Where the Dead Go to Die

by Aaron Dries

  There came a knocking at the door.

  The icy hand of fear gripped her throat, throttling breath. Had Woods sent someone after her, were the police waiting on the porch to take her and Lucette in?

  Or was it Sally again, coming to fish for clues from her daughter and her silly stuffed toys so she could run off and report them to the authorities? Perhaps Sally had already done this—been listening to them through the walls, maybe the rat was her spy—and it was the Ministry out there with their shotguns. Locked and loaded.

  No. They don’t do that anymore, remember? Jordan was the last.

  The bat that Emily had given her daughter for Christmas leaned against the wall. She snatched it up and, closing the door behind her, tiptoed toward the front of the apartment.

  Knocking again.

  With a trembling hand, she reached out and undid the latch. If Emily got through this, she thought she might dig out the suitcase she’d pre-packed, the one she’d hidden under the bed in her room in the event it all came tumbling down. Though as to where she would escape to, Emily hadn’t a clue.

  But until then, there was only the bat in her hand and the door swinging open on a squeaking hinge. Her knuckles turned white.

  They were all there waiting for her.

  Mama Metcalf and her busted open head, dripping gray matter down the folds of her scrubs. Jordan’s face over her shoulder, his dimples as prominent in death as they were in life. The thing that used to be Robby slithered at their feet, its wide toothy smile was just for her. Mykel lurched across the lot in blind arcs, spurting gore as he went from where his head and spine were not so long ago housed. Her parents were there too, each with their matching heart-attack guts swinging before them, stinking of the earth they were buried in. They weren’t alone. The knockers at her door were there by the thousands, dribbling over one another, clambering for fresh bones to suck the marrow from.

  A generation of the dead looking for somewhere to die.

  Emily ran at them, bat—

  (machete)

  —raised. Her grunts were muffled by flying scalps, dried dust blood clouds. Her daughter’s present snapped jaws from necks, sent eyeballs flying into the sky in nightmarish home runs. Emily swung, over and over again, granting them all the relief they so desperately wanted, until she was doused red from head to toe. Her own private genocide.

  Corpses piled high through the lot, snow falling on them in straight lines. Chicago’s rats scurried out from the nearby streets and made burrows from their slashed necks and crushed skulls. Emily looked down at the corpse at her feet. It belonged to Lucette. She hadn’t been bludgeoned to un-death by the bat she’d asked for Christmas that year.

  No.

  Her head had been sawn off with one of the kitchen knives—

  The front door banged against the wall with a thud, revealing the empty threshold.

  Emily panted, still holding the baseball bat tight, poised to attack if need be. There was nobody out there. Not Sally, no random UPS man, no concerned neighbor having overheard moans and yells in the night. There were no Ministry members, either. No Woods.

  Just flat snow leading from the porch.

  Her grip loosened and the bat bounced against the WELCOME mat. Emily slammed the door shut and put her forehead to the paneling, crying. “Help me,” she said to nobody. “Help me.”

  And then there was more knocking.

  It hadn’t come from the front door as she’d at first thought, but from inside Lucette’s room. Emily knew what had to be done.

  A surge of anger coursed through her as she held her daughter on the bed. Anger at Lucette for breaking the rules, for putting herself in harm’s way. Anger at herself for bringing her daughter to the hospice and exposing her to all this danger in the first place. Anger at Woods for granting permission for Lucette to be there, and anger at Robby for dying at the wrong fucking time. Anger at the old woman who had climbed the fence, creating the distraction the universe needed, angry at a God she didn’t even believe in for not being real.

  It all left her drained and exhausted. This grief was unlike any she’d ever experienced before. And Emily had experienced more than her fair share.

  She brushed the hair from Lucette’s sweaty forehead, speaking her name.

  The girl murmured and snuggled deeper into her mother’s chest. Emily was persistent, however, the longer she put this off, the harder it would be.

  When the girl opened her eyes, tears spilled from them to dampen her bandages. Emily watched those small fingers reach up and tenderly draw down the veil cast across her jaw, uncovering the sinewy flesh around her mouth. This grotesquery robbed the girl of the ability to pronounce most words.

  “Ang eye goin’ to die?”

  (Am I going to die?)

  Every annunciation proved itself an agony.

  Emily took a deep breath and decided nothing would be accomplished by lying to the girl at this point. “Darlin’—

  (oh, god this hurts)

  —yes.”

