Marionette

After receiving a strange voicemail from his wife, a husband hurries back to his home only to discover something terrifying.

Named One Of The Top Entries For XO Horror Series

***TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE AND GORE***

His cell phone buzzed on the hotel nightstand. A picture of his wife smiled back at him on the screen. A sigh escaped his lips as he turned it over, and the buzzing stopped.

A woman breathed deeply beside him. He reached for her before she shifted, grabbed the wrinkled white sheet, pulled it over bare skin, and stilled. Layers of black curls fell from her shoulder. He let his hand drop.

He stood, zipped up his pants, tossed a couple of crinkled hundreds on the bed, and walked out.

The speakers rumbled, blasting heavy metal as he sped down the highway. In the rear-view mirror, the lights from the city flickered. The rain beat down on the windshield, and the wipers swished back and forth in contrasting rhythm to the music.

Finally out of the city, he switched off the music and checked his voicemail. His wife’s frantic voice filled the silence.

“Don, Pepper is missing! I can’t find her anywhere! Call me back as soon as you can. I heard a noise in the back. She should be going crazy. Call me! Please.”

He shook his head. “She’s always worried about something. Probably just some raccoon digging through the trash, although Pepper would still bark.” He pressed the gas pedal.

His headlights lit up the open front door as he pulled into the driveway. The lights were out. “Shit. Jamie!” He jumped out of the still-running Volvo.

Rain poured over him. He slipped, slicing his knee on a rock hidden in soaked grass. Red seeped from the knee of his pants. The wind swooped and spun as he fought his way to the door.

He reached for the light switch, flipping it several times. It remained dark. “Jamie, are you here?” His voice echoed back at him. He stepped into the dark, limping toward the living room.

Eerie music drifted over him as he entered the living room. Moonlight shone through the glass-paneled wall, sending shadows dancing across the room. The floor made a sickening squish under his feet. His body shook as he looked around. Something dark had splattered the walls.

“Jamie?” His voice shook.

The lights flickered on. Crimson and brownish-red dripped from the walls. “Oh God, Jamie!” He turned at a swoosh and thud behind him.

His wife’s twisted body hung from the balcony. Hooks attached to strings dug into her flesh at the joints and the top of her head. Her face, unrecognizable, swelled black and blue. The strings moved and pulled, dancing her body to the music. He stood frozen.

“H… help me,” she stuttered from above. “P… Please. Stop.” She shrieked. Blood dripped from her gaping mouth.

A glassy, bloodshot eye opened. She looked around, then down, and wheezed, her eye growing big. She struggled and lifted her hand and pointed a finger at him. Her lips moved. “Run,” she said. “Run. He’s behind you.”

A rope circled his neck and pulled tight. He grabbed and ripped at it, struggling to breathe. He flew through the air and landed with a thud on the floor. Fighting, he kicked and rolled and flopped on the blood-covered floor until his breath left his body. His fingers dripped red.

The next day, they found the man tied to a chair, a rope wrapped tightly around his neck, and held him to the chair. A hook was buried in his head and connected to a string that positioned his head upward. His eyes, bloodshot and bulging, were taped open.

The wife, strung over the balcony like a marionette, swung, and danced through the air.

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_{***Disclaimer*** This is a work in progress and as such is likely to change before reaching the finished product. Thank you for your understanding.}