed. No one had mentioned her name, but Agnes knew it was Penny. Agnes watched as this terrible event took place in a pocket of her brain. Agnes watched as the man took her outside, his hand over Penny’s mouth. Agnes saw Penny’s look of fright and tears rolling down her face. They went into the woods and then Agnes stopped. She didn’t want to see the rest, she knew it was something that would hunt her forever. She stayed awake the rest of the night, not wanting to shut her eyes, knowing the scene would replay itself over and over again. She knew Penny was dead now, but she had to go back to that horrible place in her brain, to try to see who did this to such a lovely little girl. Agnes softly cried.
The next morning in the paper the picture of the little girl was there, showing her name as Penny Rogers, 6, found in the woods, strangled. The police had no clues. The family was in seclusion and trying to heal. Funeral arrangements ………..
Agnes went off to school tying her best to get her work done. The visions kept coming to her all day. She failed a test in Biology and couldn’t keep up in Algebra. Her face turned red with embarrassment when Mrs. Witcher called on her to solve a problem on the board. She hated walking in front of her classmates and she didn’t know what Mrs. Witcher was talking about since she had not paid attention. She was near tears from exhaustion. She was so tired but was so afraid to close her eyes.
When she got home she had a confrontation with her mother.
“I had a call from your teacher, Mrs. Witcher today, claiming you were not doing your homework! What am I going to do with you. I don’t have time to help you, you are so stupid . How did you get so stupid. You’re not going to amount to anything in life!“
“Mama, I don’t understand anything in the classroom Can you help me?“
“I finished school. I did my time. That’s what teachers are for, ask them to help you! They’ll help you!”
She didn’t need this, she ran to her room and cried. Agnes just sat on the floor where she patted her dog and cried. She never felt so alone. As the laid down, she was asleep before she knew it. This time the dream had started at the dinner table.
A happy family including Penny were eating hamburgers and laughing. Her father looked at her with such admiration. He must be really hurting over the loss of his little girl.
Agnes went through the whole scene again, this time waking up as HE carried her into the woods. Once again, Agnes was up with a start. She needed to see his face. She had to find out who this person was.
Maybe she could help the parents if she could only see His face.
Another morning, and she watched the sun rise out her window. She slowly dressed. She couldn’t go another night without sleep. She knew the day would be another day of embarrassment and bad grades, but what could she do, she slowly walked down the stairs to breakfast. Her mother was waiting.
“Agnes, don’t tell me you were crying all night again?” she spitted at Agnes.
“Yes mama, you wouldn’t understand, I wish I could explain, but I can’t! Hardly holding tears back, she ate her eggs and became very silent.
Her mother just sighed, “I don’t know how to help you, I just don’t know how to help you!”.

“Mama I just don’t want to go to school today, Please can I stay at home?”
“Agnes, no.” As her mother looked at her with finally some love in her heart, “Ok Agnes, go upstairs and try to get some sleep.”
Agnes knew today she had to finish the dream, she had to find out who this person was, so she could help the family. She walked back up the stairs taking the paper with her. She undressed, put her clothes up and threw her PJ’s back on. As she laid down, she reread the whole article. On the inside was the picture of the family.
She drifted off to sleep and was at once in that place where no person would want to go. Her mind was like a reel to reel slowly picking up pace as she saw the family once more at the dinner table enjoying the meal - laughing and talking.
She then shifted to the scene in the bedroom where the little girl had slept. Agnes saw a shadow pass over the little girl and someone had picked her up from the bed. Penny shook her head, the hand firmly over her mouth.
They went out the backdoor very quietly as he walked into the woods and Penny was crying. When they entered the woods, Agnes knew she had to look through Penny’s eyes to see who this person was.

