#deadbytbr

[alicewhitesblog]

[alicewhitesblog]

[alicewhitesblog]

Shapes by Alice White

Daisy was lying on her back, with one eye shut, she pointed with her index finger skyward. Methodically, tracing the outline of a cat.

“What are you doing?” enquired Dylan looking up from his book.

“Can’t you see it?”

“See what?” he said looking up into the white clouds.

“The cat!”

“Aaaarggh! I can’t see anything now!”

Dylan was too late in shielding his eyes as the sun burst through the clouds.

Daisy ignored him shifting herself away from the sun to stare at another piece of sky. “It’s gone now anyway.”

Dylan rubbed his eyes. “What’s gone?”

“The cat, it's now turned into Mrs Fraser.”

“Who’s Mrs Fraser?”

“My history teacher, Oh! Look, there is a cloud like that boy from No Direction!”

He tried to see the shapes in the clouds that Daisy was pointing out to him, but he didn’t share the imagination of his ten-year-old sister. He was the academic type and being five years older than her needed to get back to his textbook. The exams were only three weeks away.

Daisy fell quiet as she continued to find all manner of celebrities in the clouds above her while Dylan returned to his books.

After what seemed like twenty minutes Daisy suddenly called out, “Dylan you really have got to see this, it’s wonderful!”

He rolled his eyes and put down his book. He wasn’t annoyed with his sister, to be honest he could do with a rest. “What have you seen now?”

Sliding up to her, he too was now lying on his back looking up at the clouds. Straight away he saw what his sister was pointing about.

High up in the sky was another cloud that looked different from the standard cumulonimbus. It was darker in colour and seemed to be moving in the opposite direction to all the other clouds!

The dark cloud soon began to take on a new form twisting and stretching into the shape of a giant bird. It was like watching the birth of a new creature!

With his eyes still on the cloud, Dylan fumbled in his pocket for his phone. “I have got to take some pictures of this for the BBC Weather Watchers!”

As he continued to grope in his pockets, Daisy watched as the ‘bird cloud’ changed direction, it was now moving towards them.

Dylan took some photos and hurriedly uploaded them to the BBC website. As the last photo was uploading both him and Daisy heard what sounded like a shriek coming from the ‘bird cloud’.

By now both Daisy and Dylan were up on their feet. No need to stare into the distance. The ‘bird cloud’ was now above them! With its large bony beak, sharp talons and membrane wings, it was clear to Daisy being in Mrs Fraser history class. That what was homing in on them was not a bird but a prehistoric pterodactyl!

Daisy and Dylan had only word to say to each other.

“Run!”

[alicewhitesblog]

Lost and Found by Alice White

There is a reason why some lost should never be found.

Beth Simmons stood on the station platform, agitated. She was running late for work, as usual, and knew her boss would want to see her about her time keeping when she eventually arrived.

Once the train arrived, she almost lept through the open carriage door and immediately scanned left and right for an empty seat. Surprisingly, for a busy carriage she found one. Sitting near the window she watched as the station rolled by to be replaced with the back gardens of the houses that bordered the railway track. Soon, they became a blur as the train picked up speed.

Putting her bag on the only available seat next to her, she saw that a child had left behind their doll. Picking it up, it reminded her off the dolls she had as a child. Only this one looked a bit distressed. Its black hair was long and unkept. It wore a long purple and green stripe dress, purple tights with black pointed shoes.

Then looking at its white plastic face, Beth could see it had been bashed in. It was missing an eye and there were cracks down its cheeks. Either it had been ran over by a vehicle or the child had a temper tantrum.

Nevertheless, it was probably missed by a child, so she would hand it in to the lost property office when she got off the train. Beth placed the doll in her bag and spent the rest of the journey thinking up another excuse for being late.

If only she liked working at Transcorp, maybe she'd find the enthusiasm to be on time. Then, subconsciously she said out loud, "If only that place would burn down!"

Then a tiny voice spoke. "Your wish is my command."

Beth looked around at those in the busy carriage. But no-one was looking at her. She was about to ask if anyone had said something, when she could see the train was about to pull into her station.

Upon leaving the carriage, Beth went to the lost property office. "Yes dear?" Asked the man behind the glass screen.

Beth fumbled in her bag. "I have here..." Still pushing aside the detritus in her bag. "I thought I picked up a lost doll?"

The man behind screen said. "It's OK. If it's still on the train at the next station, the cleaning staff will pick it up."

Beth gave an embarrassed smile, turned, and walked out of the station. Now not thinking about the doll, she was preparing for the confrontation with her boss.

A little way away from the station, Beth noticed a plume of black smoke rising from a nearby building. Turning the corner she saw to her horror that it was her place of work, Transcorp!

