Dreadful dark tales of h.., p.1
Dreadful Dark Tales of Horror 4, page 1
part #4 of Dreadful Dark Tales of Horror Series
Dreadful Dark
Tales of Horror: Book 4
Dean Rasmussen
Dreadful Dark: Tales of Horror: Book 4
Dean Rasmussen
Copyright © 2021 Dean Rasmussen
All rights reserved.
Ebook ISBN-13: 978-1-951120-18-4
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent from the publisher is strictly prohibited, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
For more information about this book, visit:
www.deanrasmussen.com
dean@deanrasmussen.com
Dreadful Dark: Tales of Horror: Book 4
Published by:
Dark Venture Press, 15502 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Suite 104-452, Winter Garden, FL 34787
Cover Art: Dark Venture Press and Deposit Photos
Created with Vellum
Contents
Randall's Better Half
Mr. Whiskers
Mrs. Tuttle’s Room
More Frightful Fun!
FREE Short Story!
More Books by the Author
About the Author
Randall's Better Half
Randall hunkered along the edge of the cabin’s window frame next to his friend, Michael, with the lights off and their fingers grasping the top of the windowsill. Michael wasn’t one to hide from anything, but they poked their heads up and stared outside into the moonlit lakeshore that had been their fishing grounds only hours earlier. The tattoo of a shark covering Michael’s forearm caught Randall’s eye. A fitting symbol of his friend’s personality.
“That’s where I saw her.” Randall pointed near the beach.
“You’re full of shit,” Michael said.
Randall shook his head. “I’m not lying. She was really out there.”
“You’re making it all up. I’m too smart for you, Randall. Did you finish your college degree? No. You’ve got to remember that when you try to pull shit like this.”
Randall’s eyes went wide. “I’m not joking. She walked out of the forest, naked and everything, except something about her head looked… off. Too big for that petite body of hers.”
Michael stared at him. “Are you drunk?”
“No, sir. I stopped drinking…” Randall glanced at the time on his cellphone. “…five hours ago.”
“Bullshit. Why are you wasting my time like this?”
“I’m telling the truth. She walked right out of those trees and went into the lake.”
“Swimming and a big head? At 10pm? And it’s only fifty degrees out there. You’re just making this shit up, aren’t you?”
“No, sir. I saw her right out there.” Randall pointed.
Michael scanned the darkness once again and then stood up. “You’re so full of shit. You just want me to go out there so you can have a good laugh at my expense. I’m going back to my room.”
Randall motioned for Michael to get down. “She’ll see you!”
Michael scoffed. “Does she have x-ray vision too? Nobody can see us in here, and I don’t care if she does, because nobody’s out there, anyway.” Michael stood in front of the window now without even trying to be careful.
Randall looked along the beach and waited for the pale figure to emerge from the water. She had to show up again and prove to Michael that he wasn’t a liar. The trees swayed outside and shadows moved below the rustling branches. “Something’s moving.”
Michael sighed and turned back. “Where?”
“Near the water.”
Michael leaned forward and squinted. “That isn’t a woman. That’s some weeds.”
The water shimmered where the woman had gone in. Randall hoped she would come back out so he wouldn’t look like a lying idiot.
“I’m done fooling around.” Michael turned toward the bedroom door. “I’m tired as hell and you’re full of shit. How many beers did you have this afternoon?”
“I don’t know. Only five or six.”
“See? That’s your problem. Not enough beer. Your brain is still stuck on that Marcy girl who dumped you last week. You’re hallucinating now about big-headed mutant naked women.”
Randall glanced out the window. “She looked real enough.”
“Nope, just a mirage. Tomorrow I’ll see that you down a twelve-pack, at least. Erase that woman like deleting a file from your hard drive.”
Lightning crashed nearby, and the sky flashed. Michael yawned. “It’s going to rain soon. Nobody would be crazy enough to swim during a storm, anyway.”
Randall gazed out toward the beach again. “She didn’t look like she was swimming. Not like a normal person, anyway. Maybe she’s drunk and got lost.”
Michael smirked as he turned to leave Randall’s room. “How could she be lost with that big brain of hers?”
Randall sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Maybe not.” Michael left, closing the room’s door behind him.
The wind picked up, triggering the motion lights on the cabin’s porch to turn on. The front yard lit up, but only a little light stretched to the beach. Darkness shrouded the shoreline, but something moved in the shadows.
The woman.
Randall’s mouth dropped open. Michael had left the room too soon. She was back, and now her upper body rose from the water. Her white skin stood out from the black background. She stepped onto the beach, revealing her drooping bare limbs, perfect breasts and ass, but damn… that head. Not just the head, but her neck—too wide—it stretched out almost to her shoulders.
The air howled through the cracks in Randall’s window as he fixated on her slow, graceful movements. Maybe he wasn’t seeing her right. Maybe it was just the poor lighting, and the shadows playing tricks on him.