  The girl’s tears continued to flow. “Ing how horry, angnny.”

  (I’m so sorry, Mommy.)

  “Shh,” Emily said. “No sorries. No sorries. It’s not your fault, or anyone’s.”

  “Angnny?”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “Ill I ee alone like Owgee?”

  (Will I be alone like Robby?)

  “No,” Emily said, firm, placing a hand under the girl’s chin and forcing their eyes to meet. “I’m going to be right there by your side, darlin’. I’ll never ever ever leave you. I’m your Mama. I’m going to be with you every step of the way. Every goddamned step. Together. Together always. Always.”

  Lucette frowned, winced with pain. “Huh?”

  Emily closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then returned her gaze to her daughter. “Bite me, Lucette.”

  The girl recoiled from her mother, horrified. She moaned protest.

  “Oh, I know, baby. I know. But that’s why I want you to do it. You have to!”

  The girl scurried off the bed and into the corner, crouching on her haunches. “Onghhhhh—”

  Emily joined her daughter, sliding down the wall to sit next to her. She took the girl’s hands. “Be brave for me, honey.”

  “Owww. Owwwww. Owwwwwwwwwww.”

  “You are my life, Lucette. You always were. I’ll keep you safe. You won’t ever be alone.”

  The girl pulled her hands away and touched the place where her lips used to be. “It urts hoe utch.”

  (It hurts so much.)

  “I know,” Emily said. “But they’ll take care of you. They’ll take care of us both. Together. Together always.”

  Lucette squeezed Emily’s hand and sniffled. “Hangilly.”

  “What, honey? I don’t—”

  “Hangilly.”

  It dawned on Emily then what her girl was saying. The word settled like lead.

  (Family.)

  Emily rolled up her left sleeve and held out her arm. Tears threatened again, only she forced them back. This was the right thing to do, the only course of action. She had no idea where the energy to muster this bravery had come from—she’d been so close to giving in and taking the knife from the drawer—but that strength was there. Perhaps it always had been.

  “Now, Lucette. Now!” Hating herself for this cruelty but needing to be strong, she slapped the girl across her damaged mouth, eliciting a scream. Emily joined her, holding out her arm again. “Do what Mommy tells you.”

  THE END?

  Not quite . . .

  Dive into more books by the authors:

  Flowers in a Dumpster by Mark Allan Gunnells—The world is full of beauty and mystery. In these 17 tales, Gunnells will take you on a journey through landscapes of light and darkness, rapture and agony, hope and fear. Let Gunnells guide you through these landscapes where magnificence and decay co-exist side by side. Come pick a bouquet from these Flowers in a Dumpster.

  Tales from The Lake Vol.2 antholog
y—Beneath this lake you’ll find nothing but mystery and suspense, horror and dread. Not to mention death and misery—tales to share around the campfire or living room floor from the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, and of course Aaron Dries.

  Tales from The Lake Vol.3 anthology—Dive into the deep end of the lake with 19 tales of terror, selected by Monique Snyman. Including short stories by Mark Allan Gunnells, Kate Jonez, Kenneth W. Cain, and many more.

  If you enjoyed this book, I’m sure you’ll also like the following Crystal Lake titles:

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  Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories anthology—an anthology of dark fiction that explores the beauty at the very heart of darkness. Featuring horror’s most celebrated voices: Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, Paul Tremblay, John F.D. Taff, Lisa Mannetti, Damien Angelica Walters, Josh Malerman, Christopher Coake, Mercedes M. Yardley, Brian Kirk, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Amanda Gowin, Richard Thomas, Maria Alexander, and Kevin Lucia.

  Run to Ground by Jasper Bark—Jim Mcleod is running from his responsibilities as a father, hiding out from his pregnant girlfriend and working as a groundskeeper in a rural graveyard. Throw in some ancient monsters and folklore, and you’ll have Jim running for live through this folk horror graveyard.

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  Tribulations by Richard Thomas—In the third short story collection by Richard Thomas, Tribulations, these stories cover a wide range of dark fiction—from fantasy, science fiction and horror, to magical realism, neo-noir, and transgressive fiction. The common thread that weaves these tragic tales together is suffering and sorrow, and the ways we emerge from such heartbreak stronger, more appreciative of what we have left—a spark of hope enough to guide us though the valley of death.

