Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

now , as the huge bough of the oak smashed thr ough the w indow , simultaneous
w ith the emer gence of the br anchlet fr om my r iven chest. Glass flew acr oss the
r oom, ?gentlemen?r an for the door , but Whitlock sat mesmer ized. Tendr ils of w ood
slither ed fr om my ear s and mouth and began to for ce my eyes fr om their sockets.
And still, the bough continued fr om my shatter ed br east:
oaken, alive!
Whitlock slumped for war d, eyes star ing blindly. His mew ling ceased, as the other
inhabitants of the r oom fled the glor ious r enaissance, like stampeding cattle.
The invading oak still thr ashed w ildly outside the devastated w indow , but now it
mutely ur ged me on, in a gestur e of beckoning.
My ow n tendr ils ? my branches? r eached out, out?
The r esulting communion was sur r eal, yet glor iously natur al. I sensed her , felt her.
Mor eover , ther e was something else; something embr yonic ? and beautiful.
And w e mer ged again. A tr inity in the hear tw ood.
The jar r ing bell of an ambulance could be hear d in the distance.
It w ould, of cour se, be too late.
Outside the Elmsall Club, an age-old, colossal oak stood fir m, in the subsiding w inds
of a dying stor m.
About the author
Whilst mainly writing chillers for children and young adults, including the People?s
Book Prize finalist, ?Firestorm Rising?and ?Demons in the Dark?, John Clewarth has
had over 50 short adult horror stories published in the independent press, under
the pseudonym, John Saxton; including a horror collection: ?Bloodshot?.His work
has featured/will feature in the podcasts, The Wicked Library, Creepypasta, Tales
to Terrify, and Planet Raconteur.He is also Fiction Editor for Horrified Magazine.
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