Happy Unlucky Friday the 13th! I am wickedly delighted to share the first of thirteen creepy tales of murder and mayhem on Friday the 13th…
Dormer by Mark Edward Jones
True Fact:
After a death in our neighborhood, the poor woman was not found for many days until neighbors noticed the mailbox had overflowed. Likewise, Dormer’s main nosy protagonist confronts the mailman about her neighbor’s stuffed mailbox and packages left on the porch, leading the neighbors on a search of the dead woman’s house.
Find the story here…
Blurb
Olivia Kraevitz, the ever-nosy neighbor, becomes alarmed when her eccentric neighbor, Vivian Johnson, and Vivian’s son suddenly vanish. Determined to uncover the truth, Olivia and her friends explore Vivian’s house, only to find themselves facing Brandy Looking, the enigmatic caregiver with a sinister edge. Olivia soon realizes that Brandy has dark plans for anyone who enters the attic with the dormer window—a place where you can see and be seen. Remember: you never know who’s watching.
Excerpt:
“Who’s this Brandy Looking person?” Glenda asked. “Is that a name?”
“Yeah. That’s Vivian’s caregiver.” Olivia pulled out wine glasses and set them next to the plates. “She gives me the creeps. I’ve only seen her a few times, always around dusk or after. I made sure to be outside one evening and met her coming down the sidewalk. She’s a tiny thing and strange to look at. White pancake makeup, blondish hair with dark roots, and deep red lipstick. She’d made herself up with dark-shaded eyes. Looked like a raccoon.”
Clara laughed.
Olivia didn’t smile. “And the oddest part—tattoos.”
“What’s the matter, dear? You look a little ghostly yourself.”
“Those tattoos. Six dark dots on each side of her forehead above her eyebrows. They grew larger as they got closer to her nose. And then in the middle ….” Her voice cracked.
“What?”
“An arc over the bridge of her nose.”
Clara drew close. “Why are you so upset?”
“When she got close to me that evening, she just stared—a weird smell, too…like a burned match. I said hello, trying not to be rude, but I just wanted to run away. Then she spoke—sounded like a little girl in a woman’s body. She said something about how rejuvenated she felt after her daily renewal.”
“Renewal?”
Olivia shrugged. “A nap, I guess. Anyway, while we talked, the arc above her nose got lighter. I noticed a glow.”
Clara opened the refrigerator and refreshed her glass from the white zin box. “Glowed?”
“It turned kind of purple.”
Glenda sighed. “Surely the light played a trick.”
She nodded. “Maybe. Brandy moved on, and I came home and locked my doors. I tried to ask Vivian about it the next day, but she seemed confused. I let it go.” The oven timer began dinging. She touched the timer. It stopped as the doorbell rang. “Can one of you get that?”
“I’ll do it,” Clara said. She took her wine glass with her and pulled on the door. The glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the tile. She stared outside.
“You okay?” Glenda asked while grabbing paper towels.
“You have a visitor.” Clara pushed open the glass storm door and looked down at a tiny woman. “Can we help you?”
A giggle and a squeaky voice said, “I need my mail.”
About the Author:
Mark retired from higher education finance in 2017. He is working on his third detective mystery, has written three paranormal short stories, and has completed the first chapter of a proposed sci-fi mystery.
*** Find all the stories here: https://linktr.ee/fridaythe13thstories
Author Alicia Dean 
A spooky introduction to your story, Mark. Congrats on publication. Meryl
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Thank you!
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Happy Pub Day!
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Thank you!
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I LOVE this story. It had some humor along with the creepiness. Excellent read!
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Super dialogue! I feel like I’m at the kitchen table with those ladies. But if you don’t mind I’ll not introduce myself to the woman at the glass door!
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What if it’s an Amazon package?
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