Colton woke in the darkness. His eyes erratically wandered around the room, yet his body remained frozen. As shapes took form in the darkness, Colton noticed sharp broken lines above him. The antlers were mounted on the wall, directly above the bed in the room. Struggling to breathe with his disobeying body, Colton stared at the bone-white, now completely dark, antlers as they diverged from the starting point, ending in numerous sharp points. Sharp enough to cut skin as if it were paper. Colton knew that much.
Excruciatingly slow, his eyes finally moved from the antlers to the rest of the room. Everything was cast into near-complete darkness. Colton noticed only the frames on the walls, but the contents of the paintings remained elusive. He couldn’t even notice the line between the walls and the ceiling. Then his eyes drifted to the side, to a doorframe without a door. Still chained to the bed, Colton looked as five black long fingers gripped the wall. Then they retracted, disappearing into the darkness of the night, leaving paralysed Colton to wonder if they were even real in the first place.
#
“And where the fuck were you last night, Sissy?”
Colton’s voice echoed in the room. Apart from his voice, only the slow crackling of bacon could be heard.
“And now you remember to come, just as I’m making breakfast?” Colton sighed, placing two large strips of bacon on two plates. “You’re just using me, you spoiled brat. Admit it!” Colton placed one plate on the table in the room, and the other on the floor.
A cat meowed, eagerly looking at the streaming piece of meat.
“Watch it now, Sissy. It’s hot.”
The cat hissed, burning itself, but it continued eating nevertheless. “Jesus…”, Colton sighed. “At least wait for the eggs first…”
The eggs sizzled nicely on the hot pan covered in fat. The smell of bacon lingered throughout the whole house. And still, not a single cat, apart from Sissy, dared to enter inside. Colton turned off the stove, but he let the eggs stay a bit more in the pan. They were starting the get a golden colour. Colton liked it when they were crispy.
The cat had eaten all of the bacon and was now grooming itself, trying to remove the grease from its whiskers. The cat wasn’t even aware of the next meal coming to it. Gently, Colton lowered the pan to the ground level and pushed a bit of the scrambled eggs onto the cat’s plate.
“Easy now, that is also hot-“
The cat hissed, burning itself.
“No wonder you’re so fat.”
The cat meowed but started eating the smouldering eggs.
“…Fat bitch.”
The cat didn’t give attention to Colton’s words. Its black and white fur glistened in the sunlight. Colton grabbed a fork and a knife and started cutting the bacon. However, he didn’t eat.
“Okay, Fine! I’m sorry! Is that what you wanted to hear?!”
The cat ate, ignoring his shouts.
“Oh, now you’re giving me the silent treatment? Fucking bitch…”
Colton picked the bacon with some eggs with his fork and brought them to his mouth. He took a bite. “Shit… I forgot the salt.” He stood up, taking his plate and the plate of the cat. It was nearly empty, but the cat still left a small chunk of eggs. The cat looked at Colton, confused. “Why didn’t you tell me that I didn’t salt it properly?” Colton opened the trash bin and poured the contents of the plates into it. He then grabbed the pan and placed it on the stove. “Now, I have to do it all again.”
#
Colton was in the living room, sitting on a sofa with a faded orange colour. He placed his feet on the small coffee table, under a scratched cushion. He was holding a magazine in his hands. The cover page of “Best Crossword Puzzles of 1973” had already lost most of its colour, but the inside was still readable. Colton held a finger over a row of boxes with letters his mother had filled decades ago. “Another word for craving that ends in E…” Colton squinted, thinking. “What do you think?”
…
“What do you… Where are you? Sissy? I need help!”
He heard the clapping sound of the pet door. A fat black and white cat appeared, looking curiously around the room.
“There you are. So… Another word for craving that ends in E. Any ideas?”
The cat meowed and lazily walked to one of the armchairs in the room.
“No, it ends in E, it can’t be hunger– Hey, don’t touch the mother’s chair. Scratch his!”
The cat looked at Colton, and after a moment of seemingly pondering decided to listen to him. It walked towards the other chair, which was covered in scratching marks.
“Ha!” Colton shouted. “Famine! It’s famine!” He lowered the magazine and looked at the cat happily clawing the armchair. “Thanks for nothing… bitch!”
The cat stopped sharpening her claws and jumped onto the sofa. “So, where were you last night? You still haven’t answered me.” The cat snuggled onto the cushion in the armchair and started purring.
“Oh, don’t even try to sweet-talk your way out of this!”
The cat stretched its paws and then continued purring.
