Short Horror Stories

Maggot

Ahmad Ghanem was the head of a house of four. He had a wife named, Sahar, a daughter named, Altair, and a son named, Nabil. They all were very happy. That is, until the day their store burned down.

After that, they were completely unsuccessful. Constanly, having to get by with nothing more than the very minimum. One day Ahmad was walking home, humming a tune. He passed by a group of women who were huddled around something.

He walked over to where they were and looked to see what it was that they were looking at. It appeared to be a young man who's wallet was stolen along with his clothes and teeth. His torso was severely bruised.

"Sir, you need to get him to the doctor," one of the women said.
"I understand," Ahmad replied. He picked up the young man and brought him to the nearest doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor closest to their location was a witch doctor.

The witch doctor didn't have a name so instead, he insisted that people call him Maggot. What a terrible name, Ahmad thought as he approached Maggot's hut. The doctor greeted them kindly and took the naked man over to a table.

He rubbed several ointments on the man's bruises, then asked Ahmad to leave the room.
"Why?" Ahmad asked.
"I am going to be summoning spirits and the ritual is very sacred," he replied with a stern expression on his face.

Ahmad obeyed and left the hut. After a few moments Maggot came out with a grave expression on his face.
"What is it, sir?" Ahmad asked.
"It seemed that the boy was more than just beaten up. He had a severe illness."
"Which one?"
"I really don't know I have never seen anything like this before," Maggot said and led Ahmad inside.

The young man was covered with a sheet from the waiste down. His upper-body was covered in odd burns. The room smelled like rotting flesh.
"Thankfully, I found a cure, but I couldn't get it to him in time," Maggot said hanging his head.
"Although," he looked at Ahmad,"Maybe you could bring these supplements to your family, assuming you have one."

"Are you sure?" Ahmad asked, "My family has no money, so you would have to just supply it to us for free."
"Consider it a deal, you come and get it, and it will always be free," Maggot said, holding out a satin sack. Ahmad took it without hesitation and ran home. He gave the pills to his wife and children, but he himself took none.

"What don't you take any Papa?" Altair asked.
"Papa is in good health, my dear. He doesn't need any medicine," Ahmad replied. Altair just smiled and ate her supper.

A few months past and once a month Ahmad would pick up the pills from Maggot. One day, Ahmad's wife was acting strangely. When Ahmad came home he found his wife sitting in the corner crying.

"What is the matter Sahar?"  he asked. She lifted her head from her knees. It was stained with blood.
"What happened?" Ahmad asked. Sahar pointed to the back door. Ahmad went out there. He saw a red heap laying before him. He recognized it.

"A-Altair!" he shrieked. He ran back inside and picked up Sahar by her wrists. She was crying.
"Why?" Ahmad asked desperately.
Sahar looked up, her expression had changed.

This time her face was completely blank. She pulled her wrists out if his grasp and grabbed his collar. Suddenly, he heard the back door open. There was his son, Nabil. He grabbed his father's hands and held them behind his back.

They both led Ahmad out of the house and to Maggot's hut. He was seated on the table and held down by his remaining family. Maggot came in.

"My friend, congratulations! You proved my theory correct," Maggot said. Ahmad was confused.
"Those pills I gave you, weren't supplements to prevent anything. What they were was a mixture of many parasite's eggs.

I have tamed these parasites and they listen to me. Your family was just my way of testing if I could control them in a human's body. At any rate, you're going to die now," Maggot finished and then finally added, "Eat."

Ahmad's son and wife began doing what they were told and began to feast.