The Psychic

This was a former short story contest entry I did. The topic was: "The psychic said something terrible was about to happen." Word limit 1000.

Connie stepped through the psychic’s door to hear a deep feminine voice, “Please come in.”
Walking through the velvet curtains she saw a middle-aged woman with salt-and-pepper hair, seated behind a small table. Her beautiful hair glistening in the candlelight, she extended a hand to Connie.
“My name is Madeline.”
“I’m Connie,” she said, quickly breaking the handshake.
Madeline began before Connie could utter a word, “Big changes coming into your life.”
Connie watched the suddenly concerned look on Madeline’s face. “Take my hands Connie!”
As Connie nervously extended her hands she heard, “Connie. Don’t say another word. You need to hear this messa….”
Madeline stopped talking so suddenly that Connie wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. An eerie feeling was overtaking her and she didn’t like it.
“Connie!” a deep voice chimed.
“Connie, you must listen to me. It is important that you know what will happen.”
The voice was so deep, authoritative and demanding Connie could scarcely believe it was Madeline.
“A happy life remains for you. But know this: Soon you are to die at another’s hand. You will not know how or when.”
‘Die?’ she thought, ‘Soon?’
“Something unexpected will befall you. You can avoid it, but that won’t happen. Be alert and you can avoid it. All things come at their appointed time. Your future can change by strik…..” Connie was trying to concentrate on the final words but couldn’t.
When she left, Madeline said, “This was for you only. God be with you.”
Crying, Connie bailed into Sharon’s car, “Connie, what happened?”
Connie blurted out a tearful reply. “Within 6 months I’ll be killed in some kind of… attack. I could avoid it but….. I won’t. Take me home Sharon.”
Connie tried her best to understand why she was so upset about something she didn’t believe in. As she struggled to fall asleep she thought about her newly shortened future. ‘What should I do? Max out my credit cards and have one hell of a time perhaps? Should I get my affairs in order? Morbid! I don’t believe in this remember? Anyway, psychics give you shocking news so you’ll come back. That’s their business and it works. But not on this girl!’
As Saturday morning flew by she decided she was too smart to let this upset her so she ran down her to do list: ‘Breakfast, gas… costume! I almost forgot the Halloween party! No wonder I was spooked by all this stuff!’
Connie raced through her errands and arrived back home with her Victorian ballroom costume just in time for Sharon’s call. “How you doing?” Sharon asked.
“I’m fine. I think this is all just to scare people into coming back. Madeline’s just playing on the whole Halloween thing, you know? I’m not going to let it bother me.”
“That’s great Connie.”
Dressed in her Victorian ballroom costume, Connie headed to her car in the garage below the building but was startled by a distant figure lurking in the garage. In the darkness she saw someone hiding and immediately thought about Madeline’s warning.
‘She said be alert’ she thought. ‘I’ll avoid this. I’ll get in from the passenger side so I never lose sight of him.’
Confident, she grabbed the pepper spray and keys out of her purse then pushed the button on her remote. Just as she reached for the door, a male voice boomed immediately behind her, “Miss you…”
Connie screamed. Keys, pepper spray, purse, and cosmetics flew everywhere. She spun around to see a startled, middle-aged man looking at her from inside of his car. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you but you dropped something. Are you all right?”
She felt terribly embarrassed but quickly looked up, “I saw.. saw a man behind that column over there watching me..”
They both peered into the darkness but saw nothing and heard only footsteps running up the ramp.
“I think we’ve frightened him.” The man said calmly.
As Connie put herself back together she noticed that he too was costumed and wondered what character he would portray with that outfit and wearing the wig laying on his car seat.
She thanked him, locked herself into the car and headed to the party. ‘I feel much better,’ she thought. ‘I’ve avoided it and Madeline said I wouldn’t. Ha!’
With the delay in the garage she arrived late and had to park 2 blocks away. ‘A short walk,’ she thought.
Getting out of her car she saw another costumed partygoer heading toward the party through a wooded pathway. Recognizing him as her garage hero she ran toward him saying, “This is going to be a great party don’t you think?” As he turned to speak to her that eerie sensation she felt at Madeline’s house overwhelmed her once again.
It was too late when she saw the surgical blade glitter in the low moonlight. The man thrust the surgical blade deep into her abdomen, dropping her to the ground instantly. She never had time to scream. Never had time to do anything but drop to the ground, spilling blood all over the pathway. She clutched her burning stomach and thought about Madeline’s words. ‘What… were they? The ones at the end…. I could avoid…’
As she lay there she could feel the darkness surround her. ‘So this is what it’s like,’ she thought. ‘To be killed….. and…. bleed to death….’
She felt a strong hand on her shoulder turn her body over. In the low moonlight she saw the costumed Jack the Ripper bend over her with the surgical knife in hand. ‘This is the end,’ she thought.
She then remembered the last thing Madeline said. ‘You can change your future by striking back. But that will never happen as you will be too weak when you think of it.’
Connie died on the 30th of October. Shortly after midnight police arrested James Madeline wearing a woman’s salt-and-pepper wig and Jack the Ripper costume.