Sinister Short Stories

The Stepmom

Two years ago, Henry lost his wife, Ellen, to cancer. Both he and their 7-year-old son, Gary, were beyond grief stricken. This was his high school sweetheart. A year went by and he remarried much to Gary's dismay. It's not that Henry's new wife, Priscilla, was bad. In fact, she was very nice and caring.

Regardless, Gary was against it. As nice as she was, this wasn't his mother. This was a "pretend mom" as he called her. It would upset Priscilla because she genuinely cared for Gary. But what hurt Gary the most was Henry telling Ellen that he would never marry again. He would never take his ring off. She could never be replaced. All this within her final weeks and moments. Obviously, he didn't stay true to any of his words.

When Priscilla would ask Gary to do something and he wouldn't do it, Henry would tell him, "Listen to your mother."

Gary must have heard that a thousand times when Ellen was alive. So, even at a young age this infuriated Gary.

Henry saw a resemblance in both of their personalities which was comforting to him. One trait that separated the two was Ellen's jealousy. She never had a bad temper but when the jealousy bug bit, she would unleash a woman's wrath of verbal abuse. Henry never actually cheated or flirted with anyone. The thought never crossed his mind. Despite going back on his word, he was loyal to her when she was alive.

After Priscilla moved in, Henry noticed Gary acting strangely. He began having an imaginary friend, it seemed. Priscilla assured Henry that this a coping mechanism. She too had an imaginary friend after her sister passed away.

Henry made many attempts to ignore it. Every time he passes his room he would hear Gary talking. He could never make out what he was saying most of the time. However, one phrase he heard often was, "She's nice."

That would calm him down a bit as he felt his son was simply adapting to the new environment.

One night, the clock struck precisely at 3:17 in the morning. Henry and Priscilla were sound asleep. Their bedroom door slowly opens. Priscilla is closest to the door, which was Ellen's spot. She is facing the wall when she feels a presence. Her eyes open and a large knife is driven into her throat!

Henry awakens quickly and reaches for the lamp by his bed. He turns the light on to see his new wife dead. He sees Gary holding the knife dripping with Priscilla's blood. Gary has a large yet bloody smile on his face.

"Gary! What have you done?!?!" Henry asks.

"Mommy told me to." He says cheerfully.

Suddenly, Ellen's ghost appears behind Gary to Henry's frightened astonishment.

She smiles wickedly. "Now you've lost both of your wives at 3:17."