“Why weren’t you by my side last night? He returned, you know. I saw him.”
The cat was silent.
“I did, I swear! I wasn’t dreaming. He was there, in the doorway! I saw him, Sissy, I swear! I-I’m not lying!!!” Colton hurled the magazine to the floor angrily, startling the cat. “Oh-oh… I’m sorry, don’t go away… please, Sissy, don’t leave me again…”
#
Colton lived in a small and simple house, deep in the countryside. After his parents had died, and his brother left never to return, he continued living alone. As far as he could remember, there were always cats around his house. Always running around, playing with dead insects and begging him for food. Sissy was different from this bunch. Colton allowed her inside. And she kept him company.
Now, Colton was staying in front of the main door. They were locked, but they had a large glass pane in the middle. Colton was looking through it. The porch was empty. Not a single cat could be seen.
Colton locked the door again. He trembled, despite August’s hot evening. He had been calling the cat for a couple of hours. Yet, it didn’t come. He sighed. He will have to sleep alone again, it seems. His father came last night, the night before, and even the night before that. Or, well, Colton dreamed it. It always looked like a dream the following morning.
“Sissy!” He called out once more. Nothing. Even the crickets couldn’t be heard. There was a patch of dried yellow grass in front of the porch, and beyond that, a line of trees. They stood in a straight line, one so close to the other, making a loose fence that divided Colton’s yard from the woods. Colton tried to peer behind the trees, but he saw darkness. And there was also silence. Unwelcome silence. Shivering again, he stepped away from the door. He walked into the living room, walked by the two armchairs, one mother’s and one father’s, and continued on into the bedroom. Instead of the door, there was only a doorframe. He crossed it, entering a spacious room. The first thing anyone would see upon entering the bedroom was a polished trophy of bone-white antlers mounted on the wall above the bed. Mother hated them. But she never dared to take them off. Colton was afraid to take them off even still.
He faintly remembered his father coming drunk home from a hunt, as he usually would, but this time he carried something large with him. When he hauled the antlers onto the table in the kitchen, they were covered in dirt and blood.
“Get that dirty thing away from the table!” mother protested. His response was a slap. Then the mother was quiet and the father could clean and polish the antlers in silence. Little Colton was watching from his kiddie stool, scared and transfixed by the large foreign thing on the table, with so many sharp points and angular lines.
Colton shivered, shaking the memory off and forcing his eyes away from the antlers. Then he noticed the axe that was put next to the doorframe. His father once used it to tear through the door.
“Open it, stupid fat bitch” Colton whispered the words he heard that night as he picked up the axe. “Open the door, or I swear to God, I will spill your brains out.” Colton slowly walked over to the bed. That night, mother was trying to get rid of the antlers. Father wouldn’t have any of it.
Coincidently, that was the last time Colton had seen his mother. His mother was gone, but the antlers remained.
Colton looked at father’s axe. He felt safer having it within his reach, but it was useless at night. When he came, his body was too afraid to budge. Colton couldn’t even lift a finger, let alone swing the axe. He was forced to look at the thin and shadowy figure in the doorway in the darkness as he lay motionless.
Colton noticed that the sun was already gone. It was time for bed, he realised, pulling the covers off. He wished Sissy was next to him.
#
“He’s just playing ‘round, Johnny. He-he did-“
“Shut up, fat bitch. Where’s he?!”
“No, Johnny, leave him. He’s just a chi-“
Slap
“Say one more word and the next one’s goin’ for your stomach!”
His mother sobbed.
“Colton!? Boy!”
Father’s shouts echoed throughout the house. He could hear them getting louder and louder as father neared the wardrobe in the bed. “Where are you, son? I just wanna talk!”
Colton could hear his breathing as he watched through the cracks in the wardrobe door as his father reached for the handle.
“There you are… is that-is that momma’s lipstick?!”
A strong and rough hand grabbed Colton and raised him easily. He met his father’s cloudy eyes. He was drunk, Colton realised. That also meant he control himself.
“My son… my only son… wearing this?” The backside of his hand rushed to meet Colton’s face. It hurt. Tears started going. “Oh my god…” father tossed him onto the floor. “I raised a fag. Why, God?” the top of father’s boot hit Colton in his stomach. He tried to scream but the air seemed to have left his lungs. His father hit him again. “I have this for a son. To hide in the closet”, another hit, “And dress up like a girl? A GIRL?!” Another hit. Colton tried to crawl away but to no avail. “I will kill, you…” his father burped, “you little excuse of a son. At least your brother had the balls to say something. You… you just take it!” Now his father hit Colton with his other foot. “All I’m left is a sissy. You hear me, son?!”
