If I Die Before I Wake: Tales of Karma and Fear by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, anthology
Published: 2019-12-22T22:00:00+00:00

The motel Finn was staying at was just as abandoned looking as the house on the hill. Rowan Inn boasted large rowan trees around the property, shielding it in a large ring of autumnal red and brown.

As he fumbled getting the room key out from his pocket, it fell to the ground. He reached for it and picked up some of the rowan berries. The characteristic plump redness caught his attention. He turned a berry in his fingers and saw the star at the bottom. That’s how he could tell the difference.

“Rowan is meant to summon spirits of the otherworld … so they say.”

Finn stumbled at the voice. Leaning on his knees he fished his key from the ground and rose to his feet, glancing up to see a woman standing in the pathway. Her hair was like crushed blackberries, sleek and down to her waist, with lips full and red, like the squashed rowan berries by his feet. She looked like she had been plucked straight from a gothic novel. He was in awe.

“The occult says a lot about trees. Willow is meant to be the gateway. Funny how there is an abundance of both in this town …” He squeezed the red berry in his palm and it made a satisfying pop, leaving a stain on his fingers. He wiped it on his trouser leg, before reaching his hand out for the woman.

“I’m Finn. Finn Whitlock.”

“Whitlock.” She tasted the name on her tongue, as if she’d found it there before, a familiarity that tasted bittersweet.

“And you are?” Finn asked, his outstretched hand still idle between them.

“I am no one. I am nothing.”

“What? That’s absurd. Come on, what’s your name?” Finn urged gently, his eyes softening. He knew that feeling all too well.

“People have power over you when they know your name, Finn Whitlock. You could be signing your life away, right here. I am no stranger to the dark things in this town.”

“It appears not,” Finn said, pulling back his hand and fumbling with the key in his palm. “Okay, so, nameless girl, are you staying at the Inn?”

“Oh. Oh no. I just came this way. It’s a short-cut through to the library,” she said, stroking some of her blackberry hair back from her face, uneasily.

“You read a lot?” He gestured with his chin to the bag that hung over the small girl’s shoulder, the bag heaving, strained with books. She drew a book out with her small, fine fingers and ran them over the ornate cover.

“I majored in literature,” Finn offered, a small smile touching his lips, upturning the corners. “Lovecraft will always be my favorite, but Poe has my heart.”

“The telltale heart of Finn Whitlock,” the strange girl uttered, a voice as mysterious as her night-sky eyes. She waved the book at him, the ornate cover staring back at him, almost tauntingly.

“The man always in a book, who talks too much and never listens,” she added, shoving the well-read tome of Poe’s classics back into the bag.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.