I’ve been dead for about seventeen minutes, give or take, but who’s counting any more right?
How do I know I’m dead right now though?
I know because I’m staring at my body, well sort of. But what more proof do you need?
I’m standing outside, in my back garden looking at where my killer stuffed me. The green general waste bin lid is only half closed and the black bag containing parts of me is poking out.
No one is aware I’m gone yet.
They’ll know soon enough though.
Why did this happen? I don’t know.
Why am I still here? No idea.
I feel adrift. Like I’m here, but not really. I can see things around me. Grey and black shadows with no real shapes. I can’t actually feel anything. I don’t like it.
I hear a sound.
I look around, trying hard to see through the mist that’s gathering around me. I go to the kitchen window and pass right through it when all I meant to do was peer inside. I turn and twist wildly, not understanding, but realising I’m now inside.
The sound comes again. Footsteps, a door closing.
My killer is still here!
I sense him, but I don’t know how. I just know he’s upstairs right now. I go, tracking him whilst all the while this mist weighs heavily on me. I almost feel like something is pulling me back, but I fight against it. I must see what he’s doing!
In the spare bedroom I find him. He is standing on the rug. Blood, my blood! dripping from the curved knife he was holding in gloved hands. He’s dressed all in black leather, like a motor biker. Only he’s not. I can’t see him clearly, he’s just an outline of red and black waves pulsing off him.
I try to reach for the knife then him, but my hands pass through him! It’s like he’s not there. Or I’m not…
Then I hear the front door and voices. I listen, but can’t make anything out. I sense a woman and two kids. My wife and children…
I leave and go downstairs. Have to warn them! They need to get out! I rush past things, making a breeze in my wake that moves papers, light shades and doors. Where are they? I can hear them, but they are not in any of the rooms.
Desperately, I search. I scream and scratch the walls.
‘Get out!’ I shout.
I don’t hear my voice, so I try again and again.
I fly around the house like a storm. Things get knocked over, smashes. I tip chairs and tables over. Strength I never had alive racing through me. Anger pounding inside of me, madness over taking.
I scream and scream. Try to rip my hair out. Try to squeeze my head in. All this rage!
I sit down. No voices, no sound, no sensing anyone.
My hands are red…
There’s blood around me. Splashed drops, smear lines, half of a hand print on a family photo.
What happened?
I try hard to think. Think about the events, about my family. I can’t grasp it and everything is tumbling away from me like a waterfall. The mist presses on me, all I can see is black. I let it take me. I have no choice.
This story was inspired by a prompt from here; http://www.everywritersresource.com/10-even-more-horrifying-horror-story-prompts/
The Story Files 