-The best stories on the web-
Read or link to over 1000 stories listed under Stories to the left.
Submit your short stories for review as a Word document attached to an email to: Read@Short-Story.Me

Latest Stories

March 19, 2024
Fantasy Stories Wondering Monk

Just My Imagination

The alarm clock went off and started playing an awful tune. Tom opened his eyes and closed them back, squinting. He reopened one eye and stood up to stop the torture. The phone was on the desk, in the furthest spot from the bed. Although he changed his way of…
March 19, 2024
Science Fiction Stories Ocelotlzin

Earth Is Dead

Recording… It doesn't matter who I was; I probably lived a long time ago, and I am now just a voice someone added to the audio-visual records. What is essential is the recollection of events that lead to the current state. So, a little history needs to be…
March 08, 2024
Flash Fiction Benoit

Some Enchanted Evening

It was a rugby tackle with tears: Chrissy burst in, sobbing and babbling, hugging James. Her face was all wet, eyes wild. What…? My parents split up, Dad has moved in with his boyfriend and I cannot join them. I am shut out. I have lost my dad. Torrent of…
March 08, 2024
Horror Stories Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

In The Hands Of My Legs

The car pulled up in front of the large salon. The neon sign, that sexy broad thing, on the salon'sroof read "Mr. Gil's All-night Salon". The exhaust pipe of the car was pumping solid smoke, theswirls moving from the car and towards the salon.…
March 07, 2024
Mystery Stories Vanessa Leigh Giles

Casualty of Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Chapter 1 Until Death do us Part ‘Ring, ring!’. I answered the telephone and asked, “Hello, good evening. Who’s this? “Hello.” This is Dr. Smith from Red Cross hospital. “Is this Mr. Locke, John?”, he asked, hesitantly scratching his bald head. “Yes, doctor.…
March 07, 2024
Crime Stories Robert Pook

Bar Room Trigger

Another return journey on footpaths so familiar. He strides across each crack in each paving stone. Regular loose drain covers sidestepped. Mapping long ago mapped in Richard’s desolate mind. His pace hastened by the sight of the oncoming storm. Quickening…
March 04, 2024
Horror Stories Ano Chinemerem

Sanctity

Where should I begin? I could begin by telling you about this comely boy, whom every notable person around the streets agrees his smile could charm the bills off one. Between one smile, there was his goodness, his dreams and humanity—a little far ahead?— but…
March 04, 2024
Flash Fiction Emanuel Diaz

Et Mortui Partium

As Rafael stepped out into the rain, it wasn't the ordinary drops that fell from the sky. Instead, it was a storm of souls, each one taking the form of shimmering jewelry as it cascaded toward the ground. Rubies, diamonds, and sapphires twinkled amidst the…
February 29, 2024
Poetry Jing Li Ava

London

‘Am I in London?’ "I am." Where is Elizabeth? Happy living story All of your chapter Bounlance joy Please my heart Power hand Wise mind Our baby Vow vow Love all love Miss I miss Endless wonder Bring us together Love all love Miss I miss For everything My…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Rob Pook

Life Sentence of The Smith

Born nine months after his country won the World Cup.A child prodigy.Cast off at age twenty-four.Husband, father, emigree, away on the other side of the world.The blue-collar life.The dreams of success.The search for fulfillment.The long years of empty…
February 29, 2024
Mystery Stories Joshua Lowther

The Operator

Jason looked over to his right, his eyes barely able to focus themselves on the subject of his attention. His neck ached terribly from the strenuous movement. He was tired. The captain’s gaze came to rest on the rookie sonar operator sitting tense at his…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Salvatore Difalco

The Chute

At dusk, we left our unit with a soft pink bundle. I carried it through the wet streets and into the black woods. I said I’d take it all the way, the bundle, but that we had to drop it in together. My wife’s green eyes flashed. “Don’t make me do that.” I…

He was praying at the altar in an old rundown catholic church in Soweto before he got the house call.  The candles burnt ominously on the altar before him. As soon as he answered, father Jacob leered at him from a candlelit limestone corner and Neo stepped outside.

‘Yes?’

‘It’s my son,’ the woman was frantic. ‘I’ve been told you can help?’

‘I’m not a Doctor.’

‘It’s the devil!’ The woman moaned, and he managed to get fragments of an address before hanging up.

The cobbles leading up to the doorway were rough with no thought to visitors. But he never expected a warm welcome or a baked pie. It was cold, and the sun hid itself from view behind a prodigious expansion of dark clouds.

He had seen demons on sunny days, but the eerie storm clouds made it harder. It made them fierce. Fierce like thunder whipping the clouds. The host almost never survived on days like these. When he came up to the door a cool breeze swept by and he noticed the street was empty. There was no sign of human life. When he knocked, a hollow sound echoed from behind the door. He waited patiently, while the rumbling clouds raged on.

The door creaked open. A young brunette showed her face, and her pale white fingers curled around the edge of the door. ‘You’re black?’ She said with utter astonishment.

