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Coming Home

A Horror Short

By Ashley Nestler, MSWPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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The town was silent, only the sound of rain crashing down on the cobblestones reverberated in her ears. Emily kept her gaze in front of her as she continued down the walk, her speed slowed down by the use of her cane. She had injured her leg a year ago in a sword fight and her leg was never the same again. As a pirate captain, Emily carried the shame of the lost fight with her, and she vowed to never be taken aback like that ever again.

Time seemed to move slowly as Emily rounded the corner onto a street filled with darkened, small cottages. She had not been home in some time but coming home now wasn’t a warm welcoming. She had no one to come home to, and she would have rather been out at sea aboard her ship. As Emily made it to the end of the street a soft glow could be seen coming from the window of the last cottage on the left. It was the only light visible in any of the houses. As she got closer, she noticed that the glow was the soft flicker of a candle in the window.

But this candle was coming from her own cottage, and her cottage had been vacant for years.

Emily turned and began to walk up the pathway to the house. All she could think was that maybe some squatters had taken it upon themselves to find home in her residence, and it was about time they were kicked out. She was cold and tired and all she wanted was to fall asleep in her own bed.

Emily pulled out a skeleton key and twisted it in the lock of the door, hearing a resounding click as the door unlocked. But just as she turned the knob she glanced at the candle in the window as the flame began to pucker. As soon as the door was open a breeze swam into the cottage and captured the flame, stealing it and leaving the cottage cast in moonlit shadows. Emily glanced around her barren home, somehow feeling as though she were somewhere foreign. She moved to the mantel and turned on a Gaslamp. Just as the lamp’s light flickered into existence, she heard a crash come from behind her.

Emily spun around, startle and trying to catch her breath. Behind her in her kitchen nook was an open cabinet and its contents were strewn across the floor in broken shards – glass plates, bowls, and cups.

“Is someone there?” she asked, her voice cracking. “If someone is there, I demand that you leave at once! This is my home.”

Emily waited for a response or some drifter to show themselves, but nothing came. Instead, the candle in the window lit again, its flame dancing and twirling. She moved to the candle in the window and put out the flame with her fingertips. She took a deep breath and tried to settle her restless heart. The rain began to pound on her window, causing her to lift her gaze. But once she looked out the window she was met with a ghastly, demonic face smiling back at her.

“Oh!” Emily cried, falling backwards. The candle coming alight again.

Emily…

“Who’s there?” Emily cried, trying not to expose the fear in her voice. She straightened her back, trying to maintain her composure. She was a pirate captain for God’s sake, there was no way she was going to let some drifter spook her. But as she glanced around the cottage, she was positive that no one could be hiding in her humble abode. Perhaps exhaustion had finally gotten to her.

But as Emily turned around, she was met face to face with a shadowy figure, its eyes dark red and piercing into her soul.

Emily gasped and fell back, tripping over a foot stool and falling to the ground. The sound of the rain pounding on the window flooded Emily’s ears as her head throbbed. She looked back up at where the shadowy figure was standing, but it was gone. Emily wished more than anything that she was back on her ship. She hadn’t been home in so long, but it was not her home anymore.

Something was wrong.

Emily got back up on her feet and turned on another gas lamp. The lamp forced the moonlit shadows to seize, filling Emily with a feeling of calm.

Emily…

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Go away!” she cried, becoming angry. She had hoped that the added light would stop these delusions, but it was clear that they weren’t going away.

Two hands wrapped themselves around Emily, squeezing her tighter and tighter. Soon Emily lost the ability to breathe.

“Let go…” she wheezed, her vision beginning to fade. But right before she blacked out the grip loosened, and she fell to the floor once again. Emily gasped for air and stumbled as she got back on her feet.

That was it, she was not staying here any longer.

Emily ran to the door and yanked it open. The rush of wet air that came into the cottage captured the flames of the gas lamps, but she didn’t notice. She was already gone.

As she made it to the street she looked back at her cottage, met again with the red eyes of the shadowy figure.

“I must be going crazy,” Emily said to herself as she walked back down the cobblestoned road. It just made her realize that she couldn’t come home. Home was not a place for her anymore.

But what Emily didn’t know was that her house wasn’t haunted, and she wasn’t going crazy. The shadowy figure would follow her and haunt her for all of the lives she had taken while aboard her ship.

The only way out now, was to pay with her life. She just didn’t know it yet.

fiction
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About the Creator

Ashley Nestler, MSW

Ashley Nestler is a Bibliotherapist and a survivor of Schizoaffective Disorder, OCD, Quiet Borderline Personality, Fibromyalgia,multiple eating disorders, and C-PTSD. Ashley has dedicated her life to books and advocating for mental health.

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