(disclaimer: this is in part me practicing for nanowrimo. I do hope that you “enjoy” this Halloween ghost story regardless.)

Lil looks at the four faces staring at the handprint and the rearranged salt pattern. “I take it that’s not a good sign?”

Brenda is biting her bottom lip and Lil decides that is definitely not a good sign. Brenda and Josh seem pretty unflappable. Just that thought makes Lil glance at Josh.

“Okay, speak to me people. What do you think’s going on?” he asks.

“This is one freaking powerful entity,” Arturo says, nodding at the handprint.

“What in the hell made that?” Brian asks as he squats and is about to touch the mark with his fingers.

“Don’t touch it,” Brenda yells.

Brian jerks his hand back and glances up at her, fear marring his boyish features. “Why not?”

“It’s still smoking,” she says.

“Crap,” Brian says.

Lil watches the telltale wave of smoke rise from the print and figures that a burned in handprint is definitely going to be difficult to get up from vinyl. “How?”

“How what?” Brenda asks.

“How did that handprint get there? If a ‘thing’ can make a handprint like that, what’s to stop it from doing the same to any of us?” Lil asks, the fearful realization giving her shivers.

No one says anything. Lil looks at Josh, but it’s as if he refuses to meet her gaze.

“This is really very bad, isn’t it?” she asks.

Lil watches as Brenda and Josh share a significant look. The significance of it being that they don’t have the slightest idea in hell what’s going on. And, Lil wonders if that thought, “hell,” isn’t significant in itself.

Josh shakes his head as if to clear it. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”

Funny, Lil can almost hear him say: or we’ll die trying.

 

end 10/28/2016 (2)

S. Darlington