13 Tales of the Paranormal

by Susan Harris

  Shawna held tightly as she fought to keep her eyes closed, even when the old lady was cursing in her deep satanic voice. Kate and Kelly both peeked at each other, then at the old lady who sat in the chair, ranting and raving with her head held far back, so far back that she looked like she was about to snap her neck in half. This freaked Kate and Kelly as they both hurried and squeezed their eyes shut and began to pray that this nonsense would be over soon.

  “Okay, you can open your eyes now,” the old lady wheezed. The three girls opened them. Shawna was scared, but not as scared as Kate and Kelly, who were both trembling.

  “Hmmmm… I see that you three are college roommates and have been friends since the 5th grade,” the old lady said. Shawna, Kate and Kelly all stared at each other, their mouths agape and eyes wide. The old lady smiled and continued to stare at the crystal ball that was now lit up, resembling the color of a full moon.

  “Hmmmm… one of you had a very bad accident, almost lost a leg.” Kelly gasped when she heard the old lady speak of this. It was her. When she was in 7th grade playing basketball, she had fallen and skinned her knee. The very next day her knee was red and had swollen three times its normal size. The doctor told her that she had contracted the strep virus in the scratch, and if she had gone untreated it could have turned into the flesh-eating disease, destroying the muscles and tendons and eventually the skin. Amputation would have been the only option.

  The old lady pressed on. “Who’s Stanly?” The girls started giggling immediately. “He is one of the skanks that lives upstairs. He is always sniffing our laundry,” Kate said.

  “Well…one of you young ladies will let him sniff more than your laundry,” she informed. Her orange eyes glowed when she smiled. That’s when the girls first noticed her grey teeth.

  Kate quickly stood up, knocking her chair over in the process. “Come on girls! I’ve had enough of this nonsense. Kelly stood up, then Shawna, whose face was red with embarrassment. They both followed Kate out the front door, closing it behind them without saying another word to the old, freaky lady.

  “What a load of crock! That woman belongs in a mental institution. And did you see her teeth?” Kate cackled as she walked up the stairs to their apartment.

  “I don’t know. How did she know that we were college roommates and had been friends since the 5th grade?” Shawna asked. She was still amazed at what the old lady had said.

  “Oh come on, Shawn! Are you that gullible?” Kate held up her fingers to count. “One, we live near the college campus, duh! And two, most students who do room together are friends from high school. She just took a lucky guess.” She rolled her eyes at Shawna and walked to the kitchen to start doing the dishes.

  “I don’t know. How did she know about my knee then?” Kelly asked. She too was skeptical about what the lady had said, but also intrigued.

  Kate turned around to look at Kelly. Kelly was wearing black shorts and a green t-shirt that said “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” With her long, red hair and green eyes, she was definitely Irish.

  “There! Your scar! She must have seen the scar on your knee!” Kate said, pointing at Kelly’s right knee. Kelly looked down then nodded her head agreeing. Kate’s reasoning was starting to make sense. But then she remembered what the old lady said about Stanly and how quickly Kate got upset.

  “Hmmm…I was wondering…” Kelly pressed. Shawna who was sitting at the table looked up just as Kate turned around to face Kelly.

  “What?” Shawna asked. Her dark, brown eyes were wide with curiosity, or was it fear?

  “What she said about Stanly. Is there someone here that hasn’t told us the truth about this squirrely-looking guy?” Kelly laughed. She turned to watch Kate’s reaction and got what she was expecting.

  “Oh for the love of gravy! That woman is cracked. I should have just punched her in the mouth and knocked her funky teeth out for saying such things about us. None of us are that stupid or…desperate to pick someone like Stanly. The man is gross!” Kate sneered.

  “Oh come on… he’s not that bad. Sure… personal hygiene isn’t on the top of his list. Maybe he just needs someone to tell him,” Shawna commented as she sat stiffly in the chair, twirling a strand of her hair nervously.

  “Oh, whatever!” Kate snapped then turned around to continue washing the dishes.

  The next day the three of them were leaving for their morning classes when they ran into the old lady. Kate and Kelly hurried to walk out the door without glancing the old lady’s way. Shawna was the only one to greet her. She gave her a warm smile before following the other two out the door. As the three of them stood on the front porch they heard the old lady yell something.

  “What did she say?” Shawna asked, turning to look at Kelly. Kelly crinkled her nose, “I’m not sure. I think she said KARMA.”

  “Karma? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kate spat.

  ***

  “Ahhh!” Kate jolted awake, her pillow drenched with sweat. She sat up to turn on the lamp beside her bed. This was the sixth night in a row that she woke up from a bad dream. The dreams were all the same. She would be standing in the middle of the bathroom, looking in the mirror, watching in horror as each of her teeth started falling out one by one. Blood and teeth were spewing from her mouth and landing in the sink in front of her.

  Like the other nights, she immediately ran her fingers over her teeth making sure that they were all there before lying back down in her bed.

