Aurora Magazine 2018

The Medium closed herself in Steph’s room, telling the rest of the family to leave the door closed no matter what, and when she emerged roughly an hour later, the room seemed brighter somehow. A darkness that Steph hadn’t noticed be- fore was gone, and the Medium was absolutely exhausted. She only found out later, through prying at her mother, what the lady had said about the incident. “She said something about a demon” was all the infor- mation she could get. Her mother was visibly uncomfortable and refused to speak of it again. The latest development in the paranormal situation oc- curred after spring break. By that point, Steph and Karen had grown accustomed to weird sounds here and there and some furniture or objects moving every once in a while, but Steph was never prepared for these things to happen while she was present. It was Friday night and Karen had already gone home for the weekend. Stephanie woke up at three in the morning as a chill went through her. When she looked for the source of the cold, she found her balcony and screen doors completely open, even though she remembered locking it before going to bed, as she does every night. When she got up to close and lock the doors, she noticed sounds coming from Karen’s room. There were no heavy footsteps like the last time, but she could hear all kinds of fuckery going on, such as the desk drawers opening and slamming shut, with the closet door doing much the same, as if somebody had gotten themselves stuck in a loop of open, close, open, close. She uttered a simple “No, please,” climbed back in bed, and fell back asleep. The next night, Stephanie woke at three in the morning M U Ñ O Z

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