Scraping Iron

A short horror story

Mabel loved classics. It was midnight, and she lay in her bed, reading A Tale of Two Cities, eating chocolate ice cream. The only sound in the house was her Bunny, Fluffy, in the corner of his cage, chewing a carrot. Her parents slept across the hall, where her baby brother's crib was. Marking her place, she sat the book on her table and switched her light off. Just as she was closing her eyes, she heard a noise, a noise like an iron pipe being drug across a sidewalk. Her yard didn't have a sidewalk, though. It was all grass. The dragging continued, so she pulled open her rainbow curtains, peeking out. She saw nothing. No iron pipe, no man,nothing. Mabel had finally decided it was just her imagination when she heard it again. Fed up, she threw off her blankets, slipped on her sneakers, and pulled her coat on. Heading out the door, she grabbed a baseball bat. She was shaking so much she bumped into the piano. Rubbing her hip, she tip-toed out the door. She carried the baseball bat in one hand as she peeked around the corner. She didn't see anything but she could still hear the sound. A gust of cold wind blew over Mabel and she put the bat down to zip up her coat. Suddenly, the sound stopped, and something cold and metal was held to her throat, her back pressed to a man's chest. "Looking for someone," a cold voice whispered in her ear. His breath smelt of alcohol. Mabel tried to move from his grip, but he pushed the pipe into her throat harder. She had taken a self defense class a few years ago, when there had been a shooting at her school, but she had never actually been in a situation like this. Her first thought was to elbow him, and so she did. Her bony elbow shot backwards into his gut. She heard him suck in a sharp breath. Elbowing him again, and again, until he let go of one side of the pipe to shield his stomach. Acting quickly, she grabbed the end he wasn't holding, and twisted it from his grip. She backed up slowly, holding the pipe as if it were her baseball bat. The man recovered quickly, and stepped towards her. "Now, you listen-" She cut off the alcoholic man, who was inching his way towards her. "Don't." She warned.Just as he was taking another step towards her, she swung the pipe back and hit him in the face. "Ow! You fu-" He screamed and Mabel hit him again. And again. And again, until he had fallen onto the ground. She collapsed onto her knees, still hitting him repeatedly. A frustrated sound escaped her mouth as she hit him. Blood began to seep from under his body. Police sirens neared, and the front door opened to her mother screaming for help, but all Mabel heard were the groans of pain from the man beneath her, and an iron pipe being drug across stone.