Supernatural Friday-Sorry Three Days Late!-Cigarettes

Sorry this is late by three days for Supernatural Friday, but Mysticon was busy for me. This may hapen to me for Ravencon last Friday in April, so fair warning! Enjoy this original horror short story of mine. Please do not share the story, instead just share the link to your friends a nd relative to come read it here. It is my own story and copyrighted. Thanks again, and enjoy. 

"Cigarettes"

By

Pamela K. Kinney

The breathing in his lungs grew harsher as he ran and ran. Damn it, it hurt to suck in air. He didn’t dare look over his should to see if it still pursued him. After all, he might stumble over something and fall and the thing would be able to get him. The night being so dark he wouldn’t see it, not until it was in clawing distance anyway.

They warned his wife, Tillie and him, that some beast prowled the area at night, mainly when the crescent moon hung low in the sky. For months whatever it was, bayed long into the night as it prowled. Hearing it for so long, he hated it. Hated that it kept him indoors at night. Hated that fear of it ruled his and the town’s nights.  Tillie went to bed early those nights, but he stayed up until late, after the sound had died away. When he came to bed, Tillie seem to have a sexual appetite that rivaled none she had any other time during their marriage of one year. She appeared to pay no heed that he obviously spent the night smoking. The only time he applauded the creature stalking the woods nearby. It made his wife even more . . . sensual.

The past month, there had been nothing. And he needed some cigarettes. Bad enough that the shakes came over him and the craving dug deep into him. He grew sharp at Tillie, who started to give him angry looks. Looks she never had before. She bit back at him, like PMs had gotten control of her. She told him not to go. After all, he could get the damned pack in the morning. But he didn’t listen to her. After their worse argument ever, he stomped out the door and to their car.

It hadn’t taken him long—just a half hour to drive to town to the only gas station that stayed open until six at least. By the clock in the dashboard, it was six.

The owner of the place was locking up when he screeched the car to a stop. Would have locked the door and gotten into his own vehicle to drive away if Jim hadn’t paid him an extra twenty just to remain open for five more minutes to get his pack of cigarettes and pay for them. The man then closed the place and zoomed out into the street and down it. Normally, a cop would catch and ticket him, but since the killings, the police had more things to worry about then some speeder. Which was why Jim himself could stamp on the pedal for home. The only good thing; lack of cops and oh yeah, his horny wife. Though the way they been duking it out the past few weeks, he doubted he would get any tonight.

He had made about halfway home when the car broke down. He cranked the engine. Nothing. Tried again. It didn’t even give a cough.

The ‘bitch’ finally gave up the ghost on him. He couldn’t understand what the problem could be and it was too dark, with only a crescent moon and a few straggling stars as his light, as he couldn’t find the flashlight he swore he had put in the glove compartment anywhere in the vehicle. He climbed out, kicked the door shut, and not even bothering to lock it, trudged home.

There had been nothing for the first fifteen minutes of him tramping on the road. Whatever had haunted the woods must have left after the last death. A crescent moon mocked him from the sky and there’d always been that kind of moon during the killings. He heard not one peep from the woods on either side of him. The silence reassured him.

Jim remembered the terror that had filled the tiny town. That some beast had caught and ravished, even partially eating, some pets, a horse in a pasture, and fifteen people. . .  What was that? He paused, and stared at all the trees. Minutes before the night appeared harmless. Now the hulking shadows that lined the road on both sides of the road had his heart hammering. Though nothing moved.

Suddenly, the stillness bothered him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and under his armpits, despite the chill in the air. Heart pounding, he began to walk faster. Fear pushed him to break his stride into a jog.  Not much for exercising, his legs protested it.

A low growl came from the left of him.

Jim didn’t stop moving, but he turned to peer at the forest that way. Nothing.  A shadow detached from the trees and stepped onto the road.

Shit!

He broke into a run. His legs screamed, but he ignored them as a howl rent the air.  An answering prissy girl screams in his own ears.

God, was that him?