  Shawna had been having strange dreams, too. Except hers weren’t bad, they were pleasant. She would wake up every morning and walk into the bathroom. And like every morning, the first thing she would do is put her long, thick curly hair in a ponytail. Then she would start her morning ritual of applying her acne treatments. But in these strange dreams when she would look into the mirror to apply her first round of treatments, her face would be flawless. Not one pit, zit or blemish showed on her face. Her olive, colored skin would be perfect, smooth as a baby’s bottom.

  Kelly’s dreams weren’t strange or scary, but exotic. She would wake every morning wet, but not with sweat. Every night, in her dreams, skanky Stanly would come to her room and do things to her body that she never thought were possible. She would lie in her bed moaning and groaning as he used his fingers, pleasuring her to the point of ecstasy. She would wake up the next morning feeling euphoric, but she wouldn’t dare tell Kate or Shawna about her wild, exotic dreams with Stanly the skank, especially not Kate.

  The three girls continued to have their weird dreams, but none of them spoke to each other about them, shrugging it off as their wild imaginations.

  It was two weeks after the girls helped the old lady move her furniture, when they heard the strange knock on their door again. Shawna opened the door and gasped when she saw the wild red hair and orange eyes staring back at her.

  “Can I help you?” She asked the old lady. Shawna noticed that the lady’s skin looked pale, almost transparent. She immediately felt bad for her, wondering if she was sick or something.

  “No, I’m fine. I wanted to give you this. It’s a special token to show my appreciation for what you have done for me,” she wheezed. Her voice sounded deeper than it had two weeks before. The old lady handed Shawna a small, purple velvet-sack that was tied together with a piece of gold ribbon.

  “Ummm…you didn’t need to give us anything, but thanks anyway.” She stared at the purple sack that rested perfectly in the palm of her hand. Shawna wondered if the old lady was playing a joke on her because the sack felt light, empty. When she looked up to ask the old lady a question, she was gone.

  “AHHHHH!” Kate jolted awake from yet another dream. “AHHHHHHHH!” She screamed again. She hurried, pulling the purple blanket off and ran to the bathroom. She reached over the sink to flick on the light.

  “OH MY GOTH! AHHHHHHHH!” Kate looked in the mirror and saw a bloody open gap between her teeth.

  Kate’s piercing screams woke Kelly from one of her wild and wet dreams. She
rolled over to get out of her bed and she felt something hard pressing against her. “AHHHHHHH!” Kelly screamed when she saw skanky Stanly lying naked next to her.

  Shawna came running into the bathroom and gasped in horror when she saw Kate standing over the sink. Blood was dripping from her mouth as were her teeth. One by one.

  PLING!

  PLING!

  PLING! Hitting the sink bowl that was covered in blood.

  “Helth me!” Kate screamed as she tried to catch the bloody teeth in the palm of her hands. Just then, Kelly came running in with only a sheet wrapped around her flushed, sweaty body. Shawna looked at her, but then her mouth dropped open when she saw Stanly standing stark naked behind her.

  “Shawna! Your skin!” Kelly shrieked. “What?” Shawna gasped as she quickly began touching her face. She ran to her bedroom and grabbed the small mirror that she had sitting on her dresser.

  “Oh my God!” Shawna gushed, as she ran her hands over her smooth, silky skin. Her face was no longer scarred with pockets from years of acne. It was as smooth as a baby’s bottom, just like her dream. Dreams? Shawna started putting two and two together. Her dreams, the old lady and KARMA. Then she saw the purple sack. She carefully tugged at the gold ribbon and held the sack upside down. A rotten grey tooth landed in her palm. Shawna shrieked, throwing the tooth across the room. She ran out of the bedroom, grabbing Kate and Kelly’s hand and pulled them towards the front door.

  “Where are we going?” Kelly asked, pulling the sheet tighter around her bosoms.

  “To the old lady’s place,” Shawna said. The three of them ran down the stairs to the first floor and started pounding on the door to the old lady’s apartment.

  “Open up! I know you are in there!” Shawna screamed.

  “Opthen up you olth hag!” Kate screamed as tears trickled down her cheeks. She stood there holding a rag to her mouth that was quickly saturating with blood.

  “Who are you looking for?” Stanly asked, as he stood behind Kelly wearing nothing but her pink bathrobe.

  “There is an old lady who lives here. She claims she is a fortune teller,” Kelly said, without turning to look at Stanly. She was still embarrassed and confused at the very idea of him being in her bed…naked.

  “Oh…hahahaha….are you talking about Ruby?” Stanly asked, chuckling.

  “Who’s Ruby?” Shawna turned around to face him, crinkling her nose when she got a whiff of his B.O. His dirty, blond hair was a tousled mess, and he was in dire need of a shave… everywhere, from what she had seen upstairs in the bathroom.

  “She was the old psychic that used to live here. She was always telling people their fortunes and asking them to come into her apartment to move her furniture.”

  “YES YES! THAT’S HER!” Shawna turned around and began banging on the door. “RUBY! COME OUT! WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!” She screamed.

  “She’s not gonna come out. She doesn’t live here anymore.” Stanly looked at the girl confused.

  “What do you mean she doesn’t live here anymore?” This time Kelly turned around to face Stanly. Shivers went up her spine when she saw his funky, dirty fingers, knowing where those fingers had been, pleasuring her just moments ago.

