The door opened without a sound.
The smell of ancient Egypt and gingerbread spice wafted out.
Jess and Amy entered followed by the other three.
The door slammed behind them.
A middle-aged woman appeared in the blackhole dark hall.
She melted into a corpse, rotted flesh dripping off her skull.
“Get out!”
Amy heard the others running, fumbling with the door.
She whirled around and sprinted. Lauren was just in front of her. Kath, still screaming, was at the door. Stacy was far ahead, running across the lawn.
As Amy reached the door a thought struck her.
Where was Jess?
***
The above is an extract (going from 1000+ words to 100!) from my book, The Old Mill. The ghost was Martha and it was in her mansion, but the story was around an ancient mill building.
***
word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo by @ © J Hardy Carroll. If you want to join or see other stories, go to the inlinkz linkup.
**
I was off the blog for 5 days last week so may have missed your story. I will try to read all this week, but I am still super far behind, so no promises…
Trent's World (the Blog) 
Haha. This made me laugh. Nice one!
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Thanks!
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Great cliff hanger, Trent
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Thanks. For the most part I either have a big twist or a cliff hanger at the end of my Friday Fictioneer stories – those types seem more effective for this ultra short format.
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A story that makes the reader think – means you have done your job well!
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Thanks! If I can make the reader laugh or think (or both!), I’ve done my job :)
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Chilling snippet. Poor Jess!
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Thanks! I’ll leave what happened to Jess up to your imagination, but it is possible she had her reasons for confronting the ghost…
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Oh no! What happened to Jess. Very chilling and intriguing teaser for the rest of the story. :) Nicely done!
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Thanks! We first meet Jess a dozen or more years after this event, but what happened to Jess in that encounter is a very important question….
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Ah, one of those territorial ghosts. I wonder what happened to Jess also :(
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You have to be invited for Martha to let you into her house without trying to scare you out. As to Jess, well, things may not be as they appear…
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I think you are inviting me to read your book as it sounds like a mystery. How scary is it?
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lol, I am always trying to get people to read my books ;) I’m too close to know how scary it is – I was aiming for early Stephen King territory. In some ways it is slightly closer to urban fantasy than horror, but…
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Yikes! Poor Jess. Seems like next time someone comes, they may see more that one face that melts …
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Poor Jess… maybe. She may have her reasons for staying behind.
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hmmm … haven’t considered THAT!
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I have never been there, but I have had that feeling. Well done, Trent.
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Thanks, Bill.
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Ooooooh, that was tasty!
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Thanks, Robyn!
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That ending question is great!
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Thanks! Yeah, for this snippet it makes the story.
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Creepy. Like my worst nightmare kind of creepy! And a very intriguing excerpt!
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Thanks! I think cutting the excerpt down made it a bit choppy, but I’m glad the idea got through.
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It got through excellently! :D
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Thanks :)
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Dear Trent,
Intriguing snippet. Made me want to run for the door, too.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. Chopping out 90% of the words made it, well, choppy, but I’m glad the idea came through.
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There was a moment reading this, I thought live and let the ghost be. It is never the case is it, we are compelled to know? Poor Jess.
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“we are compelled to know” – yes. In this, the girls were searching for the ghost as part of a rite of passage, where the kids all have to see for themselves. As to Jess, well, if her fate was good or bad is up to the reader – in the book, Martha is not the evil ghost, there is at least one other….
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Great teaser for the book Trent.
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Thanks, Iain. I haven’t brought this book up in a while, but the photo prompt gave me a great excuse.
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Now thats creepy! Nice one, Trent. The book looks terrifying too!
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Thanks! The book was me channeling my inner Stephen King… (or at least that was the intention ;) )
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Oh, it’ll be creepy and amazing in that case!
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I hope people thing it is!
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Truly terrifying!
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Thanks, Nortina!
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Spooky stuff!
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Thanks, Neil!
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Oh! My!
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Sometimes ghost stories are fun ;)
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Yes indeed 💜🤣
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