Kristal Shanahan resides in Kansas with her husband of nearly 20 years and their two daughters. As a tween, she read Firestarter by Stephen King, which ignited her love of the horror genre. She is a certified high school English Language Arts teacher and she is certified in Special Education. Kristal started a Bookstagram last fall on Instagram and a Booktok a couple of months ago. The focus is primarily horror, but she reviews multiple genres. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association and is currently writing a novella that will be released this summer. A novel in stories will be published next spring. In the meantime, her first published story, "A Christmas Horror in the Woods," will be included in a KDP anthology with Raventhorne Books in May. Connect with Kristal here:
OCEANSIDE NIGHTMARE
by
Kristal Shanahan
No one believed me, and then it happened again. I levitated, drawing me towards him, and I fought it. Nothing I do prevents it from recurring. I still don’t know why it chose me.
Every time I tried to explain what happened, my boyfriend thought I was talking about a dream. At night when there is a quiet calm; it happens.
My boyfriend Bear is staying over for a few days since he came back from a work trip. I’m staying in a house I inherited from my parents and I’m slowly renovating it. Living here was what I thought I wanted, but now I’m not so sure. Dark forces are at work making my progress falter. I’m hopeful that Bear will believe me about uncontrollable levitating at night. The frequency has increased and become incredibly more aggressive. I need Bear to believe me.
“Taylor, I need you in the kitchen for a minute!” Bear yelled out to Taylor.
“Hold on a sec!” I wondered what he wants, he knows I’m busy painting the family room. I head over to the kitchen. Bear had candles lit, a couple of chilled beers, yellow roses, and a goofy grin on his face.
“Bear, what is all this?”
“Taylor, I love you. I want to spend every waking moment with you, making you happy. Without you, my life would be empty.” He grabs the jewelry box and gets on one knee to hold up the box and he pops it open.
“Oh Bear, it’s so beautiful!” Tears spring to my eyes and I am over the moon.
“Taylor, will you make me the happiest man on earth and say yes?”
“Yes! A million times yes!” I hugged him tight and I knew tonight would be a night to remember.
After the hug, Bear slipped on the one carat diamond ring on her finger and it fit perfectly. He then grabbed the beers and they toasted to their future. They decided to take a break from the household renovations and headed out to the deck. Their view was incredible. The house was on the beach and the ocean view was breathtaking. They talked for an hour, laughed, shared stories and decided to turn in early.
“Bear, did you bring your stuff inside, or is it in your jeep?”
“I left it in the jeep, I’ll be right back.”
As I got ready for bed my anxiety skyrocketed. I went to the living room to get my glasses to read in bed. While I reached for my glasses, I heard whispers. Shit, it’s starting, she thought. She waited for Bear at the front door so they could walk back to the bedroom together. He doesn't know about the whispers.
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In bed after Taylor finished her book, Sweet Vigilante, she cuddled up next to Bear. He pulled her close and their comfort level in silence was perfection. They were soon dead to the world. A few hours later, Taylor woke to noises and whispers in the other part of the house. The part she tries to avoid. Her parents bedroom is being renovated and it opens out to a dynamic view of the ocean. Unfortunately uncomfortable sinister feelings bubble up as Taylor gets closer.
Taylor was no longer in control of her own body. Her extremities stiffened in bed and she began to rise above her bed slowly. Cold ocean air enveloped Taylor and the temperature seemed to drop thirty degrees. Bear stirred on his side of the bed. Blindly reaching for Taylor he came up empty. He opened his eyes and what he saw defied the laws of gravity.
“Taylor, hang on!” Bear jumped out of bed and moved with an agile speed and wrapped his arms around her to pull her down. The dreamstate that she was in, remained. Taylor was standing on her own, but in another world. She moved towards the deck outside.
“Taylor, where are you going?”
She pointed to the ocean.
“Are you going for a swim? It’s late, we can’t swim at night Taylor. You know something always happens in the water at night.” “Taylor?”
Taylor kept moving towards the water without speaking and her gait was awkward and slow. When she reached where the sand and ocean meet, she stood there staring out into the abysmal darkness of what lay beyond.
Bear just watched a few feet behind Taylor, ready to get her if she were to do something dangerous. A few hundred yards out in the ocean, bubbles surfaced and a ghostly figure appeared to walk on water towards Taylor. It reached out a long, pale, slick arm covered in seaweed and rot. The odor that emanated from it was debilitating. Bear dropped to his knees covering his mouth.
“I’m ready, let’s go. I can’t fight this anymore. I’m tired.” Taylor spoke to the ghost. She walked in the cold ocean towards it and reached out.
Bear got up and ran full force at the undead sea creature and knocked it over. They both went under the water and didn’t surface. Taylor snapped out of the hold the evil forces held over her. She began to look for Bear by diving under the water. When she opened her eyes underwater, she saw the sea creature feasting on Bear. She saw the terror in his eyes before she felt something touch her. She moved fast to get out of the water and ran for her life into her house. She closed and locked everything. She fell to the floor and weeped. Sleep was impossible to deny and she had the best sleep of her life. When she woke in the morning where she lay the night before, she was in her soaked nightgown on her bedroom floor. She looked up and saw Bear asleep in bed like he had never moved since the night before. Taylor knew that she was trapped in a paradise of hell.