Yes, it was. He belted out into a flat-out run for his life. For that was what he was doing; saving his skin. 

He caught sight of a light. His house! The light glinted from behind the curtain at one of the front room windows.

Thank God, if he got inside and locked the door behind him, he’d be safe. Of course, he would give a call to the police and let them know the thing that been killed all those people and pets wasn’t gone. Tomorrow, he would tell his wife they need to love into town. Forget it, move some—

SMACK!

“Hell,” he cursed, “that hurts.”

Hurt? He felt sure that he’d broken his nose, running right into his front door. He wondered why Tillie hadn’t opened the door and hissed at him to get inside. But she hadn’t. What a time for her to go to bed. She had nagged about him going out, that it was not safe to do so, but then, she doesn’t even remain up until he made it back home, safe and sound.

Fumbling in his pockets, he found the pack of cigarettes that had foolishly drawn him out tonight, a lighter, and nothing else. No wallet, no keys.

Damn it—he must have left all his keys dangling from the ignition in his dead car and the wallet on the seat. Dead car? If he didn’t get inside, he might be dead as the junk heap. With a frantic hitch in his breathing, he tried the door knob, but the door refused to open. A dumb idiot to boot, he didn’t leave a key hidden outside, just in case. He darted over to the front room windows, fumbling with them, but none would lift up so he could climb inside. He got all way to the back. Put his hand on the knob of the back door, knowing it was futile as the howling grew closer. Twisted. . .

The door creaked open.

Oh God, oh God! Jim bolted in and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it and sliding the deadbolt home.  He backed away from the door, waiting for something to ram against it. When nothing did and the howling cut off, he backpedaled through the doorway into his living room. A light glowed from a lamp by the window and he switched it off. No need to alert the thing outside of any presence in the home as it was.

God. Tillie. What about his wife? He crept down the hallway, not turning on the light, and pushed open the bedroom door.

He stood in the doorway. Strange. Even when she’d gotten mad as soaked bear, she never shut the bedroom door on him. After what his life had been like earlier, he needed a cigarette. He took one out of the pack with a shaking hand, almost dropping it, but he didn’t and lit it, drawing the taste into his mouth before he blew out a ring or two. Tillie would kill him for smoking in their bedroom. With a shrug, he stepped inside. Heard the door slammed shut behind him and he turned. He thought he saw a shadow, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Tillie?”

A low growl that grew louder. His heart thumped like a rabbit pursued by a fox as he sweated. He reached over to the lamp on the bedstead near him. The light flooded the room, washing over what stood by the closed door.

It looked like Tillie and yet, it didn’t.  A mouth full of fangs too big for it, red eyes and a flat nose, with Neanderthal brows hung over the features like a hanging cliff. Claws like knives sprouted from her fingers and toes. Nude, she felt no sexual want at her form, for raggedy fur scattered over her skin.

“I told you to stay home, but no, you had to feed your addiction for smokes.” His wife's voice more growly and deep, and he admitted it, downright frightening. “Mother said not to marry a human, but did I listen? No. She said they were filthy, with their drinking and smoking. I thought you were different. I fought my old urges. Even when I heard Mother’s howls at night. Calling to me to come join her.” She shook her head and for a minute, despite her horrible visage, she almost looked like the old Tillie he had married. But only for a second as her face hardened. “Guess you can’t change a human and not even a troll either. I am finding I can’t control my need for raw human flesh just as you can’t stop smoking those nauseous cigarettes.

“Mother was right. Humans are only good for one thing. Food. She told me to never marry what you eat.”

Jim screamed, the sound growing shriller as she leapt onto him and bit his throat. His blood flowing and his fingers numbing, the burning butt dropped from them into the rug below.

A fire lit in the fibers. It raged as she dragged him outside to where another troll waited beneath a giant tree. Jim heard the screams of a fire engine in the distance as both started gnawing on him. Or maybe it was his own waning screams?

As darkness overcame him, he thought, Tillie always said smoking would kill me.