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  The Dark at the End of the Tunnel by Taylor Grant—Offered for the first time in a collected format, this selection features ten gripping and darkly imaginative stories by Taylor Grant, a Bram Stoker Award® nominated author and rising star in the suspense and horror genres. Grant exposes the terrors that hide beneath the surface of our ordinary world, behind people’s masks of normalcy, and lurking in the shadows at the farthest reaches of the universe.

  Little Dead Red by Mercedes M. Yardley—The Wolf is roaming the city, and he must be stopped. In this modern day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf takes to the city streets to capture his prey, but the hunter is close behind him. With Grim Marie on the prowl, the hunter becomes the hunted.

  Children of the Grave—Choose your own demise in this interactive shared-world zombie anthology. Welcome to Purgatory, an arid plain of existence where zombies are the least of your problems. It’s a post-mortem Hunger Games, and Blaze, a newcomer to Purgatory, needs your help to learn the rules of this world and choose the best course of action.

  The Outsiders Lovecraftian shared-world anthology—They’ll do anything to protect their way of life. Anything. Welcome to Priory, a small gated community in the UK, where the only thing worse than an ancient monster is the group worshipping it. Is that which slithers below true evil, or does evil reside in the people of Priory? Includes stories by Stephen Bacon, James Everington, Rosanne Rabinowitz, V.H. Leslie, and Gary Fry.

  Eden Underground horror poetry by Alessandro Manzetti—Another snake, another tree, another Eve. A surreal journey into obsessions and aberrations of the modern world and the darker side, which often takes control of the situation. Winner of the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry.

  If you ever thought of becoming an author, I’d also like to recommend these non-fiction titles:

  Horror 101: The Way Forward—a comprehensive overview of the Horror fiction genre and career opportunities available to established and aspiring authors, including Jack Ketchum, Graham Masterton, Edward Lee, Lisa Morton, Ellen Datlow, Ramsey Campbell, and many more.

  Horror 201: The Silver Scream Vol.1 and Vol.2—A must read for anyone interested in the horror film industry. Includes interviews and essays by Wes Craven, John Carpenter, George A. Romero, Mick Garris, and dozens more. Now available in paperback, as well.

  Modern Mythmakers: 35 interviews with Horror and Science Fiction Writers and Filmmakers by Michael McCarty—Ever wanted to hang out with legends like Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and Dean Koontz? Modern Mythmakers is your chance to hear fun anecdotes and career advice from authors and filmmakers like Forrest J. Ackerman, Ray Bradbury, Ramsey Campbell, John Carpenter, Dan Curtis, Elvira, Neil Gaiman, Mick Garris, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jack Ketchum, Dean Koontz, Graham Masterton, Richard Matheson, John Russo, William F. Nolan, John Saul, Peter Straub, and many more.

  Writers On Writing: An Author’s Guide—Your favorite authors share their secrets in the ultimate guide to becoming and being and author. Writers On Writing is an eBook series with original ‘On Writing’ essays by writing professionals. Be sure to check out the webpage regularly for new releases.

  Or check out other Crystal Lake Publishing books for your Dark Fiction, Horror, Suspense, and Thriller needs.

  CONNECT WITH THE AUTHORS

  Author, illustrator, and filmmaker Aaron Dries was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. When asked why he writes horror, his standard reply is that when it comes to scaring people, writing pays slightly better than jumping out from behind doors. He is the author of the award-winning novel House of Sighs, and his subsequent books, The Fallen Boys and A Place for Sinners are just as—if not more—twisted than his debut. ChiZine Publications, Samhain Horror, Crystal Lake Publishing, Scarlet Galleon Press, and a number of international magazines and online venues have published his fiction and art over the years. As a filmmaker, Dries’ short films have garnered awards in Australia, the UK, and the USA, and he is currently hard at work on multiple feature screenplays as well as novels. Feel free to drop him a line at aarondries.com or contact him through Twitter and Facebook. He won’t bite. Much.

  Mark Allan Gunnells loves to tell stories. He has since he was a kid, penning one-page tales that were Twilight Zone knockoffs. He likes to think he has gotten a little better since then. He loves reader feedback, and above all he loves telling stories. He lives in Greer, SC, with his husband Craig A. Metcalf, and blogs at http://markgunnells.livejournal.com/.

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  With unmatched success since 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading indie publishers of Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense books with a Dark Fiction edge.

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