A new short story: The Secret Life of Em de Mone
Be sure to check out the beginnings:
Em took a deep
breath and trailed behind Granny through yet another unknown door. An eerie
quiet engulfed them, as they lost themselves in wall-to-wall funhouse mirrors.
“Where are we?” whispered Em, gawking at her gaudy reflections.
“Haunted House section,” said Granny as she crept along. “This and the
bathroom are where most of the folks lose their eyes. I figure we’ll draw less attention
here than we would lurking around the bathrooms.”
Em nodded, avoiding eye contact with her own creepy reflections. They
were everywhere. “Okay, so what do these two places have in common?”
“You’re looking at them…the mirrors… and the fact it’s out of the public eye,
no pun intended,” Granny looked around, “but I still have no idea how the eye
scooping happens or how it’s triggered.”
A shriek shook the walls and the floor buckled. Em and Granny dashed
toward the noise to find a little thing, small and dainty, dressed as a
mermaid, screaming her head off. She had both her eyes but pointed to her
partner.
Em’s mouth twisted at the grotesque scene in front of her while Granny
watched in apt fascination.
A strapping merman struggled with himself. His body contorted and
wriggled. Anger and fear crossed his face as his left hand morphed into an ice
cream scoop, then grew sharp jagged teeth. His right hand fought to restrain
his left, but it wasn’t strong enough. His eyes filled like endless pools, “Heeeelp
meeee…”
But there was nothing anyone could do. The ice cream scoop hand had a
mind of its own. It reached up and lopped out one eye. Merman screamed in agony
while blood spurted everywhere. Granny pulled several towels out of nowhere and
threw them at him. Then she blew more powder at the sea creatures, who stopped screaming.
She snapped her fingers and a chair appeared. Merman slumped into, holding his
eye and sobbing.
Granny drilled the Mermaid for information. Her voice was urgent and she shook
the young woman by the shoulders. “What happened? Where were you tonight? What
items did you touch?”
Mermaid opened her mouth and wailed.
Granny smacked her across the face, “Look, we’re gonna take care of this,
but you’ve got to work with me, I have a very small window to keep this from
being a permanent situation. LOOK at me, Mermaid!” Granny screamed. “Now, where
were you before you came to the Haunted House?”
The Mermaid’s eyes widened, but she stopped screaming. With a sniffle she
spoke, “Fortune Teller, Photo booth, then a drink at that center bar, before
here.”
“That’s better,” Granny patted her on the back, “Now, let’s get you two
someplace safe for the time being.”
The Merpeople held onto to each other and shuffled behind Granny,
following her into a dark corner and through an obscure door into to the elfin
triage. After depositing the latest victim on a cot, Granny grabbed Em by the
elbow. They were back on the case, and they were running out of time.
“Photo booths? Where are they? How many are there?” Granny rubbed her
hands together in excitement, “Twenty-to-one, there is some sort of ice cream
prop. Maybe a melon baller.”
“Seems an odd item to turn into treachery,” Em said with skepticism, but
Granny only glared, so she answered the question, “I’ve seen two photo booths,
but they’re scattered all over. I know there is one by the entrance.”
“Start there, grab anything even related to ice cream and then meet me in
that Reading Room.” Granny pointed straight ahead.
“Okay,” Em said and took off toward the main entrance.
Right away, she found a cone and an ice cream scooper. The scoop, green
and glowy, leapt into her hand. And she knew. She could feel its power, mean
and menacing. Jagged jaws popped out. Em jumped back, but then grabbed the
handle and growled at it. The scoop whimpered and retracted. This was it. It
had to be.
As Em ran across through the foggy fetish-ness, dodging people and props,
she wondered…would she remove her own eye now that she had touched the cursed
object? As she stepped into the Reading
Room, she froze. All thoughts forgotten.
Oo, I am vaguely chilled by the vivid picture of the ice cream scoop scooping out eyes! That is an image that will stick with me for a long while, as told in this evocative scene!
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying so! It's what I was aiming for. 😉
ReplyDeleteHow are the merpeople in the casino? Maybe they're not in a casino and I'm mis-remembering. Having your hand change into an ice cream scoop would be pretty full on, especially when that hand then grew sharp jagged teeth
ReplyDeleteIt's a costume party. Real demons and monsters, but make-believe Merpeople. 😉
DeleteI love the imagery that’s created here! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete