Anterior Skies, Vol 1: A Genre-Bending Anthology of the Weird and Cosmic by Page C. F

Author:Page, C. F.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strange Elf Press
Published: 2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Until the Night Turns Over

by Kyle Stück

The night sky is starless as I approach the house. The driveway leading to it is littered with cars, each waxed machine nicer than the last. Dead leaves are strewn about the otherwise neatly kept yard; autumn has come tonight. I take a deep breath. The air is crisp and smells of food and tobacco. I am to join a party, which explains the suit I’m wearing. I adjust my tie, knowing somehow, almost instinctively, that it’s loose. I continue on. Gleaming light spills out ahead of me from large glass and I feel myself drawn to it like the cliché moth. Shadow shapes dance through drawn drapes in rhythm to the music managing to escape the large house, which at first glance looks new, pristine too—as if it were just completed, yet there is something old about it . . . ancient even.

I continue towards the enigma, and with each step I realize the driveway seems abnormally long. I look behind me to corroborate this but am met with a deep black. I can see nothing. I look down and follow the visible asphalt beneath me as far as I can, about two feet or so, before it disappears into night that I can only describe as “empty,” as if nothing existed beyond it. I look up and frown at the lack of stars, the question of their whereabouts and the oddity of it all just catching up to me. It’s not right.

The beating of a drum, deep and near, interrupts my con­templation, and my goal resurfaces: I must join the party. An­other drumbeat, then another. My brow furrows. I’m walking faster now.

The rhythmic drumming follows me up the rest of the driveway and soon, fear does as well. Have I been out too long? I soon find myself sprinting towards the front door, an inexplica­ble terror now present on the back of my neck, similar to . . . well, something I can’t quite remember. The drumming is louder now, almost unbearable.

I reach the front door and am greeted by a large bronze lion. I grip the ring in the beast’s mouth and strike it against the door’s dark wood. The hairs on the back of my neck are stretch­ing upwards in dread now. Something is behind me. I can feel it manifesting out of the empty black. You have been out too long. The sentence arrives in my head and I beat the bronze ring harder against the door in response, ignoring the question of the words’ origin.

I move to strike the ring a third time but am stopped by a sound, an . . . organ. It has merged with the drums and I feel myself turn nauseated. I took too long. I took too long! I find myself turning—twisting towards the black when I see it: the game warden, a massive collection of limbs, meat, and teeth. I begin to scream.

Suddenly, the door opens. The drumming ceases. The organ dies.

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.