1st 5 Pages February Workshop- Woropay

Name: Larysia Woropay
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Title: Extrasensory

Quinn opened her eyes, greeted by the still of night. She didn’t need to look at the clock to know it was 3 a.m. The Devil’s Hour.

Visitors are coming.

The teenager stood, hairs rising on the back of her neck. Her toes curled into the carpet as the shiver raced down to her soles. She rubbed her bare arms, textured with gooseflesh.

An explosive pounding resounded through the modest bungalow. Quinn started. It was the front door. But she could feel in her gut the unwelcome company behind it.

She pulled on a baggy oversized sweater and slid into her slippers and made her way into the hallway. Her mother stood in a robe outside her bedroom across the hall. They locked eyes, twin gray mirrors reflecting back at each other.

“You were up before they knocked.” Maria stated between urgent raps. Her daughter nodded. “Me too. Let’s go.” She wrapped the robe tighter. “Together, now.” And so they stood side by side as they walked to the front door, the cry of a baby and the frantic reassuring cooing of a mother on the other side.

“Maria! Maria, please!” The woman cried. “Wake up!”

“Guard yourself, Quinn.” Her mother warned.

“I know.” The teen steeled herself. “It’s out there.”

Quinn recognized the visitor’s voice. The woman had been here before. She was back for only one reason. Whatever was in her house was still there and had finally made a move for the baby.

Maria opened the door, front porch light revealing Ms. Harker and her little girl, Emily. Ms. Harker’s face was red, her eyes puffy from the tears that streaked her cheeks. Emily’s face wasn’t much better as her tiny fingers grabbed at her mother’s shirt. Wide-eyed relief graced Ms. Harker at Maria’s forced smile. “Oh, Maria! Thank God!”

“Diana.” Maria dipped her head before looking at the child. “And Emily! Come in, come in. You two.” The shadows seemed to flicker behind the pair.

Quinn swallowed, stomach sinking.

“… and nothing more.” Maria opened the screen door, muttering to the rustling blackness. The shadows flinched and receded from Ms. Harker’s feet as she crossed the threshold. Maria shut the door, staring down what couldn’t be seen. “Quinn, love, put on a pot of coffee. Warm up some milk for Emily, too.”

“It hurt her!” Ms. Harker cradled her daughter closer. Emily nestled into her mother’s bird’s nest of strawberry blond hair, quietly sobbing. “The blessing only made it angrier!”

“To the couch.” Maria led them into the living room as Quinn went to the kitchen to do as she was told. “Sit, sit.”

Ms. Harker sat, not releasing her grip on Emily. Her eyes darted. The woman didn’t have a shred of sixth sense, but she had all the others. Something triggered a primal fear in her. Instinct took over. Protect the child, it told her; something comes for her. This something wasn’t tangible. It couldn’t be fought by any normal means. She was powerless and that was what horrified her the most.

“It’s okay, Diana.” Maria said slowly. “It can’t come in. Not here, not my home.”

Ms. Harker’s shoulders softened but not her embrace. The woman shook her head, leaning back into the plush blue microfiber couch.

The scent of coffee promising to fill cups in short order began to permeate the air. Quinn grabbed a carton of milk and a pot, ignoring the window over the sink, its curtains wide open. As soon as her mother closed the door, she could feel the thing circling the house, trying to sneak in. At last, it stopped moving. Outside that pane of glass.

Quinn wouldn’t close the curtains.

She would show it no fear.

Instead, she turned a burner on, preparing the soothing warm milk.

“What happened?” Maria’s voice carried from the other room.

“It was like any other day after the priest left. But then it started again.” Ms. Harker began. “Just … nothing big. The knocking. The scratches. I ignored it. Didn’t give it attention, like you said. Even though it got closer and closer to us each time.”

“In threes?”

“Yes, always in threes.”

Of course, in threes. Mocking the trinity. The words, cool and airy, were only those attuned to the dead could hear. A ghost stood beside Quinn, and although she couldn’t see him, she could certainly hear his Voice.

Quinn bit her lower lip to suppress a shiver. The nip of pain made her rigid. The thing eavesdropping outside liked that they were talking about it. She’d give it no more pleasure. Instead, she stirred the pot.

“Emily was scared. I kept her beside me the entire day. I did my best to pretend it wasn’t there until it got dark. Then it was like … something was moving out of the corner of my eye. It had antlers and was hunched over. Like a beast. Watching me. In the kitchen. In the bathroom. Down the hall. Always just out of my sight.”

“You saw as much as it wanted you to.” Quinn blurted out while preparing a tray of sugar, cream, and mugs.

Ms. Harker stalled, frozen as the dawning revelation of the statement sank in.

Maria’s brow furrowed. “Quinn. Let Diana finish.”

“Sorry,” the teen muttered. The warm milk was ready. She poured it in a small cup and padded into the living room with it on top of the tray. The coffee would be a few minutes still.

“I put Emily to bed and stayed in the nursery with her. I blocked the door. Kept my back to it. I knew it was standing behind me. I could hear it breathe. Then, I felt it. By my ear.” Ms. Harker took in a sharp breath, fighting back tears. “I heard … I heard it growl ‘mine’ and Emily started shrieking.”

Quinn placed the tray down on the table between the women and picked up the cup of milk to hand to the shaken young mother.

“Look at what it did to her!” Ms. Harker broke down as she lifted her child’s top. Three thick red scratches ran down the child’s side.

Quinn gasped. If the teen didn’t come from a long line of mediums and didn’t know the culprit was outside, she’d have called social services on this loony woman hurting this child. This woman obsessed with an evil entity, blaming her actions on it. Anyone would have her put away. Which is what it would have wanted, leaving the child alone and scared away from the one person who believed something more sinister was at hand. “It branded her.”

Ms. Harker’s mouth fell open.

“Quinn!”

“W-what branded her?” Ms. Harker sputtered. “What?”

“She should know what she’s up against, mom.” Quinn said firmly.

“Quinn, calm down.” Her mother stressed.

The exchange irritated Ms. Harker. She glared at Maria. “When my friends said you were a reliable psychic, I trusted them. They said you were legitimate, that you knew what this impossible thing I was dealing with was! I thought you said whatever it was wasn’t strong enough. That it was a weak energy. What are you keeping from me?”

Maria gave her a solemn look. “For your trust, I am grateful. Diana, please realize that we didn’t want you frightened. It feeds on fear.”