The Two O'Clock Visit

Written for the "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 
Prompt: Write about an unexpected visit from an old friend

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         “You don’t seem all that surprised to see me.”

         “Why should I? After what you did to me the last time.”

         “Oh come on, Melissa. We were only teenagers. I can’t believe you’ll still hold a grudge like that. Alicia meant nothing to me.”

         Truth be told, she was surprised to see him. The grip behind the door made her knuckles white, her heartbeat a pounding staccato in her chest. She was glad for the shadows that hid her face from his view, or he would have noticed the beads of sweat on her brow, the pallid shade of her visage. She swallowed and tried to gather moisture in her mouth. Why had she answered the door bell at this ungodly hour? No one visited at two in the morning.

         “Won’t you let me in?” He smiled, a grotesque display that revealed the gaping hole in the area that had once been his mouth.

         He took a step forward and the pungent smell of death and decay filtered into her nostrils. She shook her head rapidly and tried to close the door.

         “Oh come now, Melissa,” he cajoled softly, thrusting skeletal hands towards her. “What are friends for? I just feel we need to talk after shooting me with your dad’s rifle that day. I mean, I think it’s hardly fair you get to enjoy a good life with the hubby while I’m rotting away six feet under. So whaddaya say? We have a lot of catching up to do.”

         He took another step forward. She shrank away, the fear now evident on her once passive features. She wondered what Larry would think about her dead boyfriend coming to visit after so long, and if her scream of terror would be loud enough to rouse him from his death-like slumber.


Word Count: 300