A Rising Damp (Coming Soon)

A Rising Damp (A Paranormal Horror Short) by Audrey Brice. Coming July 31, 2013.

Excerpt:

“Wasn’t no animal that killed Eldon Jenkins, Sheriff,” Grandma said, matter-of-fact.

The sheriff lifted an eyebrow. “No?”

I knew what grandma was going to say before she said it. She’d told me someone was in trouble the night before. Someone whose stink was around our cabin.

“It was a devil.” Her tone remained cold and stoic.

“Now Ann Louis…” he started. “Why do you say things like that?”

Knowing why, I looked down at my bowl of peas. While I believed grandma, that didn’t mean anyone else would. After all, I was here when the devil sniffed around the cabin. Just thinking about it sent a shiver up my spine. It had a growl like a rabid dog and it scrapped at the windows with sharp claws. If it weren’t for grandma’s incantations while we stood inside the circle of salt, it may have gotten us, too. Looking at the window next to me, I noticed just below the windowsill what appeared to be a claw mark. I shuddered.

“It came by here last night. Circled the cabin six times. Jenkins put in my new windows just last week. They got his stink all over ’em. Somethin’ musta scared it off.” Her expression didn’t change.

The sheriff snorted, but seemed nervous. “You know I don’t believe in that witch stuff.”

“Just because you don’t believe don’t make it any less true, sheriff,” she told him. “I know what I heard. Evelyn heard it, too.” She nodded toward me, her aging hands working deftly, scooping the peas from their shells.

“Did you see a devil last night, Evelyn?”

I shook my head. “No sir. I didn’t see it, but I heard it plain as I hear your voice right now. It tried to get into the cabin, but we had protection. I bet Eldon Jenkins had none of that,” I said.