He sat her down, she cried “It’s cold out here, please let me go back home.”
She seemed to know Him.
Suddenly Agnes’ mother was there, gently shaking her. “Agnes wake up wake up you’re talking in your sleep, are you alright?”
Catching her breath, “Mama I’m fine, just a dream. I’m OK. “
“Well, it ‘s lunch time, you’ve been asleep the whole morning. Come down and eat some lunch.”
Agnes went downstairs in her PJs and had a sandwich. She went over the incidents she’d seen that morning. She was so close to finding out who this person was. Family or friend? What was she going to do when she saw this person, how could she tell the police about who he was? Thoughts raced through her mind!.
Finally finishing her lunch she went back upstairs, she didn’t need to go to sleep anymore. She needed to go to that place she shied away from and once more look through Penny’s eyes to see the person.
As she laid down and stared up at the ceiling she started seeing visions. Penny was once again in the woods and was being gently placed on the ground.
“Please let me go back in, I won’t tell Daddy anything, please let me go back inside!”
“Shut Up!”
Agnes slowly looked up at the face and realized who it was. She screamed as this episode flashed into another of Aunt Agnes being strangled. Seeing both incidents, she screamed.
Agnes was screaming not Penny, because Penny knew her assailant her whole life as Aunt Agnes had known hers. Penny had been hurt by this person before only this time it went wrong.
Penny started to scream as hands went around her neck, squeezing the innocent life out of her and quieting her forever.
Agnes was awake now, shaking, she slowly picked up the paper and looked at the family. How can she tell this family that Penny was murdered by her own brother! Aunt Agnes…
Agnes mother runs into the room. She tried to wake Agnes up from this spell that has her staring straight ahead. She slaps her. Agnes curled up into the fetal position and just stared into the space which held the nightmare.
****
It has been some years since Agnes was taken to the hospital.
No one understood what’s she had been trying to say. “ Bro… Bro…That is all they ever got out of her.
She’ll always keep the secret of Penny’s death deep in her brain along with Aunt Agnes. Where the scenes kept repeating themselves.
Over and over again.

Rewrite of Angel Face

Angel Face

Annie slammed the front door shut and looked at the newspaper that had just been delivered. Opening it to the section she desired she absent mindlessly walked back to the kitchen table. She sat down.

A big smile crept across her pimple scarred face, the smile was then followed by an insane laugh. Her sudden outburst of laughter scared her. She jumped and suddenly stopped laughing. Paranoid she looked around.

She was alone.

Angie began to read out loud. “Dancing Star missing. Angel was last seen last week going for a jog. Right now there seem to be no witnesses coming forward. Because of the early hour.......”

Annie threw her head back and laughed again. Doing a spazzy dance she proclaimed to the walls, “I was a witness, I was a witness.”

Annie stopped laughing and suddenly became serious again. Tonight was THE party and she better start getting ready.

Annie loved Angel, no she worshiped Angel. She studied dance so she could dance like her. She had breast implants so she could have a figure like her. Why she wanted to become her. The only real problem is she just didn't look much like her. Angie looked at her reflection in the mirror over the kitchen table. She tried to push her rather long pointed nose back closer to her eyes. From many years of teenage acne, she tried to rub the pit marks from her face. The pits and scars make her face look like a well traveled dirt road. Angie's eyes were brown like Angels. One good thing. Shaking her head she looked down again at the newspaper.

She had been following Angel's career for five years now. She knew when the time was right to strike so she could take care of the last remaining difference between her and Angel.

The plan was ingenious and after the murder Angie wasted no time in removing Angel's head from her body. The body remained downstairs in the freezer. No one would bother it or even look for it in the part of the neighborhood where Angie lived.

Dogs barking, gangs always killing, why, one house or another had a stinking dead body, literally, in it. Yep, the police had enough to handle without even thinking of bothering Angie.

She now got up from the table and walked into the kitchen. Opening the freezer she took out the round bundle wrapped in saran wrap. She carefully took the saran off and looked at the hair that was now stuck to Angel's head. Ice had formed all over the eyebrows and hair making her look like an old woman.

Angie tried to brush them off, no luck. So Angie put the head in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen any frost. Seeing that the frost was removed she put the head down in the sink to finish defrosting. It had been a long night, she needed a nap.

