First Date Jitters... OR a Horror Story of Fucking Nightmares?

Click to View Show Anyway

Postcard snowflakes fell as I stared down at her on the frozen pavement. Dark red blood had stained the knife in her hands and traced a steaming path along her shadow. It stirred.

I gasped.

That thing on the pavement stretched its neck and turned its head toward me. The woman lay flat on her back. Her blank eyes remained fixed on the orange streetlamp buzzing overhead.

"This... is fucking messed up."

The shadow raised one long, black hand and pointed at me.

I suddenly felt them closing in. Rusted dumpsters, fire escapes, broken signs clinging to abandoned shops: every shadow in that alley had peeled itself from its servant and pressed against the graffiti-smeared walls.

I stumbled back.

My shadow didn't follow.

It stayed pinned where I'd stood, beneath that streetlamp, gaining strength. Then, slowly, it lifted its head and rose, joint by joint, unfolding from the oil-stained asphalt like something dredged from stagnant sludge.

It wore my outline badly — too long in the arms, too sharp at the shoulders, its head tilted at an angle my neck could never survive.

I backed away even further.

The shadow took several quick steps forward as I yelled.

"What the FUCK do you want?"

It stopped.

For a moment, the alley held its breath. The snow had changed its mind. A light rain began to fall, tapping impatiently against a nearby drainpipe — then it stopped, as if it knew.

The woman on the ground made a small, wet sound.

I looked down at her in horror. Was SHE still alive? She raised her blood-soaked hand and pointed a finger.

That was all my shadow needed.

It reached into my chest without breaking skin and pulled out the shape of my scream.

Morning...

Police found him, mouth agape. No sign of the woman or her knife.

"Whatda ya think happened?"

"Looks like a drunk had too much. Fell asleep and froze to death."

"What about all that blood over there?"

"We're behind a butcher shop. Probably seeped outta that bin near the wall."

Daylight... had silenced all the witnesses.

Sunlight scorched my bedroom as I shuddered and threw off my blanket. The phone chimed. It was her with a question.

"Are we still on tonight?"

• A first date, can be spooky: recall any of yours?
• Or did THEY surprise and please you?

Click to View Show Anyway

... some "firsts" end up with happy endings...