Don't Scream (Short Horror Stories)

The Bloody Family

When a family moves into a new house, a seven year old discovers that they're not alone......

*****

Moving into a new town with new faces was always intimidating, but no one was more apprehensive about the move than Judith.  All of her friends were back in Wichita, Kansas, and the idea of moving to Texas made her want to cringe, especially when the town they were moving to had a population of less than three thousand people. 

The town was called Freer.

What kind of name was Freer?  It sounded like a type of bottled water or mushy dog food.

The whole moving thing stunk to high heavens!

Judith played on her tablet for most of the drive, sulking and refusing to look out the window at the beautiful scenery the south had to offer.

Her parents were so caught up in everything else that they couldn't have cared less anyway. 

They often ignored their child because of the many distractions that their lives offered; fancy dinner parties, brunch dates with high class people, pretty much anything to keep up with the Joneses.

But if they had been better parents to their sweet daughter, they could have easily avoided the tragedy that was about to befall their family.

They arrived at their country estate and admired the beauty of isolation.  Peace and quiet was really all they wanted, and they knew they would get it here.

Judith hopped out of the backseat, her eyes still glued to the tablet.  Her father snatched it from her hands and scooped her into his arms.  "What do you think of our new home, muffin?  Isn't it nice?"

"It's okay."

Her father frowned.  "Well, I'm going to hold on to your tablet for a while.  Why don't you go pick some mulberries off of that tree over there while your mom and I take our bags into the house?"

"Awww....do I have to??"

"I'm afraid so."

"Fine..."

Judith sauntered off to the mulberry tree that stood about one hundred yards away.  She wasn't able to reach most of the limbs, but she was able to gather a few berries from the lower limbs.  She stuffed them into her pockets until they were full, then she turned around to head back to their new home.

That's when she saw them.

The family that stood behind her. There were five of them; a father, a mother, two daughters and a baby boy in a stroller, and they were all wearing clothes from the 1800s.

The father was garbed in a double breasted black coat with a black top hat to match. His wife wore a beautiful red evening gown with a wide neckline, puffed sleeves, and a pleated skirt to make her hips look nice and wide.  Their daughters were wearing matching yellow frocks with baby blue bonnets. 

They looked like a nice family, only there was one small problem. 

Every one of them was drenched with blood.

Judith scratched her head as she stared at them.

She didn't panic.  She didn't scream.