It had been a quiet year, just like all the others. After they’d cleaned up the scene and she’d selected lockets of hair for display in her jar, they’d burned the bodies, tossed the electronics into the river, and cleaned up the cabin. All was well once more.
No one came looking for the boys. The Witch of War Creek didn’t have a television, radio, or really any communication with the outside world. But when she went to pick up supplies from the corner store, she saw their faces once more plastered on missing signs.
They had not come to her cabin looking for them. It was perhaps an unspoken agreement passed down from the mayor who had cut the deal with her. She was untouchable from the law. She was a hero in her own right in the town. And more than that, she was fearfully powerful. They treaded cautiously with her.
She rose from her chair and headed back inside to prepare for Halloween. Hopefully no one would come tonight. But if they did, she was ready.
She used to lock Edmund in the bedroom for his safety, to make sure no accidents happened if some kid pulled a foolish prank. She knew now he could handle himself, that it was better to leave him right by her side in case she needed him. He was the one creature in the world she could actually rely on. He would await the command if needed. She would not find herself in last year’s predicament.
And if the foolish kids came, they better watch out. She knew people were not as innocent as before. She walked over to the jars on the fireplace, studying the mementos. The jar with the necklace and nails and now pieces of hair didn’t feel like anything to her. She could touch the glass and feel nothing. Absolutely nothing.
But looking at the other jar, she shuddered. Did she dare? She raised her fingers to the glass jar. She hadn’t touched it since that first day when the mayor had carried her macabre treasure from her father back to the cabin. He’d stuck it on the fireplace. He hadn’t asked questions about why she wanted to keep them, perhaps attributing it to wild grief. She’d reached up to turn it. She didn’t want her father’s eyes watching her anymore. They faced the fireplace.
All these years, she’d never touched it again. Call it superstition or guilt or just a deep-seated malevolence towards her father, but she did not want to touch the jar. She did not want to risk feeling anything at all. Maybe it was her weakness all along.
She was stronger now, though. Maybe she was a witch deep down, strengthened by the blood of her victims and the evil deeds she committed. Maybe there was no hope for her soul. Her fingers reached up to touch the jar, her breathing intensifying as she did.
Her fingers gripped it.
Nothing happened.
Not a jolt. Not a feeling. Not a sadness. Nothing washed over her. She was glad.
She turned the jar to face out, staring into her father’s eyes once more.
There was a fine line between fear and reverence. She felt neither for her father anymore.
He was nothing.
Brenn in der Hölle Tier, she thought once more.
And she turned to walk into the kitchen, make herself a cup of tea, and greet Halloween night with a peace she didn’t know she could ever feel again.
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading my short story The Witch of War Creek. I hope you’ll let me know what you think by leaving a review online.
If you want to know more about my work, be sure to snag your free copy of Mr. Garrick’s Traveling Circus, my FREE short story. It’s a mix of The Greatest Showman and Stephen King and filled with nightmare fuel. Click here and get a free copy today.
Also be sure to check out my many other horror short stories, full-length novels, and my USA Today Bestseller, The Widow Next Door.
Thanks so much for giving my characters a place on your e-reader.
Happy Halloween,
L.A. Detwiler
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Did you love The Witch of War Creek? Then you should read It Started on Halloween by L.A. Detwiler!
It started on Halloween night with one sinister phrase announced from his smiling lips."Let's kill someone."From USA Today Bestseller L.A. Detwiler comes a disturbing Halloween short story sure to haunt you.A seemingly ordinary married couple's darkest truths are unleashed on Halloween night when he decides to kill someone. Once they both taste the excitement of murder, there will be no going back. As the wife begins to crave the power of killing in unbearable ways, will she take things too far? Or will she simply awaken the sinister monster that has lurked within her all along?A harrowing short story about murder and the darkness that lives within everyone sure to creep up your Halloween season.
Read more at L.A. Detwiler’s site.
Also by L.A. Detwiler
The Flayed One
The Journal of H.D. Wards
The Flayed One
Standalone
The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter
A Tortured Soul
The Christmas Bell: A Horror Novel
The Redwood Asylum
The Christmas Bell: Rachel's Story
The Arsonist's Handbook
Mr. Alexander Garrick's Traveling Circus
The Butcher's Night
The Witch of War Creek (Coming Soon)
The Delivery (Coming Soon)
Watch for more at L.A. Detwiler’s site.
About the Author
L.A. Detwiler is USA TODAY Bestselling author and high school English teacher. Her debut thriller, The Widow Next Door, is a USA Today and International Bestseller with HarperCollins UK/Avon Books. Her second thriller, The One Who Got Away, released in 2020 with HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter. The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter released in 2020.
L.A. lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Chad, their five cats, and their mastiff named Henry. Her writing has appeared in several women's publications and online magazines. She also writes romance under Lindsay Detwiler, including her popular Lines in the Sand Series.
Join her Readers' Club with this link: http://eepurl.com/gkZ2Sf
Read more at L.A. Detwiler’s site.
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