Twisted Shorts: Ten Chilling Short Stories

by Andrew Lennon

  The grip left Pete’s ankle, but before he was able to move something was strapped across the top of his body and pinned his arms to his side. Pete could see nothing, he could hear nothing. He had no idea as to where the Boreas was or what it was doing. How long until he was going to be devoured.

  It’s fine. I’ve just been knocked unconscious in the crash. Any minute now I’m going to wake up lying on the beach, or in the hospital after being saved. It’s fine. Soon enough I’ll wake up.

  CRUNCH.

  The loud noise was followed by excruciating pain in Pete’s legs, he couldn’t feel anything below his waist.

  CRUNCH.

  Another blinding pain, this time in his stomach. He knew now that he was being eaten. He managed half a scream before he was gone completely, devoured.

  After days of search and rescue teams looking for Pete. Helicopters with heat searching radars, a team of diving squads. They gave up, there was no way he could be out there that long and survive.

  They gave his family the only thing they had managed to find. His lifejacket.

  Throw A Punch

  "Hold him!” Kevin shouted. “You like this, you little prick?”

  Kevin proceeded to punch Joe in the stomach. Joe lurched forward each time the hit made contact. Coughing and choking as his breath was pushed out of him.

  “P…p…please,” Joe whimpered. His voice was barely audible. He didn’t have the breath or the energy to force it out.

  “W…w…what was that? P…p…p…please?” Kevin laughed. He stopped for half a second and then followed with one final blow. He put his all into this one. Joe lurched forward so hard that Kevin’s allies lost their grip on Joe and he collapsed to the ground.

  “OK, come on, guys this little turd is done, for now,” Kevin said. “We’ll see you again soon, little Joey!”

  Kevin and his friends ran away laughing. Joe lay on the floor holding his bruised ribs, curled into the fetal position. He closed his eyes and decided it would be better to just lie down and die rather than trying to get up. At least, then, he wouldn’t have to go through this torture over and over again. After a couple of minutes, he realised that death wasn’t coming to take him away, and decided to get to his feet. It hurt to stand up, his stomach felt like it was being stretched. A ripping pain shot from his groin to his chest.

  “Ugh, I think they broke something this time,” he said to himself.

  He stood for a moment, tenderly touching his stomach, feeling his injuries then he began to walk home.

  It took him a long time, probably double the norm, but eventually, Joe made it to his street. He limped along, still holding his stomach like it was going to fall off if it wasn’t held in place. As he stumbled down the street he heard shouting behind him.

  “Joe! Hey, Joe hang on a sec!” Stephen called.

  “Oh, great,” Joe said to himself. “Now I’ve got to explain this.”

  Stephen ran to catch Joe. It didn’t take him long to reach him.

  “What the hell happened to you? You get run over by a car or something?” Stephen asked.

  “Yeah,” Joe replied. “I was mowed down a big meat wagon named Kevin!”

  Stephen sighed and looked around, almost as if to say 'oh not this again'. “Listen, man. Why don ‘t you stand up for yourself?”

  “Because…” Joe started.

  “Because nothing!” Stephen spat the words out. “You don’t even attempt to stick up for yourself! The whole time I’ve known you, you’ve let Kevin and his goons push you around. Not once have you thrown a punch, hell, you’ve never even said a word back! It’s almost like you enjoy taking these beatings!”

  “No, it’s not that,” Joe was trying not to cry. “They’re twice the size of me, Ste, if I try to fight back then it’s just going to make it worse, isn’t it? At least now they stop when it’s enough, if I fight back. They…they might kill me!”

  “No, Joe. I’m sorry, but if you don’t fight back they might kill you. At some point you have to take a stand and show them they can’t carry on. If you don’t do it soon then you will get bullied for your whole life!"

  The two boys continued along the road, Joe limping and Stephen strolling next to him, slowing down so he didn’t leave his friend behind.

  “Wanna come to mine and play on the Xbox?” Stephen asked.