Fire engines, rushed passed her with their sirens screaming.

Running over to where all the staff had mustered, she saw there were three fire engines already in attendance. Seeing her, Beth's boss came over to her. His face was ash grey and his white shirt, black from soot.

"Beth! You certainly picked a good day to be late again."

"What happened!" She asked.

"I was asking the team where you were. When an almighty explosion came from downstairs! Some say a generator blew up!"

Looking back at the orange flames devouring the three story building he said to her. "You may as well go back home. There is no work for you or any of us here now!"

In shock, Beth turned and walked back to the train station.

Once back in her apartment, Beth began to re-live the day. Her running late, finding a doll and then she remembers saying out loud she wanted Transcorp to burn down! Surely, that was a bizarre coincidence. Wasn't it? And that doll she was convinced she put it in her bag!

Fetching her bag she opened it up again. To her horror, she saw the doll lying there looking up!

Beth dropped the bag. It hit the floor and its contents plus the doll rolled out. The doll was face down. Beth was about to retrieve the doll when its arms moved and pushed itself onto its back. Slowly it began to sit up!

The expression on its face had changed. Now through its facial cracks, there was a smile. An evil, sinister smile. Then a voice came from its unmoving lips.

"Tut, tut. I grant you your wish and you tried to get rid of me! What kind of thanks is that. I am here to stay with you sweetheart. So long as I can see you, you can't lose me. The last person tried to blind me. But now I'm all seeing."

The doll reached across its chest and with its tiny plastic hands ripped open its dress to expose hundreds of small black eyes!

Beth screamed!

[alicewhitesblog]

Fools Gold by Alice White

Rose Blake, brought her jeep to a stop. Subconsciously she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Ignoring the satnav that always gave her wrong direction when she was looking for a site, she pulled out of her racksack various handwritten notebooks, local maps and scribbled drawings.

Rose had been in Romania for two weeks following leads about the elusive Dacian gold bracelets which resembled the Ouroboros an ancient Egyptian and Greek symbol of a snake eating itself. Symbolic of rebirth.

Her search had brought her to a remote location in Translyvania with all its folklore.

It had been a long hot summer in Romania and today was no exception. With the sun setting in the west and not much in the way of camping equipment. Rose headed for the nearby town, Sibiu.

Sibiu was on the tourist route so she didn't feel much like a foreigner. There were plenty of hotels to choose from and all reasonable priced.

It wasn't long before Rose was in her room and taking a shower. Once she was dried and dressed, she got back out of her rucksack the local map and spread it out on her bed. By her calculations, she should have been at the church of St.Dumitru Stăniloae when she stopped the jeep. Rose knew the coordinates from memory. She had studied them enough times while at her university back in England.

Her body was telling her to rest for the night and start again in the morning. But she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. So decided an evening meal downstairs in the restaurant and a trip back out tonight. With any luck, the church might be lit up for evening mass.

The restaurant wasn't too busy for a week night. She was shown to a table where a young waiter came to take her order. Rose had taken a class in basic Romania before coming here and she seemed to impress the young man with her order of Tochitura.

He smiled back and seeing the map of the area on the table with her, enquired where she was going.

Rose explained, in English this time, that she was an archeologist searching for the Dacian gold bracelets and had heard they may be found at the church of St.Dumitru Stăniloae.

Upon hearing this, the expression of the waiter changed. No longer smiling, he snatched the menu out of Rose hand and headed back to the kitchen. He returned some time later and almost threw the Tochitura at her. Before she could ask why the sudden change in attitude, the waiter was gone.

Not waiting to be asked for desert or drinks. Rose left some money on the table and headed out to her jeep.

Once behind the wheel, she again typed in the coordinates in the satnav and again it gave her a completely different direction to the one she researched. Her analytical mind told her. If she had been mistaken with her directions, maybe, just maybe, the satnav was correct. She had nothing to lose, so Rose, in the end, did follow her satnav directions.

Not long into the journey and Rose could make out ahead in the dark, tiny pin-pricks of light. It was either a farm or the church!

To her relief and surprise, it was the church. Rose pulled up in the church carpark and with a flashlight to guide her, made her way to the door.

Inside, the church was ablaze with candles. She had never seen so many and judging by the wax hardened around the base of the candlesticks. They had been burning for quite some time.

Resting her racksack on a pew, she retrieved her notebook. The notes she had made told her the bracelets would have been hidden in the crypt during the Second World War. Hiding them from both the German and Russian armies.

Rose searched around looking for a door that would lead her to the crypt. After a few attempts, she opened a door that clearly went down. Following the stone steps, Rose found herself in the crypt. Around her were the dusty tombs of Sibiu pass inhabitants. However, there was tomb that stood out from the rest. It wasn't a stone sarcophagus but instead a wooden coffin?