After a two hour nap, Angie awoke and stretched. She had had a wonderful dream in which she was Angel. Dancing and on the arm of a handsome movie star.

Angie marched to the bathroom and ran a bath of nothing but hot water. Her body turned red instantly as she sat down. It was so hot, tears were streaming down Angie's face. The water was turning her skin a nice pink, but she knew the ritual.

After feeling that she had allowed enough time sitting in the tub, she jumped out quicker than she had jumped in. She felt cleansed.

She looked over to the washing machine and pulling the clorox bottle off, she measured out a drop of two in the cap.

“Thats right, just a little to cleanse my insides, not enough to hurt me.” The cleansing ritual was finally over.

Wrapping herself in a nice fluffy white robe she felt rather virginal as she marched back into the kitchen.

Now the real ritual was about to begin.

Sitting at the kitchen table she laid her head down on the newspaper. She could just see Angel's head in the sink defrosting. The hot bath had made her sleepy so she closed her eyes.

Annie suddenly awoke to a cramping feeling in her stomach. She checked the time on her watch.

Yes, now is the time.

Taking a box cutter, she put the now defrosted head upright in the sink. Slowly she started cutting. It was as intense as performing heart surgery. Slowly from the back of the head up to the hairline.

She removed the hair.

Slowly, now. The eyelids seem to be stuck to the eyeballs. Wait, now slice here, slice there. Slowly.

Done.

Like removing the cream from the middle of an Oreo she pulled the face from the rest of the muscular skull. Slowly now, not to tear a thing.

Perfect.

Annie looked with pride at the human mask of Angel and grinned. Going back into her bedroom she eyed the wig head sitting on her dressing table. She carefully pushed back the blond flowing wig that matched Angel's hair and placed the face mask over the front part. She was so proud of her work.

Excitement could not be contained. She laughed and smiled. She had to remember not to smile tonight, she didn't want anyone to notice her rotting teeth. Not to worry, just keep her mouth closed.

Angie did a little tap dance as she marched back into her bathroom. Now was the time to ready her own face for the ritual. Finally her dreams were coming true.

Tonight would be the night she'd show the others. Her trophy would be the greatest.

(to be continued)

Screams in the Darkness

Screams in the Darkness

"I've always been afraid of darkness, you know that," Ginny whispered as she stood close to John.

"I know, that is one reason I fell in love with you. I guess it makes me feel more masculine to know I can protect you. Even if it is against nothing", he laughed teasingly as he wrapped his arm around her. "I don't know why you worry so about nothing!"

"Oh said by the man wearing a gun!", Ginny teased him back while looking deeply into his Gray eyes.

That morning had been very special to Ginny. She and John and been married for one year now. They were celebrating the occasion by his calling in late to work and having a late breakfast in the woods. As she buttered her toast she looked at John adoringly.

"I'm so glad you wore that blue shirt with your jeans, it just makes your Grey eyes turn a beautiful blue.

"Well thank you for giving me the shirt. You know, you don't have to dress up so much for me, I love you a la naturale," he said laughingly. Even though she was madly in love with John, John was not so in love with Ginny. John had gotten tired of her squeaky voice and her always having to be cosmetically perfect before stepping out the door. He tolerated her everyday the best way he could, but today he was extra nice because he knew that all this would be coming to an end.

See, John had realized too late that he wasn't the marrying kind. Way too late. He decided he wanted her out of his life and her fear of darkness would come to his advantage. Surely no one would blame him for her going insane if he wasn't even around. He had planned the next night over and over again in his head. He knew if he was late enough coming home she'd do herself in. Either she'd be raving mad or she'd want to leave him for deserting her!

He slowly walked her back up to the house. Holding her tightly and whispering how much he loved her.

Whey they finally parted that day, John going off to work at the police force and Ginny to her housework. They both seemed very happy indeed.

The day finished off with the usual routine of John coming home from the police station. Supper microwaved. Ginny wasn't a cook. That days crossword puzzle worked and then an early night of love making.

