Welcome to FROST HARROW, my new modern (1990s) gothic horror series! If you’d like to support this and my other work, go to www.CushingHorrors.com and become my patron! You may also enjoy the Scribe Award-Winning MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE – In print, for kindle, and for all e-book formats. And check out my retro-horror-comedy classic CANOE COPS VS. THE MUMMY as well as my other books. Now… On with the show!
THIRTY-FOUR – THE CROSSROADS
Ivy wandered, caught in the grey world between waking and dreaming. The storm crashed around her, tugging at her hair and body. She walked into the night, naked save for the cast on her left arm and the medallion hanging at her throat.
Music drifted to her ears from somewhere in the distance, a Bobby Darin tune: Don’t Dream of Anybody But Me.
She smiled, knowing her dream lover waited for her at the crossroads. It made the stinging cold of the rain worth it.
He was waiting to take her beyond the sea. They’d be together forever. All she had to do was come to him.
The fire of his love welled up within her body and she began to run, oblivious to the elements.
Her bare feet pounded the wet pavement, sending shock waves through her torso. The wind whipped her dark hair around her pale face, blowing strands into her blue-grey eyes. She didn’t care.
All that mattered was the crossroads. He waited for her at the crossroads.
She ran down the road, heading further away from the city with each step. Winslow Hills loomed up around her, the tree-covered slopes standing erect like silent sentries.
She felt safe here in the storm. As long as he was with her, she would be safe.
Not much farther now. She could almost see the crossroads up ahead.
But it was darker than she expected. Shouldn’t there be a streetlight or something?
Lightning flashed, and she could see the form of her lover silhouetted in the darkness, his dark body illuminated in the pale light, his eyes blazing red.
“Grant! Grant, I’m coming!” she cried.
Her body shuddered with fatigue, but the fire burned bright inside her.
He held out his arms to embrace her, and Ivy rushed forward, ignoring the rain, ignoring the pain, ignoring the faint music nagging at her inside her head.
“I’m here, my love! I’m here!” she called.
Come to me, he said. You know you want it.
“Oh, yes. Yes! I want it! I want you!”
She crashed into his burning arms and looked up at his face. Grant’s eyes boiled red in his handsome face. He opened his mouth as if to kiss her.
Then her medallion brushed his chest. Grant pulled back, as if scalded. For a second, bestial rage played across his mien. Then he smiled, showing her all his straight white teeth. Yellow vapor drifted from his mouth in the cold rain.
Take that off, he hissed.
Ivy reached for the chain around her neck.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Read my FREE Frost Harrow Halloween stories:
“The Weeping Ghost” (2012), “A Trace of Violet” (2013), “Lunchroom Zombies” (2014), “Omens & Visitations” (2015), “Fata Morgana” (2016), “At the Appointed Hour” (2017), and “Devil’s Lake” (2018).
