Night Bloom by KL Massey.
Spring was late and so was she.
Natalia tucks her scarf tightly under the collar of her heavy wool coat. Her heels stutter across the polished concrete floor, razorblades nipping at her tired soles. She exits the building and the black glass doors seal behind her, offering no hope of return.
Neon lights glare from all directions, distorted technicolour reflections rippling over damp pavements. Low brick buildings observe her routine movements as she hurries away from the office and turns towards the old town district where her people have always lived. The rhythm of her footsteps mirrors her racing heart.
Chill dusk air weaves around her and shadows stalk the streets. People – men – stare lazily as she passes by. Their heat swims toward her. She can taste their vile weakness, bitter on her tongue, coating it with a fuzzy layer of disgust.
Focus. Breathe.
She observes the way her lungs hunger, devouring the night.
Streetlights withdraw to distant memory and the darkness grows solid. Natalia relaxes as she treads the worn cobblestone path.
Not long now.
The towering arboretum gates welcome her and she enters without slowing.
Branches sway and sigh, brushing against each other like infatuated lovers. She smiles at their intimacy and blissful shivers run down her spine, stiffening the hairs on the back of her neck.
It is so close now, she can feel it coming.
Natalia slips under cover of the looming trees. A hot knife rips through her abdomen, carving out a hollow in her stomach. Her mouth hangs open as she silently gasps for air, veins starving, and wraps her arms around herself in protection from the attack. Her body shakes as the cramp subsides.
Tears pierce her eyelids and she looks up, blinking them away.
She can see the stars from here.
Shuffling towards the clearing like a wounded animal, she yearns desperately for freedom. Clawing at her clothes, she sheds them like dead skin and they hit the ground to rest among the fallen autumn leaves.
Eyes closed in reverence, she bathes in the milky moonlight.
A trail of blood traces down her inner thigh, dark and sticky as tar. Joyful howls echo around her and she cannot mask the grin that splits her face.
Natalia was a late starter but tonight she is blooming.
She sinks to her hands and knees, overwhelmed. The scent of damp earth rises and mingles with the copper tang of blood, rich and intoxicating. Bowing her head low, she gives thanks to her ancestors, for the gifts they have passed down to her.
Her sisters cry out in the distance and she cries with them, their voices straining to carry the melodies of their motherland.
The hunt had already started, and she was late.
About the author
KL Massey resides in the beautiful city of Nottingham, England.
Specialising in weird fiction, she crafts surreal and sensual short stories infused with deep emotions, mundane terrors, and layers of symbolism.
You will find collected musings on her blog HorrorboundHeart.com, where she documents her journey of self-discovery as a writer, and offers guidance to those seeking to follow their own creative paths.