Supernatural Friday: “eBay Purchase” by Pamela K. Kinney

Enjoy my original short story. Share the link with friends and not the story itself, as it is copyrighted by me. Thank you. 

“eBay Purchase”

By

Pamela K. Kinney

         Judy Linnea watched as her husband set down the jack-o-lantern on the front porch. He stood up and stretched, then sauntered back inside the house. Peter took his dark hooded sweatshirt out of the hall closet and slipped it on. He turned to her. She saw nothing on his face but a blank page, a few wrinkles and a graying five-o’clock shadow the only thing written on it.

“Heading out again, Peter?” she asked sarcastically. “You never stay home with me anymore.”

A strange little grin flitted across his lips. For a minute a chill raced up her spine, but she shook it off. No way would the man hurt her.
“What’s the matter, Judy? Do you think I seeing another woman or something?”
She snorted. “You? Magic would be a more real possibility, then your lazy butt cheating on me!”

The strange smile grew wider, as if only he got the joke. Not even pausing to give her a kiss on the cheek, he stepped past her and went outside. The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

Judy stared at the door, shocked. Least he’s always gave me a kiss before. What’s the matter with him these days?

Actually, he’d been acting strange ever since he had brought home that pumpkin the day before Halloween a week ago, carved a face on it and set it out on the porch on Halloween, all lit up. Funny thing, he removed it the day after, and didn’t throw it in the trash as usual, but took it indoors. Until today when he put it back out. Very strange behavior, even for him.

Well, whatever’s up his butt would have to be puzzled out later.  She had cookies to bake. Just before she could head to the kitchen a woman’s giggle came to her ears. The sound came from outside, just outside the front door, if she thought about it. Frowning, Judy opened the door and stared through the screen door.

Empty. Only the porch furniture and the damned pumpkin. Judy was about to shut the door when someone giggled again. 

“What the . . .”

Puzzled, she realized the sound came from the top of the porch steps. Except no one stood there, only the pumpkin. Judy shoved the screen door open and stepped out. 
She stood next to the jack-o-lantern, staring down at its face that Peter had carved into it. Eyes like mirthful crescents, the nose, an upside down triangle, and the mouth was a slash so malignant that for a moment she shivered and took a step back.

Another giggle filled the air. In dawning horror, she realized that it came from the jack-o-lantern. Something slithered up one side, long and black-green.

“Oh God, a snake!” Where was freaking Peter when she needed him? She hated snakes.

Judy tripped over her feet and landed on her butt. Her face was close to the slithering thing that curled around the orange flesh of the jack-o-lantern. She noticed that the ‘snake’ had tiny red horns that rose from the top of its head and as its yellow eyes stared into hers, a tiny red flame issued from its opened maw.

She screamed, trying to scramble to her feet and failing. The creature hissed, more flames filling the air along with the sound—the thud-thud of something pounding from inside the pumpkin.

The jack-o-lantern split apart, and pieces fell onto the top porch step in front of it. A miniscule body, dressed in a tattered crop top, denim shorts and green sandals staggered out, a tiny sledgehammer gripped in her minute hands. I was a woman with orange eyes and blonde hair, all in a Barbie doll face. She gazed up at Judy.

“What the hell are you?” asked Judy, unable to move a muscle. Had this creature hypnotized her?

The woman gave a nasty smile.

“I’m Peter’s new wife.”

“Excuse me?”

“Peter realized that your software program that came with the package of tomato seeds he had bought last spring was defective. But the seller on eBay who sold him this pumpkin said to carve it and insert the new software program, then right-click, and I would come alive. I’m to replace you.” 

“Come on, we have to hurry, as Peter is expecting a dinner of steak and mashed potatoes with home baked pumpkin pie tonight when he gets home. I need to get to the store.” 

Judy’s vision wavered and she tried to stand, but found that her legs wobbled like rubber. Her vision dimmed but she saw another odd thing about the jack-o-lantern that she hadn’t noticed before. A long, white line attached to a two-button computer mouse snaked from behind the jack-o-lantern.

That’s when she fell into a long dark corridor of nothingness.