  “No, thanks,” Joe replied. “I think I’m just going to go home and have a lie down.”

  “Are you going to get there OK?” Stephen said. “Or did you want me to walk you there?”

  “I’m fine, I’ve made it this far. Thanks anyway though."

  “OK, well I’ll give you a call later, yeah? Catch ya later bud!” Stephen ran off towards his own house.

  “Yeah, catch ya later,” Joe whispered so quietly that there was no chance Stephen could have heard him.

  Joe is fifteen, a difficult age for anyone, especially a difficult age for someone who is bullied every day of his life. Fifteen-year-old bullies are at their prime. No one is as enthusiastic or inventive as the bullies aged fifteen. It’s almost like a career path they’re working towards. Joe, his bullies and his only friend, Stephen, were all the same age. Joe’s bullies were also, unfortunately for him, his classmates.

  Every day, Joe would try his best to avoid them, but every day they would still manage to catch him in one place or another. They never bothered Stephen. Joe used to wonder why they picked on him and left Stephen alone, but after a while he stopped caring. He was just happy that his friend didn’t have to go through the same thing he did every day. He did wonder from time to time why Stephen never attempted to help him. Stephen shouted at him to stick up for himself, but he had never stepped up to help his friend in need either. Perhaps Stephen was secretly scared of the bullies as well? It’s easy to tell someone how to act when you’re not in the position yourself.

  Stephen called Joe on Sunday. He had called all afternoon on Saturday after seeing him stumbling down the road, but Joe’s mum said that he was asleep. Finally, on Sunday, Joe answered the phone.

  “Joe? Finally! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for ages!” Stephen said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Ummm, yeah I’m OK, thanks,” Joe said, “same as usual I guess."

  “OK, well, do you want to come over?”

  “Yeah OK, just gimme an hour or so to get ready.”

  “An hour?” Stephen shouted far too loud down the phone. “What are you, a girl? Are you doing your hair? What could possibly take an hour?”

  Joe replied. “I’ve not long woken up, I just need to get a shower and stuff and I’ll be over.”

  “Just got up,” Stephen repeated. “Wow, you are lazy! It’s afternoon already! OK, sleepy head, I’ll see you when you get here.”

  Stephen hung up. Joe slowly made his way to the bathroom. He turned the shower on and stood in a trance, watching the water fall from the shower head to the bath tub.

  “What’s going to happen to me today?” he said to himself “Maybe I should get a bath instead of a shower, and sleep in it. And never wake up.”

  “Joe, are you OK?” His mum shouted through the door.

  Startled, Joe came back to his senses. How long had he been standing there?

  “Yeah, I’m fine, Mum, just getting a shower.”

  “You sure? I thought I heard you saying something.”

  “No, Mum!” Joe shouted. “Just talking to myself, as usual!”

  “OK, well hurry up! You’ve been running that shower for thirty minutes now. Water isn’t free you know!” Mum ordered.

  Joe arrived at Stephen’s house exactly an hour later. As he was walking up the path to the front door, he could hear shouting.

  “Ow, no! Stop please I didn’t mean it.” Joe stopped walking and stood for a moment, listening. “I'm sorry!" screamed the voice.

  That's Stephen, Joe thought.

  He sprinted around the side of the house towards the back garden where the screaming was coming from. The gate was op
en. He ran in and saw Stephen lying on the ground being kicked by Joe’s number one bully, Kevin. Watching and laughing were two of Kevin’s goons, Beef and Dumps. One named for his large size, the other his large…well, you get the point.

  Joe didn’t hesitate, he didn’t stop to think at all. He charged towards Kevin screaming at him to leave Stephen alone. He wasn’t able to reach Kevin, before he could get close Beef grabbed him and Dumps quickly ran to grab him from the other side.

  “Come to watch your friend get a beating, have you?” Kevin laughed as he kicked Stephen again, this time in his manhood.

  Stephen was lying on the floor holding his crotch, tears were streaming from his eyes. Blood was streaming from his nose. He had obviously taken a lot of punches before he made his journey to the ground.

