Laying naked on the beach, she allowed the warmer waters of the Atlantic to sweep over her. The sand striding against her inner thighs, and through the fingers of her reaching hands. The smell of salt permeated each passing tide, its taste bitter. The ocean, mother to the origins of life, now washing across a sinful body of kindred flesh. A reminder that life began in the waters, and for us ends on the land. And as she turned her gaze, she was met by her lover’s own...

She found him as a man before he transformed into a monster. It was a simple date night. While walking her home, she never would have guessed that she’d be running for her life...

It lived a block down the street from him. Every day he’d walk home from Peabody Elementary, facing that dog from the opposite side of the street. Only a wire fence and a single latch gate held back the mutt. And much like the mutt, he felt the same need to escape...

From afar, in the vast hillsides and fields nearby it was barely noticeable. But after some time, the shepherd recognized a “black sheep” amongst his herd. A singular, solitary sheep that all others kept their distance from. And when the shepherd tried to approach the black sheep, the herd would gawk and yell at his approach. A dense, spreading was felt throughout the flock..."

Artwork by Breanna Knoth She combed her long brunette hair in the reflection of her bedroom window from the second floor of her parents’ residence. Beside her in a small trash bin were shards of a broken mirror, a mirror that she had shattered three weeks prior. Back then, while staring into the bathroom mirror her reflection twisted into something unholy. Gazing back from the polished glass was the terrifying complexion of a stranger. The moment frightened her so badly that

A flash horror story about a young girl whose eyes can see into a person's soul. Nightmare Eyes by N.D. Graveheart from the DEATHLY AFRAID Collection