Intrigued, Rose went over to it. It looked like it had been recently opened. With her hands on the lid of the coffin, she gradually pushed it off.

When it hit the floor, Rose nearly followed it. What she saw inside was not the decayed remains of someone long deceased. But the body of an elderly gentleman with white hair. Wearing a black evening suit and cape. He looked as if he was asleep as opposed to being dead!

Rose was about to turn away when she spotted a golden bracelet on his left arm. It was in the pattern of a coiled snake eating it's tail. The Ouroboros! Rose had found one of the Dacian gold bracelets!

Leaning in over the coffin, she had almost taken it off the corpses arm, when a voice behind her shouted, "No! Stop!"

Rose turned to see it was the waiter from the restaurant. But it was too late for her. With the bracelet in her hand, the vampire in the coffin was free of its constraints. The bracelet was there to bind him to his coffin.

His hand grabbed Rose by the hair, pulling her neck towards his enlarged incisors!

[alicewhitesblog]

It's been a while since I posted one of my short flash fiction stories here, so enjoy the below.

The police arrived just as the paramedics were leaving. 

A 999 call was received by the emergency services at approximately 01:00am 1st November from a Mr Grove saying there had been a disturbance at number seven Walnut Tree Drive, South Kensington, London. Mr Grove requested the aid of the police and the ambulance services.

He was asked to stay on the line, but abruptly ended the call. The operator said she heard screaming in the background.

Susan Blanch sat in police interview room number five. She sat at a table nursing a cup of sweet tea being supported by a uniform police officer. Just staring into space, she still shook from the shock of what she saw at the Halloween party she threw at her house with her now deceased husband, Nigel Blanch.

The door to the interview room opened and in walked Detective Inspector Linda Jones and Detective Inspector Peter Carter. Upon seeing the two DI's, the uniform police officer left Mrs Blanch and took her place in the corner of the interview room.

"Would you like another cup of tea?" Asked DI Jones. Mrs Blanch shook her head.

The two detectives sat opposite her. "Now Mrs Blanch..." Began DI Jones.

"Susan. Please." She spoke in a croaky voice.

"Susan." Continued Jones. "You are not under arrest and so we do not advise you have a lawyer present. But if you wish, we won't object."

Susan again, shook her head.

"Also, you can leave whenever you want. OK?"

Susan nodded.

"Now Susan, we are trying to established what happened at your property between..." Carter took out his notebook, "...10pm on the 31st October and 1am on the 1st November."

Susan turned her head to face a blank wall and sighed.

"It was the most bizarre and scary thing I have ever seen in my life, and wish to never see again." Then turning back to face the two detectives. "Maybe I should have a glass of water."

Without being asked. The uniform police officer got up from her chair and left the interview room.

Susan looked down at her finger nails. Although she had been allowed to wash and get a change of clothes at the police station, there were still some dried blood under her nails.

The uniform police officer returned with the water. Susan took a sip then mumbled,"Where do I begin?"

"At the beginning?" Answered Carter.

Susan nodded.

"My husband, Nigel, loved amateur dramatics and every year he wanted to be the most scary one at our Halloween party. He went to all the theatre make-up shops to get the best products. But every year it wasn't good enough. Our guests would still recognize him.  So this year he went on the dark web."

"Just for make-up?" Asked Jones.

"He found an address just off Ludgate Hill." Continued Susan. "He said the shop was down a dark alleyway. The entrance to it was still being used as a toilet judging, he said, by the smell of urine."

"Mrs Blanch, Susan. Has this any relevance to what happened at your home. We currently have the people who attended your party divided into three categories. Walking wounded, like yourself with a bandaged arm for example. Those in hospital with multiple injuries and those in the mortuary."

"Oh! But it does have relevance. You see the make-up Nigel chose in that shop, changed him. I mean physically changed him. Nigel went as a zombie and a zombie he became. As the clock in our hallway struck midnight, Nigel started to growl and lash out. We all thought it was him being over dramatic. But when he started to bite people and drawing blood. That was going to far. People at the party tried to calm him down but all did was attack them. He had become a psychotic monster!" Susan took another drink of water.

Then continued. "In our house, Nigel was killing people! Steven Grove phoned for the police but Nigel soon was on him chewing his face off. I had to act quickly. And without thinking I grabbed the first thing I could from the kitchen."

Susan then took a deep breath. "And that is why when you came to the house my husband was lying on our living room floor with a meat cleaver buried in the top of his head!"

[alicewhitesblog]

A Punishment for Hate Mail

[alicewhitesblog]

Thanks to #deadbytbr I have discovered a new band.