Changing Seasons is a prompt-based contest that actually has nothing at all to do with spring, summer, autumn or winter.
The stories within are entries written specifically for Changing Seasons. Please read and enjoy.
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Prompt: Image and "The Darkside is taking over... and they have cookies."
Words: 2000
Genre: Horror
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There were four of us when it began. Co-workers sent to enjoy a luxury week away.
"It's teambuilding at its finest." Mr Bolt had said with the gusto of J.J Jameson. Only he was chubby, with a receding hairline. And we weren't working at a newspaper. Our company was Bolt's Accounting Services.
We arrived at the golden gates where Marlboro Heights was emblazoned in marble on the freshly painted walls.
"Fancy. Fancy. Fancy!" Liz clapped manicured hands from the front seat. The dress she wore hiked to mid-thigh and I wondered how Dave, chauffer and head accountant, wasn't distracted.
"Do we just wait or..." The gates swung open in reply.
"Or we just wait!" Liz placed a hand on Dave's thigh. We all noticed.
Dave rolled us forward on a paved path that started off pristine white, with large green leaves that seemed to fan our car in praise. The further we went, the darker everything got. The leaves fell to brown then black like decaying Autumn. The paving turned to gravel.
A stone cabin appeared. Plain. Dark. Seemingly empty.
"That's not fancy at all." Marcus said. I glanced towards him against the window when a dozen scarlet eyes peered from the shrubbery.
"What..."
A metal spoke pierced Marcus' left eye. The car veered. Liz high-pitch wailed as the black shrubs scraped across her open window. Dave swung back,
"What the fu..." His window broke. One moment he was looking at the rear-view mirror, the next, headless. Liz was gone. I turned to Marcus to find a second spike in his skull.
The car jerked forward, my screams echoing until the crash.
*
I awoke in front of a table. A plate of chocolate chip cookies, large as life, stared up at me. Next to them those fancy chocolates. Ferero something. A small candle broke the gloom. The wafting scent was vanilla. And something else.
"The Darkside is taking over... and they have cookies." Someone cackled.
"Where am I?" I screamed.
The candle sparked for a second to reveal Dave's head.
