The Witching Hour

[Part 6] Marisol's Secret

Marisol awoke that Sunday morning much earlier than she'd intended. She'd had a terrible night of tossing and turning, unable to sleep for no reason at all. She could feel the puffy bags under her eyes, causing her already wrinkled face to look even older than what it actually was. The clock on her nightstand read five seventeen AM. She finally decided to give up on sleep and go ahead and get ready for the day. She slowly lifted herself out of bed, her whole body aching as she did so, and put on her robe and slippers then made her way into the kitchen. After the coffee was brewing, she swung open the inner front door to peer out of the outer glass door to see if the Sunday paper had been delivered yet. She could feel the cold, crisp morning air through the glass and it made her shiver. There was no paper on the front porch. Frowning, she closed the door again and made her way to the living room to pick up her rosary and her bible. At least I'll have plenty of time for my prayers before mass this morning, She told herself. She sat down at her kitchen table and began her morning prayer and bible study while she waited for her coffee to brew.

After she finished her prayers, Marisol was grateful to see the sun finally rising. The sky began to turn a light blue and she could see the black outline of the mountains in the distance outside her kitchen window. It's been so long since I've watched the sunrise over the mountains, she thought to herself, Maybe I'll go outside and watch it this morning. Before going outside, she put on her coat and poured herself another piping hot cup of steamy black coffee. Once outside, she sat gingerly on her little wooden rocking chair and cradled her mug in her hands, hoping its warmth might keep her arthritis from flaring up.

She rocked back and forth humming songs softly and slowly sipping her coffee. It wasn't long after the sun had risen over the mountains that the newspaper courier came walking down the sidewalk towards her house.

"Buenos Dias," She called out when the courier approached her porch, "How are you this morning?"

"Very well, thank you." He smiled, and climbed the steps, "How are you today, Mis?"

"Well, I'm still going." She replied, laughing lightheartedly.

He gave her the Sunday paper and then continued on his route to the next house. When the courier passed by the tree in her yard, a large owl rose up unexpectedly, and flew over his head, startling both him and Marisol. The courier shrieked, ducking and dropping several newspapers from his bag. Marisol clutched her hand over her heart.

"Are you okay?" she called out.

"Oh yeah." The courier called back, laughing and picking up his papers, "That was a big owl! I didn't even see it sitting there!"

Marisol watched as the massive, ominous beast flew into the distance. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it either. A small wave of fear washed over her for a moment, but she quickly collected herself, took her coffee and her paper and stepped inside. She sat down at her kitchen table again in silence, her mind racing. Don't be ridiculous Marisol, she told herself, don't be worrying yourself over nothing.

Wanting to clear her mind, she removed the rubber band from the rolled-up newspaper and opened the paper to the front page, but what she saw on the cover made her face pale. BODY FOUND DURING TOWN HALL WORKSITE DEMOLITION; the headline read. Her heart began to race as she stared at the words and the picture, frozen in disbelief.

"That's the house..." She said allowed, sweat beading on her upper lip, "They tore it down...They found her..."

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY ALICE RIKER.

Marisol read her daughters words in horror, not wanting to believe it was true. She read the whole article, then re-read it twice more. Shakily, she dropped the paper on the table and scrambled to find the rosary she was using earlier that morning. Once she had ahold of it, she dropped to her knees in the kitchen floor, weeping and praying.

"It can't be true," She cried, "Please, it can't be true."

After almost an hour of weeping and praying, Marisol felt no comfort. She rose from her spot on the kitchen floor and hurried to her bedroom to get dressed. First, I need to get to church, she thought to herself, and then I need to talk to Alice.

Before she left, she double checked that all the windows were sealed tight and the curtains were closed. She even double checked that both the front and the back doors were locked tight from anyone trying to get in from the outside. She couldn't afford to be careless anymore.