                                      ****

Judy regained consciousness and found herself lying on something red. In fact, everything looked red from top to bottom and side to side. The whole room seemed circular and empty of furniture. She stood, her legs still shaky.

To her horror, she saw a giant, feminine face with pumpkin orange eyes staring at her through a large, gaping hole in the red wall in front of her. 

“Oh God, where am I?” asked Judy.

“Why, in the jack-o-lantern, of course!” said the face in a booming voice.

The face vanished when Judy heard the thunderous footsteps of some giant. 

“Peter! It worked!” The female voice.

“It did?” Peter’s voice hit the air like a sonic boom.

The next moment his dove-gray eyes peering through the hole at her. 

“Comfy?” he said. “Good.”

She ran to the hole and poked her head out to look up at him towering over her like a skyscraper. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He didn’t answer, but he leaned over to pick up the mouse she had seen earlier, only now it was way bigger. “I have to save you into the program.”

He right-clicked the mouse and all went blank for Judy.

                                      ****

Peter took the CD and shoved it into a drawer full of other CDs, each with a woman’s name on it. He turned to his new wife. 

“The program better work right this time, or I’ll not be buying any more programmable wife software off eBay. Understand?”

His new wife flashed him a nervous smile and patted her hair with a shaking hand before she leaned over to give him a kiss. 

Supernatural Friday: Snow Angel (Original Story)

Since a nasty snowstorm is suppose to hit my area, I thought to post again my short fantasy story, "Snow Angel." 

You never know what a snowstorm may bring with it.

(This story is copyrighted, so just share the link if you want others to read it.)

Snow Angel

By

          Pamela K. Kinney

I remember that winter night when I saw the snow angel. It had just started to snow after supper, about six o’clock. Thanks to the weather, when the sky would have been just turning dusk, instead darkness covered the scene like a shadow.

Pressing my face against the ice-cold glass of the large picture window in the living room, I watched the snow falling in the dark. It was illuminated by an eerie kind of ghost-light. At least that’s how I thought of it.

Silence. The only movement came from a lone cat struggling through the drifts to disappear down a storm drain across the street. 

I sensed rather than heard someone behind me. I blew out my breath, fogging the glass.

“Mom, it’s time for bed.”

My daughter, Marie. Of course, who else would it be, since I lived with her and her husband, Andy?

I looked over my shoulder at her. “This feels like a reversal of when you wanted to stay up later. Remember those days?”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Mom, but the doctor gave me strict instructions that you get enough rest.”

Grumbling, I moved away and headed down the hallway to my bedroom, Marie close on my heels. Not caring, I shrugged off my clothes and flung them to the floor. Marie flashed frustration on her face, but stooped and picked up the clothing, tossing it in a hamper nearby, snatching my nightgown and slipping it on. I ducked beneath the soft pink blanket on my bed. My daughter leaned over to give me a kiss on my cheek. Feather-soft, her lips tickled my skin.  

“’Night,” she said, her voice a whisper, “and dream of snow angels dancing in the snow.”

“That’s silly,” I said. “I only told you that story when you were a kid to get you to sleep during the night. It was my way of getting you to not worry about monsters in closets or under your bed.”

“There are all kinds of angels in Heaven, Mom. The snow angel is God’s own special answer to make sure that snow falls just right so that children will have a wonderful winter world to marvel at.” She stroked my hair. “Least that’s how you explained it to me. Now go to sleep.” 

She left me alone. I didn’t feel somnolent.  Instead I never felt so wide awake.

I slipped out of bed and sat on the window seat by my bedroom window. I peered through the glass and tried not to smog it up with my breath, hoping the snowflakes were still lit up with that odd glow. Thank goodness, they still were.

Just then, I noticed a dark shadow moving in the distance, outlined by the glow, too. Flickering off and on like a shorted bulb, it appeared to be gliding closer and closer to the house. I rubbed my eyes, thinking they were playing tricks on me. But when I took my hands away, something peered back at me from the other side of the window, and it was not my own reflection! 

