A Collection of Spooky Stories from My Childhood

Lick

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there lived an ordinary little family in an ordinary little town. There was a mother and a father, and a young girl. The girl was about 10 years old and there was nothing particularly interesting about her. She was perhaps a bit small for her age, quiet, shy, and quite afraid of the dark. She had a dog named Bandit, which her parents had gotten for her for Christmas on year, and the two were very close. The girl's parents were equally as unremarkable as their daughter; they both worked long hours at their boring jobs and cared much too much about things like tea cozies and lawn maintenance. 

One mundane summer's day, the parents decided to do something to sugarcoat their crumbling marriage by going out on a date. They had never left their daughter home alone before, but they didn't seem too worried about the idea. This was the kind of white-picket neighborhood where nothing ever happened and no one ever bothered to lock their doors. Isn't that just dandy?

Anyways, with a quick wave through the car window, these model parental figures drove off into the night, their little girl anxiously hugging the door frame as her trusty companion wagged his tail beside her. Darkness fell quickly on this particular night, black and encompassing, as if you were swimming through inky silk. It was still and complete in its pitch, except for, that is, the jarring flashes of lightning and the booming claps of thunder.

The little girl was understandably frightened at being left alone on such a night. She ran through the house, turning on every light, with Bandit never leaving her side. She felt a little better after banishing the darkness, but for some reason her hair still stood on end and she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. As the night wore on, she went through the motions of getting ready for bed, always hopeful of seeing the family car's headlights pull into the driveway before she had to go to sleep. But alas, her hope was not realized. Bandit was not allowed on her bed, so he curled up on the rug right next to the nightstand, as close as he could be to his beloved owner. She didn't have the courage to turn off her bedroom light, so she left it on before hurriedly jumping in bed and covering her head with the blanket.

She slept surprisingly peacefully for some time, however, she was soon awoken by some unknown noise. At first she concluded that the sound was simply thunder, for the storm still raged outside her window. Her bedroom light had gone off, as had presumably all the other lights in the house. She peeked over the covers as flashes of stark white lightening briefly illuminated the room, but she could see nothing amiss even though her skin was prickling with fear. She couldn't see Bandit, but she could sense his comforting presence by her bedside. 

She reached down her hand and felt him lick her fingertips, relief flooding through her at the thought that she wasn't entirely alone. She settled back in bed, still too afraid to even check if her parents were home yet. She was nearly asleep again when she heard the door of the bathroom creak open and saw its dim fluorescent light flick on through the gap in her bedroom door. Thinking it was one of her parents, the girl jumped out of bed and ran out of her room, all the while calling for her mother. She dashed down the hall towards the yellow light of the bathroom as it spilled out of the doorway, expecting to find her father there washing his hands. All she wanted was to wrap her little arms around him and beg him to check her room for monsters. 

However, the bathroom was empty. Not a single thing was out of place; her mother's earrings were still laying on the counter from when she got home from work, her father's paper was neatly folded and placed in the rack beside the toilet, and the shower curtain was pulled closed with the bathmat hanging out of the tub to dry. Everything was normal...Except for a small drip of blood slowly trailing down the side of the porcelain bath, the curtain blocking its origin. 

The girl was frozen in place as she watched the scarlet thread grow longer until it began to pool on the tile floor below. Her breaths seemed to get caught in her throat as she ever so slowly inched towards the bath, her hand outstretched to draw the curtain as if she was in a trance. She moved towards the drip of blood almost against her will, a morbid curiosity propelling her. 

She grasped the fabric of the curtain, the garish yellow lights making the white cotton appear like flaccid skin. She slowly pulled back the curtain, her hands now shaking but unable to stop their ghastly mission. A wave of nausea hit her as a sharp, metallic scent wafted up towards her. Dread formed in her stomach as she looked down, her eyes moving in slow motion.

Before her was Bandit. His silky fur was soaked and matted in blood, his tongue hanging lifelessly out of his mouth. She could barely even recognize her cherished pet for all of his gruesome butchering. Her scream caught in her throat, her tears blurring her vision but refusing to fall. She was unable to move, to think. 

She looked up at the blood streaming down the tiled wall and read the horrible message scrawled there, the feeling of her doom sinking like a pit in her stomach.

HUMANS CAN LICK, TOO

Then the light cut off.