THE HUNT

THE HUNT

It moves slowly.

In the dead of night.

Walking on silent feet.

It draws closer.

I dash into a building.

An empty school.

It soon follows.

It brings with it silence.

I can feel its presence.

Creeping closer.

I enter a deserted hallway.

I turn.

Shut my eyes.

And stand strong.

Darkness descends.

I fall into the dark abyss.

THE CREEPING LIQUID

Mysterious under-door seepages - “I Do” (1921)

The creeping liquid from my nightmares..

It is now alive in my book, THE DEAD GAME.

     They are racing down the staircase, carrying their children, eager to reach the front door. Diane stops dead in her tracks. A dark red substance is oozing into the house from under the door, creeping across the floor, devouring everything in its wake. The circular rug and then the hall table disappear into the thick slime. It turns to make its way toward them.
     Mary hears a high-pitched keening cry coming from within the slime. She backs herself into a corner and screams,  “It’s going to swallow us!”
     “Run out the back!” John shouts above the children’s frightened sobbing. He pushes her ahead of him. “Don’t think. Just make sure you get out of this house and down the stairs to the beach. Or else you might be living here forever.”
     They climbthrough the destroyed kitchen, through detached pieces of ceiling, through broken pieces of cabinets and sharp shards from shattered dishes.
     Once outside, they're struck by flying debris. The patio is engulfed in a strong wind, which lifts the furniture high into the air. The white wicker pieces crash against each other, the broken pieces falling into the empty pool.
     The pool hadsbeen filled already twice this season. The house has a mind of its own: it wants the pool empty of water and her family gone; and it's making sure that it remains this way.
     The red liquid is creeping beneath the kitchen door, inching its way toward them. Mary screams above the sound of the howling wind. “It’s getting closer. It’s followed us outside. WE ARE ALL DEAD!”
      “We must escape now! Don’t look back! Just run!” Her husband shouts back.
      She gazes down the steep staircase to the rocky shore below, to the jagged rocks that are being beaten by the raging waves of the ocean. In her heart, she knows that their fate is not going to be much better.

Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj
    

THE CREEPING LIQUID

Mysterious under-door seepages - “I Do” (1921)

The creeping liquid from my nightmares! It is now alive in my book, THE DEAD GAME!
Excerpt from THE DEAD GAME

     They were racing down the staircase, carrying their children, eager to reach the front door. Diane stopped dead in her tracks. A dark red substance was oozing into the house from under the door, creeping across the floor, devouring everything in its wake. They watched as the huge circular rug and the large hall table disappeared into its thick slime. Extending its reach farther out, it made its way toward them.
     Diane detected a high-pitched keening cry coming from within the slime. She backed herself into a corner. “It’s going to swallow us!”
     “Run out the back!” John shouted above the children’s frightened sobbing. He pushed her ahead of him. “Don’t think! Just make sure you get out of this house and down the stairs to the beach. Or else you might be living here forever!”
     They climbed through the destroyed kitchen, through detached pieces of ceiling, through broken pieces of cabinets and sharp shards from shattered dishes.
     Once outside, they were struck by flying debris. The patio was engulfed in a strong wind, which lifted the furniture high into the air. The white wicker pieces crashed against each other, the broken pieces falling into the empty pool.
     The pool had been filled already twice that season. The house had a mind of its own: it wanted the pool empty of water and her family gone; and it was making sure that it remained that way.
     The red liquid was creeping out beneath the kitchen door, inching its way toward them. She screamed above the sound of the howling wind. “It’s getting closer! It’s followed us outside! WE ARE ALL DEAD!”
      “We must escape now! Don’t look back! Just run!”
      She gazed down the steep staircase to the rocky shore below, to the jagged rocks that were being beaten by the raging waves of the ocean. In her heart, she knew that their fate was not going to be much better.

Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj
    

WHAT THE HELL?

THE DEAD GAME

     They stepped into a drafty master bedroom,  illuminated by lit candles encircling the huge canopied bed. The candlelight created shadows that swayed back and forth across the ceiling and walls. Linda felt like the shadows were reaching out for her.  She backed away in horror, not knowing if she was imagining them or not.

     She didn’t want to move any closer to the bed, dreading what she might discover there. Anything was possible, from what they had already witnessed in this house. But Todd and Shana kept moving forward.  She moved with them toward the bed.

