Dark Little Women: Venom

By R L Wood

Hyde forces Doctor Jekyll to transplant the murderer's hands she removed from Frankenstein's monster onto her and disappears with Dorian's portrait and Cleo's altar, putting them both at risk of mortal death. Though Doctor Jekyll may seem like a victim, she is not innocent. In search of a cure for Lycanthropy, she experiments on Becca's boyfriend and changes him into a wolf ... permanently.

Meanwhile, Marilynn has sacrificed herself to the devil so she can save the other girls from becoming part of his immortal army and invading Earth, but this doesn't reverse the curse the devil placed on Dorian when she refused to give up her girls.

Does Dorian and her ragtag gang of ghouls track down the crazed Ada Hyde with her monstrous hands and get the stolen items back? Will Becca and Addie ever be in the same form at the same time so they can be together? Find out in this gender twisted continuation of Dark Little Women Book 1: Girl Power!

• Language: English
• Publisher: R L Wood
• Release date: Sep 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005740030

R L Wood

Works in progress by RL Wood include Dark Little Women Book 2: VENOM is due to launch for pre-order June 21, 2022.Faery Breed: The Underwater Realm of Encantado is in the final phases of editing.

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Dark Little Women

By R L Wood

Copyright © 2022 W H Gruno jr All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by W H Gruno jr at Smashwords

Written by R. L. Wood

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 your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents:

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter 01: Walking Nightmares

Chapter 02: De-Mummify Me

Chapter 03: Crypt Keeper

Chapter 04: Silence!

Chapter 05: A Drop of Mortality

Chapter 06: The Boogerman

Chapter 07: Mamaw Lou

Chapter 08: Wraith Bait

Chapter 09: Solstice

Chapter 10: The Sea of Frogs

Chapter 11: I’m a Gonna Mist You

Chapter 12: How to Spot a Monster for Dummies

Chapter 13: It’s Not Easy Being Dead

Chapter 14: Zombie Mode

Chapter 15: Listen!

Chapter 16: A Good Witch

Chapter 17: The Dungeon

Chapter 18: Séance

Chapter 19: Shadow Creature

Chapter 20: Understanding the Monster

Chapter 21: Time Freeze

Chapter 22: Into the Looking Glass

Chapter 23: London

Chapter 24: Ripper

Chapter 25: Neutering the Monster

Chapter 26: Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

Chapter 27: The Great Divide

Chapter 28: The Awakening

Chapter 29: Chaos

Chapter 30: Hell Bound

Walking Nightmares

Mia gripped the cold porcelain sink with both hands and peered into the mirror. All she could see was a darkened face and a silhouette. Her heart skipped. Was Bloody Mary already staring back at her in the dark?

It won’t work unless you close your eyes. Jasmine poked the little girl. You chant her name three times. As soon as you’re done with the spell, we open our eyes. She continued in a creepy tone, And Bloody Mary will appear in the mirror!

Okay. Mia closed her eyes. Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary! She opened her eyes to check that Bloody Mary hadn’t arrived. Something in the mirror moved. Mia screamed, and the other girls screamed, too. Everybody except Jasmine.

Just when Mia realized she had seen her own reflection moving in the mirror, the bathroom door thumped and the doorknob rattled. The girls stopped screaming and held their breath. The door jerked back and forth as if someone was trying to break it open. Oh, my God! one girl whispered.

Mia! What’s going on in there? Mia heard her mother’s voice. The girls all exhaled and loosened the grip they had on one another.

Eyes wide and dramatically gasping for breath, Mia replied through the door. Nothing, Mama, we’re just playing Bloody Mary. The girls giggled.

All right, sweetie. A slight chuckle accompanied her reply. Please, just keep it down. Your father has to work tomorrow.

Okay, Mama, we will, Mia called back, her voice small and sweet. She watched the light that crept in beneath the door and waited for her mother’s shadow to move away into the distance. Turning toward Jasmine, she said, There, now it’s your turn!

Um, no, sweetie! It’s still your turn. Jasmine threw her arms around her middle, bent over, and belly laughed. Long strands of oily hair fell over her face as she leaned into her arms and choked on her mocking laughter. You are a big baby!

What—why? Mia said.

Jasmine straightened herself, wiping tears from her eyes. She pointed a nail, which had once been polished red, now chipped and jagged. You did it wrong, girl. She folded her arms and continued, You can’t just say it all fast like that. You have to chant it like you’re doing a spell. Ya know, like how we chanted light as a feather-stiff as a board?