He stared at her with a stolid expression.

‘M-My apologies,’ The brunette forced a smile. ‘I’m Carrie, and you must be Neo?’ She pushed out a trembling hand.

Neo ignored the hand and pushed through. As soon as he stepped inside he turned his head left and right, breathed in and closed his eyes. Carrie closed the door and folded her arms, fighting to keep her composure. When Neo opened his eyes, he stared at the stairs. They were white, most everything in the fucking house was white except the counterpanes, they were made of oak.

‘He’s up  ̶  ’ The woman started.

Neo just raised a hand to silence her and started climbing the steps slowly. In the motion he pulled out a silver knife from inside his jacket. The knife bore religious symbols, some known and some unknown to the majority of people. From underneath the other side he pulled out a vile. For a moment the contents of the vile appeared to be water, but that was changing. Within a few seconds the water turned velvet red. He always used the vile first. The strength of the demon would be compared to the intensity of the colour. The darker the blood in the vile, the stronger the spirit.
As soon as he reached the platform at the top, his breathing ritual started again. The second door down the hall caught his attention and he approached. The knob on the door felt warm when he pushed it open.

The room was dimly lit by a lamp next to the bedside. The walls were festooned with crucifixes. The most prominent was nailed above the bed’s headboard. A bronze Jesus carrying his cross. A beacon for dark things.

The body of a child laid on the bed in a way a corpse might lie in a coffin. Auburn hair, with bushy brows and a pale face. Neo walked over to the bedside table, placed the knife and vile on it and closed his eyes. When his eyes reopened, a pair of eyes akin to death itself were staring at him. Expressionless.

“Father forgive me,” the demon said in the child’s voice, “I’ve been a bad boy.”

Neo remained silent. He picked up the vile and held it close to his face. The liquid inside turned black. It never turned black. Something was wrong he knew, but his face showed no indication of perplexity.

“What’s your name demon?” Neo asked calmly.

The thing on the bed rolled his head from side to side and grinned showing most of the boy’s adolescent teeth.

“Every demon has a name.”

This time the demon spoke throatily, “Call me what you like peasant of God.”

“You want to play a game?” Neo made eye contact.

The boy nodded slowly.

Neo bent down and whispered in the boys ear, “Guess my name.”

The boy grinned profusely. “Solomon the wise?”

Neo opened the vile. “Just because the prophecies of Enoch are lost, it does not mean they won’t be fulfilled.” He said curtly.

“Enoch is dead.”

“It is said,” Neo continued, “In the last days Michael will sweep down upon the earth and plant his seed inside a woman’s womb.”

The boy frowned.

“He shall be born in the last days and he shall have power over darkness.”

“Lies!” The demon throated.

Neo wore a black coat. He walked to the boy’s feet and took it off. His skin was dressed in scars and memories of pain. He looked at the child, and suddenly the demon could not stare back. Every second of Neo’s glare seemed to burn the demon’s eyes. Neo folded his jacket over the feet of the bed and walked back to the head of the bed. The demon started to squirm uncontrollably, but he was fixed to the bed by restraints. Neo leaned down, until his face was an inch away from the boy’s. Fear made its way on to the boy’s expression. Then Neo kissed him. The kiss was soft. Waves of anger and bewilderment pulsed through the boy’s body. Neo stood upright. The thing on the bed was stunned and still.

Neo opened the vile. Dark fumes escaped the opening. He inhaled it and closed his eyes simultaneously. When he opened his eyes they were white. At the same time the boy opened his eyes too and they were navy blue and stolid. Slowly the boy’s head turned to him.

“What are you?” The thing on the bed growled.

Neo remained quiet.

“What?” its voice was weaker.

In one violent movement Neo grabbed the boy’s neck and lifted him up to his face. Neo stared into the boys eyes and spoke, “Demon. What’s your name?”

The boy started shaking. Neo shouted, “Demon what is your name!”

The thing started to choke and laugh, “This boy will die!”

“Demon! I command you to tell me your name!”

“I am the sovereign chariot of death. I am second to God. I am the one who fought Elijah in the kingdom of heaven. I am God’s first love. I am Legion.”

Neo’s eyes grew wide. He released the scrawny thing and it fell back onto the bed. Suddenly the darkness left the room. And with it the weight of two spirits. One smaller and one far more ancient. Neo left the corpse on the bed and walked down the stairs.

Before he could walk out of the front door the woman barred his way. Tears rolled down her red cheeks.

“I failed.” He managed to say.

The woman balled her fists and hammered Neo’s chest, crying.

Neo grabbed the woman’s arms and he embraced her. After a while she asked him why. Why he failed.

“Death comes for us all.” Was all he managed to say.

 

The End

 

Bio: 25 year-old aspiring author from South Africa.

0
0
0
s2sdefault

Donate a little?

Use PayPal to support our efforts:

Amount

Genre Poll

Your Favorite Genre?

Sign Up for info from Short-Story.Me!

Stories Tips And Advice