Yes, this was to going to be the last night John would have to endure her voice and he felt bittersweet about their love making.

After finally settling down to go to sleep, John decided this would be a good time to prepare her for tomorrow's events. She was halfway a sleep as he nudged her.

"Oh Ginny, please don't get excited, but I'll be home a little late tomorrow".

Ginny raised her sleepy head and looked immediately at John. She started trembling. "Not after dark, you promised you would always be here before it got dark!"

God, that voice caused him to cringe.

"Now don't worry, I said I'd be a little late. Have faith."

Wrapping his arms around her, he calmed her down a little. "Now go to sleep and I'll be home before you know it".

It was too dark in the room for her to see the look of disgust on his face as he spoke to her.

That morning as he was getting ready for work he went over the necessary preparations. He made sure her mobile phone battery was low. He had already fixed the car so it would be running out of gas, knowing she had filled it days before. The final touch was planing a late night meeting with several co-workers for his alibi.

Chuckling to himself in the darkness he walked out the door knowing both their lives would be changing.

He left as always did. Just before the alarm rang, he cut it off letting Ginny sleep so he wouldn't have to talk to her. Sad that was one of the endearing things she cherished about him.

The heat and the glare of the sun was what finally woke Ginny up. She looked at the clock realizing how late it was.

“Jesus is it 1:00,” she asked no one. Showering as fast as she could, she slowly put lotion all over her body. Laying out her makeup in a systematic way, she started applying it. Messing up her eyeliner, she washed her face and started the routine all over again. Finally, perfect. She then picked out the white slacks and pink t-shirt to wear. Nope, the t-shirt just didn't look right. Pulled it off and put on a black sleeveless blouse. Now for the shoes. Flats, no today she was going to wear her Emilio Pucci ballet flats. The colors were so beautiful and it pulled out the black color in the design.

“Oh drat, it's even later now,” she whispered to herself as she grabbed her jewelry slipping rings and bracelets on and heading out the door.

Finally in her Volkswagen and on her way, she started day dreaming about John again. She felt bad about sleeping so late and how wonderful John had been to her the day before. Gosh, just letting her sleep in the mornings and fixing his own breakfast. So many of her friends had to get up and fix breakfast for their husbands, but she didn't.

Thinking of this now, she realized how lucky she was to have John and and she should be more helpful to him. “Why do I have to be so afraid of the dark,” she spoke to the open road. She was afraid that he'd grow tired of her silliness and leave her. “No, he would never do that, I'll fix him a wonderful dinner tonight. I'll buy some wine, yes wine. Just the thing to celebrate our one year of marriage,” this time giggling like a school girl, thinking of their love making last night.

Ginny drove slowly to town. She did enjoy the beautiful view of the hill sides and forest along the way. Scratching her arm, she slowly looked down at the finger nails. She realized she needed a manicure. “I'll just stop along the way. Gosh, think I'll do that before getting groceries.”

Sometimes she hated that John had bought their house so deep in the country. It was such a hardship to try and plan everything that needed to be done in town at one time. Luckily she had filled the car up the last time she was here. So no need to worry about that.

The Nail Center was crowed that afternoon and she had to wait several hours before her turn came. She picked out several colors before she decided on the right one. She had the nail tech taking off polish as soon as it was applied.

“No, this color is all wrong. Try that one”, over and over again,to Ayers, the nail tech. Ayers cursed under her breath. Drat, she had to be the one to finish with other clients first and get Ginny. The other techs would be laughing at her all afternoon. Finally, with Ginny's nails properly done she paid Ayers and gave her exactly 20% tip. Ginny also repeated the name of the color, Girly Pink over and over again to try and remember it for the next visit. This was the color she thought would go with most everything she wore. Leaving the Nail Center and the techs laughing behind her back, she was off to the grocery store. There too it seemed to take an awful long time. She changed her mind several times before she decided what would be the best meal to cook for John. Spaghetti was always fast and easy and a nice bottle of Chianti. But even the checkout line was slow and crazy. Finally out the door.