Heart pounding, I toppled off the window seat. Its head—at least I assumed that was its head—popped through the glass as if it were water and looked down at me. Twin orbs of icy-blue glowed from that dark visage. The glow grew brighter and brighter. Unable to move or speak, I fell into that glow and a sense of peace and warmth filled me. I stood. 

“Who are you?” I whispered.

Silence.  It slid its head back through the window. I got the feeling that it wanted me to join it outside. Not even stopping for a robe or shoes, I unlatched my window and shoved it and the screen up. Frigid air invited itself in and I shivered, but I still climbed out. I dropped down into a soft drift of snow piled beneath my window. To my surprise, I didn’t feel the cold snow squished between my toes and the freezing wind of the blizzard biting into my exposed skin. A warmth filled me, and, feeling giddy, I danced through the snow, laughing. 

My visitor took my hands, and I stopped dancing and looked up at it. It loomed over me, the ghost-light revealing a long figure of ice and snow. Its wings, made not of feathers but icicles, chimed like church bells. The being was glorious and terrifying at the same time. I wasn’t frightened. 

“You’re a snow angel, aren’t you?” I asked breathlessly. “A real snow angel.”

It just pressed me against it. Together, arm in arm, we danced a waltz through the snowflakes. We seemed to be floating on air. Magical, like Christmas morning or that first kiss. 

There was nothing to fear, and, when the angel offered, I let it fly me up, up, through swirling snowflakes, high above the neighborhood.

****

At first I never gave a thought to my family. But when I heard the screaming and crying from far away, it drew me back. I peeked at the scene below. Morning had dawned and the snow stopped. Something small and indistinct dressed in a pink nightgown lay blanketed by snow right under my bedroom window. 

The window was still propped open. Marie dropped to her knees in the snow and snatched up that still form, screaming and crying. Andy stood over her, talking on his cell phone. 

Marie stared up at the sky. She acted like she couldn’t see me. But I saw her tear-stained face and the pain in her eyes. “Why, God, why?”

I wanted to go to her, but I felt a touch on my shoulder and I looked to see the snow angel hovering beside me. It held out a hand. I took it.

I looked back at Marie and said, “It’s all right, everything’s all right.”

Ready now? 

I nodded with a smile. We rose higher and higher and passed through a tear in the sky that appeared.  The tear closed behind us and I passed through shining gates, entering the snowy fields of Heaven.

Supernatural Friday: By Midnight (Free Short Story)

 

Enjoy my original short Christmas horror tale. It is copyrighted, so please just share the link with your friends so they can come and read it here.

By Midnight (Copyright by Pamela K. Kinney)

You better watch out, you better not cr. . . .

A strange jabbering awoke her from her nightmare. Mrs. Piers sat up and switched on the lamp on the bedstead next to her bed. Light flowed over her and the bed, banishing the darkness back to the corners of her bedroom. The only other light came from moonbeams stretching fingers through the glass of her bedroom window.

Nothing. Must have been a revenant from the nightmare. She stared at the clock. Shoot! She’d overslept. The woman leaped out of bed, showered, and dressed in her custodial uniform.

It was Christmas Eve, but that didn’t matter, as she was scheduled to work tonight. It was  the only way she was able to get Christmas day off. As she walked into the eat-in kitchen, her daughter, Jenny brought  bowls of chicken noodle soup to the table. Both sat and began to eat, though Jenny only ate a few spoonfuls of soup.

Mrs. Piers lost her husband a year ago and had to go to work to pay the mortgage on the house and to support both her and Jenny. Luckily, she saw the ad for someone needed to clean the local hospital during third shift and when she applied, she got it. That meant leaving her daughter alone in the house at night. A pretty teenage girl going through changes due to puberty could get into trouble, at least that's what her friends told her. But Jenny had proved them wrong, as she never gotten into trouble.

Tonight though was Christmas Eve. Jenny promised she would go to bed early after watching It's A Wonderful Life on TV, as she admitted to feeling ill all day. Jenny handed Mrs. Piers her purse and bagged lunch, and followed her mother to the front door.

