Secrets and Shadows

By B. L. Carroll

This compilation is filled with thrilling and suspenseful stories that will keep you on edge. All stories are started with a quick introduction by the author, citing her inspiration for each tale. These chilling short stories are woven with supernatural and psychological twists that will leave you guessing. In "Uncle Jerry", a young woman discovers a terrible family secret. Tara, in "His Game", finds herself in a twisted game of cat-and-mouse with a serial killer. Ryan, a man who doesn't believe in the supernatural, is left wondering if ghosts exist in "1:11". In "Eve", Becky weaves a tale of deceit about her run in with her ex's girlfriend. "The Day the Soldiers Came" is a dystopian tale of a not so far off future where banks collapse and mobsters take over. A short and bitter tale about the loss of innocence is woven in "Snow Queen". James, a young university student, feels he is losing his mind in "Unraveled". Finally, in "The Twisted Plane", take a supernatural journey with David and Lee, two children who unfortunately discover that demons do exist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B. L. Carroll
• Release date: Nov 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393938415

B. L. Carroll

B. L. Carroll is a Western New York author of fictional short stories, novellas, and novels. B. L. has had a passion for writing since high school and if very lucky to be able to continue writing today. While she enjoys writing suspenceful stories, she also enjoys writing in science fiction and dystopian genres as well.  When she is not writing, B. L. enjoys music, reading, coffee, chocolate, and spending time with her family, friends, and fur babies. 

Book preview

Secrets and Shadows

Secrets and Shadows

B.L. Carroll

Copyright © 2020 B.L. Carroll

Cover Art by Larch Gallagher Design

Edited by Jessica Ripley, Beth Fawcett, Brieanna Robertson

All rights reserved.

Secrets and Shadows is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Uncle Jerry

His Game

1:11

Eve

The Day the Soldiers Came

Snow Queen

Unraveled

The Twisted Plane

About the Author

Uncle Jerry

This is one of many of my stories that is based off of a dream I had. I just love how creative my subconscious mind can be. Every dream for me is an adventure in itself. I hope you find the following as frightening as I did when I dreamt it.

Would you like a beer? Uncle Jerry asked without taking his head out of the fridge, clanking jars and bottles together while he fished around for what he wanted to drink.

No, thank you, I yelled from the living room couch as politely as possible, hoping my refusal wouldn’t offend my uncle. It was only just after one o’clock on a Saturday afternoon. Normally I only drank this early on special occasions, like holidays or tailgating at Bills games. After a moment, I felt a pang of guilt and, not wanting Uncle Jerry to feel ashamed for drinking so early, I quickly changed my mind. Ah, what the hell. I’ll take whatever you got. I couldn’t help but smile as I hoped that sharing a drink with Uncle Jerry would ease some of the tension I felt in the room.

I had only been there about five minutes, but I had never known him to be so quiet in all my life. Usually he shared stories about the crazy things he did growing up or he couldn’t help but talk about how stupid he thought some politicians were. Today, Uncle Jerry seemed like he didn’t feel like talking. It seemed like he was only pretending to enjoy my surprise visit by keeping to the normal pleasantries of conversation: How’s the weather? or Want a beer? or How’s your mom been?

He returned to the living room with a beer in each hand and pressed one of the cool cans into mine. He eased back into his favorite recliner, setting his drink on a pile of boxes next to him, which consisted as his coffee table. When’s Roxanne taking the rest of her stuff? I asked, hoping it wasn’t too early in my visit to breach the subject.

Whenever it’s convenient for her. His blue eyes twinkled as he let a throaty laugh escape and I couldn’t help but wonder how Roxanne would feel knowing he was using her boxed up stuff as a table. I decided that if she really cared, she probably would have picked up her stuff by now. Her brief marriage to Uncle Jerry lasted about half a year and ended quicker. She moved out of my uncle’s house about a week and a half ago.

My uncle was thirteen years younger than my mom since my grandma had problems conceiving another child. Sometimes it felt that he and I were closer in age than he was to my mother. This was also why I was voted by the family to be on the cheer-up-Uncle-Jerry committee. The two of us always seemed to get along well, especially since I was now of drinking age – although that never stopped Uncle Jerry from sneaking me a few drinks here and there ever since I turned fifteen.

