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    Madness Burns
    Madness Burns
    Madness Burns
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Madness Burns

    By Stevie Kopas

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    About this ebook

    Madness...

    It lurks in our loved ones, it lurks in the shadows, it lurks in us all.

    From the author of The Breadwinner Trilogy comes a short horror story collection that follows the hot trail of madness from start to finish.

    Dive into madness with characters in five stories of the flash fiction metaphysical, Christmas, New Year's Eve, meeting your partner's family, and taking a risk for some cold, hard cash...

    Madness Burns... or does it?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStevie Kopas
    Release dateNov 24, 2017
    ISBN9781370286140
    Madness Burns
    Author

    Stevie Kopas

    Stevie Kopas was born and raised in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She is a gamer, a writer and an apocalypse enthusiast. Stevie will never turn down a good cup of coffee and might even be a bit of a caffeine addict. Stevie is the author of The Breadwinner Trilogy. Books 1 and 2, The Breadwinner and Haven were originally self-published in 2013 and 2014. The Breadwinner Trilogy was picked up by Permuted Press in May of 2014 and the second editions of both the first books were released in March and April of 2015. The third and final installment in The Breadwinner Trilogy, All Good Things, debuted in May of 2015. In June of 2015 The Breadwinner was the number one bestselling dystopian novel on Amazon. Her fourth book, Never Say Die: Stories of The Zombie Apocalypse, was released in May 2016 but is currently unavailable pending rerelease by Permuted Press early 2017. Her fifth novel, co-authored with Stephen Kozeniewski, SLASHVIVOR, was released September 2017. Kopas also participates in the At Hell's Gates horror anthologies and all profits are donated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Her short stories, Nefarious, Patient 63, and Spencer Family Tradition can be found in the first three volumes of At Hell's Gates. Her other short story, Camp Counselors Wanted, can be found in Man Behind The Mask, a charity anthology that donates all proceeds to breast cancer research. She currently resides in Panama City Beach, Florida and tries to spend as much time as she can soaking up the sun. Stevie is also the Managing Editor of the website Horror Metal Sounds and a writer for the site. Offline, Stevie is a telecommunications professional. You can visit the official website at http://someonereadthis.com and connect on Facebook via http://facebook.com/thebreadwinnertrilogy and also follow Stevie on Twitter @ApacoTaco

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      Book preview

      Madness Burns - Stevie Kopas

      Madness Burns

      A Collection of Short Horror Stories

      By Stevie Kopas

      Madness Burns copyright © 2017

      by Stevie Kopas

      All Rights Reserved.

      Cover art by Stevie Kopas

      *****

      This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission and consent from the author, whether commercial or non-commercial.

      This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.

      *****

      Madness Burns — A Collection of Short Horror Stories

      Table of Contents

      Come In Here

      Christmas Grab Bag

      Happy New Year

      Spencer Family Tradition

      The Trial

      Come In Here

      Sorry I’m late, Jill whispered as she crept through the front door, locking it behind her.

      It was just past Midnight and she hoped the baby was already sleeping. More so, she hoped that her sister wasn’t angry with her for not arriving home on time, but Maddie was curled up on the couch with a book as usual and smiled when Jill entered the living room.

      How was work? Maddie asked, marking her page with a bookmark and hopping to her feet, stretching.

      Awful, if I could actually leave when I was scheduled for once I might come home with a better answer. She sighed. How’s my little bear?

      Oh, he’s great, been sleeping like a baby. Maddie made a face and laughed. "Well, I mean, he is a baby, but you get what I mean."

      Jill chuckled and walked her sister to the door, giving her a big hug before sending her on her way. She was halfway up the stairs to check on baby Louis when her phone blared from her purse in the living room.

      Shit, she cursed under her breath as she rushed back into the other room, praying that the noise didn’t wake the baby.

      She fished the iPhone from her bag and quickly silenced it, looking at the screen.

      Unknown Caller.

      She frowned, but answered anyway, curious as to who could be calling at this hour.

      Hello?

