5 Microfiction Stories from the World of North County Paranormal Unit
Every week, paid subscribers on my Patreon get access to a brand new microfiction story set in the world of one of my series. Occasionally these stories will be gathered into a bundle and sold, but they never become freebies. The only way you can access all of them is by becoming a Patreon patron.
Which comes with other perks, of course. But at the lowest paid tier, $3USD, you get a story a week. And it’s been going for over five years. So there’s about 150 stories in the New Winslow category alone, with North County Paranormal Unit catching up.
(What is North County Paranormal Unit? It’s my queer paranormal workplace series starring a team of underpaid and overcaffeinated paranormal investigators keeping Central Massachusetts safe from the forces of darkness. You can read Book One here!)
So today, here are five microfiction stories set in the world of North County Paranormal Unit! If you enjoy these ones, then you’ll love the rest!
There maybe some spoilers for North County Paranormal Unit (NCPU#1) and Jarvis Street (NCPU#2)
It didn’t matter if werewolves existed or not, James dreaded working during the full moon. It just seemed like everything got worse on that night. Some mornings he’d wrap up the night shift, stagger out to his car, then look up and see the round moon in the sky. Then everything that just happened would make perfect, sick sense.
It happened in other places too. He had cousins who were nurses and every one of them agreed that there was something about the full moon that just made things…weird. They’d discuss it at family dinners. Then James would chime in and the uncles who claimed he worked in business would try to say that the finance sector dealt with that too. Yes, of course they did.
And he’d smile and play along, knowing full well that the finance sector dealt with that because it was completely stuffed full of werewolves.
Amelia did one last count of her supplies, then looked at Gabriella and Bradley, who were waiting expectantly by the front door. This was maybe her thousandth field mission, but it was the first one where she was officially in charge. Nothing could go wrong. She knew James wouldn’t be watching her, waiting for her to screw up. But she couldn’t help thinking that there was a reason that The Foundation didn’t want her moving up in the organization.
No, she was just being paranoid about it. Just like she was being paranoid about her supplies vanishing if she didn’t count them three times each.
“Are we going or are we going to ask the ghost to cleanse itself?” Bradley called over.
Amelia flipped him the finger, then zipped her bag and headed for the door, butterflies dancing in her stomach. It was going to go just fine.
So James was in charge now. Bradley couldn’t help the shudder that went through him at the idea of how much he was going to be cleaning up after their new captain. And if the fights between him and Robin had been bad, he could only imagine how they were going to be with James.
But the next morning, James came into headquarters with two cups of coffee and handed one of them to Bradley. “I’ll be on the phone with The Foundation all morning,” he said through a grimace. “Please come kill me sometime around eleven.”
Without waiting for an answer, he went into the gray bedroom. Unsure exactly what he was feeling right now, Bradley took a sip of the rapidly-cooling coffee.
Gabriella had wanted to prove herself. Both as a good person and as a good member of the team. Then maybe everyone would hate her just a little less. She knew she had done wrong and had to atone for it. And it was going to take a while, but even the few weeks since Robin’s death had stretched on endlessly with the abrupt silences and quick glances whenever she walked into a room.
So maybe that was why she’d raised her hand so quickly when James was looking for volunteers. And now here she was, dangling in rock climbing equipment along the side of a cliff near the New Hampshire line, praying that James had a firm grip on the rope thirty feet below.
“Today’s investigation is at the carnival.”
Four sets of tired, disbelieving eyes looked up at James as he tried to inject the slightest bit of enthusiasm into his own voice for the morning team meeting. A carnival. Candy apples! Rides! Fried dough!
“Come on, guys,” he said. “It’ll be great! It’s just spirit activity in one of the big tents. We’ll track it down, let it out, then Madelyn can win me a big teddy bear over on the midway.”
He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. But there was a smile there.
If you’re a fan of North County Paranormal Unit, then you’ll love the microfiction available over on my Patreon! At the $3 level, you’ll also get access to books before anybody else AND occasional short stories.
So please consider joining. Not only do you get those rewards, you also help to make Enfield Arts more self-sustaining. And the more that I make writing stories here, the less I have to look for other paying work. Which means more time to write!
