BLACK DEVOUR

The Summoning: Ouija Madness

Mom, as expected, prohibited horror movies in her home....she actually banned watching movies, burned my books and creepy-looking toys, and pretty much forbade us from even bringing that topic up. After years of therapy and being doped up on meds, I was finally "fine". No more dreams and no more memories. But when I was bored, I'd try to recall my experiences with Bella and my life before age nine, but nothing ever came to mind. This brings me to conclude there is a possibility that ghosts exist.

So, the concept troubled me more than I had anticipated. And the fact that I was facing an ancient, probably haunted-as-fuck building in the middle of nowhere did not exactly put me at ease.

With all the will I could muster, I brushed the uncomfortable thoughts off and stepped inside.

Even if ghosts existed, I had company, which was quite enough.

I was smacked on the face with cold air and the noxious char of burning wax. Blinking rapidly, I shook my head to focus on where I had just entered.

It was quiet and cool and also dark. I couldn't see anything apart from eight lit candles, which explained the annoying smell of wax.

As if on cue, the lights flickered on, hurting my eyes.

With my hand shielding my eyes, I peered about. It was nearly impossible to believe how magnificent the place looked on the interior when it appeared so old on the outside. It looked more like someone's chill living room than a creepy murder cabin

There was an old rocking chair beside a fireplace that looked rather warm and alive despite the biting cold inside.
Everyone in the room had found a seat at a circular table in the center of the room, just in front of me.

Obviously not a romantic date.

"Turn those lights off!" Jax ordered, irritated as if I had turned them on.

I didn't want any disagreement, so I switched the lights off, very humiliating to say, obediently.

There was just enough light to walk to the table without tripping. My footsteps reverberated on the floor in the areas the carpet had not yet covered.

There wasn't even a hint of dustiness.

Much to my dismay, I ended up sitting next to Kevin, as the only two seats left were either next to him or next to Logan...and I was not under any pressure going to sit next to Logan.

Logan was a pervert, he was quite capable of deciding to molest me right then and there.

Bella was still glaring daggers at Jax. Wonder was slumped over, fixated on the screen of his smartphone. Michael, like me, was waiting to see what was on while his brother was smoking his lungs out, and Logan was.....well, he was just staring at something on my face.

I was beginning to wonder why everyone was silent. Was Jax not going to pull out some wine and glasses and maybe call out for a waiter who was hiding somewhere? It was a damn date, for crying out loud.

Unfortunately, he didn't. We all remained silent, calculating and attempting to match each other's breathing rates. Or maybe I was the only one doing that.

"So....." Bella started.

I tensed up, gripped with a weird sense of gratitude that she had the ovaries to be the conversation pioneer. We all collectively turned our attention to Jax, watching, waiting with bated breath.

More silence.

But this time it damn near had a physical presence, pressing down on us from all sides in the candle-flickering gloom.