Lair of Bedlam’s Witch

By Louise Bohmer
© 2009, All Rights Reserved

Sweep, sweep, sweep the floorboards. Clean and cook. That’s all I ever do. Feels like it, at least.

I am their caretaker. My job is maintenance. Maintain the ruse, so no one suspects.

No one suspects the writers who go missing come here. No one suspects the wives who leave their husbands come here.

This town isn’t cursed. It’s simply a feeding ground. Things from other worlds come to dine here.

I am their caretaker. Service in exchange for my life, some esoteric knowledge gifted now and again. They’ve show me sights I’d never have believed existed before we met. Reclusive partnership though it may be, I’d not change it, never leave their service. Loss of humanity is a small price to pay for the secrets we’ve shared. Sacrifices must be made to obtain great gifts.

Night snuffs out the sun. Just after the witching hour, I see someone approaching. After tucking my broom in the closet by the door, I go greet our visitor.

It’s a boy. Just hitting his teens, judging from his height. He reminds me of the son I gave to them over twenty years ago.

He’s sleepwalking. Doesn’t know who I am. He calls me “Mom,” and I smile. I tuck him beneath an afghan on the couch, while I go to peel potatoes.

They’ll arrive soon. A feast must be served. As I entered the kitchen, I wonder how best to prepare him. It’s been a while since they’ve had a child. Such a delicacy. Perhaps a stew? Tender meat marinated in the juices of his nightmares. Yes, that’ll do nicely.

I pull the meat cleaver from the knife rack, just as he calls out “Mom,” once again. A child seeking reassurance in a night filled with monsters.

Poor lad. They’ll be no waking to secure, parental arms wrapped tightly about him. The dreams called, and he came. Stumbled into the lair.

He’s ours now. Forever.

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Louise Bohmer is an author and freelancing editor for small press publishers. Her writing leans mainly toward the dark fantastical and horror, but she has also dabbled in poetry and erotic fiction. “The Black Act,” her debut novel, will be re-released by Library of Horror Press in Summer, 2009.