Shutting the truck lid with the groceries securely in the truck she was ready to return home. Looking at her watch she realized it was later than she expected. The Sun would be going down in an hour and she had at least that much time to get back home.

Traveling once more, she realized how beautiful the sunset looked. The blues and reds of the sky as the sun went down was so spiritual. She shook as a chill ran through her body. How could such a magnificent view bring about the horrors she imagined in the night.

But as it was planned, halfway home she ran out gas. She was a little farther than John had planned for her to be. Only a mile from the house and she was very capable of hiking that distance to her house.

At first she became hysterical as she looked out the window to see the last traces of the sun disappear. Then she gathered herself together and taking the mobile phone started waking towards home.

“I bet John will be there when I arrive. He'll be so surprised that I walked the distance in the dark by myself.” The sound of her own voice make her feel a little bit more secure. She kept her eyes on the driveway of the house, not looking right or left just walking straight ahead. Not taking a chance of losing sight of her final destination.

Lucky, thanks to the gas lamp at the beginning of their drive way, it became a beacon for her. Like a lost ship being pulled by a light house, it drew her to safety. “Thank you God for that gas lamp.” She just kept on focusing on the lamp that would bring her safely home.

Arriving at last to the entrance of the drive way she ran up to the front door.

“Shit, the keys, the keys.”

She looked back down at the road to where she could barely see the car in the dark.

“I can't go get them now.” Looking around at the house, realizing that John was not home, he asked the question to the dooming darkness, “John why aren't you home?”

She was on the edge of hysteria. She sat down on the top step to try and calm herself.

Slowly as if God had cut off the lights, the pitch darkness was surrounding her. There she sat in the dark except for the gas light at the end of the driveway.

Thinking at first the gas light a friend, it now betrayed her as it began to show the deformed shadows of trees and bushes. Trying not to look at anything, Ginny tried to push herself flat against the front door, talking to herself once again for comfort. “John will be home in just a minute. John will be home. He's never late. He'll be here.”

She looked around at the trees as the wind started picking up causing more shadows and strange eerie sounds.

“Why I'm just being silly. John said to quit worrying about ghost or other unknown creatures I imagine are around at night. I'll call John, I know he's on his way.”

Just then the phone started ringing.

Ginny screamed and dropped the phone.

“Shit!” she screamed as the phone jumped from her hand and fell into a bush. “Calm down. Just go get it”, she tried to reason with herself as the phone continued it's nerve wreaking ring.

She jumped down the steps and turned around to where the bush gently moved with the wind as if teasing her. She slowly entered the bush as a surgeon slowly enters a body. She felt the phone, she brought it up from the cavity that held it.

“Shit!” A horrid little caterpillar, thinking it could catch a ride from the entanglement of the bushes was stuck to her phone.

“No, get off my phone you worm.” shaking the phone to dislodge it.

Finally the sticking critter went flying.

“Hello, Hello.” The phone had quit ringing. A message was left. “I know it's John telling me he's on his way home.”

She started the procedure to get her message.

“Please put in your four letter pass code,” the phone demanded. Ginny complied and was at once was hearing John's voice.

“Ginny, so sorry, sweetie, but I've got a problem at work and I'll be running later than expected. Just keep the doors locked and I'll be home before you know it.”

“Noooo, this can't be happening.” She stared at the phone like it would talk back. Ginny started redialing the number.

Just then the lights blinked on the phone and the message coming from the speaker was barely audible.

“Battery is low. Battery is low.”

“Oh please no.” She shook the phone like it would make a difference as the phone lights slowly died out. She again just stared at the phone as though mere staring would bring the battery to life again.

Once again talking out loud, trying to made her feel somewhat better and not so alone, she said, “I'm going to be fine, I'm an adult, no need to be scared of the outside in the dark. I'll go and sit on the front porch and wait”. Taking the dead phone along for company she ran as fast as she could to the front of the house up the porch steps.

“Why isn't the front porch on,” she said to the emptiness surrounding her.

