Why She Came Back

#horror #flashfiction

I screamed when I felt their limbs softening against my skin. I tried to climb out from under the rubble of bodies, but it was useless. It felt like someone strategically placed me here to ensure I could never leave. I screamed, or at least I think I did. I couldn’t tell what was real anymore.

I stared at the sky. The moon was rather red and full. With it being my only source of light, I closed my eyes, wishing for a way out. When I opened them, the bodies had somehow dispersed all around me.

When I got up, the sundress I had on looked like it had been through a shredder. I screamed, but there was nothing and no one in sight. I looked at the moon but decided to save my wishes for later. I heard the waves crashing and thought that if I followed the sound, I would be saved.

That is when I finally saw it—smoke coming from behind a huge metal container to my right. I started to scream, begging for help. And they came. Two police officers shone their flashlights on me. I smiled and, for some reason, began to breathe like something was sitting on my chest. They walked slowly, not saying much. I raised my hands as I had learned from the movies. I saw the gun pointed at my head. I thought they were being cautious.

“Why are they so fucking hard to kill?” was the last thing I heard before the gunshot.

…

I woke up with a hole in my head. The bodies were once again piled on top of my legs and arms, covering most of my body. The moon was blue this time. I couldn’t move. Their bodies felt warmer; at least a nice breeze cooled my face. I closed my eyes, letting the tears escape, to see if I could still make a wish. There were so many thoughts racing that I don’t even remember what I said or which wish was the fastest to reach my lips.

All the bodies around me moved away as if they were changing positions in bed. With my free hands, I reached for the hole in my head, feeling it and realizing that I was truly dead. There was no point in screaming or crying.

I walked around and stumbled against the body of a girl who looked to be no older than sixteen. I felt sorry that we all ended up like this. Seconds later, I saw flashlights again and hid behind a barrel.

It was the same officers that had killed me. I wanted to attack them, but my legs had frozen me in place.

The taller man with sunglasses said, “Why must he kill them all? Who would believe girls like them anyway?”

The shorter one looked around, flashing his light on almost every corner of this place. He sighed and said, “I don’t know. Maybe that’s part of his thing.”

“It’s just more work for us,” the tall guy complained.

“Are you going to tell him to stop killing them?” the shorter one snapped. When the tall one didn’t answer, he shook his head and said, “That’s what I thought.”

After a moment of silence, the tall one said, “When is the shipment coming?”

“I’m not sure. He said that the new chemicals would take a little longer.”

I looked at my hands; the greenish tint of death had started to consume my nails, and all the blood on my face and dress made me look straight out of a horror movie. Before they could leave, the girl I stumbled against earlier screamed like a wounded dog. They argued for a bit about who would get to kill her. The tall one won.

I don’t know why, but I searched for a weapon. Somehow, there was nothing in sight that I could carry easily, so I started following the tall man. My feet alternated between cold wood underneath and warm bodies. When we finally came to a stop, he pointed his gun at the girl, and I threw myself on top of him. This time, I felt the gunshot piercing through my stomach.

I kept tightening my grip on the man’s neck until we both fell to the ground. I felt the cracks on my body before I saw them on my hands. It was like my skin was made of porcelain, like those dolls that shatter anytime they touch the ground.

The tall man sighed and screamed, “Die already, for god’s sake.”

I stayed on the floor and felt another bullet, this time on my shoulder. There was no blood, just little pieces of my skin scattered like glass. It felt strange like I was drying out from the inside.

There was a scream. I think it came from me. I felt the pull on my chest, but my mouth wasn’t moving. The men fell to the floor, covering their ears. Then, there was another gunshot.

…

 I opened my eyes, and there were no bodies around. It was just me. I rested on my back, staring at the starless sky. There was no moon this time for me to make a wish on. Instead, my body was dragged inside a metal barrel filled with liquid. I didn’t recognize any of the faces.

“Are you sure that’s going to work?” someone said.

“He said they would turn to nothing,” the other responded.

I was scared. I wanted to run, but my body had already begun to burn off. So, I screamed. I used all the force that I could. I screamed.

And I screamed.

And I screamed.

Until they were pulled to the ground. Until their eyes began to bleed. Until it was their skin dissolving, turning to nothing. When I saw the last of them return to dust, I closed my eyes one final time. I remembered why I came back. What my final wish was.