"Consequences of Carelessness"
AN: Just a little short horror story I had to write for my English class. Enjoy!
Catherine the midwife walked through the dark corridors of the castle, holding a tray with a cool, wet towel and a bowl of soup. She walked into the chamber where her patient, Lady Elizabeth, lay sleeping on her bed, her newborn child in her arms. The child was named Thomas, after his father. Catherine placed the cool towel on Lady Elizabeth's forehead and placed the soup on the table beside her bed. Making sure the Lady's breathing was normal, and the child's as well, she started to exit the chamber. What made her stop was a loud thud, and she whirled around only to see a long, black fingernail dragging the baby under the bed. Catherine gasped in horror and ran out of the chamber.
The next day, Catherine was hoping to forget the incident, and went about her day regularly. She lived in a small hut on the edge of a forest, about a mile outside the castle walls. Since she was a midwife, she had plenty of herbs and medicines growing in her yard, and many bottles of various concoctions in her cupboards. She had delivered many babies, and very successfully, until the other night with Lady Elizabeth. She was rather troubled by the incident, because Lady Elizabeth was a noble of high rank, and if anything happened to her, Catherine's life would be at stake. Trying to convince herself that the Devil was not taking over her mind, she started planting new herbs in her yard.
Suddenly she heard loud hoof beats on the dirt road, and went into the front yard to find two armed guards approaching her home. Heart pounding, she walked up and with an effort said, "Good day, my Lords, may I be of assistance?" The two men remained sitting on their black steeds. One of them said in a harsh voice, "Is this the home of Catherine the midwife?" Catherine answered with false confidence, "Yes, I am her." The other guard dismounted his horse and walked into Catherine's home. Catherine ran after him in alarm.
"What, may I ask, are you looking for?" she said. The guard did not answer; he started tipping over furniture and opening the cupboards, apparently searching for something, but in vain. Then he whipped around and said, "Where is Lady Elizabeth's child?" Catherine widened her eyes and tried to think quickly, "Well...the child...I am terribly sorry but the child... it was a stillborn. You have my deepest regrets, I did all that I could." The guard acted as if he did not hear and demanded, "Where did you hide it?" Catherine replied, "I buried it in...my yard. It was dead; please give Lady Elizabeth my regrets." The guard ran out into the yard and Catherine followed him. "Oh God, what have I done? He will not find a baby there." Catherine thought, in panic. She arrived in her yard to see a satisfied guard standing before a fresh mound of dirt, at the top of it a perfectly cut cross, made out of light wood. Carved neatly on the cross was the name "Thomas". Catherine tried to hide her surprise and horror. The guard said, "Very well. Good day, my Lady." He left Catherine staring in awe at the grave.
That night, Catherine could not sleep. She kept glancing out the window, and sure enough, she could still see the little wooden cross, a pale, ghostly image against the dark background of the night. But when she finally began to nod into sleep, she heard a quiet weeping, and glancing outside, she saw a dark, cloaked figure kneeling by the little cross. Alarmed, Catherine gathered all the courage she had left and walked outside.
"Who...who is there?" she whispered. The cloaked figure stood up quickly, and started towards the forest. Catherine ran after it, and grabbed it by the shoulder. She yanked down its hood to find that it was Lady Elizabeth, with puffy red eyes and a horror stricken expression. She whispered, "It is that terrible curse! Two years ago, I was asked to watch over my sister's child, and it drowned in the river. Then a horrible creature crawled out of the river with the child in its claws, and cursed every one of my potential children. It said that because of my previous carelessness, it would drag away all my children to Hell. The creature said that on the night after my second child, it will come for me and drag me away to Hell, too. Thomas was my second child! Catherine! I am going die tonight!" With those final words, Elizabeth fell to the ground. Catherine was sure she was dead, but kneeling down to look at her, she saw that she had only fainted. Then, she heard a strange gargling noise. She looked up in alarm to see a faint, dark shape among the trees. She recognized the long, sinister claws. It started to quickly crawl towards Catherine and Elizabeth. All of Catherine's courage abandoned her, and she ran inside her hut and hid within her closet. All she could hear were loud, unearthly barks of the monster, and Lady Elizabeth's pleading cries for mercy.
In the morning, Catherine woke up on the floor next to the open door of her closet to the sound of someone pounding on the door of her home. She rubbed her eyes and opened the door to come face to face with the two guards. They demanded, "Where is Lady Elizabeth?" Catherine's eyes widened and she replied, "Why do you ask me this? Please, I would never do anything horrible to her!" The guards yanked Catherine out of her hut and took her to her yard. There, next to the little mound of dirt and the little cross of Thomas, was a larger mound of dirt and a larger cross made from the same wood. Neatly carved into the cross was the name "Elizabeth".
That day, Catherine was found guilty with murder, and the next day, she was hung. A couple of years later, relatives of Elizabeth and Thomas wanted to move the graves to a more recognized place. But to everyone's alarm, the graves were found empty, with no trace of the bodies, and only deceased Catherine knew where they were.
