"You still love me?" he asked.
"I do," Maddy said. "Come in. I'm glad you're back."
When they were inside, he handed her the flowers.
"Daisies are my favorite," she said.
"I know."
"Sit down," she said, "I'll go put these in water."
Zach sat on the couch. "Why's it so dark in here?"
"They don't want you to see them," Maddy said.
"Who?"
"The piggies."
"Maddy, the piggies aren't here. They're afraid of me."
"That's why I turned out all the lights."
"Stop it, Maddy. You're drunk."
"I'm completely sober." She sat down beside him, pulled his head onto her chest and stroked his hair. "Just relax, sweetheart."
"I know," she said, "I love you too."
"I don't deserve you, Maddy, but I can't be without you."
"Don't worry about it. We're going to be together forever."
Zach felt something hard and cold at his temple.
"Maddy, what are you doing?"
He heard the click and a loud bang, and then it was over.
"I'm right behind you, Zach," Maddy said.
She put the gun that he'd bought years ago but had never used, the one in his bedside drawer, in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
The three little piggies got up from their hiding places and danced around the house.
"Bye, Mommy!"
"Bye, Mommy!"
"Bye, Mommy!"
Each one shouted as they left, one by one, out the kitchen door and into the backyard.
About the Authors
L. L. Soares first got hooked on horror way back at the age of six, when he first saw the 1931 movie, Frankenstein, on television. The fact that he was born two days before Halloween probably doesn't hurt, either. His work has appeared in magazines such as Gothic.Net, Horror Garage, Bare Bone and Cemetery Dance, as well as anthologies such as THE BEST OF HORRORFIND 2, RIGHT HOUSE ON THE LEFT, TRAPS and RAW: BRUTALITY AS ART.
The movie review column he writes with Michael Arruda, Cinema Knife Fight, was a finalist for the 2009 Bram Stoker Award. He is also an active member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), and was a former chairman of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW).
Check out his website at www.llsoares.com, and Cinema Knife Fight (with regular updates every weekday) at http://cinemaknifefight.com
Laura Cooney's work has appeared in Gothic.net, Horrorfind, Lullaby Hearse Magazine, Bloodlust UK, Three-lobed Burning Eye, and in the anthologies, BANDERSNATCH and DARK JESTERS. She lives in Massachusetts with LL Soares, and their iguana Pippi Greenstocking.
Table of Contents
Part One: Laura Cooney
Wasps
The Hirsute You
Puppy Love
A Crown of Mushrooms
Number 808
Part Two: L. L. Soares
Second Chances
Mating Room
Head Games
The No! Place
Private Exhibition
Part Three: Laura Cooney & L. L. Soares in Collaboration
In Sickness
About the Authors