“Horror in the Cage” ~the prompt~

A warm welcome, AJ, and Jesse, to “Horror in the Cage.” As you know, this is a no-holds-barred competition, so give it your all and creep us out with your amazing writing skills. You will be allowed a maximum of 2,ooo words, and will have 24 hrs. to complete this challenge. The deadline is 12 pm noon, EDT, on Sunday, August 28th. 

~The prompt~

Sean Fredrickson burst through the front door of his Denver condo, employing the usual theatrics associated with the bi-weekly Indian cuisine night he and his wife, Katy, so enjoyed. “Got your saffron…hon?” he called out. Katy was always waiting on the living room couch. “Honey?”

The smile faded from his face as he checked each room, failing to get a verbal response from his wife. As he rounded the corner for the dining room, there sat Katy at the table, her back to him. “Hon…why didn’t you answer me?” 

Just as Sean placed the bag on the table and his hand on her shoulder, he noticed a disturbing, golf ball-sized lump on the side of her neck. Her eyes were focused on the wall straight ahead.

She gave no response.

A loud crash in another room startled him, as the couple lived alone. Sean rushed toward the living room and found nothing. He systematically checked each room, with the same result.

Confused and disturbed, he returned to the dining room.

The chair that Katy had been sitting in just seconds before was now empty.

                                                              *****

There you have it, my heroes of hell-raising, horror. Have at it, and give us two short stories that will make it difficult for us to choose a favorite.

Best of luck to both combatants. This much-anticipated pair of stories will post Sunday, August 28th, by 1 PM, EDT, and will be shown without author attribution to make the voting as unbiased as possible. Readers will be able to vote until 6 PM on Wednesday, August 31st. 

Let this horror cage match begin.

All the best,  AB