AN: Just a little short horror story I had to write for my English class. Enjoy!
Catherine the midwife walked through the dark corridors of the castle, holding a tray with a cool, wet towel and a bowl of soup. She walked into the chamber where her patient, Lady Elizabeth, lay sleeping on her bed, her newborn child in her arms. The child was named Thomas, after his father. Catherine placed the cool towel on Lady Elizabeth's forehead and placed the soup on the table beside her bed. Making sure the Lady's breathing was normal, and the child's as well, she started to exit the chamber. What made her stop was a loud thud, and she whirled around only to see a long, black fingernail dragging the baby under the bed. Catherine gasped in horror and ran out of the chamber.
The next day, Catherine was hoping to forget the incident, and went about her day regularly. She lived in a small hut on the edge of a forest, about a mile outside the castle walls. Since she was a midwife, she had plenty of herbs and medicines growing in her yard, and many bottles of various concoctions in her cupboards. She had delivered many babies, and very successfully, until the other night with Lady Elizabeth. She was rather troubled by the incident, because Lady Elizabeth was a noble of high rank, and if anything happened to her, Catherine's life would be at stake. Trying to convince herself that the Devil was not taking over her mind, she started planting new herbs in her yard.
Suddenly she heard loud hoof beats on the dirt road, and went into the front yard to find two armed guards approaching her home. Heart pounding, she walked up and with an effort said, "Good day, my Lords, may I be of assistance?" The two men remained sitting on their black steeds. One of them said in a harsh voice, "Is this the home of Catherine the midwife?" Catherine answered with false confidence, "Yes, I am her." The other guard dismounted his horse and walked into Catherine's home. Catherine ran after him in alarm.
"What, may I ask, are you looking for?" she said. The guard did not answer; he started tipping over furniture and opening the cupboards, apparently searching for something, but in vain. Then he whipped around and said, "Where is Lady Elizabeth's child?" Catherine widened her eyes and tried to think quickly, "Well...the child...I am terribly sorry but the child... it was a stillborn. You have my deepest regrets, I did all that I could." The guard acted as if he did not hear and demanded, "Where did you hide it?" Catherine replied, "I buried it in...my yard. It was dead; please give Lady Elizabeth my regrets." The guard ran out into the yard and Catherine followed him. "Oh God, what have I done? He will not find a baby there." Catherine thought, in panic. She arrived in her yard to see a satisfied guard standing before a fresh mound of dirt, at the top of it a perfectly cut cross, made out of light wood. Carved neatly on the cross was the name "Thomas". Catherine tried to hide her surprise and horror. The guard said, "Very well. Good day, my Lady." He left Catherine staring in awe at the grave.
That night, Catherine could not sleep. She kept glancing out the window, and sure enough, she could still see the little wooden cross, a pale, ghostly image against the dark background of the night. But when she finally began to nod into sleep, she heard a quiet weeping, and glancing outside, she saw a dark, cloaked figure kneeling by the little cross. Alarmed, Catherine gathered all the courage she had left and walked outside.
"Who...who is there?" she whispered. The cloaked figure stood up quickly, and started towards the forest. Catherine ran after it, and grabbed it by the shoulder. She yanked down its hood to find that it was Lady Elizabeth, with puffy red eyes and a horror stricken expression. She whispered, "It is that terrible curse! Two years ago, I was asked to watch over my sister's child, and it drowned in the river. Then a horrible creature crawled out of the river with the child in its claws, and cursed every one of my potential children. It said that because of my previous carelessness, it would drag away all my children to Hell. The creature said that on the night after my second child, it will come for me and drag me away to Hell, too. Thomas was my second child! Catherine! I am going die tonight!" With those final words, Elizabeth fell to the ground. Catherine was sure she was dead, but kneeling down to look at her, she saw that she had only fainted. Then, she heard a strange gargling noise. She looked up in alarm to see a faint, dark shape among the trees. She recognized the long, sinister claws. It started to quickly crawl towards Catherine and Elizabeth. All of Catherine's courage abandoned her, and she ran inside her hut and hid within her closet. All she could hear were loud, unearthly barks of the monster, and Lady Elizabeth's pleading cries for mercy.
In the morning, Catherine woke up on the floor next to the open door of her closet to the sound of someone pounding on the door of her home. She rubbed her eyes and opened the door to come face to face with the two guards. They demanded, "Where is Lady Elizabeth?" Catherine's eyes widened and she replied, "Why do you ask me this? Please, I would never do anything horrible to her!" The guards yanked Catherine out of her hut and took her to her yard. There, next to the little mound of dirt and the little cross of Thomas, was a larger mound of dirt and a larger cross made from the same wood. Neatly carved into the cross was the name "Elizabeth".
That day, Catherine was found guilty with murder, and the next day, she was hung. A couple of years later, relatives of Elizabeth and Thomas wanted to move the graves to a more recognized place. But to everyone's alarm, the graves were found empty, with no trace of the bodies, and only deceased Catherine knew where they were.