"She heard the song the first night, a beautiful haunting song that came from somewhere magical, where fairytales are real and wishes made with love come true.
Granny had
given Anya her own bedroom and was sleeping in the parlor.
“You will
be happy in this room, for I know how you love it so. It faces the lake and you
love looking at it!”
Anya did
love the room with its cozy bed and the beautiful French doors that opened onto
the graceful balcony.
Nanny
tucked Anya in. “Sleep well and have the most wonderful dreams, dreams of love
and goodness.”
Anya
promised, not even saying, “If I can,” but swearing she would.
Before it
was time to go to sleep Granny read Anya the most wondrous fairytale, all about
songs of magic and fantasy and beauty.
Anya was
nearly dozing by the time it was finished so Granny tucked her in. “Sleep well
my granddaughter, sleep well and dream of love.”
Sometime
during the night, between one dream and another it seemed Anya dreamt she heard
the most wonderful music.
It was so
beautiful, she wanted to step outside so she could trace where it was coming
from. But she couldn’t though she tried for she was much too sleepy. And
although she sat up, she soon sank back into the soft eiderdown only to fall
deeply asleep again.
When she
woke in the morning, still thinking it was all a dream she told her Granny.
“Did it sound like angels in heaven, child?”
“Yes, “ Anya
said. “It was the song of angels I heard. And I so wished to see them too. But
I dreamed I was too tired and although I tried to get up, I fell asleep again!
It was a dream wasn’t it? It couldn’t have been real could it have?”
“You would
like it to be real, my child?”
“Yes, I
would as real as love can be.”
Granny
sighed. “I did read you a fairytale probably that was the cause of it all.”
Anya
thought that might be so. “Yes perhaps, ” she sighed. “Do read it again for I
would very much like to dream it all again.”
And so
Granny did. She read the same lovely story about maidens who danced by a lake –
maidens who were really water nymphs and whose sole purpose in life was to sing
songs for little girls who liked to dream of magic.
Anya grew
sleepy as she listened. And when the clock struck nine she had to be carried to
her bed.
“Good
night my child, everything will be alright. You will see my precious one. You
will see more magic than you can imagine!”
"Granny
kissed Anya’s forehead and quietly slipped out of the room and as strange as it
seemed, the singing began almost immediately.
This was
no dream Anya soon realized. As a matter of fact, it seemed more distinct—for
now she clearly heard the sweetly sad refrain about loss and love—about parting
and unrelieved sadness and heartache. It was so sad in fact that Anya wept.
“I will see these maids. I will!” she
shouted as she hurried toward the French doors.
There
happened to be a pearly moon that shone brightly and lit the lake and the land
enough for Anya to see three maids dancing. But not only dancing for they were
singing too. And as Anya opened the door, she heard the music so clearly and
spied the fiddler there who accompanied them.
How
beautifully he played and how graceful they were, twirling about—singing and
dancing.
Anya
stepped closer to the balcony wall and as she did, she suddenly realized they
were all watching her.
“I only
wish to listen!”
She heard
them giggle when she said that. And she giggled too but that was when she saw
them begin to slowly drift upward toward her!
Up, they
went like the slow rolling mist that lifted off of the lake at dawn.
Anya
gasped. For as much as she liked them, she didn’t want them to come to her.
They were frightening her a bit now. For the closer they came, the louder they
sang and the song they sang sounded odd and scary almost and they looked
different too with their arms outstretched as though they were reaching for
her!
But what was worse was they were calling her name: “Anya! Anya!”
But what was worse was they were calling her name: “Anya! Anya!”
How did
they know her name? How had that happened?
She began
to cry and back away. “No! No go away!”
But they
didn’t. They kept on coming, slowly—but steadily.
There was
only one thing to do. Anya quickly closed the doors and locked them.
They were
on the balcony by then, having drifted down so very gracefully, their bare feet
gliding just above the smooth brick floor.
Anya was
transfixed and couldn’t move for she wanted to see what they looked like. But a
cloud passed over the moon then so that she could only see them in shadow.
“Anya, let
us in… let us sing to you…hear our song…!”
“No
please! Please!”
Suddenly
the bedroom door opened and Granny appeared. She rushed to the doors. “Free the
latch and you free your spirit!”
(END of excerpt)
(END of excerpt)
In this horror collection you'll find stories of vampires, zombies, murderous midgets, demon clowns, evil dolls, haunted cemeteries, a real shop of horrors, taxidermy gone haywire, serial killers and more!
Your worst fears and nightmares dished up for you with extra helpings of blood-curdling terror!
Review:
"There is no doubt that she soars above the endless parade of independent horror authors to shine as a true star in the darkness. With the brilliant anthology House of Horrors she proves why she is a perennial favorite. To put it simply, this is a great assembly of tales anyone would be proud to have in their collection"
~Joshua Skye
DARK MEDIA
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