“Johnny, please!” His mother appeared on the doorframe. Back then, it still had a door attached to it. “He was just playing. That’s all that it is…”
His father raised his gaze. He smiled, walking over to mother. “Did I not tell you to shut the fuck up? Huh!?!”
The pain still made Colton paralyzed on the ground. The best he could do was to curl into a ball. And to cover his ears to shield himself from the shouts.
#
Colton opened his eyes. Sun illuminated the room. He didn’t come? It’s morning? Colton smiled, getting up. He had already forgotten the dream. He woke up and it was morning. “Father didn’t come” he whispered. “Father didn’t come!” he said out loud. It felt good to say it out loud.
As usual, Colton got out of bed, washed his face and teeth in the bathroom, and went to the kitchen. He wanted bacon and eggs. “Sissy! Breakfast!” The cat was still nowhere to be seen. Colton shrugged. That wouldn’t ruin his day. He took two thin slices of bacon, placed them on the pan, and reached for the egg basket.
It was empty. “Oh, you fat bitch” he uttered, grabbing the empty basket. He needed eggs.
He stood in front of the door, looking out. Sunlight had given the dry grass golden colour, and the trees behind it didn’t seem threatening any more. Colton unlocked the door, pushing them wide open. Warm, but fresh air rushed to get inside. He took a step out and the boards of the porch creaked. He looked left and right. “Sissy?” No response.
The chicken coop was next to the old father’s tool shack. There was a rusty padlock on it. Colton never dared to even try and open it. As he was walking to the coop, he suddenly realised how silent everything was. He couldn’t hear chickens.
“Sissy?”
Colton slowly walked towards the coop door. It was a small shack, awkwardly transformed into a coop. He noticed blood underneath the door. With a shaking hand, he pulled the small door open.
Bodies of chicken lay scattered on the ground. Blood was everywhere…
“Fat bitch”, Colton shouted. “Bitch, bitch, bitch…” A marten must have gotten in last night. It killed all of them.
Then Colton stopped breathing. The chickens. The head of each of them was cut off. Squinting in the dim light inside the coop, Colton carefully looked for any signs of beaks. Otherwise, the chickens were unharmed. All of their feathers seemed to be in place.
Worried, Colton took a step back out of the coop and looked around his yard. Tall yellow grass gently swayed in wind. Sweat erupted on his forehead. Colton stormed back into the house and locked the door twice. He stood with his back to the door, panting for air.
“Sissy!”
He unlocked the door and peeked his head out. “Sissy! Come home! Sissy! Where-“
Something made a sound behind him.
Colton jumped, turning to face the sound.
Sissy was sitting in her usual spot, waiting for her breakfast. She meowed gently and licked her paw.
“Oh, Jesus. You scared me…” He locked the door twice and walked towards the cat. He petted it and it started purring. “Don’t ever leave me again like that!”
He gave the bacon to the cat without frying it first. It seemed that the cat liked it more that way. As for Colton, he lost his appetite upon seeing the dead chickens. He was content with watching the cat carefully chew the bacon.
“Do you know what happened?”
The cat started grooming itself after eating everything from the plate.
“About the chickens… and the eggs?”
…
“Nothing?”
The cat meowed.
“Of course you know nothing, stupid bitch.”
The cat smelled the plate once more and then went towards the door. It sat in front of it, patiently waiting for Colton to open them up.
“No. Not a chance. Did you not see what happened to the chickens?!”
The cat meowed.
“I don’t care. You have that pot in the corner.” A large old pot was placed in the corner of the room. Whatever once grew in it was now a dry yellowish paper-like mass. “There’s enough dirt there.”
Colton ignored the cat and looked through the window on the door. Remembering what he had seen, he shivered. He wished he had the father’s axe with him. He stood and walked towards the room. He walked by the patient cat, then by the two sofas, before walking through the empty door frame-
Seven heads were mounted on the antlers. Colton froze in the doorway, turning pale. The blood from the chickens’ heads coloured a part of the antlers red. Some drops made it onto the bed below, staining the sheets.
#
Colton was sitting on the yellow sofa, tightly gripping the axe. The cat finally gave in and used the empty pot, and was now sitting on the father’s sofa, softly purring. Colton’s eyes erratically moved left and right. Despite nothing moving in the living room, he would start shaking uncontrollably every now and then.
