Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

The shotgun thunder ed, the upper half of Jimmy?s head disintegr ated and the
canvas behind him wasn?t just splatter ed w ith blood but dr enched in it. Then
Jimmy?s body slammed into the canvas, its easel toppled and he cr ashed dow n on
top of them. He still gr ipped a cor ner of the plastic. As he fell, it peeled off the man
and tipped him onto his side. A hole gaped in his belly and some glistening stuff
oozed out ar ound Lachie?s feet.
The r ecoil fr om the shotgun pr opelled the w oman back against the tr ee.
Deter minedly, she kept it at her shoulder and r edir ected the bar r el at Lachie. He
yelped and star ted r unning, in an ar c fr om the w or ktable into the living ar ea and
towar ds the door , tr ying to keep as far fr om the w oman as the r oom?s walls w ould
allow. But the w oman pivoted so that the bar r el stayed tr ained on him. Just befor e
he r eached the door , he hear d another thunder clap and an immense blow to his
side picked him off his feet and smashed him into the wall. He bounced back and
landed r agdoll-like on the floor.
Looking up, he saw the w oman lift tw o mor e shotgun shells off the pot of soil that
the Chr istmas tr ee stood in. She r aged, ?Why did you have to intr ude? Why couldn?t
you leave us alone? I was going to dump him in the sea and nobody w ould?ve
noticed. Nobody w ould?ve car ed. Ever ybody w ould?ve been happy. Me especially.
But you butted in and got in the way and r uined it!?
Then the man gr oaned again and she for got about r eloading the shotgun. ?Oh,
shut the fuck up!? She stomped acr oss to him and star ted r amming the stock of the
shotgun dow n on his head.
Despite the w ound he?d sur ely r eceived, Lachie r ealised he didn?t feel any pain. In
fact, he was able to scr amble onto his feet. Then he bolted out of the house. Behind
him, the r epeated dow nwar d thr usts of the shotgun-stock w er e gr eeted by hideous
cr unching and squelching noises.
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