The strange whooshing sound would have woken Serafina if she
had been asleep. But she never slept well when her parents were out for the night.
At the age of 16, she was far too old to be scared of the dark, but that didn’t
keep her from leaving the TV on in her room all night long, door closed tight
against the world.
At first Sera thought the sound was from the TV, which
droned on in the background while she read in bed. She had avoided the
psychological thriller on her nightstand in favor of a romance novel because
she was in the mood for something light, or so she told herself.
She muted the TV and titled her ear toward the bedroom door.
“Whoosh…whoosh. Whoosh…whoosh.” It was
muted and slow, like it was coming from outside.
I wish Addie had been able to stay over tonight, Sera
thought as she played with the silver cross around her neck.
Instead her best friend had ditched her for a date.
Understandable—Sera would have done the same if the roles had been reversed—but
she could have used the company.
Underarms damp with sweat, she threw off the covers and slipped
out of bed, her bare feet sticking loudly with each step on the laminate floor.
The door opened in silence, and Sera barely breathed. She clutched the molding
and peeked down the hall.
“Whoosh, whoosh. Whoosh, whoosh.” It was louder than before,
and coming at a more rapid pace.
Down the other end of the small ranch house, light spilled
from the kitchen doorway. Sera’s heart thumped in her chest; she hadn’t left on
any lights aside from the one in her room.
Maybe my parents are home early, she wondered…she hoped.
But then she would have heard the groan of the old garage
door. Surely they would have come to check on her by now. Or at least the sound
of them having a nightcap would be floating down the hallway instead of the “whoosh,
whoosh” that continued to grow louder and faster.
An unearthly breeze blew back her hair and tickled the tiny
hairs on her arm, raising goose bumps all over her body. Oddly, the cross felt
hot against her cold skin.
She should call 911, but she had left her phone charging in
the kitchen. Car headlights reflected off the Yankees poster on her wall. She
stood perfectly still until the lights disappeared. It was probably just a
neighbor. Lucky for her, the poster reminded her of the souvenir bat she had
gotten at the last game she had gone to.
Sera’s sweaty hands fumbled around her closet for the bat.
Her foot bumped into something hard, and the bat clattered to the floor. Her
body tensed, but the sound from the kitchen was much louder than any noise she
was making.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh.”
She peeked down the hallway again to find the light blazing
and a stormy wind sweeping through the house. A streak of anger bolstered her
as she gripped the bat tight in her hands.
How dare someone break into her house? she thought and made
the snap decision to confront the intruder, damned be the consequences.
Disregarding any pretense at being quiet or stealthy, Sera marched
down the hall. Her heart rate wasn’t the only thing that increased with each
step as the sound was now coming at an alarming pace. Hair blew all around her
face in a crazy swirl.
Sera brought the bat over her head and charged into the
kitchen.
“Whooshwhoosh whooshwhoosh.”
The light exploded in her eyes, forcing them closed. The
whooshing sound rang out so loud it reverberated through her teeth and bones.
Sera fell to the ground and threw the bat into the light, but it was lost to
the brightness.
“Whooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh.”
A shadow broke through the light. It moved up and down with
the noise, and seemed be the source of the light.
Sera groped around the floor, looking for anything that
might help her. The cross burned the skin just above her chest. Ripping the
chain from her neck, she flung the necklace at the figure.
“Whooshwhoo—”
The kitchen turned dark and silent. The brief stint of
bravery gone, Sera remained on the floor, stunned by the sudden change. Her
chest heaved up and down and began to calm. A cheesy sitcom laugh-track broke
her out of the stupor.
She stood and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she
spied a woman on the ground a few feet away. Sera stepped into the kitchen. Moonlight
from the back slider illuminated the woman’s features. They were so beautiful an
ache rose in Sera’s chest as she stared.
Pale, almost see-through wings framed the woman’s figure—no,
not a woman. An angel.
The shattering of glass ripped Sera’s gaze from the stunning
face. A man careened through the broken glass, grabbed Sera, and held a knife
to her throat. The angel vanished and Sera was left alone with the intruder.
***
Katie L. Carroll is a mother,
writer, editor, and speaker. She began writing at a very sad
time in her life after her 16-year-old sister, Kylene, unexpectedly passed
away. Since then writing has taken her to many wonderful places, real and imagined.
She wrote her YA fantasy ELIXIR
BOUND so Kylene could live on in the pages of a book. Katie is
also the author of the picture app THE
BEDTIME KNIGHT and a contributor to THE GREAT CT CAPER, a serialized mystery for young readers. She lives not too
far from the beach in a small Connecticut city with her husband and sons. For
more about Katie, visit her website at www.katielcarroll.com.
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