The afternoon sun sparkled off the silver picture frame sitting on the mantle in front of me. The pictures of Jerry and Roxanne had been taken down, making the mantle seem almost bare. Only a couple photos still remained, like the picture of us down by the lake when Uncle Jerry, Kyle (my boyfriend at the time), my mom and I went fishing. Jerry, Kyle, and I were the only ones who had caught anything that day so my mom took a picture of the three of us holding up our fish with the grey lake in the background.

Kyle and I dated for about a year, but I always felt like he was looking for something better to come along. I felt like his second choice or his only option for right now. His eyes wandered on other girls around us wherever we went. He told me that we were in a serious relationship, but I just didn’t feel that he was telling the truth. Finally, I ended it and he got weird. I would find him at my old hangouts waiting for me to show up. He even used to show up at my work. He wouldn’t listen no matter how much I told him that I needed space. When he followed me home from work one day, my mom contacted Kyle and threatened to call the cops if he didn’t back off. That seemed to do the trick.

I took a quick swig of beer and squinted at the picture on the mantle, noticing that there were only two of us in the picture. Uncle Jerry must have cut Kyle out of the picture…except I could only make out two men with baseball caps in the photo. I must have been cut out of it, but why? I know Kyle and my uncle got along really well, but enough to cut me out of the picture?

Where you on the way to? Uncle Jerry broke the thickening silence after adjusting his baseball hat. Some of his short sandy hair pricked out from underneath his hat like fuzzy cactus needles.

I took a gulp of beer, debating whether or not I should tell him the truth. Well,—I tucked some of my blonde hair behind my ear, weighing my words carefully—I haven’t seen you in a while…

And wanted to make sure I was getting on fine without Roxanne? His blue eyes twinkled mischievously and, for a moment, I was afraid to know what was going on behind them.

I thought maybe we could go fishing or something, I blurted out quickly, not knowing what else to say.

Uncle Jerry sighed, scratching his neck. I was actually expecting someone.

Oh. And then the realization set in. Maybe that’s why things seemed so tense. Maybe he was having a lady-friend over and was embarrassed and afraid of what I would think so he didn’t want to come right out and say it. I’ll just finish my beer real quick and leave. We can go fishing some other time. He returned my smile, but something about it seemed unnatural, or forced. Almost sinister in a way, like that horrible smile that curls up almost to the Grinch’s ears after he plots how to ruin Christmas for the Whos down in Whoville.

The doorbell broke the silence like a knife slicing through warm butter, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I’ll be right back, Uncle Jerry said as he set his sweating beer can down on the boxes.

I could feel the air getting even thicker with awkwardness. Uncle Jerry is trying to get his life back together and I may be ruining things just by being here! I took my beer and started walking down the hallway towards the bathroom. I hoped that after I dumped the beer out, Uncle Jerry would think I chugged it so that I could leave before I made things worse for him.

His bedroom door next to the bathroom was open a crack. I unconsciously darted my eyes in that direction as I made my way to the bathroom, but then I froze in my tracks when my mind caught up to what my eyes took in. I tried to make sense of what I saw. I could hear my uncle talking at the front door, so I knew I had time to take a peek in deeper. I creaked open the bedroom door just a bit more. A woman was tied to the bed wearing nothing but her white bra and panties. Duct tape covered her mouth and tears were streaking down her red cheeks. Automatically, I put a finger to my lips in a shushing gesture and I scanned behind me to make sure no one was coming. My heart broke at the pleading look that was in the woman’s puffy brown eyes. Still, I put the bedroom door back the way it was and ran into the adjacent bathroom, knowing that it was a short trek to the front door. I heard the door shut a second later, and knew that he was on his way back. I darted in the bathroom, trying to figure out how I could help the trapped woman.

I put my shaking hands on the sink and tried to regain my composure while my heart beat wildly in my chest. What the hell was going on? More importantly, what was I going to do? Stupidly, I left my cell phone in my car and Uncle Jerry didn’t have a landline, so calling the cops was out of the question. Right now, I had to go back out there and act like I didn’t see a thing out of the ordinary.

I turned the sink on to pretend I was washing my hands and dumped out the rest of my beer, sticking to my original plan. I didn’t know who or what was awaiting me in the living room, and I briefly considered jumping out of the bathroom window instead of finding out. I knew I couldn’t, though, because if I suddenly disappeared, Jerry would know I saw the woman and he would come looking for me.

