Alert: How I do blog posts will change in December. I didn't have any flash fiction to share this evening, but I do have an early, horror short story you may enjoy.
Jasmine noticed the stairs again. Even through the beer goggles, the stone texture had a sheen to it, making it almost look like marble. She leaned in the direction of it like a child falling into bed to sleep at night. “Ohhhh, let’s go here!” Layla hooked her arm under her dazed roommate’s arm and pulled her to a small space with lighting as red as wine. Electronica music played as a small mist lay in the air. They ordered more shots. Layla clinked her glass with Jasmine's glass. “Cheers to being in a new city!”
“Cheers!” Jasmine felt the familiar burn of tequila set her heart on fire and hype her up. She checked her phone for the fifth time that night. No text. Guess she still needed some space. “Cheers to new beginnings.”
“How did Taylor take the news?”
Jasmine sighed. “She was livid, but she understood. We’re still friends, but she needs her…space.” This was the right decision. Jasmine needed a fresh start somewhere that wasn’t the backwards hills of her old small town in Kentucky. She got a job in digital marketing as a digital media specialist and recruited her best friend to come help with rent who works odd jobs, but her true passion was music.
Layla glanced at the bottom of her glass. “I can’t be friends with any of my exes.”
Jasmine snickered and elbowed her playfully, “I don’t know; you were pretty chummy with Max last night.”
Layla blushed, crossed her arms, and spun in her chair so that she was facing away from Jasmine. Her long, thick individual twists swished with her.“No one says chummy anymore, and what can I say? He has a cute butt.”
They met eyes and laughed. “A cute butt does not make a personality.”
“He has his own business though. He took me to this really dope restaurant over a lake!”
“Having a business is not a personality either.”
Layla rolled her eyes and turned to her roommate. “So, how are we going to celebrate your night of singlehood?”
Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t know. It feels too early to celebrate right now.”
“You miss her?”
“A little.”
“Let it go, hunny. You both wanted different things.”
“Hm.”
“Let’s go walk around some more. I think this area is mad pretty.”
“Ok.”
They got up and walked around the circular, two-story balcony. The night sky was full of clouds. Jasmine glanced at her phone again. A text message. One from Mom asking how her first week in the new city. A new one came. Probably from Dad asking if she needed anything. Except, no. It was Taylor. Jasmine felt her traitor heart speed up. She opened it to a message that read ‘I can’t do this.” Jasmine had a feeling this would lead to a long, drawn out conversation about how they shouldn’t have broken up, but Jasmine had made up her mind. So, Jasmine texted her that she will call her in the morning.
There was that staircase again. Jasmine could have sworn that there were only two floors; so where did those stairs even go? Suddenly, Jasmine noticed how quiet this area was. It felt like Layla and Jasmine were the only two women in the world. Layla crashed into her and exclaimed, “Let’s go there!” Layla led her by the arm up the stairs.
When they reached the top, they found themselves stepping into what looked like the inside of an abandoned mall. A thick layer of musk settled in Jasmine’s nose. Layla clung to her arm and hiccuped. “Where are we?” Jasmine tried to back away. Something wasn’t right about this place. A sense of dread filled her stomach, and she felt as though she may vomit. She felt a sinking feeling that they weren’t supposed to be there. Jasmine glanced towards the stairs, but they were gone. They were trapped. Looks like the only way they could go would be forward. So, they walked forward. They stepped over broken glass and passed by windows with mannequins facing the wrong way. The strangest thing was the feeling that they would probably turn around. They could hear their heels scuffling against the floor, making an eerie echo.
“Hello?” Jasmine called. All the shops looked run down. The walls had mold on them and looked as if they would crumble if touched. Jasmine’s arms felt littered with goosebumps. She wanted to go home. She wanted to leave, but how did they get out of this place? They didn’t even know where they were. Jasmine pulled out her phone, but there was no signal. “Lay, see if your phone has any signal.”
Layla pulled out her phone, but she shook her head. “No bars.”
Suddenly, they heard running footsteps. A thick, black woman with frizzy, curly hair tackled Jasmine, knocking her to the ground, but she didn’t stop. She seemed startled for a minute, but then the woman bolted the opposite direction. “Hey watch where you’re going!” Layla shouted and then crouched by Jasmine’s side. “You okay?”
“Yeah. What was she running from?”
A horrible screeching sound like nails on a chalkboard made them turn their heads to the direction the woman was running from. There stood a pale human shaped creature. It walked forward, unsteady like as if it was trying to understand how to walk like a person. It was covered in glass shards protruding from its pale, ugly skin with blood from each punctured spot. The glass looked like shards from a mirror. The creature released a groan that sounded like an otherworldly scream. And then, it lunged. Jasmine scrambled to her feet. The creature shoved into Layla, its sharp, glassy edges piercing between her eyes. Jasmine watched in horror. She backed away as the blood gushed from her face, her widened eyes closing as she fell to the ground.
The creature took deep, heavy breaths like someone out of breath. Jasmine trembled. She swallowed and willed herself to run. She knew if she met its eyes, he would come for her too. She didn’t even have time to mourn her dear roommate, now strewn over a floor that she didn’t know if she would ever see again. She ran and ran and ran. She ran until her chest burned as she could taste the dryness in her mouth that longed for water, but she just kept running past moldy building walls with no end in sight. And it was still so dark. Her legs began to hurt, but she could hear the creature chasing her. She had to lose it somehow. She had to hide. She picked a store with clothes thrown everywhere and clothes racks protruding from the windows. She was careful to tiptoe around the glass. She found a counter and ducked behind it. She held her breath with her fingers and willed herself to slow her breathing. She waited. A single bead of sweat dripped down her face. She heard big, thumping steps pass by. She almost sighed in relief, except she heard a voice. She looked around her and saw that it came from…the mannequin. Its head was turned around and its face looked like a human man in distress. “Please, man, you gotta help me. I don’t know what’s happening. I got lost and ended up here and now I’m just stuck like this.” His face melted into the plastic and sank deeper and deeper. She turned away from the gruesome scene and placed her hands over her ears. She just wanted to get out of this hellscape. She thought of so many things, sitting behind that counter. She thought of her ex-girlfriend Taylor. She thought of Mom and Dad. She felt her chest bubble up with sadness and loneliness. Maybe she should have stayed where she was; then she wouldn’t be here.
Her phone rang. She reached her hand over her mouth to lock the gasp in her throat. She rummaged in her pocket and turned it off. The monster crushed the mannequins. She tried to ignore the screams of pain that sounded something human. She bit her lip until it bled. The monster knocked away the counters revealing Jasmine trembling and about to piss herself. A horrible musky smell descended upon her senses as the monster reached for her throat. She reached up to stop him, but he sliced her left wrist. She froze, staring at the piece of her on the floor. She didn’t even scream when the monster reached for her again.
“Hey ugly!” The monster looked over his shoulder as if a lamp smashed into the back of his head. Both Jasmine and the monster faced the girl that was running before. Her hair was white and her right eye was gone. She wielded a giant hammer and knocked the monster back. Jasmine trembled. She ran over to Jasmine, hoisted her up, and led her away. “You have to get out of here. Go through the exit, okay?” They heard the otherworldly rage of the monster behind them. She pushed Jasmine forward. “Go to the exit. I will hold this thing off.”
Jasmine thought to argue, but she didn’t. She ran to the exit without looking back at the brave woman who saved her life that day. When she went through the exit, the absent night stared back at her. She looked at her missing wrist. Nope; wasn’t a nightmare. What the hell just happened back there? When Jasmine turned to look at the shiny new mall, it was covered in ruins as if its camouflage had withered away.
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