A secret revealed. A legacy undone. A horror immortalised. For generations, the Berdeaux family name had been synonymous with hospitality and distinction. But that all changed in the summer of 1979, when Dewey Berdeaux’s “hobby” came to light. It was a revelation that stunned the town of Barrville, and ever since then, the Berdeaux family mansion has stood as a grim reminder—with its fair share of ghosts, if rumour is to be believed.
A blonde bombshell was walking Denny’s way.
As she passed by with a flirtatious smile, his cheeks went red, and a lewd thought about her lips came crisp and clear to his mind.
An instant later, a wild flare of pain racked his body. The worst of the agony ignited in his nether regions, setting them afire. It was enough to bring tears.
As the sensation ceased, he heard that whisper in his head: The only desires you should think of are mine.
Denny, bowing to the thing inside him, moved along, head hung low, avoiding every woman he could.
Patrick Winters
Patrick Winters is a graduate of Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, where he earned a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. He has been published in the likes of Sanitarium Magazine, Deadman’s Tome, Trysts of Fate, and other such titles. A full list of his previous publications may be found at his author’s site, if you are so inclined to know: http://wintersauthor.
They’d plucked him from the sea one evening, lashed to a barrel and floating along, unconscious. Once he’d stirred, he gave his name as Jonah, of all things. The men wanted to cast him back to the waves that instant; the captain ignored their superstitions.
The ailment swept over them soon after, swift and horrendous, claiming them amidst their screams and choked prayers.
Those who hadn’t been buried at sea now lay on the decks, gone from this world and left to rot.
And Jonah, having taken the helm, guided the ship along, singing shanties and sailing for dark waters.
Patrick Winters