Short and Scary Story

Forgive a double post in the same day....I'm trying something new out and wanted to share it.  For those of you who don't know it, I also write horror.  My first horror novel WAS going to be published on Oct 3, but is now being held hostage at the rapidly disintegrating publishing company Aspen Mountain Press.  I've cried enough about that and had to find new avenues for my horror to get out there while I write a new horror novel.  I've found a new site where I can post some of my horror flash fiction and I have posted my first horror short.  They have accepted it and I am pretty stoked that after their normal initial 24-hour review, they rated it 4 out of 5 stars!  So, I am going to share it here with you and give this cool new site some exposure as well.  Check out my short horror, The Robbery Countdown, then go to their site and "like" it and please make a comment.  I don't usually ask such things, but if you do indeed like the short, I'd love you to let me know in their comments section.  They claim agents frequent their site!  Thanks, as always, for being a fan!  Check out the cool new site here:  http://www.shortnscarystories.com/  and comment on my story here:  http://www.shortnscarystories.com/the-robbery-countdown/.  Now go ahead and read it here:

The Robbery Countdown

    4.0/5

September 15th 2011 | 0 Comment | Category: Supernatural , Thriller | Author: Samantha Combs | 38 views

10 minutes.  Steve and Eddie had been inside the liquor store for ten minutes already.  Donny yanked his sleeve back down over his watch and angrily lit another cigarette.   Damn, he thought.  They said they’d be done way before now.  It was supposed to be easy.

9 hours ago they’d been drinking at Cal’s Bar talking about how much money they’d make.  Steve was hot on the idea.  Come on, you guys, he said.  It’ll be easy pickings.  Plus, I overheard that guy from the Asian gang talking about how much Mr. Wong keeps in the register.  Donny didn’t like the idea. That place is creepy, he said.  Don’t be a wuss, said Eddie.  I’ll be packing if things get weird.  He patted his belt with a smile.

8’oclock was the stick-up time they chose.  Most likely the after-work crowd would be gone, having stopped for their cartons of milk or cigarettes, and the going-out crowd wouldn’t have arrived yet for their slim-jims and six-packs.  It was supposed to be a perfect time.

7 times they’d gone over the plan.  Steve would enter and head to the back of the store and Eddie would go straight to the cash register.  Donny would drive the car.  It was supposed to be a fool-proof plan.

6 bullets are what Donny watched Eddie load into the Saturday Night special he got from his older brother’s closet.  Eddie’s older brother was already in jail and Donny was fairly sure Eddie would be there soon enough.

5 cigarettes were left in the pack.  If they don’t hurry up, thought Donny, I’ll smoke them all before they get back.  He took one out and threw the pack on the dashboard.  What was taking them so long, he wondered.  He got out of the car to investigate.

4 feet inside the door, he knew what was taking them so long.  They were dead.  Steve’s beaten and bloody head was just rolling to a stop at his feet when he walked in.  Stifling the urge the vomit, he stepped aside and nearly tripped over another headless body.  Gorge still rising, he realized it wasn’t Steve’s.  It was Eddie’s.  Dear Jesus, what happened here?

3 knocking sounds came from behind the register.  Instinctively, Donny knew that whatever was behind the counter was coming for him.  He turned to run, but it was too late.  The thing struck, all teeth and talons, and tore him to shreds, the same way it had Steve and Eddie.  The thing finished devouring his prey and slunk back behind the counter.

2 Asian men crept in cautiously from the back.  They had mops and buckets and a large tarp.  Christ, said one to another, this is getting worse each time.  Yeah, the other replied, but the sacrifice must be made.  Better them than us.  Not our fault the stupid store is cursed.  My grandfather says we have to keep the ancient spirit happy.  Now hurry up and clean the store.  We still have to get rid of their ride.

1 hour later, a car was reported burning on the other side of town.  Two bodies were found inside, burned nearly unrecognizable.  No identification could be made.  They were headless.  On the same night, Mr. Wong reported a robbery of his liquor store.  The reports were considered unrelated.

0 suspects have been identified in the robbery