A couple of girls agreed, while others stood back and kept quiet.

I did it! I’m not doing it again. Mia folded her arms too.

Then I say Paige goes next. Jasmine yanked the redhead by the arm and dragged her in her socks over the slippery tile to the middle of the dark room.

A loud squawk escaped the girl’s pale, freckled lips. You didn’t even do stiff as a board. She wrenched out of Jasmine’s grasp and stepped back with the rest of the girls, rubbing her forearm. Everyone folded their arms. Half of them stood on one hip and cocked their heads.

Fine. Mia sighed. I’ll do it. She wasn’t getting out of calling Bloody Mary without upsetting one of the other girls, and she did not want her friends to fight at her party. Besides, now that she had survived the first try, she felt a little brave. She even momentarily doubted anything would happen if she chanted the words like a spell. Didn’t they just get done chanting light as a feather-stiff as a board, one thousand times, and nothing happened?

The footies sewn into her pajamas scuffed over the floor as Mia moved toward the sink once again. She grasped its cold surface and looked into the mirror at the dark reflection. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face.

Everyone, close your eyes. We don’t want big baby to have to do this a third time, Jasmine spoke from behind. The girls all giggled.

Mia’s heart thumped in her chest, but she squeezed her eyes shut anyway. She licked her lips. Bloody—Mary … She swallowed with a gulp, thinking about the dark face that glared back in the mirror. Bloody—Mary … She took a deep breath. Bloody—Mary! Somebody grabbed hold of her braids and yanked her head forward. Jasmine! Wait, had she gotten turned around in the dark? She opened her eyes. To her horror, a pair of pale hands with dirty claws had a hold of her pigtails, and they dragged her toward the mirror. Heart clenching, she screamed and tore at the clammy hands.

She shrieked and kicked as the hands slipped beneath her arms and began ratcheting her forward. Atoms divided as her head entered the icy glass, muffling her screams. The air squeezed from her lungs and terror seized her mind as she inched into the dark. The other girls’ screams became distant.

From behind in the bathroom, frantic fingers clawed at her ankles while the girls fought to keep her from falling into the mirror. Lungs shuddering for breath, her body squeezed through the glass pane like a baby squeezes through the birth canal. A sharp pain wracked her body and, with a sudden jolt, she plummeted upon a cold, hard surface, gulping for air. The mirror slammed, shutting out the cries of her friends.

The hands had vanished. There seemed to be nothing but the sound of her own breath bouncing off the icy plane as she lay panting in the dark. Chilly air brushed over her body as something passed by. Ears alert, she froze.

A moment of silence.

Hazy flashes of light flickered not far in the distance. Something moved in the dark. At first, to the front, then to the side. Heart throbbing in her throat, Mia lifted her head, but her eyes met only darkness. Who’s there? Her small, unsteady voice echoed back from different directions as tears welled in her eyes.

Nah-nana-nah-na! a girl’s voice sang in the dark and echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once.

What do you want? Mia said between gulps of air. Who are you?

You know! A voice sang out from the nothing. You called me.

Another flash and Mia faced a skeletal, white face as it seemed to glare out from a pair of craters for eyes. Black hair hung in long, oily strands. A tiny spider drew down on its web from the socket of a missing eye and dangled over a twisted mouth. The entity lapped the spider up with a slick, black tongue and sucked it between scarred lips, cracked and bleeding. The spider’s shell crunched between teeth, and then the entity dissolved into the void.

Bloody Mary? Mia sobbed. Heart pounding in her ears now and barely able to breathe, she sat up and looked for a way out before it was too late.

You called? A voice rumbled beside her. Mia jumped and jerked her head in its direction. She watched as cracked lips curled and exposed gory teeth with pointed tips. It gnashed them at her, clacking and clicking. A fresh wave of fear swept through Mia’s body.

Blood-stained claws appeared, and Bloody Mary swiped at Mia’s tear-filled eyes. Mia lifted her arms to block the assault while jagged blades tore through her pajama sleeves and gouged her tender flesh.

Mia shrieked from the searing pain and threw herself back with a hard thunk, and the thing fell away in the dark.

