Wednesday 8 February 2012

Spangles by Lily Childs - February Femmes Fatales

I originally wrote Spangles for Pill Hill Press's Daily Bites of Flesh 2011 anthology, a huge volume that brought together 365 short horror tales. I have the book on Kindle and still dip into it whenever I need a short, sharp shock of the dark stuff.

Spangles was one of those deviant tales that started with a single sentence; I had no idea where it was going but it wrote itself in the end. I do hope you enjoy it as the narrator might have some other stories up her sleeve, or elsewhere...

SPANGLES

They found sequins in my knickers. The silver disks filled my crevices, finding their way into folds of flesh where they cut and sliced me raw. The question the cops asked themselves – did a killer place them there, or did I?

Hudson swore as his boss gave him the best job of all; standing between my legs to catch the corpse as they cut me down. The wind was ferocious. My body swung in circles from a creaking oak, a pendulum. Hudson danced like a girl, trying to avoid the spillages splattered over the forest floor beneath me. Evacuation - the elegance of death. He caught my thighs and held me tight, gagging as the gales whipped my skirts up to cover his head. His rough-shaven cheek nestled against my cold skin. And that’s when he saw me sparkle.

I whispered at him.

“Touch them.”

Hypnotised, he reached into my torn, stinking panties. He probed gently. The tiny jewels sprinkled into his hands, reflecting the darkness and a thousand skewed versions of his own expression. He gathered them as they fluttered into his fingers. Above me the rope was slashed. I fell, heavy yet empty into his face. We slipped, entwined in carnal embrace to the ground.

*** 

Before the leap, I had already drunk my hostess dry. Her blood and fluids nourished me for six long months until she began to tire. As did I. The taste of her – muted and banal – was no longer heady as darkest California wine. At the edge of the woods where walkers and joggers parade their skinny bones and yapping dogs I arranged a most spectacular end to her life. It was my way of offering up grateful thanks to the woman I’d only ever known as Rambling Rose.

Together, with her hands and my mind we shoved the sequins into her most secret of places. They were a tease, an enticement. She laughed as she jumped from the tree. She smiled as she died.


*** 

Burial of my former self was planned for the following day. Hudson visited the mortuary for the final time, no longer disturbed by the cuts and the collapsed state of Rose’s belly. Her leeched organs, hard as nuts, had been removed. The detective bent over her face. I waited patiently inside the husk, drawing Hudson closer to me with unheard promises. Mouth to mouth.

“Kiss me.”

*** 

With my help Hudson has chosen to travel for a while; the job was getting him down. He wants to see new horizons; feels that something new and lush is burgeoning inside him.

He is strong. His flavour is of Merlot and beef stock. I have gorged myself on him.

Hudson and I cross the state line and set out on the journey, a backpack stuffed to the seams between his shoulders. He is fitter than he has ever been. Freedom weaves through his heart. Sucking his soul in pulses I lie hidden in a purse of silk, bathing in six hundred silver sequins.

_________ The End _________


Bio: Lily Childs is the author of a growing number of short horror and dark fiction stories that have appeared online and in print. Watch out for the first volume of a new collection coming out on Kindle this Spring.

Horror Editor at Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers, Lily is also a Spinetingler Award 2011 nominee.

The first two short novellas in Lily's Magenta Shaman dark urban fantasy series are available to download from Amazon, with the third book planned for the summer of 2012. She is currently completing her first supernatural novel.


23 comments:

  1. I read this when I got my print version of DBoF, then read it again when I got my Kindle version. Another read and it's still as good. Excellent, and a great opening sentence!!

    (I need to catch up with the others now.)

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    1. Thank you David. I need to catch up too - I read those by all my faves when I first got it - it's a great antho!

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  2. sometimes I don't know if it's Blogger or my internet connection but I have had 3 goes at getting here this morning ... this is superb story, Lily, so dark and enticing you really want to read on and it stops! shock horror is in the ending of it, not the story itself. I want more!!!

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    1. Blogger definitely has its annoying moments!

      Really glad you liked Spangles Antonia; I may have to introduce her to some new 'friends'.