  “This little shit thought he could fight your battles for you,” Kevin laughed again. “Well, what do you think, little Joey, should we leave you alone and work on him now?”

  “Leave him alone!” Joe shouted

  Kevin slowly walked towards Joe, then screamed in his face. “OR WHAT!”

  “Or I’ll kill you. I swear to God I will kill you.” Joe began to cry.

  Kevin roared with laughter, he turned to look at Stephen lying on the floor. Then he turned back to Joe. “OK then, tough guy, let’s go. Beef, Dumps, let him go. He wants to actually give me a fight this time, let’s see what he’s got.”

  The two boys let Joe go, panic suddenly rushed into Joe’s mind. Why had he said that? Now his life had escalated from a daily beating, to being murdered in his friend’s garden for trying to act like a big man.

  “I, um. I…d…don’t,” Joe stuttered.

  “Come on, you little prick,” Kevin said “you best fight me or I’m gonna beat you till you won’t wake up anymore.”

  Kevin walked slowly towards Joe with his hands held out by his sides, he stuck his chin out.

  “Go on, I’ll give you one free shot.”

  “No, Kevin. Honestly I didn’t mean it.”

  “Ah, fuck you! You’re not even worth it anymore, I think I’ll just work on your friend now.”

  Kevin turned around and walked back towards Stephen.

  “No!” Joe shouted. “I’ll fight you.”

  Joe ran at Kevin with his fists raised. He had never thrown a punch in his life, but he was sure going to throw one now. He knew that Kevin was twice his size and he may only get a chance to throw one, but he was going to try his best and make it count.

  As Kevin turned he saw a fist flying towards his face and he ducked. Joe’s arm whooshed over Kevin’s head making him lose his balance and tumble to the ground. Kevin laughed for a second at Joe falling on the floor.

  Then his face changed.

  Joe could see something new in Kevin’s eyes. This had changed now. Kevin had just been having fun picking on him in the past. Now he could see in those eyes that he really wanted to hurt him. Kevin stood over Joe, he raised his arm ready to plunge his fist down into Joe’s face. In one swift motion Joe sprang up, almost jumping and landed a right uppercut square on Kevin’s jaw. Kevin left the floor! Not just an inch or so, he flew from the ground! He flew through the air and landed on the roof of the house!

  Joe, filled with rage didn’t even look to see what had happened to Kevin. His eyes were blurry and so full of tears that he couldn’t see properly anyway. He turned to see the two forms which made Beef and Dumps. Joe ran at them, swinging punches left and right. Each boy whirled along the ground. Beef crashed into the side of the house. His head was the first to make an impact with the wall and it caved in so much that his face was no longer recognizable. Dumps flew in the other direction and was impaled on a fence post. He lost consciousness immediately and hung limp with blood trickling down from his side.

  “Joe! Joe!” a faint voice. “Joe!”

  “Huh, what” Joe came around.

  Stephen had him by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. Stephens face was bloody and wet.

  “What happened?” Joe asked.

  “You happened, Joe!” Stephen said, almost in shock “look around Joe, look at what you did.”

  Joe looked at the carnage that was left in Stephen’s garden. He could see Dumps hanging from a fence post. He saw some motionless lump next to the house. Holy shit he could see someone hanging from the roof!

  “But, but I…I” Joe stuttered. “I didn’t…”

  “Hey,” Stephen almost laughed. “These guys deserved it! They’ve beaten you for your whole life!”

  “Yeah but I didn’t mean…” Joe said.

  “Hey, Joe! They deserved it, man! But we got to get you out of here! You’re going to have to run away or something!”

  Joe was still in shock he kept looking back and forth at the damage he had done.

  “But where will I go? I didn’t mean anything.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Stephen said, then he laughed. “You know, Joe. You’ve taken beatings your whole life. Never thrown a punch once. No matter how many times I told you to stick up for yourself. Then the one time you need to stick up for someone else, you stand up! And you have fucking super human strength! Hahaha! You’re a fucking super hero dude!”