I was even less prepared for what I saw in the living room than I was for seeing the woman tied up in the bedroom. Or maybe it was just that seeing the woman tied up in the bedroom compounded with what I saw there, making it seem exponentially worse than it normally would have been. Because turning the corner from the hallway to the living room revealed an all-too familiar face standing next to Uncle Jerry. Someone who didn’t know any better might think they were twins, if not for the age difference, with their blue eyes, blond hair, and matching baseball hats. They were both smiling that same horrible smile Uncle Jerry had earlier. My stomach dropped and I thought I would be sick, but my focus was on not letting them know that I knew about the woman in the bedroom.

K-kyle…w-what are you doing here? I asked, knowing I had to say something to my uncle and my ex.

Jerry and I decided to remain friends after you and I broke up. He eased his left hand into his blue jeans pocket as he regarded me with indifference laced with amusement. He cocked his head to the side like a dog pondering how best to corner a rabbit. I personally wanted to wipe that horrible smile off of his face.

I assumed you may need another beer, so I have one ready for you. Uncle Jerry held up the already open can for me.

I chugged mine so that I could leave sooner, knowing you had a guest coming. I felt bad dropping by unexpected since you already had plans. I was a bad liar, but luckily that wasn’t a lie. At least, it was the truth before I saw that woman in the bedroom.

"You can’t leave now. You’ll be over the legal limit. Uncle Jerry feigned sincerity. You just chugged a full beer in a matter of fifteen minutes."

Fifteen down, forty-five to go, I thought anxiously. I really shouldn’t have another beer if I’m trying to get out of your hair. Two can play this passive-aggressive game. I gave the sweetest smile I could muster. You can drink that beer when you’ve finished the one you have now. It should still be cold by the time you’re ready to drink it…or I could put it back in the fridge for you. I tried to keep that same sincere smile pasted to my face, hoping the fear wouldn’t bleed through. I didn’t want them to know I’d seen the woman and was terrified that they were planning to do the same to me. So, acting as naturally as I could, I went back to the couch to sit down like nothing horrible was happening in the house at this very moment and for God knew how long before I arrived.

No, it’s fine. I can leave the beer on my table, Uncle Jerry said, almost through clenched teeth. His jaw was tight, as if he was frustrated with me. He clearly didn't want me out of his sight. He set the can down on the pile of boxes next to his recliner chair.

Are you guys going fishing? I asked, sitting back down on the couch, trying to avoid more awkward silences where they had time to think about anything. God only knew if they already discussed what to do with me while together at the front door. I assumed that the beer Uncle Jerry had open and ready for me to drink had some kind of drug in it. The thought nauseated me. Uncle Jerry always seemed a little off, but I naively thought he was misunderstood. I would have never thought he’d have it in him to physically harm anyone, especially his own blood relative.

No, we were actually going to do some work in the garage. I was going to teach Kyle how to make a cabinet.

I was going to make one for my mom for her birthday, Kyle said before taking a swig of beer. I almost wished I had a beer myself, but I needed to be on my toes. Besides, the beer with my name on it came with a side of drugs.

What kind of wood are you using? Oak? I feigned interest, knowing I was walking on thin ice.

Yeah… Kyle’s icy eyes locked on mine and I could feel my heart stop beating. I knew he could sense my fear, so I chose to roll with it and play off of that.

Well, I’m not gonna lie. Kyle being here is kind of awkward for me, and since I can’t drive legally right now, I will take a walk to the park up the street and then drive when I can. Honesty is usually the best way to create deception. You can create a fabrication with half-truths and people usually don’t catch on. I think I heard that in a movie once.

Kyle remained silent, deferring to my uncle’s decision on the matter. That’s probably for the best then. I could see the wheels turning behind Uncle Jerry’s cool stare, but I knew he had just given me an out. A get-out-of-jail-free card, as it was.

Thanks for the beer, I said as cheery as I could. It was good to see you again, Kyle. I tried my best not to cringe. I didn’t even pretend to be nice to him. It would seem too over-the-top to feign politeness to him anymore than I already had.

I didn’t want to turn my back on the Creepy Duo, but I had to pass by them both to make my escape out the front door. After standing, I pulled my keys out