Destiny Eve Pifer is a published author whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies, magazines, podcasts, and online sites. Her work had been featured in anthologies by Black Ink Fiction, Black Hare Press, Ladies Macabre Publishing, Nordic Press, Fun Dead Publications, and Raven and Drake. Her work has also appeared in magazines such as FATE Magazine, Sirens Call Magazine, and The World of Myth. One of her stories was also featured on The Morbid Press Podcast. She currently resides in a small Pennsylvania town with her son.
Destiny Eve Pifer is a published horror author who has over twenty years under her belt. Her work has appeared in various media forms such as anthologies, magazines, websites, and podcasts. Aside from being a horror writer, she worked for five years in the newspaper business. She has had human interest stories and genres published as well. She is currently working on getting a memoir and horror novel published.
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A NIGHT OF TERROR
by
Destiny Eve Pifer
It was a loud bump that awakened Lily from a deep sleep. She had taken a few pills in hopes of sleeping through this nightmare of a trip. In the front seat, her father grumbled and her mother desperately fidgeted with her phone. Her older sister Nina was already frustrated with the pit stop. “What the hell is going on?” Nina asked. “Are we lost?” Lily asked knowing full well that it was a stupid question. Of course, they were lost. Lost out in the middle of nowhere. Before her father could answer Lily’s mother chimed in. “I told you not to listen to that man’s direction. He looked dirty and very shady.” Exactly how long had Lily been asleep? “What man?” she whispered to Nina.
As always Nina looked at her annoyed. Despite the girls being close in age with Nina being eighteen and Lily sixteen they couldn’t be more different. Nina was a popular cheerleader dating the head quarterback and Lily was a drugged-up outcast. Their parents were good at putting on a happily married act but the truth was they couldn’t stand each other. This family vacation was a last-ditch effort to save a failing marriage. As her parents began to bicker Nina put on her headphones while Lily stepped out of the car. She needed some air but most of all she needed some silence. She tried to use the flashlight on her phone but all she could see was a dirt road and dark forest on both sides. He stepped on the gas pedal and drove until the gas gauge hit empty. Once again his wife ridiculed him for not filling up the gas can when he was at the gas station. Even Nina chimed in with her mother. “Everyone shut up and leave him alone!” Lily shouted. When they had finished fighting her father noticed a cabin up ahead. There was a light on and smoke coming out of the chimney.
Lily had seen enough horror movies to know this wasn’t a good sign. Every horror movie had a cabin in the woods that either had demons or cannibals. However, her father remained positive and walked up the hill. All three watched as he headed up to the cabin. Much to her surprise an old man opened the door. As they spoke it began to thunder and soon it began to downpour. Her father returned to the car soaked. “The old man is going to give me a ride into town to get gas and proper directions,” he said. “What the hell are we supposed to do while you are gone?” her mother asked in her usual icy tone. “He said you girls could stay in his cabin. It’s just him,” her father replied. They grabbed their umbrellas and headed up to the spooky old cabin. As they did Lily couldn’t help but feel afraid. There was something strange about the whole thing. The guy who gave them the wrong directions, running out of gas on a deserted road and now a creepy old cabin.
The old man seemed friendly enough but not friendly enough to sway her suspicion. The man was obviously a hunter who loved showing off his game. As her mother warmed herself by the fire, Nina continued to listen to music. Lily needing to pee found herself searching for the bathroom. Finally, she found it upstairs. She found herself walking past three bedrooms to get to a small creepy bathroom. She had just finished washing her hands when she suddenly heard a noise in one of the rooms.
She had seen enough movies to know that nothing good comes from investigating a strange noise. “I saw someone!” Nina screamed at the top of her lungs. Annoyed her mother walked towards the back door where Nina had seen the face. She foolishly opened the door as a strange man appeared and drove an axe right into their mother’s skull. Both girls screamed and raced to the stairs only to see an old lady with a knife. Lily tried to find a weapon and finally spotted an ax through the window.
She dragged Nina with her and grabbed the ax off a pile of wood. Armed with the only weapon they could find Lily yelled for Nina to start running. “Why are you doing this?” Lily asked. The old lady just merely smiled as the strange man appeared behind her. She turned and began to run. In a distance she could hear Nina scream. She stopped when she saw the headlights. Laying in front of the truck with her throat slit was her older sister. She half expected to find her father dead but was instead shocked to see him standing beside the truck.
She was about to drop the axe and run to her father but something stopped her. A closer look at his face showed her that he was smiling. Confused she looked her father in the eyes and asked “Why?” Their vacation had started at the Grand Canyon and then along the beautiful mountains. She had hoped that her parents were going to repair their damaged marriage. Now here her father was standing over his oldest daughter's body. “I tried,” he said. “I tried to be a good husband and father but it was never enough.” She tried to plead with her father. “Dad, I love you. Doesn’t that mean anything?” He took a deep breath and wiped Nina’s blood off on his pants. Lily realized that he had planned this all along.
“It’s who I am,” he said. “It’s who I was born to be and for years I hid it from you girls.” Now realizing that her father was a killer she drove the ax into his chest and before the old man could react she swung it at him. She then jumped in the truck and turned it around. As she drove off into the dark rainy night her eyes remained vacant. Like father, like daughter.