      She was greeted by loud static on the other end and repeated her greeting only to receive child-like laughter in response.

      Maddie? Is that you? She asked, but the call immediately disconnected.

      Shrugging, Jill put the phone on vibrate and slipped it into her pocket. She started back for the stairs when it began to buzz.

      Seriously?

      She pulled it from her pocket and rolled her eyes when she saw that it was an unknown caller again. She swiped and answered, trekking up the stairs.

      Maddie, this isn’t funny.

      The same static greeted her followed by a child giggling. She rolled her eyes.

      I hope your parents find out what you’re doing and ground you!

      She hung up and stuffed the phone into her pocket once more before heading for baby Louis’ room. Her little bundle of joy was snuggled up and sound asleep. She smiled and leaned into the crib, gently touching his tiny hand.

      Good night, my angel. Mommy loves you, Jill whispered.

      She checked that the baby monitor was on and working before heading for her bedroom.

      She changed into some sweatpants and before she could even get her oversized t-shirt over her head, her iPhone buzzed in her jeans on the floor. She let out an exasperated sigh and answered without even looking at who was calling.

      Listen up, you little shit—

      Come back in here and play with me, the little girl on the other end said.

      What? A slight chill ran down Jill’s spine.

      I want to play. Come back. The little girl giggled, her voice muffled in static.

      Jill rolled her eyes and scolded herself for letting it freak her out.

      Go to bed, brat. I’m done playing for the night.

      She hung up and shut the phone completely off; she’d have to set the alarm on the clock for once.

      ****

      Jill rolled over and squinted at the clock: 2:57. She groaned and sat up, she could have sworn she shut the phone off before she went to bed. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the screen read Unknown Caller. Jill tried to decline the call but her screen wouldn’t respond. She hit the power button on the side, but again, the phone did nothing. In a huff, she threw the covers off and went with her only option: answering it.

      What! She shouted into the phone.

      Come in here, the little girl whispered through heavy static. Come in here and play with me.

      For the last time… Go. To. Bed.

      Furious, Jill double checked and made sure the phone was off this time. She got up and put the iPhone in a pile of clothes in the closet just in case there was something wrong with it and the little brat kept prank calling her. Just as she was getting back into bed, Jill froze; there was static coming from the baby monitor.

      She stared at it for a moment, straining her ears for more sound, but there was nothing. She thought about checking on Louis, but he wasn’t crying and she desperately needed the sleep. Settling back into bed, she had just closed her eyes when the static came through the monitor again; this time, child’s laughter followed. Her eyes shot open and her skin broke out in goose bumps. She glanced at the clock before jumping out of bed: 3:00.

      With the baby monitor in hand, she crept toward her bedroom door and again she heard the laughter. There was no denying it this time, it was the same laugh she’d heard on the phone.

      Come in here and play with me, the little girl said.

      Jill panicked and the baby monitor fell from her hands, the static screeching from it, louder now. She sprinted from her bedroom and made a beeline for Louis’ door. She charged through and turned on the light, expecting to find someone trying to hurt her baby, but the room was empty. Louis remained fast asleep in his crib.

      She checked on her son, making sure he was okay, her heartrate slowly returning to normal. She cursed herself for being so paranoid, she figured whoever had been calling her had somehow hacked into the baby monitor. She would go to the police tomorrow.

      As Jill turned to leave the room, the door suddenly slammed shut and her hands flew up to her mouth. She stifled a scream as she read what was written in blood on the opposite wall just before the lights in the room went out:

      I knew I could get you back in here.

      Christmas Grab Bag

      Jingle Bell Rock floated out of the small office building and to the parking lot every time one of the employees entered the party. Tina Mills sat in her car, watching her coworkers as they met up in the parking lot and exchanged greetings, some walking in together, some chatting in the cold, and all the while, the IT guys passed around a flask. She hadn’t seen any of the other sales people arrive yet and wondered if they’d blown off the party altogether or perhaps they were already inside; all she’d seen so far were the various clerks and techies.

      Her hand found its way to the keys dangling from

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