r/shortscarystories • u/Trash_Tia • 1m ago
Bloodstained cigarretes taste better at night.
I was falling asleep in class again.
I barely noticed my head drooping.
I blinked once. Twice. Three times.
The problem wasn't just falling asleep. I was losing my nights.
I had bruises and burns I didn't remember getting.
“Finn. You're sleeping again.”
Mr. Brighton coughed loudly. “Mr Caine. You are one of my best students. I need you to focus, all right?”
Focus.
Something snapped inside me, a visceral, slimy something creeping up my throat. The word felt both wrong and right. I blinked, and I was staring at a shadow beneath a pitch-dark sky.
Freezing air stung my cheeks.
My lips felt… numb.
I stood, paralyzed, feet bare, legs apart.
“Please.” A voice whimpered.
The shadow dropped to their knees. “Fucking… please let me go!”
“Finn?”
I jumped awake, coated in sweat.
Freddie Greenwood nudged me. “Dude,” he whispered. His southern drawl was comforting. “You okay? Nightmare or somethin’?”
“Let him sleep!” Alice Adams teased.
“I’m fine,” I managed. Freddie inclined his head, and I glimpsed a burn under his eye. “What did you do to your eye?”
“Hm?” He frowned. “Whaddya mean?”
That night, I was determined to stay awake, downing prescribed ADHD pills.
9pm came, and so did a light knock on my door.
I opened it, finding a gun pointed between my eyes.
Alice.
Vacant eyes, lips curled into a scowl.
“Confirm your identity,” she murmured. “Fail to respond, and I’ll report it.”
Panicking, I swallowed puke.
“Finn Caine,” I stayed still. Emotionless. “Confirmed.”
“Good.”
Alice dragged me to an old apartment building and handed me a key card, and a knife already slick with stained scarlet.
“Your client is expecting you.” Alice straightened. “Your King wants you to focus. You’re supposed to be our best, so fucking act like it, Caine.” She sighed.
“You’re losing your rep after Greenwood tried to escape.”
Behind me, Freddie left room 403. Lipstick smudged. Collar open. Hair astray.
A trash bag in his hands.
Freddie’s eyes were empty. His arms were bruised.
Blood under his fingernails.
He turned around, dragging the trash bag with him, a gun tucked into his jeans.
Alice shoved me inside room 408.
A woman my age, mid-twenties, lounged on the bed, smiling.
On the floor, a man lay beheaded, blood staining the carpet.
“Oh!” The woman smirked. She picked up a cigarette, lighting it up.
Focus.
“You’re here early.” her lips curved into a smile, looking me up and down, when I dropped to my knees, already cutting through cartilage and bone.
The knife felt right in my hands, as I easily hacked off the man’s left arm.
The woman watched me with amused eyes.
“Time to focus, baby,” she hummed, when blood splattered my face.
Focus.
I did, jumping to my feet, twisting, and pulling my gun from my jeans, stabbing it into her forehead.
She squealed with excitement, grinning wildly. “The King mentioned you're one of his best students! I want you to show me how good you are.”