The Witching Hour

[Part 9] The Visitor

It was a quarter to six when Marisol arrived home that evening. The sun was already disappearing behind the mountains and she could feel herself beginning to panic. She quickly shut off her car, collected her paper shopping bags and purse, and then scrambled to the door as quickly as she could. She made sure to keep her door opened only just enough for her to squeeze through. Once the glass door was closed, she mustered up the courage to peek at the tree in her front yard. Just as she feared, two dark orange eyes peered at her through the shadows of the branches and leaves, piercing through the darkness like fire.

She inhaled sharply, then slammed the inner door shut, her heart hammering in her chest. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the locks. The entire house was pitch dark since she had sealed and covered every window, so she walked through each room, flicking on every light in the house. Then, desperate to begin fortifying her home, she dumped out the contents of the paper bags onto the floor in front of her, then tossed the bags aside.

On her drive home she decided the first thing she needed to do was smudge the house, so the first things she reached for were the seven bundles of sage. She separated one bundle from the group and used a lighter she'd bought that day to light the tops of the dried leaves on fire. Once she saw that the flame burned steady and a thin band of red coals was forming, she blew it out. The smoke wafted up in dark grey plumes, leaving behind a trail of strong odorous fog. She walked around the entire house, filling every room, closet, and cabinet with the smoke.

Next, she arranged four candles made of oils and herbs in each major room of the house: the kitchen, bathroom, living room, and her bedroom. She lit each candle as she went along. She'd bought a dozen, so she stored the rest in her pantry. After that, she took down all the crucifixes on her walls and hung them above every window in the house. When she ran out of crucifixes, she used her rosaries, by placing them on the windowsill. She sprinkled each of the items with the holy water she'd had blessed by her priest that morning. While she was in her bedroom, she dug through her jewelry until she found an old relic, a necklace made of tiger's eye. She put it on her neck, brushing her fingers against the smooth stone. Just the feel of it against her skin brought her a vague sense of peace.

The final thing she wanted to do was use the five leftover bundles of sage and the fresh bulbs of garlic she had in her pantry to make a wreath that she could hang on her front door. She gathered all her materials, thick twine, wire, holy water, and of course the sage and garlic bulbs, then sat down on her couch to get to work. She turned on her television for background noise, but she wasn't paying attention to it.

Her heart finally started to slow, and her stomach stopped churning, as the minutes passed by. Then, as the minutes turned to an hour, she finally felt relaxed again.

Maybe I got myself a little worked up, she thought to herself, She's dead, after all.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply and examined her work. The wreath was finished and looked sturdy enough to withstand being thrashed around on an opening and closing door. She stood and stretched. Her back ached from being hunched over for so long. She found the door hook for her holiday wreathes in the storage closet then tested the strength of her protective wreath on it. Once she was satisfied, she carried them across the living room towards the front door to hang it up.

Suddenly, she heard what sounded like a thud against her roof. She froze in the living room, unsure if it was the television. Three seconds ticked by. Then all at once, there was a horrid grinding sound of screws being ripped from their anchor, followed by scraping and rolling against the shingles on the roof directly above Marisol's head, and finally a CRASH just outside the living room window. Her television station immediately went black and a "lost signal" warning flashed across the screen.