Mrs. Piers couldn't put her finger on why she didn't want to leave Jenny alone tonight as usual. “I feel uneasy about leaving you alone tonight.”

“Goodnight, Mom.” Jenny opened the door. “I’ll make sure the place is locked up tight. Geesh! I’m sixteen, not a little kid.” She shook her head. “What do you think could happen?”

Mrs. Piers reminded her. “There have been those people that vanished.”

 

The girl snorted. “That was last Christmas and they were homeless people that disappeared from a shelter downtown, not teenagers. There’s been nothing since. The police even said they think the men just sneaked out of the shelter and took off for parts unknown.”

Mrs. Piers needed to get to work, so she stepped out into the night. The moon and a few stars sparkled up in the black velvet of the sky. The whole street was lit up. Many houses had Christmas lights and other decorations, though they only had just a wreath on their door. Some people strolled along the neighborhood, stopping at each house to view the lights. Everything looked innocent and Christmasy. Nothing scary.

She whistled to the Christmas music that sang from her car radio as she drove to the hospital.

 

****

  As Jenny closed the door, a tease of jabbering reached her from the darkened area beneath a tree at the north side of their home. She stepped outside.

 A squirrel? This late? 

But she heard nothing further, Jenny went back inside and locked the door.  She ambled into the living room. Raps resounded on the glass of the sliding doors that led to the back yard. 

Her friends and the guys they brought were here. That was the jabbering she heard a few seconds ago. Thank God, her mother had left already. Unlocking, she let in two girls and three boys. They strolled past her into the house, carrying bags of snacks and drinks, along with stuff for entertainment. Jenny shut the door and stared as they began to set up. One of the boys carried two bags in the living room, while Lisa and the others were taking bags of chips, cans of nuts, soda, and microwave popcorn out of the other bags. The counter overflowed with it all.

Jenny thought back to the last day of school,  just before Christmas vacation.

Lisa and Debbie had approached her as she was taking things out of her locker at school and jamming it all into her bookbag.

“Hey,” said Lisa, leaning a shoulder against the locker next to Jenny’s. “Your mother works all night—right?”

Jenny slammed shut the door and slung the bookbag over one shoulder. “Yeah, but you knew that. So?”

Debbie grinned. “Well, our parents will be out at a party that night until two o’clock. Be kinda cool to have a party without adults staring over our shoulders. There are these three guys—”

Jenny finished for her, “and you and Lisa have the hots for two of them. Guess the third was dug up for me, as an incentive to have the party at my house?”

Lisa shrugged. “Well, your mom is gone all night—”

Jenny sighed.  “I don’t feel good about this, but all right.” She shook a finger. “Not all night, okay. Just ‘til midnight. You guys can just sneak back into your homes.”

Lisa grinned. “Of course, we don’t want to do it all night. Christmas is the next day and we want to be rested for that. Besides our parents will be home by 2 a. m., so midnight is great.”

For two days, Jenny had been worried about agreeing. Worse, all day today, she had not been feeling good. She was not able to eat much, except soup, and she stayed in her room most of the day, with her stomach twisted into tight knots. About an hour ago, her stomach had settled down. 

It was only until midnight. She could handle that. It’s not as if there would be alcohol.  

One of the boys--a tall, gangling one-- laughed, as he lifted a six-pack of beer out of a grocery bag. Another boy, dressed all in black and sporting earrings in his big ears, nose, and even his lower lip, laughed too. His laugh sounded like the braying of a donkey.

Jenny’s stomach boiled as she fought not to run to the bathroom. She stomped over to Lisa and Debbie who were opening packages of cookies and bags of chips as they gossiped.

She grabbed Lisa’s arm, snarling. “You didn’t say there would be alcohol.”

Lisa glanced with disinterest as the boy withdrew another six-pack of beer. “Well. . .I never said there wouldn’t be. John’s adult brother got them for him at the liquor store tonight.”

Debbie piped up. “It’s not like we’ll get drunk on twelve cans of beer, Jenny.”

