Member-only story
The Woman in the Red Dress
Don’t look too close…
Daisy thought the fun house was just a big trick made up of mirrors and tilted perspectives — until she saw the woman in the red dress. The woman herself looked like she had stepped straight out of the 20’s, her flapper outfit flirty and devious, especially with that vibrant shade the color of spilled blood.
“Daze, move,” Amanda said with a giggle, pushing into her, and Daisy stumbled, her gaze breaking from the mirror. When she next looked up, the woman was gone. Daisy could almost have convinced herself it was just a trick of the light, another money scheme of the carnival.
Her friends’ laughter filled the fun house, but all Daisy felt was the cold — like a dread she couldn’t shake off.
When Monday came and Daisy found herself cocooned between a wall and Trevor Morris’s chest, it was easy not to think of the Red Woman (as Daisy had, fancifully, dubbed her). All her thoughts revolved around Trevor, the closeness of him, his face just a breath away from a kiss upon her lips. Amanda would fume when she found out — Trevor had been her crush too all semester — but Daisy wouldn’t think about that.
Just as Daisy’s mouth parted for the almost-kiss, something flickered at the edge of her vision. She and Trevor stood outside the exit nearest to the parking lot, and…
