Short Horror Stories

Infestation

I trudged up to my small, dank, rotting house after a long gruelling day at work. I sighed at the blistered, peeling paint and the chipped door. The house was a wreck. Its only been there for 2 years, and already insect infestations were destroying it. Which didn't make any sense. I shivered at the thought of the house crumbling around me while I slept. I seemed to have zoned out because as soon as I paid attention to what was going on, I realised that dozens of children, all dressed up in their halloween costumes, were plaguing the streets. I hurried inside and yanked the curtains shut. The whole rail came cascading down over me.
I hate Halloween. I really Hate it.
I felt tiny, tickling legs running up my foot. I scowled at the black ant wondering aimlessly over my pale skin. They've been everywhere lately. And there seems to be more everyday.


With a groan of exhaustion I footslogged to the bathroom. I splashed yellow water over my face and as I watched it go down the grimy basin, I realised I have to move into a different house, and fast. I looked at my pale, dishevelled figure in the half opaque mirror. In the corner of the mouldy room sat my friend. The Huntsman, I had named him Fred. I never was afraid of spiders, I love them, I don't hurt them and they don't hurt me. Yet. A few black dots on the mirror distracted me. More ants. I sighed and blew them off before answering the knock on my front door. I stomped out and threw the barely-held-together door open,
"GO AWAY!" I yelled at the group of gangly teenagers standing on my doorstep. They grumbled angrily and shuffled away.
"Grumpy Old Lady!" One of them called back. I slammed the fraying piece of wood back into the doorframe and squeezed my eyes shut as the house shook with its force.



"Hey Sam, just so you know, I'm coming over!" My best friend Crystal announced over the phone. Before I could object she hung up. At least she called, usually she just pops in whenever she feels like it.
15 minutes later, I opened the door to a beaming Crystal. I glanced worriedly at the migration of ants trailing around the roof of my house.
"Just so you know, I'm having ant problems" I warned her.
"I don't care, I've gotten over ants! That's why I'm here!" She cried happily and pushed her way inside. Her arms were loaded with shopping bags which my guess was filled with chocolate and soft drinks. She trotted over to the kitchen and dropped them at the sight of the bench.
"Wow, you really do have ant problems."
Thats when I saw the black sea of ants on the wooden counter.



I grabbed a bucket of water and threw it onto the bench again. The ants cleared away and then formed to make the black, crawling tablecloth. The ants had begun to move over the stovetop and the sink.
"What the heck is happening?!" Crystal shrieked
"I have no idea!" I replied.
Suddenly the ants stopped moving and subsided, all except for a about a hundred that formed curious lines and squiggles.
"Look Sam! Its a message!" Crystal gasped.
She was right, they formed 4 words,

YOU DESTROYED OUR HOME

Then they shuffled and merged together again to spell 3 more words.

WE WANT YOURS

I stumbled back in fear, this time all the ants formed hundreds of the one word.

REVENGE

I screamed.




"Run!" I yelled as the swarming ants turned into a tidal wave. Crystal grabbed my hand, pulled me into the bathroom and locked the door behind us. Huge mistake.
"Um Sam? You know you friend, Fred?" Crystal gulped.
I turned around, "Fred" had had babies. Thousands of dinner-plate sized spiders crawled over the ceiling.
"Guess I should've named her Fredwina instead" I mumbled before smashing the small bathroom window. Stained glass flew everywhere. The door struggled to keep the ants back. I crawled up onto the sticky bench, spiders dropping onto my head and shoulders. I glanced at my best friend
"come on!" I called to her over the sound of clicking mandibles. She shook her head.
"S-spiders!" She squeaked.
It was like the house came alive, the lights flickered and the walls heaved as ants hoarded into the room. Crystals face drained of colour.



The ants begun to climb up Crystals legs, black fuzzy spiders dropped down onto her head. Silents tears streamed down her pale cheeks.
"Crystal. Come. On!" I urged, kicking a spider that clambered up onto the sink.
"I-I c-can't" she wailed.
"Then lift your arms up! I'll help you."
"O-okay" she sobbed.
I bent down and grabbed a hold of her hands. With all my strength I hauled her up on top of the counter, the cold sweat of fear trickled between my shoulder blades. I brushed a spider from her head.
"Its going to be okay" I said shakily. She nodded and gulped. She had a huge phobia of insects, she couldn't even be 20 meters away from a bee. She had gotten better though, only bigger insects like Spiders and centipedes scared her now.
"Okay, now I'm going to crawl through the window and pull you through" I reassured her. The tidal wave of ants was getting bigger, more spiders fell down around us. I kicked the remaining glass from the frame and rested my arms on the ledge. I lifted myself up so I was straddling the window sill, the window was only 40 centimeters high and 1 meter wide. Suddenly, I heard a scream that turned my blood to ice. My attention was locked on Crystal. Everything but her head was being swarmed in spiders and ants. Her eyes a mixture of horror, betrayal and despair. She opened her mouth.
"Sam!" She screamed, and a spider crawled in. She thrashed violently, her eyes wide with terror. Then to my horror, she went limp and disappeared under the black nightmare of infestation.