FEAR EFFECT

The night was black as sin. Not a tree or leaf stirred from the gentle hands of the light night breeze. Nor could the high-pitched chirping of crickets be heard. Yet Lisa Marie’s blood-red dress billowed outward from her body, as if being blown by hurricane force winds, while the soft soles of her bare feet pounded upon the hard, unyielding concrete. Little paper-cut nicks appeared on them, and dew-dropped sized blood droplets occasionally spurted out. Her high-heels had been discarded four blocks back for speed’s sake.

Lisa’s lungs felt like they had been dropped into a pan of hot grease. Each breath came sharply and was measured, like that of a woman in childbirth. A metallic, salty taste was on the back of her tongue.

Jet-black eyes darted furtively from side-to-side, trying to see what might lurk there. Small, delicate fingers shot to her face to remove stray hair that obstructed her vision.

I can’t believe I saw that! Lisa thought.

The image of a burly man, with facial features covered by shaggy, nappy hair was permanently burned into her brain. Even as Lisa ran down the dark, rat-infested, piss-smelling alleyway, the man’s head hitting the ground and bouncing after being sliced off by a meat-cleaver replayed in her mind. On the severed head a silent scream was forever frozen.

The sickening thump of the man’s lifeless body hitting the cold concrete had caused her to scream. That’s when the stranger had turned. He had smiled, allowing Lisa to see the multitude of missing and rotting teeth in his mouth. And then he had come at her. Instinctively, Lisa had thrown her shoes at him, making the man duck, and giving her time to run.

Why is no one outside? Lisa thought while running mightily. She wanted desperately to turn around to see where her pursuer was, but knew better. Had she done so, the sight of the madman with the meat-cleaver would have paralyzed her from fear.

Turning a corner sharply, Lisa tore the left side of her dress on the coarse, decades old stone of some condemned building. A bright, pink welt immediately appeared on her arm, and she whimpered at the unexpected pain which was similar to being burnt by an iron.

He was closer now! The stranger was huffing! He was a panther ready to pounce! He smelled of urine, cheap liquor, and other things not as nice.

Too late! Lisa realized her mistake too late! In front of her was a brick wall. The alley she’d just entered was a dead end.

Clawing at the wall, Lisa futily tried to scale it. A snort of derision greeted her efforts.

“I’m really sorry you had to see that miss,” wheezed the stranger. “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He coughed. It was a wet, phlegmy sound. “Well, you know what I have to do.”

Lisa screamed. The meat-cleaver whistled its song of death as it swung through the air, cutting Lisa across the back. The pain, intense and immediate, caused her to black out.
************************************************
Bright and intense lights flooded the room Lisa was in. Groggily, she opened her eyes. Three guys, with overly large glasses, and big goofy grins stood less than a foot away from her face.

“How was it?” said John. He was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

As the drug wore off, Lisa’s memories began to resurface. Mental snapshots of Erasnor, the forgetfulness inducing drug she’d been injected with, plus Hallowfright, the top-secret virtual reality game that was to be released by Future Systems on Halloween came back to her.

“Wow!” said Lisa Marie as she slowly regained full control of her mental faculties. “I’ve never been more frightened in my life!”

Shakily, she got up off the VR equipment. Her back was sore.

“John, what’s wrong with her back!” shouted Terry. With oversized clothes and wild hair, he looked every part the nerd. Even down to his mousy size.

A huge welt was on Lisa’s back. It was in the exact spot the cleaver had struck.