Another breeze. Goosebumps rose on her sweat-drenched skin. Mia tore her eyes away from the gruesome sight of her bloody arms and tried to glimpse the thing in the dark. Faint flickers of light reflected over what appeared to be planes of glass all around as she waited for it to jump out at her from the black void.

Hellish moments ticked by.

A cruel voice hissed close to her ear. Big baby! Big baby! Sheer instinct caused Mia to jerk in its direction, only to find blackness where the entity had been. The presence moved. She could sense it breathing hard with anticipation as hot breath filled the space. Afraid to look as seconds turned into agonizing minutes, Mia’s tiny heart hammered.

Something small and hard pelted the apple of her cheek. First one and then another fell over her until it poured like rice in a continuous shower from above. Her flesh immediately crawled with tiny prickling creatures scurrying beneath her clothes, delivering heated pin-pricks. She pried one of the pea-sized shells from a ragged pajama sleeve. Black and squirming with hairy legs, it grasped at the tip of her sticky finger for a foothold.

Mia flung it away and cried, Please! One dropped into her mouth. It clawed with tacky legs at the corner of her lower lip. Spitting and gagging, she curled into a protective ball and covered her head with her arms.

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick! Insects with glossy armored shells bounced off the glass. Let me out of here! Mia screamed against the glassy surface as they beat down like hail.

The storm of insects ceased, and a brief silence followed. A hideous laugh echoed all around. On its knees, the demon appeared next to her. Mia squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as it braced for attack. She could sense its arm come down in a fury, and then those jagged nails blazed a trail, ripping through pink fleece. Flesh tore. Blood spattered. Frenzied laughter filled Mia’s ears.

She tightened tiny arms around her head while the demon rocked her body with slashing talons. Just as she thought she would die at the hands of Bloody Mary, she heard an urgent voice reverberate around her. Stop that this instant! A woman appeared and wrapped her arms around Bloody Mary’s waist and dragged her away.

Stop! the greedy demon howled and grasped toward Mia’s limp body with bloody claws. The child is mine! She called me!

Let her go! the woman insisted. Send her back.

I want her eyes! Bloody Mary gurgled and struggled against the figure of a woman.

Call out to your mother, dear, the woman urged Mia.

A metallic taste had filled Mia’s mouth as she lay shaking in the dark. Her words stuck in her throat as she whimpered, Mmm ... muh-muh.

The woman’s tone heightened. Louder!

Mama, Mama! Mia called out, again and again, relieved to at least have her mother’s name on her lips in her final moments.

I’m here, baby. Mia heard her mother’s sweet voice. Mia looked up to see her mother’s face gazing down at her with knitted brows. The girls gathered around with their fists in their eyes and sobbing. Her mother’s warm embrace tightened around her. And as she lay on the chilly bathroom tile, as familiar now as the cold glass realm, she wondered if she had been dreaming all along.

Are you okay? Her mother’s voice sounded frantic.

Mia drew up first one pajama sleeve and then the other, and looked for gashes. Not a trace of blood. Nodding, she turned her face in toward her mother’s bosom and sobbed. Her mother held her, shushing and tucking stray pieces of hair around her ear until she calmed.

Now, what’s going on in here? asked Mia’s mother. All the girls started talking at once about Bloody Mary. They all claimed to have witnessed what had happened to Mia in the mirror. You girls are up way too late. You’re having walking nightmares.

No, Mama, you don’t understand— Mia tried explaining, but her mother cut her off.

I want all of you in bed immediately, she told them while helping Mia to her feet.

But, Mama, the mirror it—

No! Now, Mia, go to bed and no more fooling around. No frozen underwear or giggling. None of that nonsense you girls get up to. Go straight to sleep. Or I’ll call all their mothers and everyone will have to go home. Do you hear? She wagged a finger at them.

The girls gasped at the threat. Everyone except Jasmine, that is. One girl started crying and complained that she would rather go home. Mia’s mother softened her tone and urged them out of the bathroom and into their makeshift beds and sleeping bags.

The woman from the mirror asked, Why do you do this to these poor girls? Her voice echoed back as she observed the scene in the bathroom through the mirror.

They are the ones who call me, Bloody Mary replied from beside her.

It’s just a girls’ game. The woman folded her arms over the white lab coat she wore.

It wasn’t a game when it happened to me, Bloody Mary said, weeping spiders from empty sockets for eyes.

