Picture 2
Michela Walters’s Picture Choice: Both
Title: Consequences of Curiosity
“Come on, Adam. Be a little adventurous for once in your life!” Ashley tore ahead down the path through the forest leaving her longtime boyfriend in her wake.
Adam felt no rush, he knew Ashley’s games by now, and he’d eventually catch up and they’d roll around in a sunny pocket of meadow. Her comment of him not having an adventurous bone in his body was a bit of an over exaggeration on her part, but he loved her effervescence and lust for life. Not to mention her lust for him.
“Catch me if you can…” Ashley’s sing songy voice rang out through the dense patch of trees luring Adam to quicken his pace.
The sun was flickering through the pines, sending waves of light onto the needle covered floor. “Ash- jeez, if you go any further its going to take us hours to find our way back to the car,” He shouted after her, trying to not burst her bubble, but he knew the pattern. They’d frolic and play, making love into the afternoon. She never thought about logistics or the fact they might just get a little lost and take until after dark to find the old logging road they’d snuck down when they’d spotted it off the interstate.
When Adam finally caught up to her, she was standing outside of what looked like an abandoned shed. “Still remember how to pick a lock?” she asked, a Cheshire-like grin blooming across her face.
“Come on, really?” Adam couldn’t contain the contempt from his voice. He had no interest in breaking into the ramshackle structure. It appeared as if just by leaning against it it might collapse. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing at attention, giving him pause. “Why don’t we go expend some of our energy in a much more productive way?” He nuzzled her neck, trying to convince her to focus on him instead of breaking and entering.
She shrugged him off and pulled the barrette from her hair. Blowing a strand of hair out of her eye, she huffed, “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” and stuffed the sharp end into the ancient lock.
Adam stood back, waiting for her to grow tired of such a useless activity and one she had no actual knowledge of. “I’ll just be over--” before he could get the full sentence out, the door creaked open.
“Ha!” she exclaimed and charged inside, not waiting for Adam to call out a warning that it might not be safe.
“Heaven forbid she thinks before she acts,” he grumbled, rushing inside in an attempt at keeping his foolhardy girlfriend from doing anything stupid, or dangerous.
The shed appeared to be used to house hunting equipment, as the walls were littered with bows, arrows, Bowie knives and the tell tale blood spatter from gutting whatever animal must have been found in the woods.
“Wow, this is crazy.” Ashley started dragging her fingertip along the the tip of an arrow sticking out of a large quiver. “This is some hard core shit. What do you think this guy hunts? Bears?” She was so engrossed in examining the weapons she didn’t notice Adam backing out towards the door, tugging on Ashley’s arm in an attempt to leave its contents well enough alone.
The squeak of the door startled them both. Spinning around, Adam was faced with a scruffy man clad in camouflage and wielding a machete. A gasp was the only sound Adam had time to make before the man sliced easily across Adam’s midsection, made him drop like a stone and leaving Ashley to gape in horror.
Surrounded by numerous ways to protect herself, Ashley was frozen in terror as the man stalked towards her, kicking the shed door closed as he walked. She stood stock still, her body refusing to use its fight or flight instinct. Instead she muttered incoherently glancing between the bearded man dripping in Adam’s blood and back down to her lover that only moments before had been alive and well. She didn’t have time to contemplate much as the man didn’t wait for her to awaken from her standing stupor. The last thing Ashley heard was the man mumble, “When are people gonna finally learn that curiosity kills?” as he drove the blade into her heart.
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Michela Walters is a wife, mother and book enthusiast. She is currently attempting her hand at writing her first romantic fiction novella. You can read her other stories on her blog: michelawalters.wordpress.com
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Ooo nasty! Nice build up, drew us in, kept us on our toes!
ReplyDeleteI kept saying to myself 'something bad is going to happen' not wanting it to due to the carefree, adorable nature of your characters. And when it did, I was still shocked by the brutality and speed of it. Excellent piece. x
ReplyDeleteSo dark and twisted. I love it. Now if only Adam had reined her in like she should have...
ReplyDelete