wire structures and Officer Peters would have to go up quite close to see its inhabitants. As she coaxed him towards the cages he tried to think of what his next move should be. He needed a plan of action. Just then he heard the sound of the door upstairs creaking closed and the unmistakable sound of the click of a lock. He froze. His heart pounded and perspiration was now dripping down his back and chest. Did the Pettingers’ just lock him down here? He looked up the stairs. The door was indeed closed. It was black. Dark. He should have called for back-up. He literally shivered as a chill ran down his spine and turned back towards the first cage.
“Don’t be afraid. Go on. Go have a look,” Elizabeth said from behind him.
As if in a trance, he obeyed her and stepped forward, pressing his face right up against the cold metal. He strained his eyes. There was nothing there. He opened his mouth to say these very words to her when a bloodied arm reached out to him from inside. A human arm. It grabbed hold of him and roughly pulled him closer. Inside was a woman with only one arm and a bloodied stump where the other one used to be. Her mouth was sewn shut crudely with black cotton thread. Her eyes were huge and dark and begging him for help. He pulled himself away from her grasp, stumbled over his feet and fell to the ground. H breathed heavily and tried to reach for his weapon, but he must have dropped it somewhere. As he fumbled on the ground another pair of hands reached out to him. It was Officer Daniels! He still had both arms but it looked as if both his legs had been gnawed right off and he was sitting in a pile of blood and mush. His mouth had also been sewn shut. The sight made him ill and Officer Peters retched and threw up on the ground next to him. He needed to get out of here!
He fumbled back to his feet to face Elizabeth. As he turned around he was just in time to see the beautiful woman transforming into a ghastly creature. Black feathered wings sprouted from her back, fur replaced skin, talons replaced fingernails and fangs replaced teeth. Her hair peeled backwards and her eyes turned black. It let out a shuddering growl. At least he knew where the noises were coming from, he thought ironically. As the thing lunged towards him baring its horrid fangs, his primal scream was drowned out by anther of the creatures’ beastly growls and the loud clap of thunder in the skies above.
The cell phone rang on the kitchen table once more. Marjory wrung her hands nervously. Who could this possibly be at such an inopportune time?
“It’s Alfred,” Leonard mouthed to her as he took the call.
From where she was sitting, Marjory could hear frantic shouting on the other end. No doubt another complaint about the growl that had just come from the basement. Why couldn’t he just be as nice and understanding as the rest of the neighbours? She looked towards the basement door. It was such a shame. Officer Peters was such a nice young man. But he wouldn’t listen to them. Why didn’t he just listen to them? He was just as stubborn as Officer Daniels and the rest of the curious neighbours had been during the last few storms. Now they would be housing yet another ‘missing’ person.
“Yes, Alfred. We are terribly sorry about the noise we’ve been causing,” Leonard was saying. “Marjory and I were speaking and we’d like to make you a peace-offering, if that’s alright with you. Maybe we can start afresh and put all this nonsense behind us. Why don’t you come over to us in about ten minutes? We’ll have some lovely cake and tea and I’m sure our daughter has some fascinating needlework that she’d like to show you.”
###
About this Story:
This story is not the usual sort of genre I write, but I had fun writing it to enter into the
SA Horrorfest 2013 Competition.
About the Author:
Carmen Botman is a writer of short stories, novels as well as poetry for all ages. She is currently working on getting her first full length YA fantasy / fiction novel,
The Kindling, published. Keep an eye out for it!
Connect with me Online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@carmen_botman78
Facebook: https://facebook.com/carmenbotmanwriter
My Blog: https://carmenbotman1.blogspot.com/
Thank you for your support!
The Secret Page 3
