The Paranormal
His head was throbbing.
Thomas had never been more grateful to go home to his bed. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel to avoid drifting into sleep. The painkillers made him feel drowsy, but he had to get Aubrey home safely.
She was staring at her palms and hadn’t said a word since they had left her house. He tried to make small talk to ease her nerves, but it felt awkward since they had just buried a corpse. He needed to engage himself somehow, to stay awake and ensure he wasn’t concussed, so he tried to recall the wild day they'd had.
It was all Jason’s idea. They had spent most of this spring break like they always did—smoking weed and watching TV—but this year, they agreed to break the routine and explore the town, but it was always a thought.
Jason brought the idea up again while they were at his family’s cabin near the woods, one of three spots they convened to waste the day in boredom.
"We should go into town today, and do a little sightseeing," he said as he fiddled with his phone.
“Sure, beats staying here all day. Plus, Mum and Dad aren't home until later.” Aubrey said as she walked back into the living room with a soda.
"I'll get my keys," Thomas said.
They hopped into his Civic and left for town. After minutes of driving around town, they stumbled upon a curio shop and Jason suggested they check it out.
“Jace, I don't think leading your little sister into a spooky trinket shop is what your parents meant when they said 'Look after Aubrey.'" Thomas said.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Jason said, leading them down the sidewalk toward the shop. Jason pushed the door open and walked in. There was barely any light inside, except for the dim ceiling bulb. The store was dusty and filled with cobwebs.
“Hello?” Jason called out. No one answered.
He turned and smiled at them. “Ooooo, spooky.”
“Come on man, let’s get out of here. It’s just a bunch of junk.” Thomas gestured at the shelves full of old books and aged trinkets.
“There’s got to be something good in here somewhere…” Jason trailed off as he glanced across the room. He was gone before Thomas could try discouraging him once more.
Thomas pretended to look around the shop but was looking for Aubrey. He found her, looking at a display. He thought hard for a good excuse to walk up to her, not seem weird, and start a conversation.
Although they had grown up together and saw each other almost every holiday, he still couldn't hold a conversation with her. Maybe it was because he had a crush on her, or because he lacked social skills. He had finally mustered the courage to walk up to her when he heard Jason's excited voice.
“Yo, guys. Check this out.”
“What did you find, a shrunken head?” Thomas said dryly.
“Even better, a cursed book.” He could hear Jason’s excitement.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Don't tell me you believe it's cursed, it just says that so you can buy it."
"Yeah Jason, those things are just a gimmick," Aubrey said as she pulled out her phone.
"I know authenticity when I see it. The pages are super-aged, the binding is peculiar to a specific period, and there are some ancient markings and texts. It's legit."
“Since when did you become an expert on the dark and occult?" Thomas asked with an air of amusement.
“Dude, I’m on the internet. I read things.” Jason handed him the book as he walked towards the back room. “I need to find who to pay to.”
Thomas stared at the palm-sized notebook in his hand. Old and tattered, it bore the marks of years of heavy use. He examined the strange symbols carved into the cover—symbols unlike anything he’d ever seen before.
“This place is empty, there’s no one in there. Where’s Bree?” Jason was back.
"Over by the jewelry display. Dude put the book back, and let's leave. It's almost 4 pm and we have other places to be." Thomas handed Jason the book to return, beckoned to Aubrey and they left.
Thomas went home, had dinner with his family, and settled into his room with a comic book. Just then, he received a text from Jason asking him to come over with his dad’s shotgun.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the strangest message he’d ever gotten from Jason. When Thomas arrived at the cabin, he found Jason waiting on the sidewalk.
“What the fuck did you do?” He saw Aubrey was there too. “You good?”
“Yeah.” She said as she kept staring at the cabin.
“So what happened?”
Jason looked like he'd seen a ghost. "So…..I didn't return the book from the store. I brought it home and……and I started messing around. You know, just harmless stuff. I was in the garage and…..” he paused. “And I read a curse, and it actually worked, and now there’s something in there, I don’t know.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he was staring at Jason in disbelief.
"He's serious," Aubrey said, still staring at the house. "Like a goblin thing in the garage, all black, with fangs and everything. He locked it in there.” She didn’t break her gaze as she said this, eyes fixed on the garage.
“Oh my God.” Thomas held his face in his palms. “What the fuck have you done? I told you to return the book for fucks sake.”
Jason was staring at the ground now. "Look, there's no point crying over spilled milk. There's a monster in the garage. I need to get rid of it, and I need your help. Okay?”
Thomas sighed, rubbing his temple. “I’ll go get my dad’s shotgun.”
They had a plan. The thing was trapped in the garage, so they had only one way in, and it had only one way out. Thomas was tasked with killing it since he was the only one with experience shooting a gun. The days at the firing range with his dad would finally pay off.
As they neared the garage, Thomas leveled the shotgun, steadying his breathing. He hadn't even seen the thing, didn't know how big it was. What the fuck was he doing pointing a loaded shotgun at a demon. Jason pressed the button and opened the garage door. There was no sign of the creature.
Thomas walked towards the damaged car and scanned the trashed garage. “I swear to God, if you guys are fucking with me I’ll……..” He saw the black flash and was immediately knocked to the ground, sending the gun flying.
The creature snarled and attacked but Thomas covered his face with his arms. Thankfully, the thing wasn’t big, but what it lacked in size it made up for by being an absolute nightmare. It scratched and clawed at him. He could hear Aubrey shouting at Jason to do something. Jason threw a rock at the monster and hit it. It charged at him.
It began to maul Jason, clawing at him. Thomas tried to gather his thoughts as he heard Jason's blood-curdling screams. He needed to act fast. Thomas ran towards the gardening tools in the corner.
He picked up the metal digging fork and staggered towards the two tussling on the ground. He thrust the digging fork deep into the creature's back, causing the creature to stop its attack. It began to shriek, reaching behind its back at the wound. Thomas ran for the shotgun and leveled it at the creature's chest. Remember what dad taught you, he thought.
He fired at the creature and hit its shoulder. He had its attention, and the cursed thing launched at him. Thomas cycled the action and shot again. He missed. The creature was mere feet from him.
He cycled the action once more, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The creature’s head snapped back as the momentum of the headshot propelled it backward. It twitched on the ground and died.
Only then did he notice that Aubrey was screaming from shock as she tried to help Jason up. Jason’s face was mauled and drenched in blood. Thomas himself felt lightheaded, his head throbbing.
Maybe she’s still in shock, he thought. That explained the silence. He wanted to get rid of the body alone, but she insisted she went with him. They drove into the deepest part of the woods, dumped the creature and the book in the same hole, and buried both.
As he now drove them home, his head seared. The stitches from the emergency room hurt like hell. He had tried to sound as believable as possible as he recounted the story of the gruesome bear attack to the doctor. Jason was going to be fine, just badly scared.
At least they got a heck of a day out of it.