Uneasy Reading: 4 Horror Shorts Read Free Page B

hauling
himself back up on unsteady legs.
    "How did it feel?" Cassie asked.
    "What?"
    "Murdering them? How did it feel?"
    "It felt like the right thing to do," Martin
said.
    "Like the right thing to do, or did it just
feel right ?"
    Martin shrugged and focused on the bodies
again. "What's the difference?"
    "When you were little, you were different,"
Cassie said. "I always thought it was because Dad was so mean. I
thought maybe something inside your head was broken because of the
things you saw, the way he was."
    "Way to spread the love, Sis," Martin said.
"You think I'm a sociopath?"
    "Did you like it?"
    How was he supposed to answer that? Did he
like killing people? He thought about it for a moment and felt a
tingle at the base of his skull when he realized the answer. "I did
like it. It felt like it was something I should've been doing a
long time ago."
    "That's real good, little brother, because
I've got someone here I'd like you to meet."
    The faint outline of a small child appeared
next to Cassie, slowly coalescing into being… or ectoplasm. Martin
wasn't entirely sure. The new ghost was a small, dark-haired
Hispanic boy who looked to be about nine or ten years old at most.
He stayed close to Cassie. She took his hand into hers.
    The boy didn't seem to notice the bodies. Or
at least he didn't pay any attention to them. His dead eyes stared
at Martin instead.
    "This is Micah," Cassie said.
    Martin nodded at the boy. He knew what was
coming next. "What's your deal, kid?"
    Micah didn't say anything. He just looked up
at Cassie, who smiled down at him.

    "Micah's parents had a friend named Xavier,"
Cassie said.
    "Let me guess," Martin said. The smell
wasn't bothering him as much now, and he was already trying to
figure out the best way to get blood off of knives and saws. He'd
need them. "Xavier was not a nice man?"
    "He lives in San Antonio. Micah says Xavier
stashes cash at his house from drug sales. It'll be enough money to
last you for a long time so we can keep this up. We could drive
there in a few days; the three of us," Cassie said. "Then take care
of Xavier."
    "Like an undead family road trip," Martin
said. He walked over and started to gather his tools. He thought it
odd that he was already thinking of them as his tools.
Working as a serial killer for hire in the service of vengeful
ghosts was going to be a dangerous business.

Rorschach's
Vampires
     
    Inky blobs hovered in the periphery of
Gordon's vision, becoming clearer and more stable as each second
passed. Stringy tentacles dripped viscous ink onto the break room's
shining linoleum floor. Gordon swallowed hard and watched the
hypnotic dance of the floating things : they moved and
shimmered as the light hit them. He could almost hear them
whispering to him.
    Shelly couldn’t see them, of course. At
least Gordon didn’t think that she could, because no one else had.
If she had been able to see the globules, he was sure she would've
mentioned them. After all, it wasn't everyday that shape-shifting
inkblots filled the office lunchroom.
    "Shame we had to come in on a Saturday,"
Shelly said. She stirred her coffee and looked at him with dull
eyes. It was just the two of them in the office today.
    "It happens," Gordon said. "It could be
worse."
    "How are those little ones of yours?" Shelly
asked. She took a big, noisy slurp of coffee that Gordon was sure
had more sugar than liquid in it. He'd seen her dump at least a
dozen spoonfuls of sugar and about a quarter cup of creamer into
it.
    She took another gulp while she waited for
his answer. This time some of the coffee dribbled down her chin,
where it slithered into the thick folds of her neck. She didn't
bother to wipe it away. An inkblot that resembled a pig hovered
near her left ear, dripping gobs of black ooze onto her pink
blouse.
    "Gordon, I asked you how the little ones
are," she said again. Her words were louder and slower this time,
as though he were too dense to understand her. "The babes… how