It’s Day 3 of A Gathering of Horror and it’s Halloween! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🙂

Today we have an extra special treat for you. Our oldest daughter turned 11 today, and she and her friend teamed up to write you this awesome short story! 

You might know Madelynne from Maddie World, where she and her sisters ended a Fairy War! Or The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy, where she and her sisters saved Halloween, and the Sugar Fairy! Now she’s penning her own tales and has a flare for fear! (Watch out Stephen King, you might have some competition soon.)

Read, comment and enjoy the free stories this week.

Don’t forget to check back here each day for a new FREE short story.

PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!

Twins Forever

By: Madelynne Karpov-Kinrade & I.C. (her school friend)

Part 1- An Introduction

A terrifying tale unraveled on Halloween Night when a normal girl named Emily Frost had her life turned around when her twin sister, Denise, died at the age 13.

It was the night of Halloween, their birthday, when Denise refused to go trick-or-treating with her parents because she thought they were treating her like a baby, so she snuck out and went on her own.

Part 2- How It All Happened

I was putting on my vampire make-up for Halloween, when I heard my dad call for me to come down in his stern voice. I told him I would be down in a minute, because I wasn’t done with my costume. “It’s important,” my dad yelled. I guess that meant I had to come NOW.

I went down-stairs with my make-up only half way done.

* DUN-DUN-DUN, such a dramatic ending. *

Part 3- The Drama

When I went down-stairs, I saw Dory, my six year old sister and my mom with their heads on the table…….sobbing? Why isn’t Denise here? “Denise!” I called. I waited, but I didn’t hear a sound, it was silent

My mom and sister’s sobbing grew louder, then the awkward silence was broken by my dad. “Don’t bother,” he finally said.

Part 4- The Big Bad News

“She is missing!” my mom muttered through her wails.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is this some kind of a joke?” I said, ” OK Denise, it’s not funny, come down here!” I paused, expecting Denise to come bounding down the stairs laughing, but she didn’t come. I couldn’t even hear her soft snickering. Panic started to rise in my chest. I can’t believe she is missing!

Part 5- The Chase

I dashed outside, how could I let this happen? I’m so naïve! It was obvious! I should have known this would happen! I should have been more careful. I ran around the block, searching for the familiar witch costume, tears streaming down my face, smearing my make-up.

Part 6- Vampires?

Then I heard it, a faint moaning coming from the alley. I decided to take a peek. At first glance I knew I had found my sister. She was gasping for air, squeezing her arm.

“What happened Denise? Who did this to you?”

“A man….darkness……vervain……stake! Get…it…out,” she stuttered. “I feel weak.” She could barely whisper.

“What can I do to help?” I asked.

“Closer, come closer!”

I reluctantly leaned forward, not knowing what she would do.

Part 7- The Bite

She BIT me! “AAAHHH!” I screamed in pain. Blood was all over her face and my neck. “This can’t be… ” I couldn’t finish my sentence. I felt like I just got wacked on top of the head. I toppled over, not yet unconscious. What is happening to me? I thought. From the corner of my eye, a dark figure emerged from the shadows.

Part 8- Relative?

The man knelt down and tapped my arm lightly. “Follow me,” he said, not loud enough to wake my sister, but loud enough for me to hear. I immediately got up and trudged after him, despite my pain.

We headed toward the dense forest that the town sat next to. We walked a couple of miles, the pain in my legs and mouth increasing.

Part 9- Interesting

Finally, we walked into a clearing with flowers and deer. At the edge of the clearing was a small, dark blue shack. We walked for about five minutes of what seemed forever. The shack was decorated with flowers and animal hides. When we silently walked up the steps and closed the door, the mysterious man was gone, and in a flash, was back with Denise in his strong arms.

He set her down on the soft couch and gestured me to sit, too. I did what I was told. We sat in silence for a few seconds.

“You do not have any idea who I am, yet I seem familiar, do I not? I will explain,” he said. “My name is Robert Frost, your great great grandfather”

Part 10- Young, but Not

I stared at him in shock. ” That’s not possible!” I felt like I was gonna hurl up my early dinner.

“I think you know it is,” he replied calmly.

Well, Denise has been acting strange… “No, I wont believe it, vampires are only a myth.” I looked him right in the eye, and told a vampire (possibly) that he doesn’t exist. I must have dropped my fear back in the forest. I was considering going back for it.

Part 11- Denise? No Way!

Denise started groaning and clutching her stomach. We looked at her. She was wiggling like she was dancing while laying down. I shook her gently until she woke up with a drunk look in her eyes. I filled her in on what this man claimed to be, who he was, and what that had to mean.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

Robert cleared his throat. “Your sister is not insane,” he said in a queer voice, like he just sucked up a bunch of helium. “I am a real vampire, and so are you, Denise, and soon, your sister will be too.”

I froze, dumbstruck. I realized that he was telling the truth. She bit me, and if he wasn’t a vampire, then how is he so young, and how could he run that fast?

Part 12- We Embrace

Denise excused herself to the bathroom. I think we all knew what she wanted to see.

A scream pierced the little space in the small shack. Robert and I shot up in our seats and raced toward the scream.

In the bathroom, Denise was staring at her reflection, or, what was supposed to be her reflection. And then Robert started to… laugh.

He explained that a vampire can’t see their reflection.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because people say that a mirror shows peoples’ souls, but vampires don’t have souls, so there is no reflection.”

“That’s gonna make it hard to put on make-up,” Denise murmured

Part 13- EWWW!!!!!

A question popped in my head. “Don’t vampires drink blood?”

He nodded.

“I DON’T WANT TO DRINK BLOOD!” Denise shrieked.

“Do you think I drink blood?” He looked offended.

“N-n-no,” We stuttered.

” I drink animal blood, or I get blood from the blood bank, and that’s what you can do, too Denise,” He said.

“Oh, wait, you don’t eat, like, puppies, right?” Denise looked horrified.

“No,” he said simply.

“What about me?” I asked. “You said I would become a vampire, too.”

“You have to drink human blood or… ”

“Or what!?” I asked.

“Or you die.”

“Ok,” I sighed. “Where are some of your blood bags?”

Part 14- I become a Vampire

I sucked it dry. Why would I do that? I asked myself.

“It’s because of the urges,” he said, reading my thoughts. Must be a vampire thing.

We went for a walk, and he told us stories of what happened in the past decades.

“When I was turned, I was disoriented. I didn’t know who I was, where I was, nothing. Then I learned what was right, and what was not.” We waited for him to continue. “In the past centuries, I have seen my loved ones pass away. You see, a vampire only turns someone for love, or from boredom.”

I thought about that carefully. “How do you walk in the sunlight?”

“That is a myth made up by humans to scare themselves,” he said. “Quite foolish actually.”

Part 15- We live forever

We got used to feeding on animals, and we figured out that if we wanted to, we could change what age we appeared, so people did not get suspicious. We moved to Paris, and I took a job as a tour guide with the Louvre, the home of the Mona Lisa. We lived happily ever after.

Not! We lived in fear because whoever had originally stabbed Denise was looking for all of us…

To Be Continued

***

Photograph by Kris Radcliffe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WE HAVE LEGAL CLAIM TO

Madelynne Karpov-Kinrade is a story-teller, artist and all around awesome kid who inspired Maddie World and The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy in the Three Lost Kids adventures. She lives with her super awesome writer parents who love her more than anything, and her two younger sisters, who also love her.

She’s also a HUGE fan of Neil Gaiman and loves All Hallow’s Read, where she gets more scary stories for Halloween.

 

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