Amelia Angel

short, descriptive semi-horror piece. Not as strong as the kind of horror I usually write, however ("We cater for cowards" - Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Devin Payne sat in the darkness of the living room, pretending to be watching television. Really he was just staring past the screen, lost in his own mind. Suddenly he was roused from his thoughts by what sounded like sobbing...a very familliar sobbing.

Devin walked out into the hallway, to the source of the noise. He switched on the lights, their fluorescent shine tinting the marble staircase to a ghostly, pure white. On the staircase, sat the girl responsible for the sobbing.

His daughter, Amelia, had been fourteen when she'd taken her own life, shortly after the death of her mother. The little girl sitting on the staircase was younger, but definitely Amelia. She sat with her head buried in her arms, crying. There were two white, feathery angel's wings growing from her shoulder-blades.

"Amelia."

Devin whispered. Amelia lifted her head. Two tear tracks stained her face, but these weren't normal tears, they were droplets of blood, her beautiful brown eyes flooded with watery pink-red.

"Help me...please dad...the devil says he's going to kill me..."

Amelia called out in a soft, whispery, pleading voice.

"But you can't be real! I'm going mad, I'm seeing things!"

Devin said, confused. A deep scar appeared down Amelia's chest, slashing her white nightdress and staining it crimson.

"You're not real!"

Devin said again, unsure of whether to run away or not. Another cut appeared on Amelia's dress. Then another, until she was left lying on the staircase, a dead angel, wings curling at the tips, corpse twitching violently. The convulsions stopped and she lay still, dead, fading to a shadow. Gone, only a pool of blood left dripping from the steps of the stairs. The blood started to evaporate, leaving thin, drying, red-brown letters, forming the words -

"You killed me again, dad. Why?"

Reviews

[ValBonScallon]

Love, Love, Love the ambiguity here! This is the essence of madness, KatDarkness, and you have captured it brilliantly. Sensory ambiguity and ambiguity of thought structure. Are Devin's thoughts unstructured because he did in fact kill Amelia or is he wracked with guilt? Sensory and cognitive ambiguity are the key to madnesss and you have distilled them brilliantly.