Lightning flashed and boomed. Three second delay between the flash and the boom. The storm would hit soon. What was she thinking going into the water right before the storm? No clothes on the ground either. An evening skinny dip? Bad timing. She must have walked a long way to go skinny dipping. No other houses within a couple of miles.
Randall opened his mouth to call Michael again, but stopped. The woman turned toward him with her hands out, gesturing for him to go out there.
He ducked down, his heart pounding. She’d caught him watching her. She’d tell Michael, and he would tease the living shit out of him about it for months. Should have gone to bed.
He moved off to the side of the window and reached up, grabbing the string to lower the blinds. He pulled, but hesitated before closing them, peeking around the corner first.
The woman stepped toward the cabin with her arms stretched toward his window. No doubt—she knew he was there. She made a wide gesture with her arms for him to go out there with her.
He would never go outside with her. His fingertips dug into the edge of the window frame. He shook his head and trembled as his heart thumped louder, but he couldn’t look away.
Her graceful white silhouette sharpened within the cabin’s porch light as she made her way across the grass toward him.
Beautiful body. Just that big head, and something wrong with her hair. Not… right.
He released the blinds, and they cracked down over the against the windowsill. No doubt, she had seen that too.
He winced. Just stay quiet, keep the blinds down, and she’ll go away.
With his heart still pounding, he crawled over to his bed and slinked in under the covers, pulling the cool sheets up over his face. His breath heaved in and out in the darkness.
For the longest time, just the wind pushing against the side of the house. The wood creaking and rumbling storm clouds in the distance.
Something tapped at his window.
Tap… tap… tap…
Aw, shit.
Bugs, just bugs.
A gentle, whispering voice came through the glass. Her voice wasn’t right either. Behind the faint words, a gurgling sound.
She tapped again, harder this time.
Oh, God. This isn’t a Marcy mirage. This is some real shit.
Each knock sent a chill down his spine. His muscles tensed, and he wanted to scream.
“Just go away,” he whispered, pulling his knees up into his chest forming a ball. He pulled the pillow in over his ears. No more gurgling sound, but he still heard her tapping against the glass.
Go away.
“Oh, God, oh, God.” His pulse thumped in his ears.
Tap… tap… tap…
No way in hell I’m letting you in.
Then silence.
Just his breath and the storm outside again for several minutes as he trembled beneath his sheets. He loosened the pillow over his ears and listened to the wind whistling through the cracks in his window.
He calmed and stared at the blinds over the window. How long could she stand out there in the cold naked?
She had to have given up by now, or passed out drunk. Was he responsible now to get her home? Or leave her there to freeze?
She will die, you know, if she passes out on the lawn, exposed like that, and it rains. Hypothermia would get her, and then he’d have a bigger problem to deal with in the morning.
Dammit.
He crept out of bed and made his way toward the window again
No sign of her. Must have headed back to the forest… or her car… or wherever the hell she came from. Randall scanned the yard and raised the blind a few more inches, then halfway up to get a better view.
She rose from the bottom of the window, her face now wrapped in the white scarf she’d played with earlier. Blue eyes peered at him between the layers of cloth and tufts of brown hair jutted out from the top. Her ivory skin and breasts were flawless, and as his eyes darted from her chest to her face, she laughed at him—a strange, broken cackle. She reached toward him and clawed at the glass like a hungry cat pleading for food.
Randall’s muscles froze and gasped, but nothing came out.
She thumped her palm against the glass. “Come out and play.”
He knocked his foot against a metal trashcan and teetered back, catching himself before falling. A guttural moan escaped his throat.
She tapped louder. “I need you.”
He fumbled with the cord to close the blinds again, but something had jarred it open. Hell with it. He turned and ran out of the room.
What had he gotten himself into? If the woman tried the cabin’s front door, she might get in. But Michael had locked it, hadn’t he? God, I hope so.
Randall rushed down the hallway to Michael’s closed bedroom door and hesitated a moment before he knocked. Michael would be pissed, but he had no choice.
He knocked. No answer. He pounded. “Michael?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Michael yelled.
“She’s out there right now,” Michael whisper-yelled. “She came up to my window.”
Michael cursed, stomping to the door, then threw it open and stood in just his underwear. His body was damp, as if he’d been working out. He flexed his chest muscles and sneered with a red face. “Good God, what’s your problem?”
Randall pointed to his room. “She’s out there now.”
“Do I look like I care?”
“Last time. Just come and look, and you’ll see her.”
Michael grumbled, but got dressed and followed Randall to his room. “You’re really losing it, you know that? No girl is worth losing your mind over.”
Randall stayed back as Michael walked straight to his window and yanked the blinds open all the way. “I don’t believe—” He glanced back with a big grin spread across his face. “Oh, man. Is that her?”
