It Howls at Midnight

It Howls at Midnight - A Short Story

Jade Halifax sighed as she turned off her car. I really don't want to do this, she thought as she stared at the worn leather of her steering wheel.

Her grandmother, Nanny, was waiting for Jade on the front porch of her cottage. Nothing about her grandmother screamed that she was going to keel over after a few sleepless nights, but Jade put on a smile as she went to give the older woman a hug.

"Oh, Jadey, I'm so glad that you're here," Nanny gushed, throwing an arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "I told everyone at the senior center that you'd be able to put this little incident to bed."

Jade winced. "I really wish you hadn't done that, Nanny. You know I don't like to do this."

Her grandmother made a tsking sound and waved Jade's concerns away with a smooth, slim hand. "Pah. You've had training, haven't you? Ranked at the top of your class," she added proudly.

Jade sighed and reached up to run a hand through her long, white-blonde locks. "At the top in spiritualism, in the dumpster in practical magic." Her professor had never seen anything like it. Secondary abilities in witches normally lay on the same level; to have such a large discrepancy between the two was practically unheard of in their community.

It was something to be proud of—except Jade wasn't. The cold, the muted colors, the bodiless spirits who were suddenly drawn to her like a moth to a flame and all clamoring for attention ... It was terrifying and draining.

If her regular witchy powers were on the same level, she wouldn't be left weak-kneed and starving. As things stood, it was another reason to never touch the land beyond the veil.

Nanny dismissed her concerns. "Come on, we have to get to the town green before midnight."

"Why midnight?" Jade asked, stuffing her hands into her pockets and following behind her grandmother.

Nanny's white eyebrows lifted slightly. "Because that's when it happens, Jadey. Didn't your mother tell you?"

"She tried to."

Nanny tsked again. "Very well. For the last week, everyone within a mile radius of the green has experienced cold spots in their homes, dark shadows, flickering lights and other electronics—my vacuum turned on all by itself, you know! And it wasn't plugged in! Not to mention all the howling." Nanny sighed.

They paused at the edge of the road, looked both ways, then crossed to the green.

"Have there been any changes in the town, recently?" she asked, drawing on long-ago lectures. "Like a renovation to an old house?"

Nanny shook her head. "Nope."

Jade bit her lip. "Anyone run over a headstone? What about kids playing with occult tools?" Despite what the media liked to portray, regular people couldn't summon powerful entities like demons or ancient spirits by fooling around with an Ouija board or using Tarot cards. But they could—and did—draw on mischievous or playful spirits.

"Not that I know of."

"Did anyone die recently?"

"No."

They paused in the center of the green—a typical Massachusetts circular patch of grass and trees, dotted here and there with a fountain and benches. In the dark of night, the quiet of a small town ramped up the spookiness. Jade scratched her head and looked around, perplexed.

Nanny glanced at the illuminated face of her watch. "It's almost time."

A familiar prickle walked its cold fingers up the back of Jade's neck. Gritting her teeth, she hunched her shoulders, edging closer to her grandmother. I don't want to be here!