  “Yeah,” Joe said. “I’m a super hero.” He smiled.

  The Swings

  The seat of the swings were hot, too hot to sit on.

  Rose hated that they had replaced the old rubber ones with these stupid new plastic ones. When it was actually sunny enough to go to the park, the metal screws on the seats of the swings always burned the back of her legs. Plus, the plastic was stupid and slippery. It never seemed to bother Emily, she always ran straight to the swings when they both went to the park.

  The swings were Emily’s favourite thing. Rose’s favourite was the slide. She loved the speed that she could get by sliding down it. No other slide was as fast as this one. The slide at her park was the best.

  Rose & Emily had been friends since starting school. Both seven years old, they had known each other for almost half of their lives. Their parents were friends as well, so after school they would regularly go to each other houses to play. The pair always preferred going to Rose’s house because it was just across the street from the park. They were allowed to go on their own. They didn’t need the supervision of their parents. This was a big deal at seven years old.

  “Come on, Rose,” Emily called. “Come on the swings, look at how high I can go.”

  “But, the seats burn my legs,” Rose whined.

  “Oh, stop being a baby.”

  Rose gave in to her friends taunts and climbed on the swing. She did feel a bit of a sting when she sat down, but it wasn’t as bad as she expected, and it passed quickly. Now that she was on, she began to swing as high as she could.

  “I’m going to swing faster than you, Emily!”

  “No you’re not! I’m the world champion swinger.”

  “Yeah right! World champion drooler more like!”

  “Hey!”

  Both girls giggled. The continued to swing, their laughter seemed to echo around the empty park, their hair flying about their face and they moved forward and back.

  “I bet I can jump further than you!” Rose shouted.

  “Nuh uh!” Emily replied.

  “OK, we jump together, you ready?”

  “On three!”

  “One, two, three!”

  Both girls threw themselves from the swing. Flying through the air, their screams filled the silence around the park. Then they landed almost on top of each other. They rolled around on the floor, giggling to each other.

  “I won!”

  “No, I won!”

  “No, me!”

  “Me, me!”

  “Why don’t you call it a tie?” an unfamiliar voice said from behind them.

  The girls looked up in shock. An old man was looking down at them. In one hand he held a cane, which was probably holding just as much of him as he was of it. In his other hand he
held a scuffed brown hat.

  “You girls need to be careful jumping off the swings like that,” he said.

  “Sorry, we can’t talk to strangers.” Rose said.

  “That’s right. Good girl. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m just passing through. My daughter used to play at this park. Of course, back then it was a lot different. Didn’t have any of these bright plastic things. Swings were rubber for a start.”

  “Yes!” Rose said “I liked the rubber ones a lot more, those plastic ones burn my legs.”

  The man giggled. He moved his hat to his other hand and began to stroke the rim of it. He looked to the distance, as if he were trying to see something across the park.

  “Watcha lookin’ at?” Rose asked.

  “Oh, nothing," he answered. “Just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “Well, like I said. My daughter used to play at this park, she liked to jump off those swings too. You need to be careful doing that you know.”

  “Why, it’s fun?” Emily said.

  “Because that’s what killed her. She jumped off those swings and landed on her head. Broke her neck. She hit the floor and didn’t get back up.”

  Rose and Emily looked at each other shocked, and then looked back to the old man, unsure what to say, they stood silent while the man wiped a tear away from his eyes.

  “Rose!” Rose’s mother called from her front door. “It’s time to come in now!”

  “We gotta go,” Rose said to Emily.

  “Remember girls, be careful on those swings.”

  “Yeah, bye mister!” Emily said.

  “Sorry about your daughter,” Rose mumbled.

  The two girls ran to Rose’s house where her mother was waiting for them. “Mum, mum!” Rose called to her “That man over there told us that his daughter jumped off the swings and she died!”

  “What?” her mother asked as a look of concern rose upon her face.