“A wraith”, Laura whispered.
Her sister nodded her head and slowly began packing the cards back, but stopped to the sound of a loud creak coming from the room upstairs. The creaking sound stopped, and the candle lights began to go off one at a time until there was one left.
“Laura”, Nora’s mother mumbled.
Laura smiled and sheepishly cast the thought and notion of anything odd aside. “Don’t get your nuts all twisted up… its just some crazy wind I’m sure”.
They both agreed and burst out laughing at the thought of what had just happened.
“We are truly silly”, Nora watched her mother sound nave. “Thinking some dingy old cards with folklore tales meant to be told at bed time would have any powers in them”.
They motioned to get to their feet as the last candle blew out and brought their world into darkness. Deafening silence aired, with the intermittent sound of the wind howling tenderly from outside the house.
“That’s odd”, Laura admitted while both ladies refused to move.
Strong sulfur smell suddenly began to fill the room, causing Nora to labor in breath as did her mother and aunt. The latter choked aloud and coughed endlessly as the creaking noise they had all heard earlier began to heighten in sound.
“Get the matches! Get the matches!” Nora heard her mother shout in paranoia.
Laura struck the first match and watched it fizzle out immediately, before getting lucky on her second strike as she fondled to light the candles one at a time. Nora had spotted it first; hovering in ragged attire, with blood dripping from underneath its hood on the table. It barely moved, but twitched as the last candle got lit.
“Oh my God!” Nora’s mother exclaimed.
The frightening wraith slowly hunched on its back, extending its claws towards the cards on the table as blood trickled in frightening sight atop them. It shot Nora’s mother one good glance before slowly looking back up the stairs, almost as if it was trying to pass a message across.
“Sam!” Nora heard her mother scream in agony.
Laura stepped backwards, panting and whitened in the face as she grew terrified like hell. The wraith simply vanished and nothing of it could be seen again. Loud screams in agony filled the air and emanated from the room upstairs, causing Nora to wish she could leave immediately and not witness whatever was happening any longer.
Her aunt Laura jolted for the door and never looked back, with smirks on her face, and a rather disturbing laughter emanating from her lips.
“She knew”, Nora whispered. “My aunt… she knew what would come and she tricked my mother into doing it regardless”.
“Of course your hand knew… she summoned it here in fact and not until after years of studying the cards did I realize she had summoned that thing here on intent”, her mother sighed. “She has the ability to read those cards and she has the ability to manipulate them”.
Nora’s heart sunk, and her chest felt heavier than it usually would or should be.
“It is why I need your help to stop her from hurting anyone else on your side of the world”, her mother waved her hand and the room slowly disappeared. “I am not strong to do it on my own, but you are”.
Nora nodded her head. “I will help you, but I haven’t the slightest clue on how to get here”.
Her mother laughed aloud and smiled back at Nora. “Magic always has a loophole honey, and reading cards isn’t all our family and bloodline exists for”.
She led Nora by her hand down a hall with no doors on either side until they came across a red colored door at the end. Nora had not noticed her surroundings until her mother grabbed hold of her hand, but her heart had begun to ram nervously as though it was trying to warn her against doing whatever it was that they intended to do.
“Will this not make things worse?” Nora asked in a rather terrified tone. “Are we not breaking more rules?”
Her mother shrugged, smiled and replied. “Rules exist to make men too scared to live their own lives… all we are doing is righting a wrong I wasn’t strong enough to do some years ago”.
Nora felt convinced and agreed. She tightened her grip around her mother’s hand and with it came warmth like she had never felt before. Her heart took on steady beats, and her eyes shone brightly with happiness as they both approached the door and stopped before it.
“Go on now child… this door was created for one purpose and one alone”, her mother whispered.
Nora looked at the plain door with nothing but a handle made with what appeared to be a femur bone. “What purpose is that?”
A gush of air breezed past them both, with the gloom feeling and some form of nervousness rushing through Nora in particular. Her guts screamed against her intended action, but her heart felt it was right.
“Follow your heart darling”, her mother muttered. “Your heart knows what is right”.
Nora bobbed her head, reached for the door handle and stopped with her hand barely touching the bone handle.
“One more thing”, her mother interjected just before Nora tightened her grasp on the handle. “You cannot let go of that handle, no matter what comes your way or what you feel”.
Nora nodded, closed her eyes and held unto the door handle as tightly as she could. Streams of pain shot through her hand and ran violently through her entire body in what felt like being burnt alive in a pool of volcanic larva. She yelled and shrieked in pain while her mother cackled aloud.
“Yes child! We are almost home!” her mother rejoiced happily.
The note bore a sound of worry for Nora, but also came with the anticipation of having her mother back home where she