De-Mummify Me

Becca entered the room in the upper west tower of Castle Frankenstein, with Addie following at her heels, and walked straight over to the gaping fireplace. Anywhere they went, the first thing she did was display the urn. While Addie found the bed, she placed it on the mantle and stood back to look at it. Becca sighed. The brass seemed somehow duller now that the ghost no longer haunted the urn. I wish I could talk to you, but … You’re in hell now. She spoke as if her friend would somehow hear her. I really miss you, Marilyn.

A rickety window on hinges blew open, and Becca raced over the warped wooden floor toward a long row of windows where a chilly wind sent tattered curtains flapping at the opening. The breeze tousled her strawberry blond locks as she neared, and goosebumps rose on her skin. She grasped the window by its latch. The hinges groaned as she drew the frame closed and fastened it shut. She gazed out at the steep, craggy mountainside until rain dotted the windowpanes and obscured the view.

Becca turned away to find a four-poster bed covered in a dingy sheet and an inch of dust. Swags of cobwebs trailed from post to post where a canopy once hung. Becca sighed again when she saw Addie curled into a little gray puff at the foot. Trapped in wolf form by a curse Ada Hyde had placed on him, he became less and less in tune with her and more like an average pet each day.

The hand-me-down luggage she had brought to the castle sat next to an old wardrobe in a corner. She decided to put off unpacking and headed toward the bedroom door to join Dorian and V up in Frankenstein’s tower.

I have just enough reanimated blood to keep Cleopatra mobile for a few weeks at best, Doctor Victoria Frankenstein said with a thick German accent that had her rolling r’s and replacing th’s with z’s. After that, we’ll need a miracle or the Egyptian altar that keeps her alive. She stood on one side of the operating table where Cleo’s mummified remains laid. Dorian and V stood on the other.

Dorian’s dark hair fell around her face as she peered at Cleo’s dry, lifeless form. The mummy’s onyx-colored eyes shone with a morbid glaze, and the once glossy ringlets, now thin and straggled, shed from the skull with the slightest touch. We’ll just have to get the altar back from Hyde before you run out, Dorian said.

Doctor Frankenstein turned on the heel of her red, high-top tennis shoe and headed toward a row of stainless steel cabinetry that sectioned off an area from the operating room. The sole of her shoes squeaked over sanitized tile as she made her way to the far side. She opened a matching refrigerator and removed a rack of vials filled with the reanimated blood.

V asked, You can’t get any more samples from Frances? Her black hair glowed under the lights with a sheen only vampires possessed.

No. Doctor Frankenstein turned from the refrigerators. The Chalice of Redemption lifted the curse on Frances’s hodgepodge body that my great, great uncle, Victor Frankenstein, pieced together to create his monster. Only then was I able to transplant her brain into an entirely new and whole body. Frances doesn’t remember a thing and no longer suffers from the curse of immortality.

And so that’s a no on the blood?

Unlike my uncle, I performed a brain transplant, which is quite another concept to the building of a monster with random body parts. Doctor Frankenstein set the tray of vials on a countertop. Frances’s blood is no longer reanimated. And the idea of creating more monsters for just such a thing is inconceivable.

Oh, I agree! But a brain transplant? That is truly amazing, Dorian said. Perhaps you should share your technology with the world, doctor?

Gadzooks! I’d be a laughingstock. If not for the magic of the chalice, there would not have been a transplant at all. Doctor Frankenstein picked up a vial of Frances’s blood and gave it a shake. I am aware of the secrets my great uncle possessed, but I am no miracle worker, she said with a chuckle. Magic meets horrific science, Dorian.

Doctor Frankenstein opened a drawer and plucked out a syringe wrapped in plastic. After peeling it away with a quick rip of the tabs and twisting the needle on, she pushed the tip into the upturned vial and drew a few milliliters of thick, black blood. Six weeks tops at this dosage.

Syringe in hand, she walked over to the operating table. If it works at all. She gave them both a serious look through thick lenses that made her eyes appear as large as walnuts before taking Cleo’s stiff, brown arm in slender fingers. The silver needle glinted under the overhead lights as she slid the sharp tip into a desiccated artery with a dry pop. She slowly pressed the plunger and watched as the smallest amount created a bubble under the leathery skin. At this rate, it’ll burst the artery like a thin balloon, she said, massaging the blood through with gentle fingertips.

