HB Challenge #19 - The Tower

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Horror Bites Challenge #19

From the Office Mango website:

It is the end of the school year & I have been totally mobbed with the heavy work load. What with auditors, leaving events & P7 fun and games things have been mental in my non writing life. I’m also prepping for my youngest going to High School, which I have to say is odd – when did I get old enough to have two kids in High School? What the hell happened to my youth…….. 

Anyway the lovely Miranda, a regular contributor to this challenge sent me a great photo a while back and I’ve only remembered about it recently. So here we go, bring me tales of horror to help me prep for the summers holidays.

1:  Tales can be posted on your blogs & then just add to the wee linky tool, or add as a comment if you don’t have a blog.

2:  A word count of 200-350.

3:  Try to scare me, or at the very least create a little bit of darkness.

4:  This will be a fortnightly (two weeks) challenge from when the post goes live, so you’ve got plenty thinking time.

So come on what are you waiting for, go find your inner demons and get your scare on!

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The Tower

    Even as a child, I wondered about the tower, standing forlorn at the edge of town. What could be inside? Treasure? Or something more sinister?
    I remember asking my parents, but their answers were never satisfactory. "There's nothing there that concerns you." Of course, that made it all the more intriguing, didn't it?
    Once, I saw a light in the windows. Not a bright light mind you, merely the flicker of a candle moving from pane to pane. A figment of my imagination they said. The tower had been locked for years. There couldn't possibly be anyone inside. Yet as I grew older, my curiosity about the tower never diminished.
    One evening, I climbed over the fence with a crowbar in hand. I crept up to the doors and pried away the rusting clasp that held an ancient brass lock—scant security for anything precious. A musty odor escaped as I opened the door. It was too dark inside to see, so I placed my crowbar by the door and lighted a candle. All that was visible was a spiral stairway leading upward.
    Summoning my courage, I began to climb, following the stairs until I reached a landing high in the tower. A single room enclosed the entire circumference of the tower at that height, and a door, locked with heavy deadbolts, was the only entrance. I opened them and pulled on the door. I entered slowly, and proceeded cautiously to my right. After only a few steps, I found the remains of a person, little more than bones, propped against a wall. There were marks on the poor fellow from being gnawed upon at some point. I hope it was after he had passed.
    Having seen more than I wished, I turned to leave, but too late. I recall the sounds—a haunting laugh—and the click of deadbolts being set.
    As the days pass, I grow weaker. So I sit with my back against the door, praying for escape, yet fearing I might allow whatever is on the other side to enter. 
    And the laughter never stops.

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 349 words without the title... 

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If you're in the mood for something lighter, please check out Terri Deno's latest romance novella!

Love The Callaways romance series? Check out my #KindleWorlds novella for more romantic adventures. #ebook #romance http://t.co/GfBaGvJ5Z7

— Terri Deno (@TerriDeno) June 23, 2015

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Previous Horror Bites challenges: 

The Good Neighbor (#18)
Bad Hair Day Part II (#13) *
Lemonade (#12)
Bad Hair Day (#11) *
Cross Words (#10)
The Door (#9)
Wrapped in a Mystery (#8)
If The Shoe Fits (#7)
You Won't Feel A Thing (#6)
The Wings of Death (#5)

* These were the first two parts of Bad Hair Day

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