365 Horror Shorts Vol. 2

 There once was a man who was incredibly sick. Sicker than anything you could imagine. Pounding headaches, a constant running nose, coughing until he could no longer speak. His skin and bones ached as if needles constantly poking at each nerve in his body. But the sickness is nothing temporary, for this man had been sick his entire life. And when he went to seek out help... Let's just say, things couldn't have gotten worse. It was an autumn afternoon. A clouded sky loomed overhead, making giving the cooled air and added chill. Dead leaves scattered the ground, varying colors of each would be crunching under the feet of any passers by. Any leaves refusing to fall simply painted the trees in beautiful shades or reds and golds. Passing by the man was a simple gust of wind, enough to tussle the nearby leaves, making him away of his surroundings, despite the pain. See, it was hard for the man to focus on many things. With the astounding and overwhelming amount of things his bo...

 I took off my apron and grabbed my bag from the hook on the far side of the wall. I breathed a sigh of relief and left my job for the day. Or at least I tried before my boss stopped me. "Hey," he started, his heavy Italian accent making him stumble over his words. "I know you've been under a lot of stress lately. I want you to take a few days off and get some rest." He patted my shoulder. "But I don't think I can afford to-" I started before being cut off. "It'll be fine," he said. "Consider it a paid vacation. You need it more than I do." I was shocked. I never thought I'd hear a manager tell me I'd get paid for time off. At the last few places I'd worked, they would never be nearly as considerate. I gave him a hug and thanked him. He nodded caringly and I headed out the door with a slight smile on my face. *** I got home and was greeted by the smell of body odor and rotting food wafting through t...

 I sat at home, my heart racing as I peered outside at the oncoming storm. The sky was masked by a deep shade of night, but the streaks of lightning made the outside world look like that of flickering lights. Over the horizon, I could see the trees swaying in the heavy winds, threatening to tear them down. I stepped back from my window, taking a breath. I was okay, I told myself. The storm is out there and I am in here. It can't hurt me. There was a sudden flash of bright light, followed by an immediate explosive boom. The lights went out. The apartment fell under an uncomfortable silence as I could hear my heart beat pulsing in my ears. I stood perfectly still, awaiting the worst. But as I stood there, I listened closely for the next signs of the storm. However, they never came. It was just silent. I was confused, as I could still see the flashing lights. Stepping closer to the window, I could see the rain splattering heavily against it. The wind now tearing through the tr...

 The road was long and winding. The clouds over casted the sky, making everything surrounding me a shade of blue. The static was the only sound over the radio, occasionally interspersing with a song cutting in and out that I could barely make out. I turned the volume knob down. The static was starting to give me a headache. I could feel my temple throbbing. As more turns twisted the road ahead, I found my attention being drawn to the many pine trees on either side of the valley that dipped steeply down from the road. There was a light dusting of what looked like snow atop the pines. It was rather odd, as it hadn't even begun to snow, although it felt cold enough for it. I thought it interesting that there was not a single car in sight. Perhaps they were smarter than me and found a better route to take. Why did my parents have to live in the mountains? I thought to myself. Why couldn't they live in a suburban neighborhood like every other old married couple? It felt we...

 The sun beat down on my parents and I as we left the car to go to the fireworks tent. It was the fourth of July tomorrow and we had somehow not gathered any fireworks until today. Normally, we would have done this a week or so in advanced, but my parents were extra busy this year. They said they had to work longer hours because everything was becoming far more expensive than normal. I felt bad for them. As we entered the fireworks stand, there were plenty of colorful boxes stacked neatly on several tables. The tent looked far bigger on the inside than on the outside. I looked around at all the boxes, enjoying the art. The contents on the inside were kind of lost on me, for to me they only exploded in the end and I didn't know much of a difference at the time. My parents picked up a few boxes each and talked amongst each other as they did so. Judging by all the boxes they carried, I could tell this was going to be a July 4th that I'd never forget. Little did I know just how...

 I jump to my feet and pace frantically around the darkened room. What was supposed to be a fun weekend in a cabin in the woods with my friends had turned to disaster faster than I could register. It felt like mere moments ago, I saw one of my friends butchered with an axe right before me. Thankfully I was hiding under the bed. The killer might not know I even existed, for when my friend died, the killer immediately left. As I paced, I kept thinking to myself that this has to be a dream. There's no way all of these extreme and horrendous acts had actually happened, right? Yes, I thought, It has to be a dream. I'll just wake up shortly and all of this will be over. I'll be greeted by my friends and everything will be fine again. I mean, what are the chances an actually killer shows up at a cabin in the middle of nowhere? It's like something straight out of a horror movie. Just as my mind registered the horror movie idea, lightning flashed through the window, lighting...

 Walking around the gas station, I felt myself growing impatient. I kept glancing at my phone, awaiting the text from my roommate. She was supposed to pick my up from work, but she was also terrible at responding to texts. I've tried calling a few times on my way over here, but they all went straight to voicemail. Was she sleeping and put her phone on silent? I wouldn't put it past her. The reason I went to the gas station was mainly to get out of the rain. I had just finished locking up the building at the fast food joint I worked at and, undenounced to me, it was pouring down rain. And as I peered out the window of the gas station, I could see some lightning flashes. Normally I would have no problem walking, but I'd rather not get drenched and potentially struck by lightning on my fifteen minute walk home.  It had felt like an eternity, but I had finally gotten a text back from my roommate. I was right, she was sleeping. She used her same excuse of her long shifts at ...