She tried the injection once more but clucked her tongue when the artery bubbled under the skin again. This won’t do. Her fingers wrapped around the syringe like a set of spider legs, and she drew the needle out. I am afraid I’ll pop the artery, and we must get the blood to circulate. She brought the syringe overhead and thrust the sharp needle into Cleo’s chest.

Designer heels clicked over glossy tile as Dorian backed away. She placed a hand over her mouth.

Into zee heart! exclaimed Doctor Frankenstein, her German accent thickening. Palm over the plunger, she injected the reanimated blood. Yanking the needle from the chest cavity, she tossed it onto the aluminum tray beside the table. Clang! She folded her fingers around the back of her other hand, placed them over Cleo’s heart, and started pumping. One of you, come! Give her some breaths!

Becca entered the lab just in time to hear the doctor’s order. Thunder crashed above the tower, and she almost came out of her boots.

Come now! Doctor Frankenstein’s voice turned frantic as rain pelted the windows overhead.

Dorian turned pale. Needles, saws, and scalpels always made her queasy. But witnessing the injection of blood, thick as tar, into Cleo’s fragile body was more than she could stand. Where’s Ygor?

I gave him the day off. You overwork him. Doctor Frankenstein glared from behind those heavy lenses, and her hair shivered atop her head with every thrust. Get over here! She demanded with labored breath.

V crossed her arms, like a pair of leathery bat wings, over the front of her jacket and gestured with a nod for Dorian to step up. Lips gray as ash, Dorian set her jaw and took a tentative step forward. What can I do to help, doctor?

I want you to tip her head back, pinch her nose, and seal your mouth over hers. Then exhale into her mouth. Doctor Frankenstein continued pulsing Cleo’s chest.

Dorian placed fingers, tipped with acrylic nails painted red, on opposite sides of Cleo’s head and tilted it back. The mouth dropped open and exposed shrunken gums with small, pearl-white teeth. Dorian cringed at the dry, creped lips rimming the skeletal mouth.

Now! Doctor Frankenstein exclaimed. There is no time to lose. Each vial of the blood is precious time. Thunder bashed the tower roof, putting exclamation marks on her words. Do you hear zat? She turned her face upward to peer out the windows, and a madness glowed in her eyes.

Lightning flashed, turning the room inside out and back again while manic laughter erupted from her throat. A good sign the gods are with us! she cried. Now, give her life! Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!

Dorian turned green, and her knees met as she sank to the floor. While V caught Dorian under the arms and pulled her away, Becca rushed over to assist Doctor Frankenstein. She pinched off the nose, sealed her mouth over the mummy’s lips, and blew air into the lungs.

Again, the doctor said, breathless, as she continued to pump Cleo’s heart.

Over and again, Becca breathed air into Cleo’s lungs. A spark returned to Cleo’s eyes. Her head turned, producing an audible crack. She coughed, and out flew a dust bunny.

Doctor Frankenstein threw a fist over her head in a fit of victory and shrieked, She’s alive… Alive, I tell you! And she shook with absolute joy.

Where am I? Cleo croaked.

She will need hydration, Doctor Frankenstein told Becca. Get her some water.

Becca rushed to the sink behind the cabinets and turned on the faucet.

You’re in my lab. Doctor Frankenstein reached for the stethoscope in her lab coat pocket. I am Victoria Frankenstein … Doctor Frankenstein.

Cleo’s eyes scraped in their sockets as she looked around the lab. What am I doing here? She tried moving her arms.

Doctor Frankenstein placed a palm over her forearm to cease movement and peered into her face. Your friends are all here. They will explain after we get some fluids into you. I will need to start an IV.

While Becca rushed a paper cup full of water over, Dorian moved to the other side of the table and laid a hand on Cleo’s shoulder. How are you feeling?

Like camel dung, Dorian, she replied between tight lips and reached for the paper cup while Doctor Frankenstein listened to her lungs. Just tell me what happened. Her voice rasped like a blade of grass blown between a pair of thumbs.

Drink. Becca tilted the edge to Cleo’s mouth. Water poured from the corners of her dehydrated lips down the front of the hospital gown.

Doctor Frankenstein started the IV in Cleo’s arm while Dorian summarized what happened. Do you remember how the Dark One sent his demon to collect one of your souls, and we thought Becca was the prime candidate because she ate her boyfriend after she transformed into a werewolf during their date?

"Right. Becca drank from the Chalice of Redemption and swore an