A bat flapped over the twins’ heads as they entered the nave of the abandoned church.  The faint whimper of an infant seemed to pull them toward the altar.

“Do you hear that?” Michael whispered to his sister Luci.

At that moment Luci bared her teeth and grinned. “I do.”

James Kowalczyk was born and raised in Brooklyn but now lives in Northern California with his wife and two daughters. His work has appeared both in print and online.