Scribe's Hollow Halloween Horror Anthology 2024

Stitches Bonus Chapter 1: The Fox and the Horde

Short story by EvilMaybeWriter.

Content warning: contains Gore, Body Horror, and Animal Death. Book is meant for readers ages 18+

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—Jasmine—

3:15 AM

Another day of getting ready hours before the sun would rise. Jasmine was no stranger to waking up early. Sure, growing up, she'd whine and tell her parents how she'd find a job that would let her sleep in... Yet her move from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania ended up with her working at a bakery... One of the few jobs that had her getting up earlier than she ever did in the decades past at the ranch.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. As the peppered auburn locks settled, she flashed her teeth. "Good to go," she said to herself before switching off the light.

Out of the bathroom and into the living room, the music playing on the radio softened as the song entered its coda. The calming last notes gave way to a woman speaking.

"Soooo, we have a few more ads and songs to play until my favorite segment." A silence dragged as a chuckle came from the speakers. "Morning, Mingling! I get to talk with all my favorite people and maybe even meet someone new to strike up a conversation with as we run down the witching hour." A squeal of joy followed. "I also get my treat for the day when we're wrapping up!"

Jasmine couldn't hold her chuckle in from the ramblings. "One of these days, the sheriff's gonna send someone after you," she mused to herself before turning off the radio and switching off the light.

With her morning routine nearly complete, she made her way to the kitchen. Her soft footsteps paired with the ticks of the wall clock were something she savored: the last quiet moments of the morning before heading to the bakery. She crossed the archway into the kitchen when something outside shattered the quiet atmosphere.
A scream.

It came from outside and robbed Jasmine of her comfort. She stopped and listened for it again.

The high-pitched scream returned, and her feeling of dread subsided.

A vixen's scream.

Rare for this time of year but nothing to be afraid of.

"Sounds like a fox is looking for some company." She said, relieved, as she made her way to the window above the sink. "Will I see the deer today?" Jasmine peered outside into the inky black void of the forest all around her while the fox's wails continued.

Her cozy little home that sat a little way into the forest had always been abundant with wildlife day or night.
But not so much anymore...

Until recently, she would usually see a deer or even a small herd trying to make their way into her deer-proofed garden.
It wasn't the same without them.

Jasmine continued to scan the short distance. The kitchen light seeped out into the night in the form of a square cookie-cutting into the sheet of shadow. As she was about to give up and head out, something moved at the edge of the light.

"Oh!" She leaned in towards the window and the slow-moving figure. Only the lower half of its legs showed in the light as its hooves clopped against the ground. "A deer?"

Yet something in the way it moved seemed wrong...
Every step graceless, as if it were shambling in pain.
Injured?
Sick?

Jasmine watched as it approached. With each step, more of it came into view as the light crept its way up the deer's legs revealing patches of missing fur and streaks of dark red liquid that had run down and stained its legs.