The Widowmaker (Horror) 400 word story

 Synopsis: After falling through a floor and discovering an underground chamber, a badly injured woman is horrified to realise her seemingly cheap and shoddy boss, Marcus, is in fact the sinister serial killer known as “The Widowmaker.” The terrifying confrontation leaves her fate in his hands

***Trigger warning. This is a horror story. If you are uncomfortable with themes of threat, violence, or murder, please don’t read.****

“Fucccccck,” she screamed, falling through the floorboards. ‘Ow.’ Rubbing her head, she grabbed at her leg ; she could barely feel it. The room was as black as the ace of spades. The air was immediately thick with choking plaster dust, and the silence that followed the crash felt heavy, suffocating.

Thanking god she lived in 2025, she used the torch on her smartphone to take in the scene. First, her leg—it was bad, blood was pouring out of the wound—but she struggled to her feet. Then, shining the phone at the hole she had crumpled through.

“Cheapskate,” she huffed.

She meant Marcus, her employer of six months. Marcus ran a DIY company, swamped with clients for painting, construction, and renovations. He did it all… badly. Easy on the eye, with the gift of the gab. He often boasted about the shoddy job he was off to do, knowing he’d be called back to fix his own botched work. She never thought he’d cheap out on his own place, a fact she discovered following her fall.

Dusting off, she used her phone to survey her surroundings, letting out an audible gasp. A cold, slick scent—part damp earth, part sharp iron—clung to the bone-chilling air. Torture devices were everywhere.

The extensive room held doors to other underground chambers. Limping to the first, she touched the first knob. Empty. She struggled to the second, letting out a shrill shriek at what confronted her…

“What are you doing?” She almost jumped back through the hole. She took a moment before spinning around.

“It’s you, this whole time,” she barely whispered. “The Widowmaker.” Marcus howled with laughter, resembling a werewolf under the moonlight shining through the new hole above them. “Careful throwing accusations around like that. Target the wrong man, and there could be consequences.” His voice trailed off, leaving nothing but sinister silence as they eyeballed each other.

She desperately tried to reach for the shard of glass clutched in the skeleton’s bony hand, but Marcus was faster. He snatched the weapon. “Sorry,” he sighed, plunging the glass shard into its second victim.