Horrotica

By Vanessa Finaughty

A collection of short horror stories that will leave you with chills and urge you to think twice before taking anything at face value.

Is a supernatural serial killer taunting Detective Cassandra Beckett, or has she lost her mind? Can a werewolf’s human side overcome the animal instinct that merely wants to feed, feed, feed? Can online relationships really work, can too much sex be bad for one’s health and should strange daggers be trusted?

The answers lie within, but beware... nothing is as it seems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vanessa Finaughty
• Release date: Jun 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9780620508834

Vanessa Finaughty

Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, and still lives there with her husband of fifteen years, her baby daughter and plenty of furry, four-legged ‘children’. Her passion for the written word started her career as an editor and copywriter, and she part-ran a writers’ critique group for close on seven years. She's been writing ever since she learnt how, has always been an avid reader, and currently lives on coffee and cigarettes. Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, life's mysteries and martial arts, of which she has five years’ experience. Review copies of all Vanessa's books are available upon request, and fans are welcome to email her at [e-mail] - she loves to hear any type of feedback and answers all emails personally. *** Please note that Vanessa uses UK spelling and grammar, which is not always the same as US spelling and grammar.

Book preview

Horrotica

Vanessa Finaughty

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 Vanessa Finaughty

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Many thanks to TC Southwell for editing this short story anthology, and Alphya Cing at Darla Mittler Document Magic for formatting.

Cover stock image courtesy of Vvilson | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

Many thanks to Alexander Fenris for the cover design.

Horrotica

Short horror stories with elements of sex and erotica.

Vanessa Finaughty

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mantis

Foul Satellite

Screen Deep

For the Love of Snatch

Dagger

Mantis

Don’t lose your head…

With her mandibles…

Detective Cassandra Beckett shuddered. It felt as if hundreds of tiny spiders with icy feet were scuttling up her spine. She wasn’t one to feel queasy at crime scenes, but this latest spate of murders was particularly gruesome and had every detective in the force losing sleep. Turning to have another look at the latest corpse, she froze. "Okay, who the hell moved the head?"

All eyes in the room automatically focussed on the body. The victim’s head, which had barely been attached by a small piece of skin when they’d arrived at the scene a short while ago, was gone.

Realising that none of her team was about to say anything, Cassandra lost her temper. "Is this a joke to you lot? Do you think it’s funny to play around with the dead and contaminating evidence?" she snarled at her colleagues, her emerald-green eyes blazing.

More silence followed as each of the other three officers in the room studied his colleagues with suspicion.

"Right. So this is just one big joke. I can’t believe this! Whoever you are, you’ve quite possibly screwed up our chances of gaining any clues off this body!" Cassandra glared at each person in turn.

Nervously clearing his throat, short, blond Carl finally spoke up. I’ve been standing next to Darren since I last saw the head. I can vouch that he didn’t touch it.

Darren nodded in confirmation, the repulsiveness of the flapping skin under his oily chin quite alarming to Cassandra, who then raised her eyebrows at John, who shook his head. I just got here, Beckett.

Quickly thinking back through the last few minutes, Cassandra realised that she’d heard John enter the room for the first time just as she’d noticed that the head was missing. "Darren... Carl... I’d better not find out that the two of you are lying to me. Find it."

Cassandra closed her eyes for a moment, running her fingers through her short red hair. She wasn’t sure just how much more of this case she could cope with. She desperately needed to take some time off and that wasn’t going to be possible until this case had been solved.

As the other three began to search the small flat for the missing head, Cassandra studied each in turn. She would never in a million years have expected this sort of prank from any of them. It just went to show, you could never really know somebody.

Just as she had that last thought, she spotted Carl touching the body, and then, finding that blood does, indeed, come off the dead, wiping his hand on the side of his black jeans.

I saw that! Cassandra had little time to be disgusted before a low-pitched feminine giggle filled the room for a few seconds.

Her team was still searching for the missing head. No one gave any indication of hearing the giggle. Then it came again, this time from outside the door.

Cassandra had a moment of realisation.

‘The murderer’s still here’, she mouthed to her colleagues as she started towards the outside door.

Startled and looking confused, the others followed her.

After an extensive search of the surrounding area that revealed nothing, the team finished up at the scene and packed it in for the day.

<><><>

Cassandra let herself into the large flat and shouted a greeting to Leonie before depositing her backpack on the floor next to the door and dropping in an exhausted heap onto the couch. A minute or two went by before Leonie appeared from the spare room, which she used as her studio. The taut, paint-covered body didn’t appeal to Cassandra tonight nearly as much as it usually did.

Bending and quickly brushing her lips against Cassandra’s, Leonie asked, Wine?

Definitely.

Cassandra closed her eyes while the other woman poured two glasses of wine.

Here you go. Hey, what’s wrong?

You mean besides you being pregnant? Cassandra almost flinched – she hadn’t meant to be so harsh. Even though she deserves it.

Not tonight, Cass. Please, don’t you think we’ve fought enough over the last two weeks?

Cassandra swirled the dark red liquid in her