OBSESSION - A Halloween Treat

 

Photo by Cam Stockdale on Unsplash

 

OBSESSION

Hagn leaned back in her chair, weak but alive. Flames licked the hearth, yet their warmth only made her skin prickle with icy dread. Pneumonia had nearly claimed her life, but the Ice Compound still held her hostage, its nightmare far from over. She shivered—not from illness, but from the nagging fear she would never escape.

A faint sound made her pause. Not the crackle of the fire. Not the wind outside. She didn’t need to look. Yadon was in the room. She could feel his eyes—cold, merciless, absolute. Her pulse surged. She prayed for deliverance.

“Feeling better?” His voice was casual, bored, but it cut deeper than any knife.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. She stared into the fire, pretending calm, though every muscle screamed at her to run. Waves of ice radiated from the flames, brittle and sharp, freezing her insides.

“You’ll never convince him I was behind this,” Yadon said softly, as if lecturing a child. “Keep trying, and he dies.”

“I’ve done nothing but tell him the truth,” she said, trembling. “I’m not marrying him and certainly not marrying you. Touch him, and I’ll kill myself. You won’t have me. No one wins.”

“You’re wrong,” he replied, smiling. “I always win. I will have you—even dead. Dr. Jhengi has ways to make even the dead walk. Would you like proof?”

Hagn’s stomach churned. She refused to look. But fear—pure, naked fear—raced through her veins, freezing her blood.

“Don’t test me.” Yadon advanced, each step deliberate, each shadow stretching toward her. “You’ll be mine. Look at me.”

Her knees shook. She clutched the chair, desperate to keep it between them. She obeyed. And what she saw stole her breath.

The man she had known as Goren—the one she’d watched fed to wild dogs—stood before her. His body was barely recognizable as human. Skin blackened, blue, and green, hanging in shreds. Bones protruded at grotesque angles. His flesh was torn and jagged, muscle dangling in tatters. Death clung to him like a fog, yet his bright blue eyes, rimmed in red, held hers.

He swayed unnaturally, suspended by chains held by two hulking men. His mouth missing, throat mangled, his gaze pleaded with her, alive and aware despite the carnage his body had endured.

Yadon’s words stabbed her: “I will have you—even dead.”

Hagn’s stomach lurched. Horror, revulsion, despair collided in her chest. Did he feel pain? Did his soul remain intact in that monstrous shell? The room reeked of rot and decay, and the fire’s warmth mocked her helplessness.

Dr. Jhengi’s a genius, Yadon’s laugh echoed through the chamber.

Hagn screamed, a sound that clawed at her throat, a scream that promised she would never stop. She cried until the firelight blurred with tears and terror.

In that moment, she understood the truth: there was no escape from this frozen castle of horror.

 Photo of zombie by Gerardo Martin Fernandez Vallejo on Unsplash

© Yolanda Renée 2025

485 Words

 Initially published on January 28, 2015, as Frozen Heart, rewritten for this year’s Halloween Celebration.

Photo by Łukasz Nieścioruk on Unsplash

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!