20 Days to Prom✔

12 Days Prior - Part 2

Lorraine has just finished tidying up the last row of the spew. She glances at the gigantic analog clock hung above the church entrance. She has five minutes left, but she still needs to collect some trash and bag it.

"It's time. Leave the rest to me, Lori." Sandra, who is standing next to the podium, smiles at her. "Barb and Rita are helping out with the snacks now. So, don't worry about the refreshment, too."

Lorraine nods. "If you need help, just knock on Pastor Marlon's door." With that, Lorraine takes her bag and starts walking to the pastor's room.

Two knocks and Pastor Marlon answers from the other side of the aging wooden door, letting her in. Lorraine turns the knob, and the familiar room that has become her sanctuary comes into view.

"Judging from your gesture, you're not bringing good news for us, are you?" Pastor Marlon says. He has taken off his pastoral robe. His black shirt contrasts his gray hair which looks almost white, as white as his clergy collar.

"I'm afraid not, Pastor." Lorraine sits down in front of the pastor's desk, her hands fidgeting.

Pastor Marlon closes his book and puts it aside. Leaning forward, he rests both his hands on the table before interlacing his fingers. "Pray tell, what has been upsetting you, my child?"

"It's about... Aubrey–" Lorraine gulps an imaginary lump in her throat "–and Claire."

Pastor Marlon knits his eyebrows, looking intrigued. "Does Aubrey begin to ask more about her mother?"

Lorraine shakes her head. "No. I don't know how to explain this. Aubrey has been acting weird lately. I thought it was just a part of her mental growth as a teenager." Lorraine brushes her already tidy hair backward and tugs it behind her ear. "But this morning, something unusual happened in the house."

"Unusual?"

"I woke up to a sound, it's like someone knocking on the door or maybe the wall. I went out of my room and checked, but I couldn't find anything or anyone. Then I found the television was on."

"Maybe one of you forgot to turn it off last night?"

"That's what I thought, too. So, I turned it off but then, it switched on by itself. This isn't normal." A shiver runs through Lorraine's spine when she replays this morning incident in her head. "And the feeling of being watched was very strong."

If Pastor Marlon is surprised, he doesn't show it. He tilts his head and takes in the information calmly. "And why do you think it has something to do with Aubrey and... Claire?" He slightly stumbles when he pronounces Claire's name.

"Maybe I was reading too much into this, Pastor, but this is just too similar to what happened eighteen years ago when everything started..." Lorraine's lips tremble. "Waking up at three in the morning, three knocks on the wall, and the electronic device–"

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Pastor Marlon says. "We all randomly wake up in the middle of the night, and the sound can mean anything."

"But it's the three knocks, Pastor. Isn't it an insult to the Holy Trinity?"

"It's possible, but let's not jump to any conclusion here."

"But how do we explain about the television?"

Pastor Marlon pauses briefly while he rubs his gray subtle with his callous fingers. "Did you say you turned it off before it turned on by itself?"

"Yes."

"Did you use a remote control?"

"Yes."

"Is it possible that your remote control has an issue with the switch-on button?"