Umbra Daemonium and Other Short Stories

By Laura M Austin

"Umbra Daemonium" is a story about a family facing a parent's worst nightmare. Their young son is being stalked by a shadowy creature and they have to figure out how to fight back before they lose their little boy.
"Predator Hunting" features a not quite human woman who hunts the worst criminals she can find- sex traffickers.
In "Jeffry's Gift", Jeffry is a regular young man in love with a Superhero. Their relationship becomes strained by his feelings of jealousy and inadequacy. Can their love survive?
Similar to "The Most Dangerous Game", "Nature's Bounty" has unexpected twists and a high 'Creepy' rating.
A break from horror, the fantasy story "Smiley's Revenge" is about a unicorn with a mysterious past. What will he do when he finds out the secret everyone has kept from him?
Two wolves encounter a lost and wandering family, including a small child. How will the wild pair react to the people trespassing onto their land? "City Slickers" will appeal to animal lovers everywhere!
To find out "What's Underneath", young Enrique must explore every nook and cranny. Unfortunately, he finds more than he expects when he crawls into a mysterious hillside tunnel.
With a high 'Ick' factor, "Odiferous Romance" explores the love an odd woman feels for a decomposing zombie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura M Austin
• Release date: Mar 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005046422

Laura M Austin

Laura has been published by many online and in print anthologies. She has proudly served as a judge for Ageless Authors and has self-published two picture books. She has a passion for writing about mental health and trying to reach out to others.

Book preview

Umbra Daemonium

and other short stories

By

Laura M Austin

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2022 by Laura M. Austin

All rights reserved.

Table of contents

Umbra Daemonium

Predator Hunting

Jeffry’s Gift

Nature’s Bounty

Smiley’s Revenge

City Slickers

What’s Underneath

Odiferous Romance

Umbra Daemonium (Shadow Demon)

(Published in 2020 by Czykmate Productions)

I was hard at work, amid a veritable mountain of unpacked boxes. This move was unplanned and sudden, but living in the previous house had been hell. People can cry ‘hoax’ if they like, but when I tell you my old house was possessed- it was.

We had moved into our small house in Western Kentucky two years ago, almost to the day. It was cozy and surrounded by friendly neighbors. It had pale blue siding and a metal roof, with more windows than I had ever seen in such a small home. My two sons, Ike and Hunter, shared a room, and my youngest, five-year-old Isabelle, had her own. My husband Harold and I had gotten a great price on the home, thousands less than we had expected to pay. Maybe that should have clued me in that there would be trouble, although I would have presumed problems with plumbing or wiring, not what we actually found.

My first experience with the dark presence in my home was actually not my own. My sons had started telling me what I thought were fabricated stories about seeing shady figures in the dark corners of their room at night, and hearing soft sounds they couldn’t really describe to me. Boys have wild imaginations, and since they didn’t seem afraid, I brushed it off. Who wouldn’t? I didn’t believe in the boogey man, so I was completely caught by surprise when I had an experience of my own.

It happened on a Monday night, right after the kids went to bed. Harold works third shift, six PM to six AM, so I was alone, folding laundry in the living room and stacking it neatly on the sofa. I caught movement in the corner of my eye, and thinking my daughter was up looking for a drink or something, I didn’t even turn my head. Be quick and then back to bed, baby. A dark whisper slithered through my thoughts, heard by something more primitive in me than merely my ears. "Yesssss, Mom". Goosebumps went up my back and my scalp tried to crawl back over my face. I was literally frozen in fear. I finally turned my head and peered over my shoulder. I couldn’t see anything there. I broke into a sweat and the relief made me flop abruptly onto the sofa, sitting with my arms limp at my sides. Feeling foolish, I took a minute to calm down, and resumed my chore.

Nothing else happened until a few weeks later. The boys asked me if they could start sleeping in the living room. They are 8 and 12 years old; too old, by my reckoning, to be afraid of the dark or other childish things. I refused but they persisted. Why? I inquired. They looked at one another, then back at me. My eldest spoke up. We know you don’t believe us, but we’re really starting to get scared of the Shadow Man.

The Shadow Man? I responded. What’s that? Even as I asked, I remembered my terror from that Monday night when I had been unable to process what I’d thought I’d heard. The residual fear began eating at me, giving me a sudden stomach ache.

Eyeing each other again, they said, almost in tandem, Never mind. Shoulders slumped, they turned away, but my heart just couldn’t let it go so easily. How about this? You guys can sleep in the living room until your dad’s next night off. Then, you can talk to him about what you’ve seen and how you feel. Does that sound okay? They grinned and raced off to get their pillows and blankets. I hadn’t mentioned any of this to Harold. It had just seemed silly, and I could easily imagine the eye roll I would have gotten. They piled their bedclothes onto the floor and hopped around enthusiastically, trying to get them straightened out but hampered by their own antics. I kissed them goodnight and took myself to my own bed to read until it was late enough for me to sleep.

Around eleven o’clock, I started to doze off but was awakened from my light sleep by a sound. Not sure what I had heard, I lifted my head away from my pillow and listened. It sounded like whimpering. Worried Isabelle was having a nightmare, I got up and headed toward her room. The sounds weren’t coming from her closed door, so I followed them down the hall and into the living room. At first, I didn’t know what I was seeing. My sons weren’t sleeping, let alone having a bad dream. They were sitting up, grasping at one another, with their backs pressed up against the front of the sofa and their knees against their chests. The whimpering was coming from them, and their eyes were wide with terror, which enraged me as a mom. I spun in the direction they were staring but I wasn’t prepared for what I suddenly faced.

I’m tall for a woman, about 5’10", and this guy just loomed over me. His head was bowed to avoid brushing the ceiling, which was 8’ high. He had no discernable features; it was like looking at a three dimensional shadow. I sensed his attention shift to me, and even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I could feel him staring at me with malevolence.

I began sweating and shaking but my