Debbie wasn’t the brightest girl in town. As Jenny remembered the incident with Debbie and the horse last year,  maybe not even in the whole world.

She sighed. “All right, but be forewarned, first time anyone starts to act drunk, the party is over and everyone goes home.”

Lisa shrugged a shoulder. “Sure. That’s doable.”

Lisa popped in a DVD of a Christmas comedy she brought, and both she and Debbie settled on the couch, a boy nestled against them. Lisa got John, who was the tall, gangling type with the beer, while Debbie got Roy, plump and dumb. Jenny ended up with Spider. Spider was the goth. She thumped down in the chair that matched the couch, but Spider slithered in like a snake about to snatch its next victim, sliding his arms round her so Jenny moved to the floor. Unfortunately, so did Spider.  He looped an arm around her.

“You know why they call me Spider?” he whispered into her ear. “It’s like I got eight arms.”

It felt like he had eight hands too. They slid up and down her body, searching for permanent places to nest. Like her breasts, and other unmentionable spots.

She hissed in his ear, digging an elbow into his ribs. “Hands to yourself. I don’t know you well enough for you to do that. Want my opinion?  That will be never. Understand?”

He glowered as he snatched the bottle of beer. “Your friends didn’t say you be a class A bitch.”

He took a swig of the beer and ignored her after that, staring at the television. Which was fine with her. Jenny rose to her feet and headed for the kitchen to get herself a bottle of soda and some snacks.

Alone, she opened the fridge and peeked in when she heard a sound. Closing the door, she listened and heard it again. It sounded like someone saying something, except Jenny couldn’t catch the words. It came from where the bedrooms were. Jenny stared down the shadow-dark hallway. A chill skittered up her spine. The only people in the house were her and her guests.

The jabbering grew a little louder. Now, it sounded like there was a crowd back in wither hers or her mother’s bedroom. She realized that it sounded like the noise she had heard from outside earlier, before her friends had come.

She jumped when something touched her back. Her pounding heart slowed when she realized it was Spider. His empty bottle hanging limp from his fingers, the boy’s brow knitted together.

“What’s going on?” He peered down the hall. “I thought we were the only people tonight? Your mother's working, right?”

Jenny rubbed her arms with her hands, as the coldness seeped inside her. “She is. We are.”

“Hey, what’s going on? Sneaking off to do some necking?” Lisa and Debbie, plus their guys, joined them.

Spider pointed with the neck of his  bottle at the hallway. “No. Doesn’t that sound like people are talking back there?”

Debbie bit her lip. “Really?” She turned to Jenny. “I thought you said your mom was at work.”

Jenny spat out. “She is. We’re supposed to be the only living bodies in the house tonight.”

Debbie giggled. “Cool. Maybe it’s ghosts.”

Lisa snorted. “There are no such things as ghosts, dummy. It’s just Jenny playing a trick on us.” She merged with the darkness as she walked down the hallway. “I’ll prove it. Hey, John, coming?”

John asked, “You sure you want me? I mean, I doubt there’s anything back there.” He gave Spider a nasty glance. “Spider watches too many horror flicks, you ask me.” But when Lisa told him to catch up, he hustled to join her..

 

Jenny heard the rustling of their clothing, their footsteps barely audible on the carpeted floor. The house grew quiet, as even the voices stopped. She back stepped until she found her back against Spider’s front. His odor flowed over her. He stunk of sweat, some male cologne and . . . . fear? 

Wait a moment. How would she know what fear smelled like?

Lisa called out. “Hey, there’s a glow coming from a bedroom back here. It looks like—“

Silence. Nothing from her or John.

Debbie called out. “Lisa? Lisa?” Roy yelled, “Yo, John!”

Lisa didn’t answer. Neither did John.

Jenny’s nerves stretched. She was ready dial call 911 on her cell phone. But she didn’t. Debbie, along with Roy and Spider tiptoed to where Lisa and John had went. Spider obviously did not want to, but Roy dug his fingers into the thinner boy’s shoulder and forced him.

