The Magazine for all things horror
click on the button
below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
By Kevin Miller
As they labored along the trash-infested street, the dark sky rumbled above
them.
"Sounds like a storm's approaching," she said, her wavy red hair swaying in
the newfound breeze. "Let's eat, OK?"
He looked at her contemptuously, wanting to continue their walk. The wind
felt good and he wasn't hungry at the moment. There were bistros in
abundance but nothing to his liking.
"Why don't we keep walking? It's a nice night and the air feels good."
She looked up at her husband (although she was certainly near his stature);
a tall, lanky, bespectacled fellow who didn't smile too much. He always seemed
disinterested and she couldn't be sure what expression his face was projecting
at this moment.
"Are you sure? I'm getting kind of hungry and we've been walking for awhile.
Come on, honey. The city will still be here when our tummies are full." She
tugged at his hand, gently leading him to a place she noticed across the street.
He acquiesced and walked with her as the rain began its descent on them, at
first a drizzle but quickly turning into a pelting downpour.
**************************
Jack and Alice entered the restaurant, their hands joined together after
having endured what quickly became a violent, raucous storm. They shook
themselves off, water cascading off of them in every direction.
Through the dim light, the couple watched as a tall, slender woman suddenly
approached, her long auburn hair falling towards the floor, springing up and
down with every step. Her face was ghastly white with deep red lipstick liberally
applied to her thick, wide lips.
"Hello," she said in a surprisingly deep voice. "Welcome to our bistro. Please
follow me." She turned and whisked away before Jack or Alice could utter any
sort of response.
The couple looked at each other, a bit bewildered. They both silently
wondered why there was no name listed for this eatery. They ambled in out of
the storm and assumed it was a restaurant, but there was no name.
Tired, hungry and wet, they followed her, Jack's cumbersome shoes
squeaking with each step, water splashing out of them. The name issue was put
on the back burner, but Alice still felt nervous as well as having become
agitated. The hostess certainly could have given them more of a welcome,
perhaps a little small talk asking if they were well knowing there was a hurricane
taking place right outside her door.
They continued on. There seemed to be no end in sight. They were being
led down a long and narrow corridor. The three of them had to walk one behind
the other and contort their bodies in order to fit between the walls, which,
perhaps due to a newfound sense of paranoia, seemed to be narrowing in on
them with each anxious step.
Their leader was quickening her pace. At one point she turned back, an
eerie smile emerging from her fiery red mouth, but she quickly turned away and
continued on. A sense of urgency to depart this bistro was overwhelming and
the couple stopped in their tracks. They peered down the infinite, restrictive
passageway and saw their hostess far away, just a glimmer of that long hair
rocking up and down, side to side, but that smile was easy to distinguish over
this long distance.
Alice let out a gasp and, having been prompted, Jack did the same when they
turned to retreat and realized that the corridor they had just walked through had
disappeared. There was nothing behind them except an obstacle of some sort
that they could not ascertain the dimensions of in this foreboding light.
Now, the escort had totally vanished but instinctively they continued on as
there was no other option. Behind them another barrier suddenly materialized
("THE UNIVERSE IS CLOSING IN ON US," Alice thought wildly) impeding their exit
even more so. Resignedly, they pressed on, one behind the other, Jack's hand
reaching back for hers desperately. He found it and she tiredly let him lead her
toward their fate.
They continued that way, clammy hands embracing unyieldingly as they
moved on, that ghostly smile appearing ubiquitously and steadily. Her words,
"Welcome to our bistro," echoing in their minds without pause, futilely accepting
this as their destiny, succumbing to the notion that they might never see the light
of day again.
Through the darkness, the two edged their way forward. Their eyes darted
back and forth but, as much as they willed themselves to see, there was nothing
but blackness for them to behold.
Alice felt Jack's hand quivering so badly that she had to steady it with her own
before the grip was lost entirely. She began to whimper as he gently pulled her
hand from behind, stray sounds of desperation emerging from her.
The hostess appeared before them, directly in Jack's path. He let out a
shriek and tumbled backwards, knocking Alice to the ground, his glasses thrown
from his face. Jack stumbled over her and they were both prone, Jack's head
coming to rest on her breast. Alice fought for breath but Jack's weight was too
oppressive and she gasped for air. Jack was motionless on top of her and she
thought, "Oh God, he's had a heart attack." She was able to shift his torso
slightly and her breath now came easIer.
The ghostly figure of their hostess hovered above them,jloating in midair, her
ruby red lips twisting into a monstrous grin. "YOU HA VE ENTERED INTO A
FORBIDDEN PLACE, " she bellowed from above. "ALL THOSE WHO HA VE
CROSSED THIS THRESHOLD MAY NEVER LEA VE. "
Alice gazed at the haunting figure above her and prepared herself for
insanity. In a surreal fog and through tears of madness, she slowly extended
her arm upwards, shifting her husband as she did so. With her arm
outstretched, she suddenly felt moisture on her face. Alice withdrew her other
arm from under her husband's backside and touched her face with her hand.
She touched her trembling finger to her lips and tasted...BLOOD.
Alice stared skyward, wanting to scream but having become muted and
paralyzed. Her eyes were transfixed on the figure above, somehow having
become illuminated, and now Alice could see her reflection from the long blade
of the knife that was firmly clasped in the apparition's spectral hand.
Slowly, Alice shifted her gaze from the knife to the hostess' head and then did
scream when she saw...herself.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
