Haunted Rug

Maddock caressed the labyrinth of stitches crisscrossing the dead man's face. He could have molded a death mask, but covering the jigsaw-puzzle face would have resulted in an opened-casket funeral, defeating Maddock's purpose.

The undertaker tugged his treasure from the corpse's head, then lowered the coffin's lid.

That night, Maddock stirred awake with a stinging headache. He stumbled to the bathroom. Spied his terrifying reflection in the mirror. The hair rug's razor sharp strands burst from his earlobes and nostrils. Blood spurted.

Maddock grabbed at the toupee. A mass of strands swept outward and lopped off his fingertips.

He opened his mouth to scream, but fell dead instead as strands cracked through his skull and sliced into his brain.


Word Count: 119