"are there any spirits here with us?"
Both girls eyed Kendall suspiciously.
"Ha! See what did I tell you? We may have a ghost tell us this weeks lottery numbers yet!"
Kendall snickered. She cleared her throat and began again.
"Is there someone here in the room with us now?"
The pointer again slid over to yes. Gabby put her head on the table, squinted one eye shut and peered at the pointer desperately trying to see if she could figure out who was pushing it as it slowly began to circle around impatiently waiting for a new question.
"Kendall, I know it's you pushing it, look at Neve she's bricking it. It can't be her!"
Gabby whined at her friend. Kendall glanced at Neve completely perplexed herself by the now looping motions of the Ouija boards pointer. Neve was shifting uncomfortably in her seat, her mouth a grimace of unhappiness at the evenings developments . Kendall shrugged it off, she didn't know if it was their collective energy or what, making it move. Who cares when it was just getting interesting? And Neve was always this serious, this was nothing new. She thought she would ramp up the tension a little more :
" If you're here with us and you are moving this pointer make yourself known to us."
The whirling pointer began to speed up again, faster, and faster round the board. Neve made a squeaking noise as she tried to protest, while Gabby glared at Kendall with narrowed eyes.
" Kendall if its not you moving this thing then I swear to god , I am outta here."
Gabby hissed at her. The pointer began spelling something out.
B...I...T..C...
That was enough for Gabby and Neve! They whipped their hands from the pointer so fast, it might as well of bitten them. Kendall sucked in a breath, very unsure of herself all of a sudden.
Immediately the atmosphere she had set up to create a Show for her friends seemed a little more sinister. The expensive lighting was dimmed, her moms expensive church candles situated around them casting a warm glow on the circle, and the vast expanse of living room shrouded in Eerie shadows. She studied the expressions on her friends faces, as they glanced nervously around the room as if a long dead grandparent were about to materialize in a dark corner somewhere.
Unease crept up Kendall's spine. The pointer was still again. If she quit now, she'd would look weak, even if her friends were terrified already. Weakness was not something she dealt well with.
" It's just started working, it was trying to say something? We can't quit now, let's ask it some questions?"
Kendall stated, her hand back on the pointer. Her very dubious friends tentatively following suit.
" Can you tell us you're name?"
She asked, as the pointer once again began to whirl around the board.
Neve, the quieter of the trio studied her friends face to see if she really believed there was something here with them. She caught a slight and brief furrow in her perfectly manicured brows as the pointer began to jerkily spell out a few letters. Before either girl could register what they were experiencing a splintering 'crack' broke the silence, glass exploding in a spray of shrapnel as if a bomb had exploded from within the fallen object! Neve flew at the light switch , and Gabby shrieked as if the finger of death had fallen upon her.
"Hey, hey, it's ok. It was just moms chandelier."
Kendell grabbed at one of her spooked friends, and tried to sit her back down.
"Oh god look at it! She is going to KILL me."
Kendall's calm slipped away at the sight of the smashed crystal strewn across the table.
"What the hell did that to it though? Why did it fall like that?"
Neve gestured wildly at the decimated object.
Before they could contemplate any more, the front door slammed and voices filled the hallway. Kendell's older sister Morgan popped her head around the corner.
"Hey Kendall, I found these two degenerates skulking around outside. I guess they are here for you? Some of us have studying to do, so try not to raise the decibel level ok?"
Not noticing the devastation of the broken lamp, she swept back her hair and continued on upstairs trailed by her boyfriend heavily laden with all Morgan's text books. Kendell's boyfriend Alex, and his best friend Wayne shuffled into the room sheepishly.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Kendell drawled, her eyes fixed on the mess across the dining table.
"We got kinda bored and thought we'd see what you girls are doing?"
Alex hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a quick kiss.
"Woah..what ARE you doing exactly? This a Ouija board?"
Wayne's eyes widened in surprise as he swept the glass of the surface of the thing, craning his neck to get a better look. Gabby and Neve glanced at each other, eyebrows raised worried at what was sure to follow.
" What happened in here?"
Alex and Wayne spoke simultaneously.
Kendell ran her perfectly manicured fingernails through her thick, perfectly highlighted mane of blonde hair.
"It was nothing. We were messing around with this thing and mom's chandelier broke. Bad timing that's all."
Convincing as she sounded, she wrapped her arms round herself and suppressed a shudder.
" We are so doing this!"
Wayne snatched up the board, and headed to the coffee table to set it up. Neve shot forward, getting out of his way, trepidation etched on her plain features.
" No way am I touching that thing again. I'll clean up the mess before you're mom gets home."
She whispered to Kendall as she bustled past her to hunt out the dust pan and brush.
Kendall scanned her friends faces. Both Alex and Gabby were alight with eager anticipation awaiting the nod of approval from their unspoken ring leader.
"I guess since Neve is cleaning up."
She intoned, bustling her friends toward the seating area where Wayne was focused on positioning the pointer, the tip of his tongue poking through his upper lip in a expression of fierce concentration. After all, she wasn't one to forgo the opportunity to be the focus of their groups attentions. Leading a séance, with her friends hanging on her every word was something she just couldn't pass up. Gabby positioned herself next to Wayne, a smug grin plastered across her face. Kendell winked at her knowingly. No way would she have been up for another round of this had he not shown up. It was the perfect opportunity to get as close to him as she desired. Kendell slipped into the opposite two seater, Alex slid his arm around her waist protectively. She was glad of the support, a little voice at the back of her mind screamed at her to back out, but never in her life had she walked away from an audience and she wasn't about to now.
Think of the attention she could get from Alex, she thought to herself.
"Ok then, fingers on the pointer everyone."
Kendall cleared her throat dramatically ; " Are there any spirits in the room with us today?"
Wayne guffawed loudly, causing Gabby to giggle girlishly beside him.
" Shut up Wayne. You have to take this seriously for it to work."
Kendall sniffed haughtily. Alex kicked his disruptive friend under the table, and he held his palms out in submission. She gave Wayne and Gabby one last chiding glance and continued.
" If there are any spirits in the room with us, make yourselves known and move the pointer?"
Again the pointer shot across the board to 'yes'. The group gasped collectively.
"Not again." Gabby squealed, clutching Wayne's arm as if the pointer had burnt her. Kendall tutted.
"Hands back on quick! Do you have a message for us?"
She questioned into the air.
The pointer began to shoot across the board, uncontrollably. Kendall's breath caught in her throat, and she couldn't swallow, her throat was on fire. She was vaguely aware of Neve behind them making soft whimpering sounds. Alex pulled her hand off the pointer, eager to put a stop to this.
The stereo burst into life with a hiss of static, and before they could register what it was a booming voice spat:
"CUNT!"
Before she could even comprehend what was going on, she was aware of the skin on her arm ripping with a burning agony.
The stereo clunked into silence, and Kendall filled it with a gut wrenching scream.