     What she found there exceeded all her frightening expectations. On the white quilt lay a human skeleton with its arms resting at its sides. The skeleton began to bleed, slowly at first, and then profusely from the deep gash in its bones from the long, serrated silver knife sticking out of its chest. In the stream of blood were worms—scores of worms—inching out from the deep hole, spreading across the white quilt.

     Linda couldn’t believe her eyes. She gasped. More and more worms were climbing out from the body, falling in groups from the bed to land on the carpet.

     A new doorway emerged on the far side of the room. She watched the enormous worms spread across the floor, and realized that their squishy bodies were blocking their path to the door. They were circling her feet, trying to climb up her shoes. She stomped her feet to dislodge the worms latching onto her heels.

     Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Shana backing into a corner. Her eyes appeared huge and saucer-like as she stared at the worms crawling closer and closer to her. She wasn’t making a sound, but Linda could hear her shaking—as if her bones were rattling inside her quivering body.

      Impatient with both of them, Todd dragged them through the swarms of worms. Once they were outside the room, Linda gave a sigh of relief.  The persistent worms were locked in the bedroom, behind the door that had concealed itself into the wall.

http://www.amazon.com/author/susanneleist

http://barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-game-susanne-leist/1116825442?ean=2940148410881

THE DEAD GAME -- DAY 122

     Todd drove through the quiet town. No lights shone through any windows; even the street lights were off. Not a very good setting for tonight’s activities.

     Linda continued with her earlier pretense of being annoyed with him and joined Shana in the back seat instead of up front next to him. He smiled at her through the rear view mirror, amused at her cute attempts to preserve her dignity.

     Mike and David were waiting for them in front of their store with Shirley by their side. They were dressed in tuxedos while Shirley wore a short pink flouncy dress. They huddled together as protection from the heavy winds that blew leaves and dust around them. Todd opened the passenger’s door for Shirley.

      Mike stepped off the curb and said, “We picked up Shirley at her store, since we didn’t want her to wait alone. The town is really eerie tonight: the weather started out warm with calm winds and then all of a sudden, the lights went out and the winds started to crazily pick up speed. The streets are deserted; no one seems to be around.”

     He squeezed into the back seat with David and continued, “The stage is definitely being set for tonight: we have the deserted town, the lights going out, and the strong winds. All we now need is a haunted house and some demons, and then we’ll be all ready for tonight’s entertainment.”

     Todd didn’t appreciate Mike’s theatrics. “The weather in this town is very unpredictable: it constantly changes from calm to stormy. But this doesn’t mean that something evil is afoot tonight.”

      Shana giggled. “I like the word ‘afoot’—it gives a spooky aura to everything.” Todd was thankful that Shana was helping him to put everyone at ease. He was worried enough about this evening, and he didn’t need to worry about Mike upsetting everyone unnecessarily.

     “Doesn’t Todd look adorable with his date, Shirley?” asked Shana.

     “I didn’t know they were going out,” said David.

     “Of course we aren’t going out, my dear boy,” said Shirley with a twinkle in her eye, “but I wouldn’t mind being Todd’s date for the evening.”

      “It will be my pleasure, madam,” responded Todd.

THE DEAD GAME -- DAY 106

     At closing time, Todd arrived to walk Linda home. He didn’t like the way she was sitting at the counter all alone, just staring into space. Sitting on the stool beside her, he placed his arm around her shoulder.

     “I just spoke with Sam. Finally, we have some news!” he said, trying to cheer her up. “He’s uncovered new information about the dead woman on the beach. It turns out that she was a private investigator who was hired by the family of the girl who disappeared last year. Other girls have disappeared over the years. Unfortunately, people are going to want answers, and if we don’t find any soon, the whole town will be under investigation.” Well, that last bit of information took care of any cheering up. But he did want to keep her updated on the severity of their situation.

     “What do you know about these disappearances?”asked Linda.

     He was startled by her question. “Are you suspicious of me?” Was it possible that she was now thinking that he was the one responsible for all the disturbing events in town? Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the disappearances.

     “No! Of course not! I just wanted to know what you thought about these….”

      “I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find some answers at the party Diane is throwing Friday night.”

     “Could you take me to the party?”

     “I’m going with Sam…I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

     “The sheriff could take Shana—it would be a great cover for the two of you.”

     “We’ll see.” He didn’t want her anywhere near Diane’s meeting.

HAUNTED HOUSE

Adorable sketch of a haunted house.

(Source: born--for--this)