Tag Archives: Suspenseful short story

The Clairvoyant – A Short Story

Posted on by under Literary Fiction, Suspense/Scary

The gift of second sight didn’t come to Faye Paterson until she was thirty-two, and gift wasn’t exactly the word that she would have used anyway. It was a curse really. A horrible, miserable, wretched curse, and she would give a heck of a whole lot to remove the curse and resume life the way that it had been before, only she couldn’t.

The first vision had come out of the blue while she had been getting ready to go to a movie with some friends. In her vision, the little girl that lived in the apartment across the hall from her, had wrenched free from her father’s grasp and darted into the street, only to be hit by a car.

Two weeks later, it came to pass, much to Faye’s horror.

And then, a few months later, she had another vision while she was out shopping with Cora, her best friend. She saw her friend in a boat. The boat was going fast. Too fast. Suddenly, it raised up out of the water and flipped over. After the vision, Faye had felt disoriented and had had to find a seat in the shop to sit down. Cora had been concerned, of course, but Faye had lied and said that she just needed to eat something. Later that night, alone in her apartment, Faye convinced herself that nothing like that could ever happen to Cora. Cora didn’t have a boat. Cora didn’t know anyone who had a boat. And, besides, it was the middle of winter.

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The Job from Hell – a suspenseful short story

Posted on by under Blog Post, Suspense/Scary

Lucinda Byers absentmindedly massaged the back of her neck as she logged out of the job board. She was tense. Hell, who wouldn’t be? It had taken her approximately three hours just to post resumes for two positions. At this rate, she wouldn’t get a job for at least a month, and her savings were depleting rapidly. She couldn’t fathom having to move back home with her parents. She was 29 years old and far too used to living on her own terms to go back to sleeping in her childhood bedroom again.

Her computer alerted her to a new email. She clicked it open and reared back in surprise when she saw that it was from H Inc. That was certainly quick; most companies took at least a day before rejecting her application. Her hand woodenly moved to open the email. She scanned it and her mouth formed an O as she realized that it wasn’t a rejection after all. They were asking her to come in for an interview that very afternoon.

“It’s a miracle!” Lucy declared out loud, “Now all that’s left is impressing the shit out of these people.”

***************************************************

Lucy pulled into the parking spot and turned the car off. She was looking at a nondescript, one story, tan brick building. The company logo, a black letter H on a background of yellow and red flames, was printed on a metal placard that hung on the side of the building. Lucy snorted upon seeing how small the sign was. Clearly, they were going to need some help in the marketing department.

“Guess that’s what I’m here for.” she whispered, as she got out of the car and headed for the building.

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The Run – A suspenseful short story

Posted on by under Blog Post, Suspense/Scary

The stairs creaked as Amber Ross hurried down them. She plopped down on the bottom stair and put on her running shoes, quickly tying them as Percy, her grandmother’s cat, came slinking out of the shadows, purring loudly as he rubbed against her bare legs.

“I suppose you want me to feed you?” she whispered, as she walked to the kitchen, trailed by the meowing cat. Amber fed Percy and looked at the glowing blue clock on the microwave. She still had plenty of time to fit in a run before school started.

The kitchen light flipped on, and Amber blinked against the bright light that flooded the room.

“Off for a run?” Amber’s dad, Will, asked, as he reached past her and flipped on the coffee pot.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got time,” Amber said, “Why are you up so early?”

Her dad had lost his job at the community college just shy of six months ago. They’d lost their house three months ago. Both of those developments were why they had ended up where they currently were … living with his parents’, Don and Phyllis Ross.

“I’ve got a job interview.” Will offered, as he grabbed a mug out of the cabinet.

“Good.” Amber said, feeling a bit guilty that she couldn’t manage a more celebratory tone. She let her eyes wander over him. He looked tired, beat up from all of the crap that life had thrown his way since his wife, Amber’s mom, had received the cancer diagnosis more than two years ago. She’d been gone for a year now, and Amber’s heart still reeled every single time that she thought about her for more than a few seconds. Still, as much as her mom’s death had been wrenching for her, it had hurt just as much to watch her dad’s entire life fall apart too.

“It is good,” Will agreed, as he ran a hand over his stubble, “It’s time to get my shit together,” he winked at her, “We don’t want to live with your Gram and Gramps forever, do we?”

“We do not,” Amber grinned, “Hey, maybe you should come with me, old man,” she poked his stomach, “You haven’t been on a run in months, even with Grandpa.”

“Yeah, I’ve slacked off. I know I have. Next time, sweetheart. I promise.”

“Fine, but I’m going to hold you to it.”

“Amber, be extra vigilant,” her dad’s words stopped her as she loped towards the front door, “I saw on the news that another runner was killed just last week. That makes three now.”

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