  “Uhh…she’s dead. She’s been dead for years.” Stanly chuckled when he saw all three of the girl’s mouths drop as they stared at him with their wide eyes.

  Spirit Caller

  Jana Boskey

  Spirit Caller

  Jana Boskey

  Morning light peeked through Anney Pierce’s blinds, shining into her eyes. Throwing a hand over her eyes she let out a loud, annoyed sigh. ‘Even during summer vacation,’ she thought to herself, ‘I still can’t sleep in.’ She began to turn onto her side, but froze as she saw a dark figure standing in the corner of her room.

  Her skin prickled as she stared at the shadow, attempting to slow her breathing. ‘Not again,’ she whispered in her mind, fear crashing over her like a wave. Anney had always seen what her mother called Spectres, which are ghosts; it’s a ‘trait’ that both she and her brother, Adrian inherited from her, who came from a long line of people who can see spirits. Her mother told Anney that they were called Spirit Callers, which are people who can see, talk to and summon ghosts from Purgatory, and their duty was to send them back whenever one escapes without being summoned. Anney never had to send one back in her sixteen years, but in twenty one years, Adrian had cast back around ten.

  Anney’s eyes widened as the Spectre started taking silent, staccato steps towards her. She pushed herself back, bracing against the headboard. The sound of her rapid breathing filled the room. Anney shoved a fist between her teeth to stop herself from screaming; her body seemed frozen, and no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t seem to move. She watched in silent fear as the Spectre limped closer, coming within inches of the end of her bed.

  Just before the spirit reached her, she heard her name being called from downstairs, which was enough to unfreeze her muscles. She shot out of her bed and ran down her hardwood stairs, nearly slipping down them. Blindly, she made her way through her living room into the kitchen where she collided with a warm body, sending them both crashing to the ground.

  Groaning she rubbed her shoulder which absorbed most of the impact, “Jesus, I’m sorry.”

  “God, did I just get hit by a truck?” Her brother, Adrian, said as he gingerly touched the back of his head.

  Anney looked at her brother. The complete difference in their looks never failed to startle her. While Adrian had curly blond hair, she had straight, waist length, brown hair. His eyes were an unspoiled green like Anney’s, but richer, like emeralds, while hers were pale and olive-like in color. Their only similarities were their straight noses, tan skin and lips that were a bit too full for their faces.

  Anney punched him in the arm as she retorted, “Oh shut up, you big sissy.”

  Adrian screwed his face up in mock hurt as she pushed herself up off the kitchen floor, “Et tu, Anney?” he said as he pretended to stab himself, feigning death.

  Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the cupboard and got out her favorite cereal, Coco Puffs. “Quoting Julius Caesar again I see,” she remarked, pouring her cereal into her dad’s huge bowl.

  “I find that I can relate to Caesar’s problems.”

  “Yeah? And I find that I can relate to Oedipus’s problems.”

  Adrian laughed so hard that he actually snorted; Anney looked over at him, eyes wide, then busted out into giggles. “So what are your plans for today?” he questioned as he stood up, straightening his disarrayed shirt.

  Between bites of Coco Puffs she answered, “You’re taking me to the library, remember?” Anney watched as a chunk of cereal flew out of her mouth and onto the table. He was silent for a few moments, his hand frozen in the action of brushing off his jeans. Scoffing, she set her spoon on the edge of her bowl, “You forgot, didn’t you?”

  Adrian let out a nervous laugh before he turned to her, pouring on the charm with a pouted lip. “Yes. Please don’t be mad at me.”

  After staring at her brother for a few seconds, she gave in. Not even Anney can resist Adrian when he’s like this. Letting out an audible sigh she continued eating her cereal, consoling his faux contriteness. “So what did you forget about me for? Another hot date?”

  “Me,” a deep voice answered from behind her, making Anney jump. She spilled the remainder of her cereal on the table. “Though ‘hot date’ is somewhat appropriate.”

  Anney’s pulse strummed hard against her skin as she turned and saw John Dawes standing behind her. His black hair was long and shaggy; it brushed the nape of his neck. His brown eyes sparkled with amusement at her reaction, and his full lips quirked up at the corner in a sly smile. At 6'2, he was taller than her by a full foot, and Adrain by an inch, which he never let him forget.

  Adrian and John first met ten years ago, and have been inseparable ever since. After a decade of knowing John, Anney could no longer be embarrassed around him. He
's seen her cry, sick, no makeup on, and almost bald from when she cut all of her hair off, even nearly naked. Yet his mere presence made her heart flutter and pound in her chest, threatening to leap out; his touch ignited a fire across her skin, and the sound of his voice sent a shiver of delight down her spine. Whenever she saw him, every nerve in her body became a livewire. Her stomach twisted and did flips. Anney understood she was too young to know what love was, and knew it was just a crush. Maybe.

  “Dammit, John, look what you did!” she said with pseudo anger, throwing her hands in the air. She got off of the chair, pointing a finger into John's chest, ignoring the flash of heat that traveled up her arm, “Now clean it up while I go get changed!”