Again the wind picked up suddenly and a million different sounds seem to explode. Left, right, no left, right, then in front of her.

Turning around, she asked the darkness, “What was that?”

Trying to squeeze herself into the top porch step. Se began to feel something crawling on her arm, she screamed and tried her best to scrap off everything from the shoulder to her knees.

“God, a spider”. She was jumping up and down now. She looked like someone trying to hoop a basket and trying not to pee at the same time. If someone had driven by at this time, surely they would think she was crazy. “Slimy, shit-face thing get off of me!” Hands then went through her hair to the imaginary spider.

Tears were starting.

“I hate the darkness, I hate the darkness!, she screamed to the emptiness. “I've got to calm down, I know I'll start singing that will help.” Still crying she started singing every song she could think of. Everything from Phantom of the Opera to Flor Rida's Round and Round. She'd hum to replace words she didn't know to continue the melody without stopping. Every song, from Christmas carols to movie songs. Just to hear her own voice to feel not so alone.

Minutes passed but it seemed like hours, hours passed, there were noises she couldn't explain all around her. Leaves skipping along the drive way sounded like someone softly walking. Her nails were digging into her arms and she was sweating even though it was a cool night.

“I know I'll run back to the car. I can at least sit in the car until John shows up.”

Saying a prayer she started walking very fast, faster, faster and then she see the beloved Volkswagen coming into sight. She goes to the door and pulls the handle. “Damn”, she broke a nail as the door handle snapped back to it's resting place.

She screams.

The doors are locked! She looks in to see the keys sitting on her passenger seat. It almost looked like they were laughing at her.

“FUUUUDDDDDGGGGEEE, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?”

Just then the wind picks up again and Ginny runs back to the house like Lucifer himself was after her. Her chest is starting to hurt and she's out of breath. She finds herself once more on the top step on the porch. She hears cars....wait she can see lights coming down the road. “Oh thank God, John is coming home”. She lets out a loud, “NOOOOOOOO” as the car continues past her house. “OK that wasn't him, the next one will be him. I know it will”.

Folding herself up in the fetal position, arms wrapped around her knees, she starts rocking back and forth on the step.

She started watching bats fighting over the gas light at the end of the drive way. For a minute she forgot where she was as she was mesmerized as they performed their dance. That lasted about one minute.

She was tired and scared and wanted the safety of the house inside. She wanted lights! As she grew more tired, she began to whisper and rock back and forth, back and forth,but it just grew darker and darker.

She screamed!

John on is way home, noticed his wife's Volkswagen sitting on the road. He got out, checked the doors, looked through the window to the inside. Noticed his wife's purse and keys lying on the passenger seat.

He got back in his car, with a smirk on his face, he looks at his watch as he drives up the driveway to the house. Eleven o'clock. He prepared himself for the scene he was about to encounter. Stepping slowly out of the car he looked around at the empty yard. Ginny was no where to be seen. He walked up the steps and unlocked the door. Walking inside he called her name. No answer. Turning on the front porch light he went back out looking around for her. Ginny was not to be found.

He smiled. He laughed. He decided he better act serious. He called his family, her family. She is missing. Police showed up. Questions were asked. Searches were started. Days turned into months, months turned into years. They could never find her or her body.

Every night a bereaved husband walked to his bedroom. Maybe tonight would be the night he could get some sleep.

But during the night as every night, he had the same dream, a strange dream. Why, Ginny was there. She was talking to him in that awful squeaky voice. She was hugging him. He couldn't get away.

He screamed!

Every night for the rest of his life, John had the same dream. His wife might have physically disappeared but she was there to hunt him every night. He took medication, he drank. His life turned out to be a “nightmare”. He wished he'd never played that horrible trick on Ginny.

Too late now.

The nights of no sleep finally took his sanity. Or so people thought. They thought it was the insanity of a grieving husband.

Every night now, he's strapped down. He's medicated with a shot, but nothing will shop his horrible screams in the night.

He screams.

Horror Tale

Soon to add new Horror tale....