s h o r t t a l e s t a l l s t o r i e s

The chief knew Tom would never reach his #goal body count before he died. He’d been on death row for years for 999 deaths.

He never saw it coming. The wire caught around his throat quickly, silently. They found his headless body dangling from Tom’s cell. His head lay on the floor below. #vss365

“Sorry for the confusion, officer. There really is no #issue here.” She smiled and shut the door. The bloody gag in his mouth covered the screams lurching from his lungs, soaked with his sweat and tears. She slowly drug the knife along his corroded artery before plunging it in his throat. #vss365

Writer friends, you’ll understand the excitement of this!! I just started outlining my new novel and as I started putting black on white, the last sentence of the whole thing came to me!! Knowing the ending is half the battle!! Here we go!! #writer #author #amwriting #writingcommunity

He sleeps next to me, tossing and #turning. I wonder if his restlessness is because he knows, or because he doesn’t. I’m not sure which is worse. I often wonder if I should tell him. A bump in the basement rattles me. I didn’t knot the rope tight enough. I’m certain he couldn’t handle this. #vss365

Morning is my favorite. The best is just before sunrise. The sky is the most beautiful shade of blue. So serene. Then a piercing scream and the smell of #fresh blood permeating the air, dripping onto the floor as the sun crests the sky. Nothing fills me with more joy. That’s a good morning. #vss365

Everyone is posting their #resolutions, things they’ll do better next year or give up doing in the future. People don’t stick to what they say. Come February, they’ll all be back to who they were. That’s why I don’t make new goals. I will keep covering my hands in blood, year after year. #vss365

I’m not patient. I fidget as I wait. Getting them to do as I ask is the hard part. They’re always full of panic. It’s infuriating.

In return, I am never #prompt in my delivery. It’s not that I enjoy watching them scream and suffer, though I truly do. It’s their lack of respect for my time. #vss365

I pulled the curtains back and let in the morning sun. The sunlight #glistened off the freshly spilled blood still dripping on the floor. This is one of my favorite parts. The beauty that the body has to offer, when dissected properly, of course. Disposal is an entirely different story. #vss365

Memories of light wove a canvas of the past, before the stars fell and darkness swallowed all #purity and mercy. A time when lightning tore through her veins, as the mercurial craft wreathed itself around her avaricious heart, and she heard the Devil whisper, ‘Come out to play’.
#vss365

I watch them walk around the city, their lives full of stress. It’s exhausting.

That’s why I do it. At least, that’s what I tell them. Once they’re dead, none of it matters.

I do so enjoy the theatrics of it. All the pomp and circumstance in which I make my kills. I live for the #drama. #vss365

The first time is always a #challenge. All great things in life are. The timing has to be right. You plan and if something goes wrong, you need to know who can fix it. He’d left a mess and asked me to hide his mistake. He knew I could help. He’d been there the night I’d slit my first throat. #vss365

He stood nervously at the #threshold. He rang the doorbell, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. She answered wearing nothing but a robe.

“Come in.”

She gestured towards the living room. There was a dented metal table surrounded by rusty knives and men in masks.

“We’ve been waiting.”

#vss365

They studied him for years. DNA. Childhood memories. Details of his first kill. They plugged it all into machines, trying to calculate the exact moment a serial killer was born. They had good intentions, but #overfit the data. Now, we’re everywhere and the population doesn’t stand a chance. #vss365

It didn’t take long to #propgate the idea. I had a feeling, though she was weary. She thought there was no way we’d find people like us. We were once in a lifetime. Turns out, blood lust is easy to find when you spend time in the PNW. Murderers here are a dime a dozen. Makes it easy to hide. #vss365

People say it’s best to face your fears head on. That sounds like bullshit to me. But then again, I play a different kind of game. To be fair, she told me she feared snakes. I left her in a room with several so she could face her fear head on. My knife made her scream more than the #taipan. #vss365

I’d been teaching him since he was in the womb. Each night, I went over the details. I’d watch his eyes dance behind their lids as he slept. He was smart and capable of not getting caught . His birthright remained #latent until the day they took me away. That night, he slit his first throat. #vss365

I’ve never enjoyed the #parameters set by society. I like testing the waters. How far can I go? I often go too far. But I’ve been doing this long enough, I know how to bury the body so it won’t be found. And I am a pro at removing blood stains. My husband is fascinated by my level of clean. #vss365

Acres of forest loom behind the decrepit house. No one dares set foot in those woods. The town has its tales about ghosts and such. Little do they know the delicate system of buried bodies, spread out like #mycelium that my father left before me. He called it our legacy. Now it’s my turn. #vss365

Why thank you!!

I watch quietly in the back of the coffee shop. #Citizens come and go. No one notices, as if I’m invisible. Just a guy in a black coat. One today got angry. He slammed his fist on the counter, yelled and threw his coffee at the barista. I followed him home. Being invisible has its perks. #vss365

Ah, it’s good to see you here!! And thank you!! 🖤

I always ask, to be polite and they always say no. Every time. It’s hard to hear that over and over. It breaks ones confidence. Just once, I’d like someone to say #yes. Though I won’t hold my breath. Nobody actually wants their fingernails slowly yanked from their beds with rusty pliers. #vss365

Each #souvenir is kept in a small box nestled deep below a floorboard in my bedroom. She has no idea it’s there, or what’s in it. A small locket, a lock of hair, a gold pinky ring, a severed thumb, a diamond earring, the tip of a tongue. I often wonder what I’d keep of her, if the time came. #vss365

They all said it was an electrical issue. Something about crossed wires and an overheated unit. I stood outside and watched as my #home burned to the ground. Nothing but cinders and ash. They were too late to save it. Now they’ll never find the bodies I’ve buried in the dingy the basement. #vss365

I thought the same when i saw your name! I’m so happy to be back among my people!

I hope you’ve been well, too!

a person is holding a bloody knife over a white cloth ALT: a person is holding a bloody knife over a white cloth

When it’s all said and done and the silence fills the room, mixing with the smell of blood, sweat and tears, that’s what I do it for. All they do is #complain before I make that first cut. They whine and scream. Once I finally pull their tongue out, I can hear myself think again. #vss365 #vsshorror