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  3. The tiny jewels sprinkled into his hands, reflecting the darkness and a thousand skewed versions of his own expression.

    What a line! What a story, Lily. Certainly I can see with an opening liner such as what pulled you in . . . a journey was underway. As for 'how' it was underway, tis vino-blood truth the way You tell tales. Yes indeed, this one has places to go and people to consume, miles to go before it sleeps.

    Seulemente tu, cherie can go bloody mortifying sexual and make it glitter and shine.

    Brava ... and interesting cover design - sets your tale off with flair.
    ~ Absolutely*Kate

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    1. Merci bien, la belle dame de Derby.

      She's a naughty one, that's for sure. But I understand her tastes, and she treats her hosts so very well... until they're no longer needed. I keep asking myself, who is she? Who was she? And what's she going to do next?

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    2. *SHE* will tell you . . . all along her ways. Reading into this tale -- which has only begun its beguine -- and your grand readers' commentos, tis clear there are adventures to (literally) -- behold.

      Keep us posted on the Spangle Sensation.
      We're hooked. ( But you knew that. )

      ~ Enchantee, Absolutely*Kate

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  4. Lily,
    Thank you for this nerve bending tale. Enjoyed it to bits. Made me muse...the visitor, evil? Or is the visitor a liberator? Perhaps an opportunist making the most out of naughty people? Is there more?

    Marietta Miles

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    1. Marietta you're right; she's not fully evil... is she? Visitor/liberator/opportunist - all and none. And just a wee bit wicked.

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  5. Man this was dark, sexy, disturbing, sick and exciting all in a short tight story. It's like each line was injected with a broken kaleidoscope. I think you have fallen upon a great character here Lily. One that promises great adventure.

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    1. Tony ~ HEY! TONY! -- *Kate gesturing, semi-frantically* ... Wanted to jump in and say, as true readers' commentos go - yours kicked ass, summing up an entire experience in reading our Lily as vessel to this Spangly Temptress. ~ A*K

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  6. It's her promises you have to watch ;-)

    Thank you for enjoying Spangles in such a delightful way Tony. She'll love that you understood her. Best beware kisses from strangers.

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  7. Dark and disturbing indeed! Brilliantly written, Lily. Left me wanting more.

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  8. I tried to comment earlier - didn't work.

    Love the dark intimacy of this - soooo intimate.

    What hooked me in this was the complexity of the host/predator relationship - that she's giving euphoria and taking life.

    There must be more stories of this entity's travels - both past & future waiting to be written, and waiting to be read by everyone!

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  9. This piece captures one right from the word go and keeps you trapped within its dark tale. She was/is an intriguing character who seems to sparkle in the most unusual places.

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  10. What a visual feast that opening paragraph is, bone chilling middle and super glacial end - brilliant Lily! JoVal

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  11. I just have to say wow, Lily. This story was all of the things described by its other fans here. It made my stomach flip. It made my blood pressure rise. You can tell it was written by a master.

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  12. Strange, fascinating, enthralling. A terrific short story, that is indeed a tale in itself but which hints of much more to come. Sparkle on, Lily, sparkle on.

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  13. I echo Anthony, so much disturbing, lovely darkness in this piece, and eloquently told, which is what keeps us all coming back for more. Rambling Rose is my kind of woman, a devilish beauty! that I think you could take into longer pieces for sure.
    Cheers!

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  14. Classic Lily Childs - The Queen of Dark Fiction!

    Can't top the other mini-reviews above, so won't even try (plus, it's 01:44 'n' am mid-writing session!). What I can say is this lured me in, like poor Hudson, and kept me there long after the last line. Think I'll be seeing Rose again! :-)

    Best,
    Col

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  15. Now there is a girl who gets under your skin. Dark, intimate and unnerving. I loved it.

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  16. Wow, Lily! I love the silver sequin character =) and the story itself. But also, this is beautifully written; such pace, such rhythm -- really well done!

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  17. Your stories are always so poetic.There's such beauty in the darkness.

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Lily Childs is a writer of horror, esoteric, mystery and chilling fiction.

If you see her dancing outside in a thunder storm - don't try to bring her in. She's safe.