Just as he realised that he still hadn’t eaten anything for that day, an ominous thought overwhelmed him. It was slowly getting dark. Father would get angry if he didn’t go to bed immediately. He was supposed to go to the bed. But how could he go with the antlers there? Back when he saw the antlers, and after he got free of the paralyzing shock, he grabbed the axe and ran out of the bedroom. Ever since then, he was on the sofa. He couldn’t stand to go back and look at the impaled heads.
“Sissy?” Colton squealed. The cat was sleeping. “How can you sleep? I should also sleep. But I’m afraid, Sissy…”
He looked at the cat. Trying to mimic it, he curled into a ball as well. He barely fit on the sofa. “What do I do now?”
The cat stretched and continued sleeping.
“Oh… okay. I’ll try, I guess.”
However, sleep didn’t come so easily to Colton. He watched as the light grew dimmer and dimmer until only the faint moonlight illuminated the room. After some time, his eyes adjusted completely. Now every shadow seemed to move, and every time Colton would see something, he would start shivering. “Please don’t come. I-I’m sorry I’m not in bed. Please…”
The wind rustled the branches of the nearby trees and their shadows danced on the floor. The glass pane on the door was the only window clear enough to let shadows pass through. Colton’s eyes were chained to the thin and sharp shadows of branches.
The cat perched up on the sofa. It was also watching the moving shadows.
“What do you see, Sissy?” Colton whispered.
Silently, the cat jumped on the floor.
“No, don’t go there!” Colton begged, but the cat ignored him. He hugged the axe tighter.
The cat’s hair bristled. It started hissing.
“No, no, no, no-“
The shadows disappeared and something larger took their place. However, the shadow was similar to the last one… with angular lines and sharp ends. Although now the shadows didn’t move. Colton started shivering on the sofa. His face turned white.
He was looking at the shadow of antlers.
#
He couldn’t tell how long he was staring at the shadow. The cat hissed at something in front of the door, then it ran away. Colton remained lying on the sofa, waiting for the shadow to come closer. However, it didn’t. The shadow of antlers just stood on the floor in front of the door.
Did he fall asleep? Colton couldn’t tell. However, now, there wasn’t anything on the floor in front of the door. Colton looked around the room. Everything seemed the same. Except the cat was missing.
“Sissy?” Colton called out in a shivering voice. “Sissy, help me.” The cat was nowhere to be seen. It must have run into the bedroom.
Colton gasped. That’s where the antlers were. He had to save the cat. “I’m coming, Sissy!”
He stood up, slowly and silently, holding the axe with both of his arms. He first glanced at the door. After realising that nothing stood in front of it, he walked towards the bedroom. As he neared the empty doorframe, he could hear a slurping and munching sound. No, don’t eat the chicken hea–
A tall dark figure was standing next to the bed. It looked humanoid, but its arms were too long and thin, and the creature was slouching, barely fitting in the room. With its black and long fingers, it held the body of a black and white cat. Colton was facing its back so he could only see how the creature’s head would tilt forward to take a bite out of the cat’s body.
Colton, frozen in the doorway, looked slightly up. The cat’s head was impaled onto the antlers.
Colton screamed.
#
“Someone lives here?” Larry asked his colleague as they hauled their truck to a stop. They arrived at their location; a small, seemingly abandoned house.
Percy shrugged. “I guess…” He fished out a letter from his bag. “To Colton Redd. It seems to be a warning about unpaid taxes.” The two postmen looked at each other and then exited the vehicle.
“You ever been this far?” Larry asked, eyeing the house as they walked towards the fence.
Percy grunted. “You’re too young to remember what happened here. About the Redd’s.”
Larry lifted his brow. “Whaddya mean?”
Percy pushed open the gate, allowing his colleague to enter Redd’s yard. “The father was… off. He beat his wife to death one time. It was on national television even-“
“Hey, do you smell that?” Larry cut him off, suspiciously looking at the house. “Mister Redd!?” he called out.
Only a faint buzzing of flies could be heard.
Larry slowly walked to the main door. It had a large glass pane window in it. He shielded his eyes and planted his face close to it, trying to see inside.
“Stop that” Percy snapped. He knocked on the door. With the third knock, the door twitched. It wasn’t locked.
“Hmm, look at that,” Larry said and pushed the door open. The wave of stale stench overwhelmed them.
“Shit…” Percy said, dropping the letters onto the ground. A rotting corpse was on the ground in the hallway. It was in front of an empty doorframe. The body didn’t have a head.
The antlers were nowhere to be seen.