Jenny called out. “Come back. I’m going to call the—“

Suddenly, screams and growls rent the air. Frightened, and not even looking back, Jenny bolted, snatching  the house keys. She ran out of the house, not even shutting the door behind her.

Breathing heavy, she stopped on the sidewalk and stared back at the looming darkness of the open doorway. Nothing surged out of it, not the others or whatever had gotten them. With a shaking hand, she called her mother at the hospital. After she got off the phone, she felt pain wash over her. Smells rushed at her. One tasted on iron on her tongue as she drooled. Confused and hurting, she leaned against a car parked on the street. Until she realized it was Lisa’s car, then she stumbled across the street. She stayed there.

Thirty minutes later her mother drove up and after parking the car in the driveway, she crossed the street to join Jenny. Her daughter hugged her, crying. “Mom, something’s in the house, and it got Lisa and Debbie.”

Her mother rubbed her back. “You allow them in the house?”

Jenny sniffed. “Yeah. I did, and thry had brought three guys with them, to have a party at our house." She shivered. "Something has gotten them, and it’s my fault.”

Her mother nodded. “It is, Jenny. Mine, too.”

Jenny stepped away from her mother. The light from the moon above revealed that her face seemed odd.  “What do you mean?”

“After your father died, I was called back to my people. But they wouldn’t allow you to come with me. I couldn’t leave you. They said you’re a halfling. That you couldn’t survive in my world. But I noticed you have some of my powers, something most halflings never inherit from a full-blood. I remained here. I got a job to support us, but I still worried about leaving you alone as you were entering puberty and with puberty for a fey, the changes come. I couldn't be sure how much power you might have once the change is complete. Some of my people came to stay with us.”

“What do you mean? I never saw anyone but us in the house since Daddy died. What’s a fey?”

Her mother crossed her arms. “That’s because of the glamour. Like what I use to keep me appearing human to humans, like your father. A fey is another word for what humans call fairies. I am part of one race of the Sidhe. We can change shape with will, besides having other powers.”

Her mother’s form began to short out like a television reception. Where her mother had stood, a tall, pale being with shimmering hair that fell to its feet towered over her. It gave a parody of a smile, revealing a mouthful of cannibal sharp fangs. “I saw your father from a distance when he was hiking with friends in the mountains and I fell in love with him. So I stepped from my world into his, changed my looks, and made him fall in love with me. I don’t need to feed most of the year what my kind subsist on normally, but on Christmas Eve, before midnight, the hunger calls to me. So I would sneak out to hunt my prey as your father slept deeply due to enchantment. It grew worse when I became pregnant with you. I had to feed for two then.”

Her mother snatched her up and they flew to the house, entering. The door slammed shut behind them without a sound. Jenny was let go and she found herself standing over Spider. A crowd of beings like her mother surrounded them, blood on their lipless mouths and bare skin. Her mother pointed at the scared boy.

“You’re half fey, dear, and you must eat the right food tonight to survive. Just as our relatives had gnawed on your friends. Just as I fed on a dying person at the hospital earlier tonight. Your magic is growing stronger each day and if you don’t feast on human flesh before the first strike of midnight, you will burn up. Don’t you feel the heat in you now? It’s our particular type of fairies’ Christmas curse. If your friends hadn't come here tonight, I would have brought you home another person dying at the hospital.”

Jenny felt the fire roaring inside.  She stared down at Spider. and saw how large and rounded his eyes had become. His fear rushed up her nostrils like an overpowering perfume. The pulse at his throat drew her eyes. It teased her, begged her to take a bite. But his hands interested her more. Spider had wanted his hands on her earlier that night. She had said no then. Why not have them in a place where they should? Like her mouth? In her stomach. Yes.

With a smile, Jenny leaned over, her jaws popping to accommodate the feeding. She grabbed Spider’s hands as he tried to scream and move, but couldn’t, thanks to the magic she used.

His hands tasted delicious when they were in the right spot. Like down her throat and in her tummy.