Electric Blue--LST2022

I’m so glad you answered, Nina, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you hadn’t. I really need to talk. Can we talk?

You won’t believe me when you hear this, but I won’t take that personal--I wouldn’t believe it either even if it came out of your mouth. It’s kind of one of those “you’d have to see it to believe it” things, but I have to tell someone. Please just listen and let me finish before you call me crazy. I don’t feel quite sane anymore but I don’t feel crazy either. I suppose there’s some weird limbo place where people who’ve seen too much stay, hovering on the edges of sanity.

I can’t see the parameters of our existence the same anymore. It’s that big. There’s a huge part of me that doesn’t want to burden you with this. I’ve always known you to want the truth, even if it’s ugly, over an unknown or illusion. Should I keep going? Yeah, you sure?

That infernal house you and I would whisper about and hold our breath and cross the street to avoid is now a smoking pit--fitting considering what a hell hole it was…wait, no…

I’m getting ahead of myself--God it’s hot in here. One sec, I gotta sit down. Feel like passing out. Yeah, I’m good now. Thanks.

Nina, all those childhood rumors and fears were true. The woods, the river, the wilderness beyond town which we eventually shied away from did not swallow up our friends, they got lured in and lost behind those mouldering walls. I can’t stop shuddering when I think about all those times passing that damned spot unaware of the horror hidden within. What happened to our friends ….

I’m okay. It’s just pretty intense, pretty awful and we were just little kids….

The summer Drew and little Mattie disappeared was so good before it all turned so bad. My last summer as a kid. Do you remember? That night behind the concession stand at the Little League? That was my first kiss and I was electrified for days to follow though I tried to play it cool. It seemed as if there was a thunderstorm every night that June, but that night I felt blue charge everywhere and the rain streamed down in torrents. I got home soaked and I didn’t even know it till my mom lit into me for dripping all over her special rug. I still love you for that kiss.

Few weeks later came that storm which had everyone talking. The night lightning struck that old abandoned hell hole with a flash like Armageddon and split the old oak out back in two; the night our childhood ended. When Drew and Mattie left the park after a game of night capture the flag and the storm barreled in like a train but we’d have no reason to fear, until their mom and dad came by in a panic saying they’d never made it home.

Mr and Mrs Spencer never really made it past that night. They kind of lived stuck there, reliving the casual “goodbye, love you” Mrs. Spencer threw at their hastily retreating backs, Mr. Spencer living the abject hopelessness, the uselessness of his above average strength and courage in the face of his childrens’ sudden, inexplicable absence, his failure to protect. You remember they moved away within the year. They always seemed to be faraway after that night.

Four more kids gone that autumn. Other families followed the Spencers. And of course you remember…
yeah, you were next. That really hurt. All that hurt so much but without you everything around felt like a ghost town. Too many memories. Not enough new stuff happening. And a kind of hush over the whole town. I wish we’d left, too. I did leave, eventually. Mom got sick a few years later, cancer took her, but dad stayed put in that home where he’d still be today if a stroke didn’t take him too last year. Thanks, Nina, I know you always liked him. He adored you, too, I know he saw you a bit like a daughter, being how we were inseparable from before we could remember.

I’m almost done. Thank you for listening. This is where the horror really begins. The first thing I want to convey is the horrible pull the place has. I walked past the place for what would have been one of the final times--I was back in town finalizing the sale of our house and nearly made a clean breakaway.

Anyway, this house. I glanced over and for a second it looked huge again, how it looked to us when we were tiny. The black from inside was an almost pulsating, living thing. In fact the whole house looked as if it were breathing. Why would I go in? I mean obviously there was nothing appealing about the scene, bathed in the impartial blue of the moon. Yet the tug; I was a hapless wave being drawn up and in by an invisible pull. Behind me I heard a deep and ominous rumble. “Come in from the storm”-- a voice which didn’t seem to originate from me but sounded like me popped into my head. I could see the door was cracked open. The boards appeared to be gone completely in places.

Ah Nina, inside everything was wrong, decaying, warped. I still smell the stench of death and mildew and dust along with something sour and another, animal like undertone. My heart thudded down to my stomach and my skin flushed, and well I knew then there were things worse than death. Something growled from the corner and I watched the floors shift and some crooked thing straighten. I tripped while turning back and saw the mirror.

Full length, ornately framed, a window into the abyss of madness. In the vivid red light of two warped suns, the ground looked sinewy and alive, and twisted growths which protruded from its fleshy surface appeared to be almost half human half tree, with thick trunks and roots but arms and faces screaming in silent agony. Rivulets of red viscous steaming liquid ran through the scarred earth. Steaming geysers bellowed black oily smoke and boiling fountains.

And there, off to the side, huddled a small group of eight children. The tiniest was little Mattie. I knew her instantly-her tear stained face turned and I swear she saw me. I saw something that looked like hope then heard that thing behind me. Something grabbed me like a vice I heard a ripping sound then my shoulder felt flaming hot and wet and I looked down at a tear to the bone.

Suddenly, don’t ask me why Nina, but I remembered that kiss--that electric lightning, that summer baptism. Then I saw little Mattie waving, saw those big dark eyes before she turned around and trotted off after her brother.

The room began to crackle. I faced the thing with rotting lopsided features, the abomination from some hellish place, which came through some forgotten door which violated natural law, the monster which stole my friends and trapped them in time.

“Be strong. This rip in the fabric was never intended to be. We are here to mend what we can and set things straight”

This voice shot straight through me. The creature cowered and snarled. I was enveloped in a bright flash; the force threw me out and back and when I opened my eyes everything was black. I mean entirely black. Whatever that was which struck that creature struck me blind. I’m told my eyes are a beautiful electric glacial blue now, but they’re useless to me.

I might not have called you if not for the tiny hand which, out of the darkness, grasped my hand warmly and the sweet little girl voice whispering in my ear “you saved us.. thank you. Thank you. Noah, now we can be free!”


Photo by Christie Lee Rogers
The End

Well done! So powerful and moving; you're a very talented writer!

a reply to: nugget1

Thank you for the compliment! This site and our lovely community is the reason I feel so inspired to write and confident in sharing.

Appreciate your submission.


Good Luck in the Contest!
Johnny

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

Thanks Johnny! Cheers!

Loved it!❤

Well written and a great story

a reply to: AccessDenied

I'm glad you enjoyed the read

Thank you, AD!!

a reply to: 727Sky

Thank you for checking it out! I'm happy you liked the read. That was a fun one to write.

a reply to: zosimov


That flowed effortlessly, you're a very good story teller.

a reply to: 19Bones79

This was a really nice comment to read. Thank you!

a reply to: zosimov

You're very welcome, me I'm still waiting for the muse to hit me with a blunt object.

a reply to: 19Bones79

It took me a lil while And one thing I've noticed about my last two efforts is that I can start based on a premise without knowing where the story's gonna lead. That was a fun realization for me.

Looking forward to your story when it comes!!

a reply to: zosimov

Count-Floyd would qualify that story as scary-scary stuff !!

Great stuff !

Like you : was also sure about having seen the 100-word limit in the Official-thread, and even went-back there to see : that it was no-longer there ...

The Mandellla-Effect strikes again !

a reply to: Nothin

Thanks for the soundtrack

I'm glad you got a bit of a scare. Most of my favorite short stories are horror based, and it's really fun to try to write a few spooky tales too.

Have a good one, my friend!!