Horror

The stench hit her nostrils long before she could see the place. Her heart beat louder and she swallowed, unconsciously beginning to take shallow breaths to keep out that reek of fresh corpses. The path before her narrowed. The dark, ominous sky looked down on her as she entered the house of death.

The gutters overflowed with blood and she tried hard to escape the sights all around her. The surprised, frozen faces of the dead stared at her with lifeless eyes. The awkwardly angled, limp bodies, lined her path. She could sense, rather than hear, the buzzing of flies. Crows sheltered in this closed space. Escaping the rain outside, they perched here, their black feathers dripping water that diluted the blood that swirled below. The merchants of death tapped their sharp knives and scythes to draw her attention.

She tried to ignore it but eventually one shadowy figure called out to her from the dark recesses of the hallway, blocking her way with a blade that shone red, wet.

"Bai, fresh pomfret? Prawns? Crab? Rohu?"