Bones: 500 Fiction, #4

By Black Hare Press

Voodoo, or vodou, is often depicted in movies as a dark and dangerous magic, usually with Caribbean or New Orleanian nuances; Voodoo Dolls are effigies of enemies upon whose person we wish to cause harm; ghastly, bloody ailments are removed form bodies through the skin without surgery; bizarre, gory sacrificial rituals performed in the dead of night.

 

Death God antagonists are portrayed as villains, further popularising the view that Voodoo is centred around death and necromancy.

 

Here in Bones, we looked to explore some of these tropes in five-hundred-word stories.

 

So, adorn your top hat and tattered tuxedo, get cosy in the armchair, and enjoy these twenty-six dark tales, inspired by the movies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Hare Press
• Release date: Jun 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798223039587

Book preview

500 - Bones

Various Authors

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Black Hare Press

BONES title is Copyright © 2021 Black Hare Press

First published in Australia in June 2021 by Black Hare Press

The authors of the individual stories retain the copyright of the works featured in this anthology.

‚All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this production may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia

Editing by D. Kershaw

Cover design by Dawn Burdett

Formatting by Ben Thomas

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Also Available

500 FICTION SERIES

TICK TOCK

AVENGE

WATCH

BONES

CONTACT

HAUNT

REIGN

PLAY

HELL

DRAGON

WEST

CYBORG

CARNIVAL

Contents

1.Law of Threefold

2.The Bones Know

3.The Truth Was in the Bones

4.Sleep Tight

5.Miss Evita

6.The Bones of a Dead God

7.Doctor John

8.Fast or Slow

9.A Shift in Life

10.Louisiana Voodoo

11.Sung

12.Edge of the Knife

13.Good Dog

14.The Guédé

15.Cheap Labour

16.Mr Saturday

17.An Impressive Spectacle

18.Pinned

19.Bones Don't Lie

20.Hedge Witch

21.Oliver Jones, Boy Detective

22.Soul Stealer

23.Voodoo Queen of New Orleans

24.Crucial Binding

25.Throwing Bones

26.The Switch

27.Authors

28.About the Publisher

29.Acknowledgements

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Law of Threefold

by Jodi Jensen

Mind the threefold law, ye should—

Three times bad and three times good…

Left for dead in a ditch, Gwen recited the mantra of her namesake, Lady Gwen, over and over. She didn’t know who the man was, or why he’d attacked her, but it didn’t matter. As her blood soaked the dirt beneath her and her life force drained, she was comforted knowing his malevolent deeds would be returned threefold—mind, body, and soul.

***

Thomas had never felt such a rush as when he’d used the witch-bitch’s knife against her. His wife had gone to see the woman, purchasing a protection charm and participating in a spell intended to banish negative influences, namely him, from her life.

I showed her, he muttered, mind filled with the memory of assaulting, cutting, and torturing the woman as he stood in the shadows watching his ex-wife’s house. Witch-bitch won’t be interfering in my business again.

Killer…

The whispered word drifted through the air, and he froze.

Murderer…

Who’s there? He whipped around, searching for the source.

Butcher…

Shrugging it off as imagination, he turned back to the house, only to find an empty field. He narrowed his eyes at the squirming, heaving ground—not empty.

Was that…snakes?

Hissing noises grew in volume, echoing off the trees, filling the air with an eerie vibration.

He stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell, smashing his skull against a rock.

As he lay there, warm wetness spreading beneath his head, he felt something wrap around his ankle, creep up his calf, and squeeze. He jerked his leg, trying to shake off whatever it was, when he heard an ominous hissing by his ear.

Turning his head, he came face to face with a snake, jaws open, fangs dripping.

He screamed.

The serpent struck, clamping down on his tongue.

More snakes attacked. Bite after bite stabbed into his arms, legs, torso, and groin—each one shooting fiery pain straight through his body.

He thrashed his head side to side, trying to dislodge the snake from his mouth, and when the thing ripped free, tongue still caught in its fangs, it landed with a sickening thud next to him.

Blood filled his mouth, then his throat, gagging and choking him. His body swelled until he no longer struggled.

As he gasped his final breath, a woman came into view.

Light glowed behind her, and long strands of wavy hair blew around her, as she spread her fingers and stretched her hands toward him.

Anticipating sweet relief, he sighed, welcoming his death.

The woman moved closer, the light behind her fading as she knelt beside him.

He fought against a wave of horror when her face came into view.

The fucking witch-bitch—

You will not rest, she whispered. You will beg for peace, but your tainted soul will find none. The law of threefold is absolute. Standing, she walked into the light.

Thomas stilled, a gurgling scream dying in his throat. Swallowed by the shadows, his soul descended into darkness.

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