Leigh was born and raised in the beautiful garden county of Wicklow, Ireland. She is the mother and proud protector of two wonderful boys, a black Labrador, and a three-legged cat that hates people. Her partner James is also part of the family, but she's not his mother, so he gets his own sentence!
Leigh has a fierce love for all things morbid and macabre, and like many of her peers, she's a horror junkie! She cites Ronald Malfi, Kealan Patrick Burke, and of course, Stephen King, as her most favoured authors and sources of inspiration.
Cursed is Leigh's debut, and though she hides it well, she is very proud of herself.
You can find out more about Leigh's work and any upcoming releases on her Instagram and Facebook.
BE MY VALENTINE
by
Leigh Kenny
Sweeping the mascara wand through her lashes, Daria paused to check her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied, she rifled through the make-up scattered across the table, plucking a lipstick tube from the jumble of products.
Be my Valentine.
She chuckled. The perfect shade for the perfect date!
Barely able to contain her excitement, Daria pulled the scarlet lipstick across her pouted lips with a flourish. She couldn’t wait to see David tonight!
Long distance relationships were hard, but they had made it work. She sent love letters frequently, each one bearing the delicate, floral fragrance of her favourite perfume. The very one she’d accidentally saw him purchase that day in the department store. A soft smile crossed her lips, her eyes lighting up as they always did when she thought of him.
David was so amazing. The perfect man.
She still couldn’t believe sometimes that he was hers. They had met when she started temping in the office block he worked at; it had been love at first sight. When they offered her a full-time position, it seemed like destiny. And then the company had shipped her cross-country to the Boston office. That had seemed like a cruel joke. Daria knew a good thing when she had it though. Regular letters, and not so regular phone calls had seen them through, and now she was back.
And on Valentine’s Day!
She knew he’d finish up work about six, so she needed to leave soon if she was going to make it to his place in time to surprise him. Studying herself in the mirror once more, long dark hair framing a perfectly made-up face, she winked at her reflection and giggled. With a final cursory glance around the room, she smoothed down the tight, red fabric of her dress, tossed her keys in her bag and left. The click of her heels echoed along the tiled walkway of her apartment block, and her stomach fizzed with warm excitement.
**
The car came to a slow halt in the driveway, a shuddering breath escaping him as the engine silenced. Pulling the small box from his jacket pocket, David flipped the lid and gazed at the diamond ring nestled within the red silk lining. Nerves bloomed in his stomach. Would she like it? Had he spent enough? Picked the right style?
Would she say yes?
He closed the box, the snap echoing like a gunshot in the silent space of his sedan.
Climbing from the car, he noticed that the house was in darkness. That was odd. The nerves in his stomach grew tentacles and morphed into something more discomfiting as he climbed the porch steps and opened the door.
The soft, floral fragrance of her perfume hung in the hallway, its familiar scent causing the tentacles of unease to retract into something more manageable. From the back of the house, a soft light glowed, and in an instant his nerves were replaced with anticipation. She must have a surprise planned for him too!
It was Valentine’s Day, after all.
Approaching the kitchen, David sniffed the air. The floral scent was stronger, but with it was a cloying, coppery smell. Like someone had dropped a bag of pennies into a dish of old potpourri. Wrinkling his nose, he pushed the heavy, wooden door open, his feet rooting him to the spot as he faced the woman who sat, cross-legged on a stool by the kitchen counter.
“Who are you?” he asked.
The woman unfolded her long legs, shook out her mane of dark hair and smiled at him.
“What do you mean, who am I?” she said, the edge to her voice so sharp, it could cut steel. “It’s me. I’m home now. We can finally be together, David!”
Davids eyes darted around the room, before returning to the woman and narrowing. “You’re the one that keeps sending those letters. And the phone calls. Was that you, too? Where’s Cassie??”
The woman’s face darkened. “Who?” she snapped, her tone dripping with impatience.
Taking a few steps deeper into the room, his eyes finally landed on the open door to the utility room. One end of a sheeted figure lay sprawled on the floor.
David cried out, stumbling towards the figure. He fell to his knees as the rest of the utility room came into view. The white sheet covered the person from head to toe, the only visible part a hand and wrist. On the pale skin of its wrist, a tattoo stood out starkly, a love heart with the initials “C + D” etched within. On the pale sheet, a crimson blotch, as red as the lips of the strange woman in his kitchen, spread in an ever-widening shape. Right between the spot where Cassie’s beautiful blue eyes would be staring out from beneath the ghostly covering. But seeing nothing.
As a shrill moan cut through the house, it took a moment before David realised that it was coming from him. “Cassie!” he wept, reaching out to grasp her hand, knowing before he touched it that it would be cold.
Behind him, heels clicked along the tiles, moving towards him.
Before he could turn, lightening flashed behind his eyes as the taser darts lodged beneath his skin. His body convulsing, he hit the tiles hard.
As he twitched on the floor, his nerve endings singing with pain, David felt her hair brush his cheek. As the world around him darkened, Daria leaned across him and whispered in his ear.
“Be my Valentine?”