“Do you see her?” Randall came up alongside him. The woman was at the beach again, walking gracefully in circles, stretching and twisting like a ballet dancer. The scarf was now draped over her bare shoulders. Randall sighed. At least she wasn’t near the cabin anymore. “Yeah, that’s her.”
“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding.”
“What do you think she’s doing out there like that? You think she’s drunk or crazy? Should we call the cops or something?”
Michael glared at him. “You’re not bringing the cops out here. You know I’ve got a warrant. Are you really that stupid?”
“I don’t want her to freeze.”
“She won’t freeze.” Michael scoffed. “Her clothes are probably laying on the grass or in her car up the road.” He whistled.
“She came right up to my window a minute ago. She was trying to lure me outside with her.”
“You?” Michael furrowed his brows. “Are you kidding me?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, Randall.” He watched her sway and turn. “But we can’t turn down her invitation. If she wants to party, we better get out there and do something about it. Who are we to judge her for enjoying an evening by the lake? It’d be a shame if we disappoint her, right? You know, there’s that college up the road, so I bet she’s from there. Probably just some lonely heart looking for a little action.” He hurried toward the door.
Randall followed him. “Where are you going?”
“Outside. She must be drunk. I’m going to talk with her, and you’re a fool if you don’t come with.”
Randall grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. “I wouldn’t do that. Something’s wrong with her.”
Michael pulled away, but paused. “Yeah, you said that. Big head, right? Big deal. I’ll just say hello.”
“Can’t we just call the police? She might be dangerous.”
Michael rested his hand on Randall’s shoulder. “Listen, wake the hell up. Big head or not, she looks good from back here and she’s naked, so how can she be dangerous? You didn’t see any weapons, right? Any pistols tucked under that scarf? No, so I’ll just talk to her. Get her name and phone number.” He laughed.
Randall gripped the edge of Michael’s shirt, but Michael broke away and hurried through the cabin toward the front door.
Michael threw on his jacket and grabbed a flashlight near the door. “Just stay here, if you want. I don’t care. She’s probably got friends nearby and this would be the perfect chance for you to forget all about that Marcy girl. Either way, just don’t mess it up for me. Got it?”
Randall’s eyes widened. “You’re really going out there with her?” Randall shook his head. “She’s not normal.”
“I can see that. Good. I like weird girls.”
Michael flipped on the porch light and opened the door. The cool air rushed in around them as they stepped outside together.
The woman had moved off over near the forest now, but she was turned away, and now she fluttered the scarf above her in the wind. Her silhouette stood out against the darkness.
Randall hunkered behind Michael and followed him across the yard. As they approached, the woman backed away further toward the forest. The gentle lapping of the water against the lake’s shoreline did nothing to soothe his nerves. The smell of dead fish blew across his face.
Michael’s flashlight wasn’t strong enough to light more than a few yards ahead of them, but he kept going. “Hey there, what’s up?”
The woman swung her hips side to side in exaggerated poses and moved into the trees, fading beyond the flashlight’s reach.
Randall cleared his throat. “I don’t think we should go over there.”
“Nonsense. She’s beautiful.”
The woman gestured for them to follow her.
Michael chuckled and spoke up. “You got a party happening out there in the woods? I didn’t think anyone lived around here. You got a cabin nearby?”
She didn’t respond and continued swinging the scarf around, weaving between the trees.
“You got a name?” Michael asked her. “Go to college near here?”
The woman moved into the deep grass, stepping over the brush toward a chain-link fence. She dipped down and slinked through a hole near the ground, then came up on the other side.
“Oh yeah, she’s looking for some action, all right.” Michael rushed ahead.
Randall struggled to keep up. “Wait, Michael.”
Michael glanced back. “If you can’t keep up, go back to the cabin. I’ll tell you what you missed in the morning.” He laughed.
“Aw, hell.” Randall raced up to Michael’s side and caught his breath.
Michael patted his back. “That’s more like it. She’s bound to have some friends, Randall, and I bet by morning you won’t even remember that Marcy girl.”
Another crack of lightning broke through the night sky. It would suck if they didn’t get inside before it rained.
The breeze picked up as Michael reached the fence. “She went in through here somewhere. I see it.” He leaned down and pulled back the bottom edge of a large bent section. “You go first.”
They hurried through.
The woman kept her distance as she waved them forward toward a distant light.
“Must be a cabin back there.” Michael hurried.
“How come we never saw that place before?” Randall struggled to keep up.
“We never went into the woods this far before. Let’s just see where she’s going.” Michael shouted at the woman, “You have a party out there?”
No response.
After a few minutes of a brisk walk, they came out into a clearing and stopped. A run-down cabin stood about thirty feet away with only one faint porch light to illuminate the area. The windows were boarded up and weeds covered the driveway. Only one car in sight—a rusting white two-door hatchback.
